Needham Kennedy — Mathew W. Aldridge‘s father-in-law — just gets more and more interesting.

New Berne Weekly Journal, 17 January 1884.

and

New Bern Daily Journal, 9 April 1884.

How did this man, enslaved until 1865, own a steamer plying the Neuse River from Goldsboro down to New Bern??? And why has he left so little trace in the record? I’m on the hunt.

Here’s an article from a Raleigh newspaper announcing the Rough and Ready‘s arrival in North Carolina:

Star, 8 December 1847.

Stay tuned.