Pioneer Sketches

The William Walter Kinnick Family Story

Compiled by William L. (Bill) Smith

William Walter Kinnick

William Walter Kinnick, was born to Joseph and Rachel Kinnick, on 15 Mar 1866, in Bureau County, Illinois. He was their third child and first son. In 1872, the family moved to Madison Co, Iowa. The family moved to Adair County, IA, in 1877. Joseph's pension file says they lived in Adair Co, IA, at Arbor Hill, as of 11 Nov 1885. During 1885, William Walter, then age 19, moved west to Park City, MT.

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The William Walter Kinnick Family - Stories - Details

Rachel Amelia KINNICK NICKERSON- Family Details
Guadelupe Margaret (Marge) KINNICK - Family Details
William Joseph (Woody) KINNICK - Family Details
John Porfirio KINNICK - Obituary - Family Details
Dorothy Elizabeth KINNICK ADAMS - Obituary - Family Details
- - George William Hurley - Sketch - Family Details
Thomas Jesse (Tom) KINNICK - Obituary - Family Detail
Edward Mark (Ed) KINNICK - Family Details
Fred Walter KINNICK - Family Details
George Alvin KINNICK - Family Details

Pictures of KINNICK Ladies and KINNICK Men - sons and daughters of this family.

The William Walter Kinnick Family - Stories

William Walter Kinnick, apparently moved to Mexico prior to the 1900 census. While there, he married Guadelupe (b. 1891, Mexico, non-resident on 1920 federal census Soundex). The 1920 census listed this family living on Northern Av, Yellowstone Co, MT, with children: Miquel A. (b. 1910, Mexico), Ratchel A. (b. 1912, Mexico-age 8), Guadelupe M., (b. 1912, Mexico-age 8), William J. (b. 1913, Mexico), (unlisted name)(b. 1905, TX), John, (b. 1916-age 3 1/2,MT), Dorothy (b. 1919-age 1/2, MT).

The following sketch is from page 282,
History of Park County, Montana 1984,
Published by Taylor Publishing Company:
{paragraph spacing added by compiler}

William Walter Kinnick

William was born in Illinois in 1865 to Joseph and Rachel Kinnick. He had three brothers, John, George and Ernest, who died as a young man and two sisters, Mary or "Mate" and Margaret - "Maggie."

Early in his life the family moved to Park City, Montana to a ranch that was centered in the now existing town of Park City. The ranch house, a two story building, is still standing and has had only one owner resident family since William's brother John owned it. In one bedroom is a 9 x 12 needle point rug made by Rachel Kinnick.

As a young man, William was married and had a baby daughter who died as a very small child. Later the marriage broke up and William left the family ranch and through the years worked as a railroad bridge contractor, traveling over much of the United States and into Mexico City, where he met and married Lupe Covarrubias, daughter of Amelia and Miguel Covarrubias, who was owner and editor of a newspaper in that city. William was forty two and Lupe nineteen at the time of their marriage. Their first child Mike {1910} was named after Lupe's father. Shortly after seeing Mike he died while still in his forties. Amelia died at the age of ninety six having never remarried. The couple spent the next ten years in Mexico and Texas still working as a rairoad bridge contractor. In years to come many interesting stories were told by Lupe to her children about those days and her own early childhood. After Mike came Rachel Amelia {1911} named for her two grandmothers, then Lupe Margaret {1912} and William Joseph {1913}. With four children the couple felt it was time to seek a more permanent home so they went back to the family ranch in Park City.

What an experience for a mother of four who could speak very little English and a mother-in-law who could not speak Spanish. One experience related was when Rachel gave Lupe a scrub brush to clean out a wash tub to bathe the children in and Lupe thought she was meant to scrub the children with it. She was crying when William came in to explain. Through the years left before Joseph and Rachel's death they came to love Lupe dearly and she them.

