JOSEPH RICHMOND KINNEY, (1860 - 1931): My great great grandfather took his middle name from his grandmother, Priscilla Richmond. Joseph was born on Nov. 9, 1860, at West Point in St. Albins Twp. in Hancock Co., Illinois. This is recorded in the Kinney family Bible. He was the son of Lavalette and Jane Kinney. He was one of about 9 children. The family moved away from Illinois in about 1871, first to Richardson Co., Nebraska, then to Mitchell Co., Kansas in 1874. Lavalette Kinney bought land in Salt Creek Twp. Joseph married Etta Imogene Summers on Aug. 17, 1884 in Bloomfield Twp. at the house of Etta's father, the fascinating James H. Summers. This information comes from their marriage license. Their first child was Blanche Ionthe Kinney, born Sept. 20, 1885 in Beloit. Their second child was Opal Gladys Kinney, born May 31, 1888 in Beloit. By the birth of my great grandmother, Hallie Pearl Kinney, in 1890, the family was living at Inland, Clay Co., Nebraska. I have a photo of the family from this time taken at Hastings, Nebraska. A son was also born at Inland, Clair Richmond Kinney, on Jan. 31, 1892. Then the family was back in Beloit for the birth of their next son, Paul Vernon Kinney, on Oct. 22, 1894. As something of a mystery their son, Clair, died. Any records of this I can find say that he died on May 20, 1895....in Scott's Bluff, Nebraska. Was the family living there or was Clair ill and sent to a hospital there? I just don't know. There is a fmaily story that Joseph worked for a time as an Indian agent...this may be legend. In any case Joseph's family shows up for the 1895 Kansas Census in Bloomfield Twp., minus Clair. At some point Blanche caught Typhoid, her grandfather Lavalette had died of it in 1894. It is said that all of Blanche's hair fell out, but she survived. Another son, Alford "Loraine" Kinney was born on Feb. 23, 1897 in Montana, Labette Co., Kansas. The family really did a lot of moving!!! I have a really nice portrait taken of the family in about 1899 in Beloit. Their last child born in Kansas was Myrtle Day Kinney, recorded in Beloit city records, born April 15, 1901. However she is recorded here as a boy! This comes from my cousin Carol Kinney who was sent this information from Beloit city records. In the 1900 census the family was living in Beloit. After Etta's father died in 1902, the family decided to leave Kansas for good. They and other Kinneys made the move to Chelan Co., Washington. They went to a place called Mission, shortly after renamed Cashmere, along the Wenatchee River. This is a place famous for it's apples. The family moved by wagon in 1903. Blanche married James C. Paton the next year. A really nice photo was taken in 1906 of Blanche and her husband, with Paul and Loraine, Etta and Myrtle Kinney holding a bouquet of flowers. Not long after the photo was taken, Myrtle was badly burned while playing with matches, and she died later that day. The next another strange tragedy occurred, when a niece of Etta's, Magarette Thompson, spent the summer with the family then committed suicide just before she was going to return to Kansas. In 1908 Joseph and Etta had their last child, Joseph "Roy" Kinney, on April 20, 1908. In the 1910 Census the family is recorded in Cashmere Precinct. In 1911 Hallie married Frederick C. Scaman at Joseph's house. Joseph had three brothers, William Marion Kinney, Warren Didamus Kinney and John Alva Kinney. William and Warren had come to Chelan Co. but John stayed in Beloit. In 1915, from a Beloit newspaper clipping, John and his wife traveled by car to Cashmere to take part in the apple harvest. They had to face snow on the roads coming back. During WWI Paul served in the Army and Loraine in the Navy on a submarine. The Cashmere Valley Record has a small news item about a "Reynear" Kinney on leave to visit his parents Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Kinney. It says that he was serving on one of Uncle Sam's Battleships, it must be Loraine. In the 1920 Census the name of the Precinct that the family lived in was Valley Precinct. It was in the 1920s that my grandmother knew her grandpa Joe. They played checkers. He spent his later years in carpentry and was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Joseph died suddenly on Oct. 13, 1931 of a stroke. He was buried in the Cashmere Cemetery. -Mark Vernon Seattle, WA