Kennedy, William Megee

Kennedy, William Megee, an early Methodist minister, was born in 1783, in that part of North Carolina which was ceded to Tennessee in 1790. He lived some years in South Carolina, and afterwards settled in Bullock County, Ga. In 1803 he was brought into the Church under the ministry of Hope Hull; joined the South Carolina Conference in 1805, and filled its most important appointments for more than thirty years, half of the time as presiding elder. In 1839 he was struck with apoplexy, and was consequently returned as superannuate, but he still continued to labor until his death in 1840. He was lamented as one of the noblest men of Southern Methodism. Kennedy had a peculiarly well-balanced mind. His counsel was prudent and sagacious; he formed his opinions deliberately. and such was his discretion that, in the various responsible relations he sustained to the Church, it. is questionable whether ,a single instance of rashness could be justly charged upon him. His piety unaffected, his intercourse with the people affectionate, his preaching faithful, earnest, and successful, he was a very popular preacher. He was successively at Charleston (in 1809, 1810, 1820, 1821, 1834, and 1835), Camden (1818), Wilmington, No C. (1819),Augusta, Ga. (1826- 27), Columbia, S. C. (1828-29,1836-37). See Summers, Sketches, p. 131; Stevens, history of the M. E. Church, 4:205. (J. L. S.)