While working the ranch with his brother John for the following two years another son, John Porfirio was born {1916}, and shortly after came the death of Joseph {Sep 1917}. Some time after his death the ranch land was sold and Rachel continued to live in the family home with her son John and wife Elisabeth, their children were grown and married by then. William bought a hotel and livery stable in Huntley Project, north of Billings, Montana. Their sixth child, Dorothy Elisabeth {6Feb 1919} was born there. Two years later, missing the farmers life, William traded his holdings for a sheep ranch in Missouri which proved to be a financial disaster. After a year or so during which time Thomas Jesse {1922} was born, William threw in the towel and moved to Park County where the family lived on the ranch of his sister Maggie Edick and her husband Will. This ranch is now the Bob and Wanda Melin ranch on Mill Creek in Paradise Vally.

Next the Kinnick family homesteaded land that is now part of the Archie Allen ranch on Mill Creek. It was four miles to Upper Mill Creek School where the four older children finished out their eight grades of elementary school, and the younger six children went their whole eight years of elementary school. Edward Mark {1924} was born while on the Edick ranch. Fred Walter {1926} while on the homestead and George Alvin {1928} about half a mile east of the Upper Mill Creek School. William also homesteaded pasture land on Dailey's Mountain, two miles from Dailey's Lake.

With a crew of seven boys, William traded his land to Mark Edick for a saw mill he had purchased from Dick Amsk on Mill Creek. The Kininck brothers became well known in Park County as lumbermen. At this date Tom, Ed and Fred are still at it. Bill is retired and living in Santa Maria, California with wife Mary, where he still gets out wood and is known as "Willie Woodpecker."

Rachel raised three daughters with husband Virgil Nickeson in the Long Beach, California area. Lupe "Marge" Chase and husband Vern are living in Clarkston, Washington. John and wife Earlene live there also. Dorothy who is married to Joe Adams is still in the Paradise Valley. George, who is employed at the Burlington Northern shops and wife Carloee live in Livingston.

William died in 1946 at the age of eighty one and Lupe who had become Mrs. Philip Goetz died in 1976 at the age of eighty seven. Mike and wife Julia are also deceased. For further history on this family see Adams, Hurley, Wines and Franks.

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From the "Laurel Outlook," Wednesday, April 24, 1946, p. 8: under Park City News (thanks to Lyle Jones, Laurel, for copy):
W.W. KINNICK DIES IN LIVINGSTON; BURIAL AT PARK CITY SATURDAY
W. W. Kinnick, 80, who died Wednesday in Livingston of heart failure, was buried here Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock. He was a former resident of Park City.
He was stricken Wednesday and taken to a Livingston hospital where he died some hours later. Funeral service were conducted Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Pemberton Mortuary with Rev. J.O. Tammon officiating. Marian, Melvin and Ruth Derge provided music for the service. Pallbearers were C.A. Roark, Patrick Hamilton, Bert Okley, Joel Altimus and Estil Franks.
He was born in Iowa, moved to Kansas and came to Montana with his brother John while very young. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kinnick arrived here later and lived a number of years in Park City.

William Walter KINNICK, b. 1866,
--sp - Lilian UNKNOWN (1871)
--sp - Guadelupe Ramono COBVURRUBIS (1890)
Children of William Walter and Guadelupe KINNICK:

i. Miquel Angel (Mike) KINNICK (1909)
------sp - Julia SUTHERLAND (1913)
ii. Rachel Amelia KINNICK (1911)
------sp - Virgil Clark NICKERSON
------sp - Ed OLSON
iii. Guadelupe Margaret (Marge) KINNICK (1912)
------sp - Vernard (Verne) CHASE
------sp - LUND
------sp - James PARDEE
iv. William Joseph (Woody) KINNICK (1914)
------sp - UNKNOWN
------sp - Mary Evangeline SNEATH (1915)
v. infant KINNICK
vi. John Porfirio KINNICK (1917)
------sp - Earlene Delores LEFFINGWELL (1922)
vii. Dorthy Elizabeth KINNICK (1919)
------sp - William Wallace (Wallace) HURLEY
------sp - Joseph THomas (Joe) ADAMS (1912)
viii. Thomas Jesse (Tom) KINNICK (1921)
------sp - Margie EDWARDS
ix. Edward Mark (Ed) KINNICK (1924)
------sp - Mary WRIGHT
x. Fred Walter KINNICK (1926)
------sp - Geraldine CLENDENEN
xi. George Alvin KINNICK (1930)
------sp - Carolee PARKER

