Was There a “Deathbed Curse” by Thomas Kennedy, Ancestor from Ireland?

(Preface) I stared the piece below months ago. I’ve decided to publish it today, September 14, 2023, in a somewhat unedited/unrefined form with less completion, references than I wish. It is in connection to this blog piece written today. In the future, I may return to this, with revisions, as needed and possible. I just want to release this today into the “spiritual realm” and let go of my desire to perfect it.

_______

Here is what is known (through available family history collection,² but presented here in a slightly re-arranged way, merging various parts and stories) of my Irish ancestor, Thomas Kennedy, born September 15, 1818 in Tipperary, Ireland (Roscommon County); died October 2, 1885 (corrected date, from grave stone):

• Thomas Kennedy came to the United States from Ireland when he was about twenty-five years old according to daughter Margaret Jane (would be ~ 1843 per corrected grave stone date)
  • His father had died when he was a little boy. He didn’t remember much about him.
  • Thomas Kennedy first brought over his two sisters one at a time. He then sent for his mother and younger brother, John (or Willy?). “They stopped at a friend’s in Liverpool, who did the cooking; they were accidentally poisoned and died there. The host and 5 children were also poisoned. All but one died.” (p. 27)² (See blog piece SOMEONE CONFUSED RAT POISONING WITH BAKING POWDER)
• Thomas Kennedy buried in Catholic Cemetery near Orlando, WV
  

• He married about five years later, which would be ~1848, (per daughter Margaret Jane), to Sarah (Sally) Williams
  • Sarah (Sally) Williams Kennedy buried in the Alkire plot in Skin Creek Cemetery, south of Weston, WV (Lewis County) – note: Catherine Rebecca Alkire was the mother-in-law of Margaret Jane (she was the mother of Jacob Albert Carter) so I am interpreting that when she died (a devout Methodist/Protestant) shortly before the death of her husband Thomas Kennedy (a “staunch Catholic”) that she was laid to rest in the family plot of her son-in-law (Jacob Albert Carter, who was still alive at that time but met an untimely, unfortunate death five years ago Thomas Kennedy died. (See blog piece MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS LITERALLY PIERCED UNTO HIS DEATH DURING CHRISTMAS OF 1893).
  • I also note that p.9-10 of Judge Carter’s book introduction indicates that the “Alkires” were known in four WV counties as some of the heaviest drinkers and meanest fighters. All this leaves a lot of questions in my mind as to how this all intersected in faith matters and family interactions. I thought I had read that Jacob Carter also came from a devout family, so perhaps Rebecca (Alkire) married into that. At any rate, when Sarah (Sally) died, wife of Catholic Thomas Kennedy, it seems that family helped with the burial. Margaret Jane would have been thirty-four years old when her mother (and father) died.
  • Since Sarah (Sally) Williams’ son John Kennedy committed suicide at 19 (see later in this piece) and was not permitted to be buried in the Saint Bernard’s Catholic Cemetery in Weston, it would make sense that when his mother died thirteen years later, the family made other arrangements. I wonder what Thomas Kennedy’s role in this was, since he himself was buried in a different Catholic cemetery. According to sources (see below), the family had wealth and power and were able to get a stone for John (but it is apart from the other stones) but his body was not buried there since he was considered damned for the mortal sin of suicide (according to Catholic doctrine).
• Sarah (Sally) Williams Kennedy was the daughter of devout Methodists (Thomas Williams and Mary Dalton)
  • Thomas Williams drowned at 70 years of age. Margaret Jane states she recalls the incident (she was a young girl), he was on horse and thought the horse could swim but it could not. His body was found 3 months later. He was a devout Methodist. “He and his wife, Mary Dalton (Williams) were known as a very strict religious couple.” (pg. 282)²
  • Mary Dalton was of Scotch ancestry. “A good woman” (states Margaret Jane)
  • Thomas Kennedy, a Catholic, spoke of his Protestant in-laws, “If there were any Christians in the world, they were.”

On the above grave stone of Sarah (Sally) Williams’ mother (Mary Dalton) is inscribed, “Precious in the site of the Lord, is the death of his saints” which comes from Psalm 116.

Curious, I searched online and was surprised to find my Maternal Great-Great Grandmother Sarah’s grave stone and the date is neither. Oddly, the date is July 12, 1885, the same month/year that her husband Thomas Kennedy died. This has got to be her stone, due to not only the names but in the background, enlarged, is an Alkire stone. The family history book states she was buried in the “Alkire” plot. Indeed it is odd that Margaret Jane would not have stated that her mother died the very same month as her father. It is understandable that Judge James Carter of California, who assembled the 500+ page collections (two volumes) during the 1970’s would not have had easy access to locate this information. There are hundreds of people in his collection, and the internet was not available to him, obviously. What he compiled at that time is an amazing collection of both genealogy and family stories, with photos.

