Capt. Wyner Newton "Wine" Kenner
of Navarro County, Texas


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Capt. Wynder Newton “Wine” Kenner
Jun 12, 1832 - Jul 11, 1915

1915 - W. N. Confederate Veteran, Official Journal of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

Obituary
Capt. W. N. Kenner
On July 11, 1915, at his home, in Corsicana, Texas, W. N. Kenner, Commander of Camp C. M. Winkler, U. C. V., departed this life at the ripe old age of eighty-three. He was born in Fauquier Co. VA, at Old Salem, now Marshall, and when a lad moved, with his parents, to St. Charles Co., MO. In 1861 he went to Navarro Co. Texas, and soon afterwards, impatient to serve his country, went to Ellis Co. where the Ellis Co. Grays were organizing, and he joined them. This company was afterwards  known as Co E, of the 12th Texas Cavalry, which was one of the regiments in Parson's Brigade. Although almost a stranger, at the reorganization his strong personality made such an impression on his comrades that they elected him first lieutenant of the company. More than any other force, Parson's Brigade was instrumental in saving Texas from the invader; and in all those trying times, whether in battle, or a hazardous scout, or on a long, weary march, Lieutenant Kenner, generally in command of the company, was always at his post. One of his old comrades testifies that "he commanded the respect, love, and esteem of every man in his company." On a certain occasion, when some prisoners were captured, such was his magnanimous bearing that one of them, an officer, pulled off his silver spurs and presented them to him. Not long before the surrender Lieutenant Kenner was promoted to the position of captain.

With the dawn of peace Captain Kenner returned to his Navarro Co. home and with all the force of his nature busied himself in recuperating from the losses occasioned by the war and in helping to rebuild his beloved South. He did his work well. He was one of nature's noblemen, and, though a quiet, unassuming Christian gentleman, he was a force in his community and commanded the respect and esteem of all who knew him. In the year 1868 Captain Kenner married Miss Lou Riggs, of Corsicana. His wife and three daughters survive him. 

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W. N. Kenner
12 Jun 1832-11 Jul 1915

July 12, 1915
Kenner - Corsicana, Texas, July 12. - Captain W. N. Kenner, 83 years old, a Confederate soldier and for fifty years a resident of Corsicana, died at his home her Sunday morning at 6 o'clock. His wife and the following children survive him: Mrs. Will Elliott and Mrs. Hattie Kenner of Corsicana, Mrs. Jim Grim of Amarillo.
He was a member of the Camp Winkler, U. C. V.

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AN HONORED CITIZEN GONE.

After a long and Eventful Life the End Came Quietly.
Capt. W. N. Kenner, one of Navarro county’s oldest and best known citizens, and one who was universally loved and esteemed, passed away at his home, 750 West Third avenue yesterday morning at 5:45 o’clock, after having passed his 83rd birthday.

Surviving the deceased is his widow and three daughters, Mrs. James Green of Amarillo, and Mrs. Will Elliott and Miss Hattie Kenner of Corsicana.

The funeral took place this afternoon at 4 o’clock. Services at the house were conducted by Rev. W. J. King and at the grave the Masons were in charge of the last sad rites.

The active pallbearers were Capt. R. M. McMullan, S. M. Ransom, B. F. Marchbanks of Waxahachie, Hon. Geo. T. Jester, S. A. Pace and Judge J. F. Stout.

The honorary pallbearers were these Confederate veterans: E. L. Bell, J. M. Galloway, John Duren, S. A. Blackmon, F. R. Bird, W. H. Cowan, A. J. Hook and J. A. Scales.

In the dark days of the civil war the south had no braver or truer soldier, and in the days of peace the country had no more loyal citizen, and those that were near to him by the ties of friendship had no more sincere or sympathizing friend.

An immense throng followed the remains to the cemetery and loving hands covered the mound that hid his mortal remains from view with clusters of beautiful flowers, appropriate tributes to the beauty of his life and the sincerity of his manhood. The person of Capt. “Wine” Kenner will long be missed from the walks of men and all who knew him will cherish his memory. He belonged to a generation that was charged with mighty deeds and he bore his full share of those events with an unswerving manhood and dauntless spirit , and the clods that rest above his sacred dust will hide from mortal view a form that was both genial and manly, sympathetic and brave, and none will view his last resting place without thinking of his manly character and noble and undaunted manhood.

