Edmon T Kennedy was born in 1847 in Tremont, Mississippi. He is the fifth son (seventh child) of Samuel Dick Kennedy and Bernetta Thompson. He married Melinda Catherine Pierce (born April 4, 1859 in Alabama) in 1875 and they had at least 9 children. Their youngest child, Clevis Noah was born in 1894—the same year that Edmon passed away. Melinda passed away shortly after in 1895. At this time, they had three small children still living at home. Their second daughter, Noman Amellia—“Nomie”—married in September of 1895—the same year her mother, Melinda, passed away. She and her husband took those three children; Claude, Mary and Noah, and raised them as their own.