ii. Rachel Amelia KINNICK (1911)
------sp - Virgil Clark NICKERSON

Children of Rachel and Virgil NICKERSON:

i. Barbara NICKERSON, m. Kenneth HENDERSON
ii. Beverly NICKERSON, m. Ray ROSCOE
iii. Debra NICKERSON

iii. Guadelupe Margaret (Marge) KINNICK (1912)
------sp - Vernard (Verne) CHASE

Son of Verne and Marge CHASE:

i. Ronald CHASE, m. UNKNOWN

------sp - LUND

Children of Marge and ? LUND:

ii. John LUND, m. UNKNOWN
iii. Connie Doris LUND, m. UNKNOWN

------sp - James PARDEE

iv. William Joseph (Woody) KINNICK (1914)
------m1. UNKNOWN

Son of Woody and ? Kinnick:

i. William (Bill) MOORE, m. UNKNOWN

------m2. Mary Evangeline SNEATH (1915)

Children of Woody and Mary KINNICK:

ii. Mary Patrick (Pat) KINNICK, m. David RATH
iii. Frederick J. KINNICK, m1. Patsy MASON, m2. UNKNOWN
iv. Susan Diane KINNICK, m. Artie CHICINICUT

vi. John Porfirio KINNICK (1917)
------sp - Earlene Delores LEFFINGWELL (1922)

Children of John and Earlene KININCK:

i. Linda KINNICK, m1. Thomas Ray JENSEN, m2. Douglas DESCHAMPS
ii. Karen Kay KINNICK, m. Frank W. MORRISON

vii. Dorothy Elizabeth KINNICK (1919)
------sp - William Wallace (Wallace) HURLEY

Son of Wallace and Dorothy HURLEY:

i. George William HURLEY, m. Judi POULSEN

------sp - Joseph THomas (Joe) ADAMS (1912)

Children of Joe and Dorothy ADAMS:

ii. JoAnne ADAMS, m1. UNKNOWN, m2. UNKNOWN, m3. Michael TURNER
iii. Janet Lynn ADAMS, m. John FRANKS
iv. Judith Gail ADAMS, m1. WINES, m2. Mason ELVROM

viii. Thomas Jesse (Tom) KINNICK (1921)
------sp - Margie EDWARDS

Children of Tom and Margie KININCK:

i. Toby Lynn KINNICK
ii. Robert D. KINNICK, m. Sandra S. UNKNOWN
iii. Raymond T. KINNICK, m. Margie M. UNKNOWN

ix. Edward Mark (Ed) KINNICK (1924)
------sp - Mary WRIGHT

Children of Ed and Mary KINNICK:

i. John KINNICK
ii. Yvonne KINNICK
iii. Tom KINNICK
iv. Edward (Ed) KINNICK

x. Fred Walter KINNICK (1926)
------m1. Geraldine CLENDENEN

Children of Fred and Geraldine KINNICK:

i. Kathy Ann KINNICK, m. UNKNOWN
ii. Carol KINNICK, m. UNKNOWN

------m2. Jacqueline UNKNOWN

Son of Fed and Jacqueline KINNICK:

iii. Wally KINNICK, m. UNKNOWN

xi. George Alvin KINNICK (1930)
------sp - Carolee PARKER

Children of George and Carolee KINNICK:

i. Kathy Ann KINNICK
ii. Sandra KINNICK
iii. Michelle KINNICK

Joseph T. and Dorothy Adams

A Sketch from page 75,
History of Park County, Montana 1984,
Published by Taylor Publishing Company:

