Traveling alone, she later recalled that she did not speak to anyone until she arrived in Kansas and met her cousin, Mike Connell. No doubt the first thing she saw was the dusty, dry flatness of the town and prairie. Seventeen year old Bridget Kennedy stepped off the train in Newton, Kansas after a long exhausting journey that began in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. From the Prussian Mennonites to freed slaves, many families came to build homes and community. Tagged Harvey County Civil War Veterans, Harvey County Settlers, Henry Brunner “The Hardest Task in Life:” Bridget Kennedy FoxĮarly Harvey County was a melting pot of people and cultures. “A Surprising Past” Southwest Georgia Living, May/June 2013.