Episode 5

The following is Episode 5 of 8 written in the summer of 1995 and shared with our three daughters, to begin sharing with them our ancestors stories. We have shared many stories in the meantime, and regularly keep them up to date on our research.

I am posting each of these stories here in order to demonstrate what can be done, and, to make the information available to interested others. PLEASE NOTE: these have not been edited and updated for new information, so if you read this, take the information WITH THAT IN MIND! Thanks! Enjoy reading this slice of our lives.

Episode 5

The Kinnick Gap

The Kinnick Genealogy book was written in 1953 (including Billy and Jimmy Smith on page 323). We grew up hearing such things as "All Kinnicks are related. Why would you want to do genealogy work on the Kinnicks...it's already been done. We ARE related to Nile Kinnick; of course we are, his dad sent Buzzy a letter about it!"
On May 25, 1995, during our housesitting for Annette and Larry, while they were in Australia and New Zealand for their honeymoon, we visited Franklin, IN, and the home library of Nettie Edna Kinnick Waggener who wrote "The Kinnick Family: A Genealogical History of the Kinnick Family of America. Descendants of John Kinnick and Ann Kinnick of Davie County, North Carolina." We made copies of additional pages of the book to get a better perspective on what the book really said about the family. Previously, we only had copies of the pages listing our own family.
The first thing I noted was the organization of the book (after the real name, of course). The first generation reported was William and Sarah Kinnick and their family, first found in Maryland in 1775, but having originated in Holland, presumably (more on this later). William died in 1785. In 1795, their son, John, sold his land in Maryland and moved to North Carolina. Since the book is written by and about the descendants of John and his wife, Ann, the rest of the book is mostly about them.
There are a few pages about the family of William and Sarah with only passing mention of the brothers and sisters of John. It then goes into great detail about John's children, a full chapter each. John had four brothers and three sisters. The only mention of his brother Joseph is as a next of kin in the estate records of William Kinnick in 1786 (I am attempting to get a copy of those records from the Maryland archives).
John and Ann had seven children. Their stories run from page 8 thru page 321. The youngest child, Polly, married an Etchison. Their descendants are briefly described on pages 317 to 321. At the bottom of page 321 is the following heading (with no other lead or description):

THE PENNSYLVANIA BRANCH
WALTER W. AND SUSAN______ KINNICK, HOLLAND DUTCH

This family settled first in Pennsylvania; moved to Belmont County, Ohio; Buda, Illinois and Iowa.

The next three pages are our family listings (copies attached), later noted as being provided by members of the family. Out in the middle of the family listing is the following statement:

"P.S. -- It is my opinion [referring to the author of the book], after careful research, that this family is descended from Joseph Kinnick, the son of William I. and his wife Sarah, and was a brother of our John Kinnick I; these names appear in the same family as you will see by the record and it is probable that Joseph left Maryland and settled in Pennsylvania, while John migrated to North Carolina from Maryland."

