George Rufus Kenamore

George Rufus Kenamore (1846-1928) was an American merchant, politician and government employee in Missouri during the late 19th century.

Kenamore was born in Maury County, Tennessee, on January 19, 1846, to Grant Allen Kenamore of Tennessee and Emily Frances Kenamore or Emily London of North Carolina. The family moved to Dent County, Missouri, about 1856 and lived for a time a mile north of Salem, to which they relocated in 1857.

He was educated in the common schools of Salem and at the age of 16 he enlisted in Company D of the 48th Missouri Infantry Volunteers and served throughout the Civil War, after which Missouri Governor Thomas C. Fletcher appointed him captain of a local company of the state militia. He was later promoted to have charge of twenty counties in Southern Missouri. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "Democratic politicians were surprised" by the appointment because few of them knew Kenamore, and "they lay his appointment entirely to the influence of Senator Frank Ferris of Crawford County." The newspaper said that brewers had vowed to fight a new law which placed them under regulation of state tax authorities.

The Post-Dispatch said that Kenamore "expects opposition, but says he will carry to contest to the highest court if necessary to decide the validity of the law," adding that "He is past middle age, wears chin whiskers and looks a good deal like a well-to-do farmer."

Kenamore's position ended when newly elected Governor Alexander Monroe Dockery withdrew the earlier governor's nomination, which had never been approved by the State legislature.

In 1909 Kenamore applied to Governor Lon Vest Stephens for appointment as the Democratic member of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners.

Family life

George Rufus Kenamore and Emma Creager Henthorne were married on December 23, 1873, and to them were born Rufus Clair, Charles, and Don.

After his death, his surviving sons, Rufus Clair and Charles, gave a family collection of books and an heirloom bookcase to the public library in a new community building in Salem.