The cemetery "Kennedy Burying Ground" is built with in the old ruins of the Thomas Kennedy's Fort (1811 - 1815), Wright City A settlers' stockaded fort with two blockhouses, located one mile east of town on Peruque Creek. It was dismantled after the war. Kennedy's Fort Description: A military post in the north-central part of Hickory Grove Township, one and a half miles southeast of Wright City. It was named for Major Thomas Kennedy, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, who settled in the township in 1808 or 1809 and built the fort in 1811 or 1812 to serve as protection against the Indians in the War of 1812. The fort was one of the most noted places of the period. Major Kennedy's experience as a leader made him a valuable man among the little group of settlers, and he planned well for their welfare and safety. He was a county judge and a member of the legislature.