It is true there is a Joseph, a fairly common name, in each of the first two generations reported for "our family." That is, a brother and an uncle of Alonzo (father of Paul Harold Kinnick). There is absolutely no substantiating data to support the above claim!! She reports nothing under the first generation about her Joseph; she doesn't know what happened to him. I believe she "wanted" this to be so, and grasped onto the name similarity for her assertion, and nothing else.
This is where the gap is. Who is the next ancestor back from Walter W., father of Walter Watson, father of Alonzo? Is that person (her) Joseph, a son of Joseph, or someone else entirely? This is the challenge.
Recall her assertion that the first recorded Kinnick in the United States, according to her (over twenty years of) research as of 1953, was her ancestor William in 1775 in Maryland. In just two library visits of fairly casual checking of some new information indexed between 1986 and 1995, I have found one Kinnick and two Kennicks (a name used by her relatives in colonial days, sometimes) who arrived on our shores before 1775; as well as another Wm. Kinnick who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1786. There is much work yet to be done.
1. A William Kennick went from England to Barbados in 1695. Unlikely to be a relative, but needs to be recognized.
2. A Robert Kinnick appears on a list of indentured servants shipped from London to Maryland in 1728 (Robert is the name of one of Paul's brothers).
3. A John Kennick is listed as a Bonded Passenger to America in 1763. The book with the detailed listing is in Iowa City (and probably some other places). I haven't seen it yet. It may or may not have more detailed information. (see detailed listing information in attachment).
There are additional passenger list indexes that I have not yet checked. These early results seem to make checking them worth while!
I have attempted to systematically examine the census indexes for the states where Kinnicks might have been (including Kennick and other near variations). For instance, Pennsylvania for 1790 (the first census), 1800, 1810, 1820 and 1830 list no Kinnicks (or Kennicks). The 1840 Pennsylania census has a John Kennick. The codes for that year indicate a male age 80-90 and a female age 70-80 in the household. This would make him born 1750-60. Doesn't seem useful now, but, as always, we store the information for future reference. Mom found the details for this one on the census tape down at Iola, KS, library. There was also an 1840 notation of a Francis P. Kennik. We have not had a chance to check that tape. The census information itself is on microfilm. Each year has different information. Indexes have been prepared for most tapes, for most states, for most counties. Libraries may have an index, a tape, neither, or both, for what you are looking for at any particular time. Finding and reading any particular tape is a challenge in itself (samples attached).
I have checked the Ohio census records 1790, 1800, and 1810, finding no Kinnicks or Kennicks. Also, nothing in an index to Ohio Tax Lists for 1800-1810. These should show if real estate property taxes were paid. If they did not own land, of course, they would pay no tax.
The K.G. (Kinnick Genealogy) lists the birth of Walter Watson Kinnick as 11 Oct 1840 in Belmont County, Ohio. We can assume this came from family records. I have written to Belmont County for a record of his birth, but they only have birth records from 1867. Many states (and counties) did not start keeping records of birth until the federal requirements about 1875. We have found confirmation in the census records, however, for Bureau County (Town of Dover), Illinois, for 1850 and 1860. The 1850 census shows Walter (the father, age 41, born in Maryland), Susan (age 41, born in Penn), Mary E. (15), Sarah A. (14), John S. (13), Joseph (12), Walter (10 - born 1840!), Catherine (8), Jacob (4), Margaret (3/12). The children were all born in Ohio, it says, except we cannot read whether the birthplace for the last two is Ohio or Illinois. The 1860 census shows only some of the children, living at a Carrington household: Joseph (22 - with a wife, Amelia, 22, it appears), Walter (20, again confirming the 1840 birth date), Jacob (14), Margaret (10), Susan (8), Evelina (6), and Mary S (4). There is no mention of the parents in 1860. We would like to find them. Mary E. is not included (she would have been 25, probably married); note she was not listed in the K.G. at all. Sarah A. would have been 24, probably already married to Thomas Richmond, need to check that. John S. is not there, he would be 23, K.G. says he was killed in action in Civil War, we should be able to find military record on him, eventually (Walter Watson Kinnick's gravestone says he was a "Veteran 61-65" so he also served in the Civil War - more checking to do). Catherine would be 18, is not mentioned, might already be married to William Fletcher, need to check that...lots of things to check! It is interesting to note that Evelina (6) and Mary S.(4) are not included in the K.G.!
We have learned from the above where the older Walter was born, Maryland, and that it was about 1809 (41 in 1850), same year for his wife, Susan, but she was born in Pennsylvania. This information was not available from the K.G.! So much for "careful research" by the K.G. author...she didn't check anything, in my opinion. She just reported what she was given on this family.
There are no Kinnicks listed in the 1830 or 1840 census for Belmont County, Ohio. I have not yet found an 1820 index for Ohio. In 1840, elsewhere in Ohio, there was a Samuel Kennick. Noted.
Some summary comments on the Kinnick information at this date would be in order. While the K.G. is an excellent resource, we want to check as much as possible with original records, in addition to finding new information. There are many discrepancies, of various sizes, already. For instance. Eileen Kinnick's birthdate is listed as 14 Oct 1918 in K.G. - it is actually 14 Dec 1918, of course. Fanny Alice Kinnick is shown in K.G. as d. May 4, 1894. Her gravestone says May 26, 1894. Which would you believe? Another has Nora E. b. Jan 2, 1866 and d. Feb 2, 1866. The gravestone says b. Jan 4, 1866 and d. Feb 10, 1866!! The wife of Walter Watson was Mary Estella Symonds. The K.G. lists her b. Aug 8, 1841 and d. Jan 8, 1909. Her gravestone, beside Walter, in Hopeland Cemetery near Buda, Illinois, says b. Aug 8, 1843 and d. Jan 7, 1909. The other grave we found was John and the information matched!
Note: Buda, IL, is 12 miles west and 2 miles south of Princeton. Princeton is about 25 to 30 miles east of Cambridge where the George F.H. Wilsons lived (about 13 to 18 miles from Buda). I'll send a map with Episode 6 on the Wilson's. Norman lived in Cambridge from about age 6, in 1850, until sometime after he finished his Civil War service in about 1864. He was in Prairie City, Iowa, by 1870.
Walter and Mary Kinnick (at age 23 and 24) were living in Buda, IL, when their first child, Joseph, was born. Between Dec, 1868, when Margaret Ann was born in Buda and Nov, 1870, when Alonzo was born in Stuart, Iowa, they had obviously moved to Iowa. Alonzo's obituary states, "in his infancy, his parents moved to Illinois where Alonzo remained until 17 years of age when he returned to Iowa with his uncle, A.O. Vanaken." Note, however, according to the K.G., that Alonzo's next younger brother was born in Sept, 1972, in Mendon, Missouri, not Illinois. The rest of the children were born in Buda. More mysteries. Wouldn't it be interesting to trace all the descendants of all these two generations listed on page 322. The hunt is on.


Families are Forever! ;-)