• Thomas Kennedy and Sarah (Sally) Williams had nine children:
  • Willie Kennedy (died as infant)
  • Mary Kennedy (Cummings)
    • Thomas Kennedy bequeathed heirs of deceased daughter Mary Kennedy $100
  • James P. Kennedy
    • Thomas Kennedy bequeathed James P. Kennedy $100
  • Margaret Jane Kennedy (Carter) – my maternal great grandmother
    • Thomas Kennedy bequeathed Margaret Jane $5 (she maintains in family history that it was because she became a Protestant, along with two brothers)
      • Margaret Jane says her father, Thomas Kennedy, paid her a visit shortly before his death
        • “He seemed to know that he might not live long. He told me about all our relatives; about our cousins in Ireland, but I have forgotten much of it.” (p. 27)²
    • Susan A. Kennedy (Carter)
      • Thomas Kennedy bequeathed Susan A. Kennedy $200
    • Sarah A. Kennedy (Quinn)
      • Thomas Kennedy bequeathed Sarah A. Kennedy all of his real estate
    • Charley Kennedy (died as infant)
  • John Kennedy
    • According to Margaret Jane (p.24)² her brother John Kennedy was a Protestant Minister. Since he died at age 19 (from suicide, according to someone’s note on a grave record) this leaves many questions in my mind. She makes it a point to say that her father (Thomas Kennedy) “did not even name her brother (in his will), John Kennedy, who was a Protestant Minister.” The two children who died in infancy obviously were not mentioned, and Mary Cummins is first mentioned in will as “deceased daughter.”

Saint Bernard Church and Cemetery

“John Kennedy committed suicide at the young age of 19 making it impossible for his remains to stay in St Bernard’s cemetery. Johns other family members are buried in the cemetery and were people of wealth and power making it possible for John to have the large marker with in the fence of St Bernard’s but not his body. The remains are in the small bank along the road outside the fence. Leaving John to forever struggling with the fact that his bones are outside the sacred ground of the church and without the holy blessing of the priest. Some say that John roams the road and parking lot. That he is always looking for a way back into the good graces of the church and family.

First hand sightings have said that the front and back gates of the church will open and close on their own even though both gates into the property have latches. That a black shadow figure moves around the parking area and up and down the road to the church. That at certain times of the year that the church windows glow at night as if by candle light. As if some one is trying to look out of the church into the cemetery.” (Source: Rosa Nutt on Find-a-Grave site…who is Rosa Nutt?)

Upon further research, I have come up with this blog piece that references John Kennedy and his suicide and burial.

• Peter F. (or B.) Kennedy
  • Thomas Kennedy bequeathed Peter B. Kennedy $5 (according to Margaret Jane it is because this brother became a Protestant)

Spiritual conflict.

I’ve felt reminded by God of part of the book of I Peter—the part surrounding the idea that we, as Christians, are called to be a blessing to others.¹

In my readings I came across an example of deathbed cursing² that came from the patriarch Jacob, but is not the kind of cursing we might think of as a vindictive, generational curse, but rather, a spiritual pronouncement from his deathbed calling out some of his sons for their behavior to that point in their lives. (I can’t re-locate the commentary where I had read that, and I suppose that interpretation makes sense.)

All of this ventures into realms of spiritual, interpretive debate, and more. But there are a number of biblical examples of fathers offering a blessing to their offspring while upon their deathbed—the most noteable being Isaac’s inadvertent blessing of Essau, rather than Jacob. Even in the NT story of the Prodigal Son, the idea of the father’s desire to bless each son is evident.

Traditional biblical understandings of such concepts of generational blessing attached to spiritual beliefs and actions are fairly well understood, but I want to focus here on the idea of crafting intentional harm upon one’s offspring (and by nature, the effects could reach to their children’s children’s children…)

Most people would agree this is not the behavior of a loving parent and it would take a lot for a parent to believe there was some basis to justify inflicting this type of intentional harm.

I once listened to a talk by a Pastor who told of his first funeral he ever officiated. The deceased man had been at odds with his family, and had purposely crafted his will (to be read at or before his funeral as I recall) in a way that might inflict the maximum amount of harm, damage and chaos among remaining family, post-mortum. The man was that vindictive, that he relished the thought of controlling/impacting others even after his death.

