Roady Kenehan (1856-1927)

From "The Pinnacled Glory of the West: Cathedral of the Immaculate Concepcion." 1912.

   With an unusual first name that conjures up images of a rodeo bronco buster or cowboy, Roady Kenehan rose from humble origins in Dublin, Ireland to become a blacksmith, later immigrating to the United States in the 1870s to seek his fortune. After decades of service as a blacksmith, labor leader, and publisher, Kenehan became a prominent figure on the Colorado political stage during the early 20th century, serving terms as State Auditor and State Treasurer. 

   Roady Kenehan's intriguing life story begins in Rathdowney, Ireland, where he was born on May 1, 1856, a son of Thomas and Bridget Bacon Kenehan. His early education took place near the town of his birth and whilst still a child began to learn the art of blacksmithing and horseshoeing from his father, continuing in this line of work until his removal to the United States in 1873. Settling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kenehan recommenced with horseshoeing and is also recorded as "receiving military training as a member of the Fencibles of Pennsylvania", a military regiment primarily made up of men of Irish extraction. 

    Kenehan removed from Pennsylvania to North Dakota in 1879, settling here for a short time. In the following year, he relocated to Denver, Colorado where he would reside for the remainder of his life, continuing to ply his trade as a blacksmith. Within a few years of his resettlement, Kenehan began a lengthy connection with the Journeyman's International Horseshoer's Union of the United States and Canada, eventually serving as its secretary-treasurer for a number of years. He also held the position of editor and manager of the International Horseshoer's Monthly Magazine. Kenehan married in Denver in 1883 to Ms. Julia Casey (1865-1949), with whom he would have six children, who are listed as follows in order of their birth: Thomas Bernard (1884-1933), Ella E. (1886-1919), Katherine (1888-1973), Grace M. (1894-1990), Roady Jr. (1899-1935) and Martin J. (1902-1933). 

   Throughout the next two decades the hardworking Irish immigrant continued shoeing horses in Denver, at the shop of one John Murphy, and during this period was acknowledged by his fellow citizens as a prominent voice in labor circles in the city. An avowed Democrat, Kenehan had been active in the affairs of his party throughout the late 19th century, and his connections with Denver trade unions and labor groups later led him to be appointed as a member of the Colorado State Labor Board of Arbitration in 1897. Kenehan was later to serve as the President of the Denver County Board of Supervisors, this post being mentioned by the Silver Cliff Rustler as "being the most important office outside that of Mayor." 

  Kenehan was reappointed to the board of arbitration in 1899 and 1901, and in 1904 began his term on the Denver Board of Supervisors, subsequently serving until 1908. In that year he became the Democratic candidate for Colorado State Auditor, and newspapers throughout Colorado picked up on the nomination, many of which made note of Kenehan's unwavering honesty, work ethic, and character. Among these articles was a write-up in the October 23, 1908, Ouray Plain Dealer, which highlighted not only Kenehan's prior involvement in the Horseshoer's Union but also his political activities. The Plain Dealer noted that:

"Personally, Mr Kenehan is a man whose yea, yea, and nay, nay on a subject on which he is interested makes him well liked by all who know him. There is no hypocrisy, no double-dealing in his make up. He would not flatter himself on political lore, nor would he depend upon flattery for his daily sustenance. He leads in all matters and all subjects that are under discussion. What more could the voters of Colorado want? It would be hard to understand. Roady Kenehan is honest; no graft can get his O.K." 

Hard at work, Roady Kenehan pictured in the Montreal Tribune, Sept. 1, 1910.

    Kenehan's election as state auditor proved to be a story that could have been written by Horatio Alger, a story of a young boy from a lower-class background who, through hard work, fortitude, and personal honesty made good in his endeavors. The Montreal Tribune edition of September 1, 1910, relates further facts on Kenehan's ascension to the post of state auditor, noting that he had been hard at work shoeing horses an hour before his inauguration, and "took off his leather apron, washed his hands and went up to the state house." 

   Described as a "heavy set man close to sixty, with a genial merry eye" Kenehan proved to be a bulldog when it came to curbing the misuse of state funds, and within a few days of becoming auditor had taken steps to curb graft in the capital, finding that a "voucher for $165 from the state penitentiary for automobile tires" hadn't been properly used, and later found that no tires had been purchased at all. Upon further inspection, Kenehan later discovered that many state officials had undertaken "pleasant jaunts at the expense of the state" to various political conventions outside of Colorado, and, after locating an existing statute that would curtail these financial abuses, prevailed in his goal to end these "joy rides". The Montreal Tribune reported on Kenehan's watchful eye, and noted that many of these officials (including the state treasurer, game warden, and insurance commissioner) later "refunded the price to the state out of their own pocket." 

   Kenehan's term as auditor concluded early in 1911 and in November of that year was elected as Colorado State Treasurer, serving from 1911-12. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection as treasurer but was not out of the political spotlight for long, as he was later re-elected as state auditor in November 1912, defeating Republican candidate Charles Lackenby. 

                   From the Internation Horseshoer's Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, February 1902.

