George Wilkins Kendall

Background

George Wilkins Kendall, the son of Thaddeus and Abigail Wilkins Kendall, was born on August 22, 1809 at Mount Vernon, New Hampshire, United States. His father was of early New England stock; his mother was derived from an ancestor who came to New England in 1628.

Education

Kendall learned printing as a youth at Burlington, Vermont.

Career

At the age of 14 Kendall was employed in Washington and by Greeley in New York, and, fond of anecdotes and epigrams, he early acquired a reputation for wit. About 1832 he went south, spending a year with the Alabama Register in Mobile, and then proceeding to New Orleans. With Francis Lumsden he founded the first cheap daily in that city, naming it the Picayune from the small coin so called. The first number appeared in January 1837, a four-page folio of ten by fifteen inches. The audacious little sheet, reflecting the personality of its editor, both entertained and irritated the public by its light banter. Kendall possessed both the instinct of the press man for news and the ardor of the soldier of fortune for adventure. His paper well established.

In 1841 he joined the Santa Fé expedition, now sponsored by General Lamar, the president of the independent state of Texas, who by proclamation offered protection to the people of Santa Fé, then under Mexican rule, avowing his purpose in any event to open commercial relations. The badly equipped expedition ended in disaster. Governor Armijo of New Mexico marched the surviving members to the City of Mexico. One of their nights Kendall described as "spent in another Black Hole of Calcutta. " He was kept some time in a prison for lepers. Influential friends obtained his release, and on his return he wrote his Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition (2 vols. , 1844), which was widely read.

During the next three years Kendall in the Picayune maintained the necessity of going to war with Mexico, and when hostilities began he started at once for the Rio Grande. There he rode with the Rangers, witnessed most of Taylor's battles, and himself captured a cavalry flag. When the Scott expedition was organized he attached himself as a voluntary aide to the staff of General Worth and saw nearly all the fighting from Vera Cruz to Chapultepec. He was mentioned in dispatches and received a wound in the knee in the storming of the last fortress. This war was the first ever to be reported comprehensively in the daily press.

The correspondents, of whom New Orleans alone sent a score, were war reporters of the modern type. Rivalry was keen. New Orleans became a clearing house of war news for the nation. Kendall and his associates several times out-sped the government dispatches by the system of couriers and boats which they established. American officers entrusted their own letters to "Mr. Kendall's express. "

Kendall now spent several years in Europe, partly devoted to the preparation of The War between the United States and Mexico (1851) with the well-known illustrations by Nebel. He then removed to Texas to reside on a ranch in the county now bearing his name, continuing his interest in the Picayune, however, until his death.

Achievements

• Kendall was remembered as the founder of "The New Orleans Picayune" and the best-known correspondent of the Mexican-American War. His newspaper became famous for its war news and its reports were extensively copied. He was also a pioneer in Texas sheep ranching and was regarded as the father of the industry in Texas.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Sheep Husbandry: With An Account Of Different Breeds

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • LETTERS FROM A TEXAS SHEEP RANCH

    (No additional printings. First edition.)

  • Dispatches from the Mexican War

    (Kendall, George W., Kendall, Geogre W.)

  • Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, vol. 1
  • Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, vol. 2
  • Across the Great Southwestern Prairies (March of America Facsimile Series)

Views

Kendall advocated for westward expansion, annexation of Texas, and war with Mexico.

Connections

In Paris Kendall married Adeline Suzanne de Valcourt. The couple had four children.

Father:

Thaddeus Kendall

Mother:

Abigail Wilkins Kendall

Spouse:

Adeline Suzanne de Valcourt

References

• Recollections Of Mexico
• Famous War Correspondents
• Life and correspondence of John A. Quitman