Lewis Holmes Kenan

January 18, 1833 - July 3, 1871

During the Civil War, Kenan was wounded July 7, 1864 at John’s Island, SC. In 1871, he was a lawyer, past mayor of Milledgeville, State Senator and Secretary of the Georgia Senate.

However in May 1871, he attempted to shoot John R. Strother, but a bystander pushed his shotgun upward as he fired, causing him to miss Strother. There appeared to be a war between the two men, for on July 3, 1871, Strother shot Kenan in the back on Hancock Street, killing Kenan. Motives for the shootings were unclear, but Strother had recently married Kenan’s father’s widow, Sarah Kenan. Strother escaped justice by being shipped out of town, by train, concealed in a crate.

Sarah Kenan (Kenan's father's widow and Strother's wife) died in 1874 at the age of 30; her grave is unmarked.

That was not the last of Strother. He met a violent death when he was shot down in 1888 in Louisiana after he taunted a man about the man's pregnant wife, who Strother said was carrying Strother's baby.

Side: West, Section: H