I think of one of my favorite films (Gran Torino) that involves an incredible film-plot with a twist right before the ending scene. In the last scene, his sons and their children get a huge surprise when his will is read and, for arguably valid reason, the recipient of his most prized possession is gifted to his young neighbor whom had become more like a son to him than his own grown children. Perhaps like biblical Jacob, in this contemporary film perhaps valid critique that was expressed in this final scene…

My own mother threatened at times to remove me from her will for various reasons. There are a lot of complicating factors/details why she likely behaved in that way and wielded such threats of relational control. I cannot fathom what it would take for a mother to threaten such things, but the more I learn of my mother’s own young life and family history that impacted generations before her, perhaps it gives some insight.

The idea of why my mother might have put emphasis not only in how she wrote/constructed my father’s will prior to his death and intentional language she inserted in regard to me, but also why she might have attempted to leverage unhealthy parental control by threatening to do things in her own will. My mother’s family seemed to like to fight and bicker over wills, and another will of a sibling was a source of terrible conflict amongst my mother and her siblings for many years.

As I get more into this piece I must say I suspect my mother, as a young child, likely heard her own mother and grandmother discuss wills, spitefulness, and more.

However, when all was said and done, my mother never actually did any of those things to cut me out of her will.

Unlike her great-grandfather, Thomas Kennedy. My mother was also very obsessed about this ancestor, believing we might be related to President Kennedy, as well, and even naming my middle name “Kennedy.” Actually, from family geneaology, there is an unclear, remote possibility that our clan may have been related to the President’s clan from Roscommon County, Ireland. Who knows.

__________

From family history, I have learned that Thomas Kennedy was a staunch Catholic, having been born in Ireland where the Catholic-Protestant conflict and allegiances were/are particularly strong, even to this day.

I do not know how my great-great grandmother, Sarah (Sally) Williams came to meet and marry Thomas Kennedy and bear his children. It seems that it was quite soon—if not the same year, according to one account—as Thomas Kennedy’s arrival in the United States/West Virginia.

We do know that Sarah was deeply Christian, and a Methodist. And, my great grandmother Margaret Jane speaks of the frequent “unpleasantries” over institutional religious allegiances. (ie. The Catholic Church vs. The Methodist Church).

While I’m sure there were factors and interactions which my family will never know the details and extent of, I do believe in spiritual legacy that is passed from generation to generation. As a Christian, I view allegiance to Jesus as primary. One would hope that any human that claims to follow Christ—whether Catholic, Protestant, Messianic-Jew or otherwise—would still be able to agree upon such things as the Golden Rule and Greatest Commandment, and especially the blessing of one’s offspring.

And Jesus Himself told us that if we being evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more our heavenly Father?

Most cultures and most people—religious of any sort or atheistic—seem to value loving and blessing their children. And that is why in such cultures that openly practice forms of sorcery, we gain understandings of evil practices such as deathbed curses.²

Again, as referenced in this piece (also see attached footnote), manifestations of familiar/generational cursings are identified as relating to mysterious bondages to poverty/financial harm; suicides and premature death; forms of sicknesses; emotional/psychological problems and accidents. I must speculate also concerning patterns of (certain types) of family estrangements throughout generations.

Add to the list of premature deaths/accidents mentioned in this piece, are the deaths of some of the Linger siblings as recorded in family writings:

• Robert is said to have slipped/died in a bathtub (although at the time I was told he died in a flood in WV during a storm, when he went to retrieve his vehicle and was washed away) in ____ at age ___.
• Helen died in a fire in ____ at age ___.
• Ora died of breast cancer in ____ at age ____.
• Carter’s death remains a subject of family controversy, I suppose. I have heard different accounts/reasons. My mother told me that he fell off a porch swing and died. I heard other accounts of reasons he fell of the porch that cannot (yet) be verified/documented from any public records and therefore is family heresay I don’t care to say. His death certificate states that he ________ but it seems the reason for that fall is that which is surrounded with questions.
• Another family member was tragically killed in an automobile accident (Bernard?), and another distant cousin, Dora Woods, daughter of Emma who was the grand-daughter of Thomas Kennedy, almost died in a horrific car accident and newspaper accounts state she was hospitalized five years and left paralyzed in a wheelchair, yet remained exemplory in her various pursuits and positive contributions to society.
  
  Among my mother’s various siblings, I know of some very positive contributions to society, young people and in various realms, both family and community, and I also know of some not-so-good elements/traits. I say this as matter of subjective opinion, based on family hearsay and little I could personally verify, except through my own subjective observations. And this statement is generally a collective statement based on subject statements made to me over the years by other distant family members.
  
  So, without further ado, I wish to re-type parts of Margaret Jane’s (born___ died____) account of the reasons for her father’s actions, and then include the public document that substantiates her claims.
  