    During his second stint as state auditor Kenehan continued as the "watchdog" of Colorado's treasury department. In June of 1913, a report was published in the Telluride Daily Journal that Kenehan had exposed a "$40,000 illegal expenditure" by public officials in Huerfano County. These rebates discovered by Kenehan and his assistant (James Jirvan) had been given to various mining companies, as well as the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Co., the Denver and Rio Grande, and the Colorado and Southern Railroads. While still the incumbent auditor, Kenehan made another attempt at winning the post of state treasurer, but was unsuccessful, being defeated by Republican candidate Harry Mulnix in November 1914. 

   Roady Kenehan's second term as auditor concluded in early 1915 and two years later was sought out by then Secretary of War Newton Diehl Baker, who appointed him as a member of Colorado's district Draft Board #2, and also served as the board's president. In 1918 further honors were accorded to Kenehan when he was tapped to be the federal director of labor/employment for the state of Colorado, being named to this post by U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Wilson. Kenehan continued to be influential in Colorado politics until shortly before his death and was recorded in the Prescott Evening Courier as having been in a state of impaired health since June 1926. 

   Roady Kenehan died in Denver on January 5, 1927, at age 70, and was widely mourned throughout the state. Two weeks following his death, the Steamboat Springs Pilot offered up a picturesque obituary of the humble Irishman who had served Colorado so well as both auditor and treasurer, writing:

"Of all the men who have passed before the public gaze of political life the last 30 years in Colorado, Roady Kenehan, who died Wednesday, was the most unique. Illiterate, honest, big-hearted, stubborn, democratic, keen and bulldoggish, he combined them all and out of the combination God gave Colorado a MAN. No one who ever knew Roady ever forgot him. He was such an outstanding character that his image stayed put in the brains of those who had met him."

Roady Kenehan, from the International Horseshoer's Monthly, 1914.

Fort Elmo Land (1878-1927)

Portrait from the Annual Report of the Georgia Department of Education, 1915

   With a name that brings to mind a Sesame Street-themed amusement park, the humorously named Fort Elmo Land served as the Georgia State Superintendent of Education from 1925-1927 before his untimely death at age 49. I first discovered the name of Fort E. Land in my school library, listed in the Who Was Who In America, 1897-1942 edition. The brief biography allotted to him in said book amounted to just a few lines and ten years after his discovery, information on Mr. Land is still difficult to come by. 
   Fort Elmo Land was born in Twigg County, Georgia on June 30, 1878, being the son of Henry Freeman (a Confederate veteran) and Mona Land. He graduated from Emory College in Atlanta, Georgia in the class of 1901 and for two years served as a high school principal (1902-03.) Two years later he was appointed as  Superintendent of Schools for Cordele, Georgia, serving in this post until 1908. Land was later named to the superintendent position in the town schools of Sparks, Lyons, and Dawson, Georgia, serving at the latter from 1908-1912. 

  Land married on March 6, 1912, in Dawson, Georgia to Susie Barrows Gurr (1876-1950), and their union produced one son, Fort Elmo Land Jr. (1920-1945).  An officer with the U.S. Navy during WWII, Fort E. Land Jr. was killed in action in 1945 when the "Hellcat fighter" aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a training run.

Fort Elmo Land (and his misspelled name) from the Zodiac Yearbook from Emory College, 1901.

   Throughout his short life, Land was heavily invested in many aspects of Georgia's educational affairs, becoming the Georgia State Supervisor of Rural Schools in 1912. He served in that capacity for eight years, and soon after was named as State Director of Vocational Education, serving until 1925. In the 1924 election year, Land announced his candidacy for Georgia State Superintendent of Education. He was elected in November of that year, polling 156,807 votes, and assumed office in January 1925. During his tenure Land, in the position of state superintendent, sat on the boards of the Georgia Historical Commission, the State Geological Board, and "on the board of directors of numerous colleges and secondary schools in the state."

   Shortly before his death Land was sworn in for a second term as state superintendent and served as Georgia's chief educational officer until his death at age 49 on July 25, 1927. Newspapers of the time mention that Land developed a very serious illness during his tenure in office, and one in particular (the Oconee Enterprise) gives notice that his death was caused by "an illness of six weeks resulting from an attack of ptomaine poisoning". Shortly after his passing Land was interred at the Sunnyside Cemetery in the town of Cordele in Crisp County, Georgia. His wife Susie survived him by over two decades, dying in 1950 at age 74.
    Following his passing Fort E. Land was memorialized in the Enterprise as "winning the esteem and confidence in the communities he served", and had made "an unusually efficient record in civilian rehabilitation work of the federal and state departments of education." Land was further eulogized by Georgia's Governor Lamartine Hardman, who remarked:

"In the passing of Fort E. Land, state school superintendent, the state loses one of its foremost and highly respected citizens. He was one of the outstanding progressive spirits for the cause of education in Georgia, whose life was consecrated to this service. He was especially noted for his efforts in behalf of the common schools and in behalf of equalized education."

From the Atlanta Constitution, July 26, 1927.