As D.C. gawked at MMA fights on White House lawn, I investigated my family’s American roots

The Ultimate Fighting Championship ring on the White House South Lawn on Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Cage fights on the White House lawn. Who would have ever suspected we would witness such a spectacle?

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, two distinctly different organizations are engaged in efforts to mark the occasion. A report from NBC News noted confusion over the difference between the two groups.

Freedom 250, created by President Trump at the beginning of his second term, has been focusing on events such as the UFC fight and the Great American State Fair, which remains up in the air after artists scheduled to perform backed out. America250, which Congress authorized 10 years ago, has billed itself as America’s Block Party, “working to engage every American in commemorating the 250th anniversary.”

Here in our state, organizations such as Humanities Kansas have aligned themselves with the latter approach, encouraging us all to become personally involved and connecting us with our folk heritage as conveyed through storytelling and other methods.

Back in 2004, when we commemorated the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of territorial Kansas, there were similar efforts to highlight our heritage as Kansans. As a way of personalizing this commemoration for “Sunflower Journeys,” I explored my own family’s history as representative of many who migrated here from places like Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

With the advent of the semiquincentennial, I decided to continue my efforts to learn more about my ancestors. Had they arrived on this continent by 1776? How far back could I trace them?

Yes, 250 years may sound like a long time, but it’s not that many generations. With the help of online search tools, I discovered (or so it seemed) that my fourth great grandfather, Travis Kendall, was born in colonial Virginia around 1772. He would have been a toddler at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

Unfortunately, I can find no documentation regarding his parentage. DNA testing suggests that his father could have been George Kendall, who served as a private in the Virginia State Line for the duration of the Revolutionary War, being cited for “outstanding coolness and bravery in battle under most trying and dangerous conditions.”

George’s father, William Kendall, Jr., also played an active role in the war, even though he turned 60 in 1777. He has been identified as a member of the mounted scouts of the Virginia militia — a group known as the Old Mountaineer Crack Shots.

If the line of descent proves valid, this branch of our family can be traced back to the 1660s in Virginia, when a couple of half-brothers came over together from England. Their lives were discussed in a 1947 publication entitled “The Storied Kendalls.”

“The Virginia Kendalls came direct from England,” the author writes. “There were two lines, one descended from Col. William Kendall and the other from his ‘Kinsman’ John Kendall.”

“Colonel William Kendall was a member of the House of Burgesses,” she continues. “He was long an officer of the Militia … and was sent … as one of the Virginia Commissioners to treat with the Five Nations.”

The “Five Nations” is a reference to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, which included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. These tribes came together under the “Great Law of Peace,” developing a constitution that to some extent influenced the U.S. Constitution.

To think that one of my ancestors actively engaged in communication with this highly regarded confederacy would be amazing.

Another genealogical publication provides more information on this Kendall and his brother John: “He and his half-brother … lived in the Colony of Jamestown.” John was identified as the manager of his brother’s business affairs.

As I have attempted to trace and verify this ancestry with my amateurish skills, I’ve followed it back to England. From Sir Lord William Miles Kendall, born in 1527, I can step all the way back to 1290, when Sir Jordan de Kendale was born.  The ancestry chart lists him as my 21st great grandfather.

This all seemed incredible, and now I believe it to be inaccurate. At least, that’s what I can best deduce. Perhaps more seasoned genealogists can find the errors of my way and help me out here.

It comes back to Travis Kendall — my fourth great grandfather, supposedly born in 1772. I think it’s well established that he really is my ancestor, but his origin story seems a bit sketchy.

He left no written accounts and I have found little written about him. The most reliable information appears to come from his grandson, Travis D. Kendall, a Methodist preacher — a circuit rider known as “the mountain poet of Kentucky.”

In “The Life and Anecdotes of T.D. Kendall,” he writes about his grandfather: “Travis Kendall was raised a bound boy near Fredericksburg, Virginia.”

The term “bound boy” appears to signify that he was something akin to an indentured servant or possibly served as an apprentice.  His labor was dedicated to another person’s interests in repayment of some sort of debt or obligation. This was fairly common here in the 1700s.

A document I found in the Immigrant Servants Database, made note of his “bound boy” status and also included reference to “a family legend involving the Kendalls.”

The story goes that a man by the name of Kirkendall came to the colonies from Ireland early on and bought a significant amount of land before returning to fetch his family.  He became ill and died before he could return, but his eldest son caught his father’s enthusiasm for a new life in a new land and made the crossing himself, seeking to reclaim the acreage his father purchased.

That’s as far as the “legend” goes except to say that after he arrived here, he dropped the first three letters of his last name, thenceforth identifying himself as a Kendall.

Why did he change his name?  Good question.

Reportedly, he brought the legal documents related to the land purchase with him, but perhaps he was unable to sufficiently prove ownership. Without any means of support or land to draw upon, it’s reasonable to assume that he bound himself to someone who had enough wealth to employ him. But that doesn’t explain the name change.

Could George Kendall or another member of the Kendall family have, in essence, adopted him? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just his choice to shorten his name.

This remains a mystery to me and it ends my current efforts to trace the family lineage since I have not been able to find any connections in Ireland.

In launching this project, I thought it would be a good way to flesh out our family’s history and make a meaningful contribution to the generations following mine. As it has turned out, it didn’t yield the results I had expected, and I couldn’t carry it as far back in time as I had hoped.

But it has provided some valuable information and I’ve learned a few things about early American history in the process. It’s been an intriguing journey and it’s one that anyone can take. Who knows what you might learn?

Wouldn’t you prefer to channel your energy into such an undertaking rather than dwelling on the aggravation spawned by the white-washing of our history by the current administration and all the spectacles designed to distract us?

Dave Kendall served as producer and host of the “Sunflower Journeys” series on public television for its first 27 seasons and continues to produce documentary videos through his own company, Prairie Hollow Productions. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.