  In the Bible, and in other cultures and times, we have mostly oral tradition (sometimes written into the scriptures, eventually) of accounts of deathbed blessings and cursings. Obviously, these accounts pre-date the most modern-day means of legal enforcement of one’s will after their death. Essentially the execution of a formal will might be considered one of the most tangible, objective documentation of a parent’s intent to bless or to curse their children and future generations.
  
  __________
  ^1-2How Curses Impact People and Biblical Responses

When people relay family stories to be written down and passed on, I would think that typically they recall the things more prominent in their recollections. Margaret Jane Kennedy Carter seems to make it a point to mention the spiritual discord that seemed to prevail in her family and even mentioned the faith of her father’s in-laws.

Questions one might wish to ask might be how Margaret Jane and her two brothers became Protestant, with one a minister. Was it a change through marriage? Or a change/persuasion of biblical basis/nature? Did Sarah (Sally) or her parents take an instructive role somehow? I wonder how common it was in those times and that region for Catholic-Protestant marriages? How did this affect practices in the home such as family prayers or readings? Since Thomas Kennedy likely brought with him Irish-Celtic possibly Pagan-ish practices to the United States, and into his family, along with possible emphasis on praying to saints, and more, one must wonder how things were at that time, in that home.

And how the two connected without regard to these differences. I take note that the marriage certificate could not be located, and the timeline for Thomas’ arrival in the United States was ___ and the first child was born in ____. He took a wife that was ____ years younger. That would put Sarah (Sally) at ____ when the first child was born and Thomas at ____.

There’s a lot of questions in my mind, but since this took place in another century and region, it is hard to know what was typical. All that aside, it could easily be seen through the spiritual lens of this patriarchal figure wanting to cut off financial blessing to children who renounced Catholicism. I get the sense that the couple viewed themselves as being of an entirely different “religion” rather than sharing a common faith in Jesus. We are told by Margaret Jane that her mother and grandparents were of the devout type and even Thomas considered them “Christians” if there were any such in the world. His language of telling his wife, “Now try MY church” is possibly telling, of something, but the exact nature of spiritual beliefs and discord can never really be known.

What is known is that Thomas seemed to know his death would be soon. He made it a point to visit his daughter, Margaret Jane, shortly before. Whether it was right before he formed his will or afterward, we do not know. Margaret Jane said he spoke a lot of Ireland and cousins there, but we do not know in what context. Did Thomas attempt to get Margaret Jane to renounce her Protestant beliefs during that visit and she would not? Could that have been his reason for leaving her such a comparatively small sum? Or, was part of his visit aimed at letting her know of his decision? That Margaret Jane told this story–of all things–to convey family history to future generations, tells me there was something significant about this.

Again, she states that her brother who was actually a Protestant Minister of the gospel of Jesus, was entirely omitted from the will. Thomas wanted none of his wealth to bless his son, nor any children of his son, nor their descendants. The writing of a will is done by those, generally, who have some amount of assets and typically parents want to show love, favor, provision and care for those left behind after their death. The passing of wealth to children enables those children to do as well or better, and then, the children pass to grandchildren and so forth.

We don’t know for certain what Thomas Kennedy was “for” in terms of his faith. Was he “for” Jesus and the true teaching of the Christian faith? Even if his background left him of a Catholic flavor? Even the godless love their wives and children, often times, and desire to bless and provide, apart from any deeper motivation of that which is biblically good or right or holy.

All we seem to know is that Thomas was “not FOR” Protestantism–whatever he considered that to be. And he was so “NOT for” Protestants, that he expressed a form of vindictiveness and very possibly a type of “deathbed curse” in the crafting of this will.

Why did my mother so fixate–almost worship–the “Kennedy’s” and any potential family connection? My mother was not Catholic. Although, she was raised her first three years by an Aunt Biddie, who may have been Catholic?

I just find all of this noteworthy. A Google search wondering about “The Linger Luck” leads me to a PDF saying the following effects are believed to be the result of generational curses flowing through a family line:


And then, months later in my readings, I notice the will. And I start to take note of other patterns of early death, suicide, accidents, financial misfortunes.

So, what does one do if they believe an ancestor spoke/crafted/codified ill-wishes to some of his children and children’s children? I’m not quite sure, specifically, but, bringing things into the light seems right. Continuing in prayer and committing oneself to Jesus, as always, is the answer to all things.

God deliver me and my children and children’s children’s children from all spiritual enemies that would keep us from knowing Jesus, following Him, or walking fully and freely in the life, blessings and provision He has for those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes.

_______

For further reading
BLESSING, CURSING AND THE IRISH (MAY 12, 2023)