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Resolutions of Respect.

At a meeting of Camp C. M. Winkler, of the United Confederate Veteran held at Corsicana, Texas, July 17, 1915, the following resolution was passed:
With the passing away of our beloved commander, W. N. Kenner, Camp Winkler has lost a most valuable member, who will be sadly missed, whenever there is a gathering of our fast diminishing ranks. We are made sad by his loss, but we are grateful that the Master allowed him to remain so many years with his family and his friends. It is not the lot of many men to pass the eighty-third milestone before being called.

When the call to arms sounded from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, W. N. Kenner enlisted early in the conflict and was elected first lieutenant in Company E. Twelfth Texas Cavalry, commanded by colonel (afterwards general ) Parsons. He was always proud of the part he took in the great drama that was played by the North and the South from 1861 to 1865. Parsons Brigade did not have a long list of great battles to its credit but for a considerable period of the war, it was the main bulwark that stood between Texas and the for and its ceaseless activity, brilliant maneuvering, long marches and sleepless vigiliance so bewildered the enemy they thought it prudent not to venture farther on and Texas was saved from devastation. Comrade Kenner was always glad to remember that he had a share in these glorious achievements.

Our comrade was one of those, who sesigning themselves to the inevitable, cheerfully took up the burdens imposed by the war and with unfaltering courage pressed on to the task of doing what could be done to bring back prosperity to the South. Manfully did he do his part and in such way as to win the respect and esteem of all who knew him. Always cheerful, always kind, strictly honest in all his dealings, he became a force in the community in which he lived and his neighbors felt honored by his friendship. With it all he was an unassuming Christian gentleman, who set an example of forbearance and kindly deeds that it would be well to imitate.

Our camp mourns the loss of Comrade Kenner, but we would not call him back. He has gone to be in company with the heroes who have passed on before, whose ranks it is hoped the remnant of us will help to swell when the time comes for us to answer the call.

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Tribute to a friend.

In the passing of W. N. Kenner, Navarro County lost one of its oldest and best citizens. Few men enjoyed a higher respect or more general esteem throughout the city and county in which he had lived fifty years. He had a frankness in the manner and makeup of his life seasoned with a courtesy and diffidence to others that made him many life-long friends. Human sympathy and a tender spirit marked his life. He was my friend and while the memories of nearly half a century are taking the vividness which only death can give. I feel inclined to go into details about the departed friend. Every one I suppose who is blessed with an intimate friend has a world within a world, which he shows with that friend, and when the great silence descends upon it, he is not much disposed to open his heart to others. Yet, I cannot resist the desire to say something of one who was very near to me, and whose grave has gathered into itself a part of my own life, for 47 years ago when but a boy in this, then far off western state, away from my own native state and the friends of my youth, I first met him and we shook hands in the open sunshine of a spring day in 1868, the cordial hand shake and his kindly words of cheer and welcome made me feel I had found a friend. As to relative years he was somewhat in advance of me, enough to temper a spontaneous regard at the time and a well defined respect for one whom I deemed no common man. That spring day has been remembered many a time since in my experience of his friendship, during those extended years. At heart he was thoroughly gentle and amiable, in private hours those qualities were particularly seen and many such hours have I witnessed. I thought of those things as I stood in the hush and silence of the chamber of death, and silence of the chamber of death, and looked in the face of my friend, placid and peaceful in the repose of death, and thanked the good Father “the giver of every good and perfect gift” for a character so unselfish and magnanimous and for a life that has linked more than three-fourths of a century, to immortal ages. Looking back from the eventide of the days, I see as much in his life to praise and as little to blame, as any man I have known. Faithful and true in all the relations of life, the only regret expressed as he felt the dark shadows gathering about him, was the leaving of wife and children he loved so well, a fidelity worth of supreme honor. He was perfectly conscious of approaching dissolution and answered the last roll call with resignation, passing out and away as peacefully as a little child falling asleep in its mother’s arms. His body rests in beautiful Oakwood cemetery, there to await the resurrection call in God’s own appointed time. We shall hold in kindly remembrance our friend and his many tokens of friendship to us, and we pray that the blessings of the Good Father above may ever abide with his loved ones, bereft of husband and father.

R. M. McMULLAN, Chatfield, TEx., Sep. 26, 1915

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