52 Ancestors: #5 Alonzo (Lon) Palmer Kinnick

52 Ancestors: #5 Alonzo (Lon) Palmer Kinnick

This year, Amy Johnson Crow has issues a new 52 weeks blogging challenge:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

on her No Story Too Small blog.


The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree.

My approach: I plan to make this a Tuesday Theme, and, use it to enhance my WikiTree ancestor profiles. That is, focus on a different ancestor on my WikiTree list of profiles, each week (include possibly adding new profiles), Great idea! Thanks to Randy Seaver's post for bringing this to my attention!

#5 Alonzo (Lon) Palmer Kinnick (1870-1923) is #12 on my Ancestor Name (Ahnentafel) List, and is my great-grandfather. He married #13 Margaret Jeanette (Nettie) Williams (1869-1936) my great-grandmother.
I am descended through:

* their son, #6 Paul Harold Kinnick (1892-1968), who married #7 Dorthea (Dorothy) Kristine (Christine) Sorensen (1887-1982), and
* their daughter, #3 Mary Eileen Kinnick (1918 - 1999), who married #2 Delbert Leverne (Pete) Smith (1915 - 1977), to
* me, #1 William Leverne Smith (1939- …)

This ancestor is a bit of an enigma (a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand).

It started with his place of birth. Whereas his parents lived "their entire lives" in Illinois, following the Civil War, they spent a couple of years in western Iowa and northern Missouri - a son born in each. Lon was born in Stuart, Adair County, Iowa on 2 Nov 1870. His brother, George Walter, was born 18 Sep 1872 in Mendon,  Missouri.

Then, at about age 18, Lon accompanied an uncle who was moving to Iowa and spent the rest of his life in and around Coon Rapids, Iowa (less than 25 miles from his place of birth).

He married Nettie Williams (he Dad was a mason and builder, as well as the ice man, in Coon Rapids) in nearby Carroll in 1891. They had five children, born in 1892, 1894, 1896, 1902, and 1908. The two sons and three daughters each lived long lives and had fine family and many grandchildren for the family.

The image, above is one of my favorites of Lon. It comes from my earlier post, with extensive information about Lon's later years. He loved his horses, he hated being ill. Eventually, he took his own life, far too early, at age 52.


Families are Forever! ;-)