Kenton Harper
| Kenton Harper | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1801 Chambersburg, Pennsylvania |
| Died | December 25, 1867 (aged 65–66) Staunton, Virginia |
| Buried at | Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America Confederate States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army Confederate States Army
|
| Years of service | 1846–48 (USA) 1861–64 (CSA) |
| Rank |
 Captain (USA) Major General (Virginia militia) Brigadier General (Va. Provisional Army) Colonel (CSA) |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican–American War American Civil War |
Kenton Harper (1801 – December 25, 1867) was an American printer, soldier, town mayor, banker, newspaper editor, and legislator. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Mexican–American War and later as a Confederate general officer during the American Civil War. He also reportedly played a role in the nicknaming of Stonewall Jackson.
Harper was born in 1801 in the city of Chambersburg in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of George Kenton Harper, publisher of the Franklin County Repository newspaper, and his wife Nancy McClintock. During his youth Harper worked as a printer in Chambersburg. In 1823 he moved to Staunton, Virginia, and bought a local newspaper called the Republican Farmer. In time it would become known as the Staunton Spectator, which he would publish until 1849, and Harper began serving as a state legislator in 1836. Later he also served as the mayor of Staunton.
During the Mexican War, Harper was a captain in the 1st Virginia Infantry, commanding the volunteer company from Augusta County that served in the northern frontier of Mexico. However he never saw combat and returned home to muster out in August 1848. Harper then was appointed acting inspector general of his brigade, and later was the military governor of Parras in the Mexican state of Coahuila. From 1851 to 1852, he was the United States agent to the Chickasaws at Fort Washita in the Indian Territory. After the war, Harper served as the assistant U.S. Secretary of the Interior in Washington, D.C. He also was appointed president of a Staunton-area bank, and in 1860 Harper was appointed a major general in Virginia's state militia.
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