Capt.
Wynder Newton “Wine” Kenner
Jun 12, 1832 - Jul 11, 19151915 - 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. Notes:
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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.
Notes:
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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.
Notes:
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.
Notes:
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
Notes:
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