Joseph was born to Thomas B. and Della Adams in Springfield, Missouri, November 21, 1912. When Joe was about two they moved to the area of Doland, South Dakota. Joe entered first grade in a little school house near the farm. His family shared their home with the teacher who was Joe's first girl friend.
The family moved to Billings, Montana, when Joe was seven and spent one summer in Red Lodge. When Joe was ten the family moved to Livingston. Joe was in the fourth grade and went to school in the building that is now the Park County Museum. He continued on through high school freshman years. At age sixteen he went to work in the blacksmith department for the Northern Pacific Railroad.
In 1933 Joe joined the US Navy and was stationed on the battleship "Oklahoma," in the blacksmith-coppersmith foundry and welding shop. After four years he returned to he NP shops as a metalsmith and was a welder there. He continued in this capacity until the US entered World War II in 1942 and at that time re-enlisted as a metalsmith 1st class. He was stationed at the destroyer base in San Diego. Nine months later he went to the South Pacific as a welding instructor for eighteen months. He was then transferred to Pearl Harbor, then San Francisco and on to Mobile, Alabama. He was assigned to a new attack transport ship as a Chief Warrant Officer. After he was discharged in 1946 he returned to the NP shops. Soon after he and his parents bought the Ben Venable ranch in the Pine Creek area while continuing to work at the shops for another year.

On February 16, 1947, Joe and Dorothy were married.

Dorothy was born in Huntley, Montana, February 5, 1919. When she was a baby her parents William and Lupe Kinnick along with two sisters and three brothers moved by train to Missouri where another brother was born. When Dorothy was two the family came to Park County. Her first recollection was living in the house at the present Bob Melin ranch. The next twelve years were spent playing with her seven brothers and two sisters and other children in the Amsk, Melin, Fuller, Jordan, Counts, Keough and Jones families. She went to Upper Mill Creek School Dist. 42. Some teachers were Bessie Brockman, Edith Fodness, Viola Munro, Mrs. Clarence Bates and Lena Beley, whose folks owned the present Public Drug. When Dorothy was ten years old the family home burned to the ground on February 22nd. The family lived in a house on the Sandy Malcolm place (at the time belonged to Frank Wilson) until with the help of neighbors the home was rebuilt. At that time William Kinnick was working for Bert Goudy on Mill Creek flat.

Going to high school was a great challenge in those days as there were no school busses and not nearly as many automobiles. The depression was in full swing so Dorothy did housework and babysitting for the Harvey Cole family while going three years to school. She went to work at the OTO Dude Ranch where she met and married Wallace Hurley. A son, George William was born in 1938 in Long Beach, California. During the war the family lived in Long Beach and Hollywood. When the marriage broke up, Dorothy and Bill returned to Livingston. In 1947 she married Joe Adams.

They lived on a ranch across from the Pine Creek School. Joe and Dorothy had three daughters, JoAnne Adams of Seattle, Washington, Janet Lynn Franks of Livingston and Judith Gail Wines of West Boulder. All four children attended Pine Creek School with three graduating from Park High school and one from Clover Park High. They were all active in 4-H, with Joe as a 4-H leader. Joe was a Pine Creek School trustee for many years.

Joe and Dorothy leased the ranch to Bob and LuAnn Peterson in 1966 and moved to Livingston. Joe worked at Montana State College in Bozeman as a Welding instructor and at Midwest Welding in Bozeman.

For thirteen years from 1968 to 1981 Joe and Dorothy lived in Lakewood, Washington, where Joe worked as a pipe welder at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and then for the Clover Park Education Center as a welding instructor until his retirement in 1979. Dorothy worked for the food services of District 400 for awhile and was active in Lakewood Methodist Church and a Garden Club.

Joe and Dorothy sold the ranch to Bob Kamps in 1978, retaining twenty-one and a half acres. They later sold twenty acres to Max and Sue Berg and built their present home across from the Pine Creek School.

Joe does jewelry work in gold or silver. He also does some rifle work. He like hunting and fishing. Joe and Dorothy are active members of Pine Creek U.M.Church.

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From the Sketch of Thomas B. Adams, father of Joe Adams, p. 76.

They moved to South Dakota in about 1913... After about six years he sold out and moved to Billings, where he worked at the Northern Pacific Depot and spent a summer in Red Lodge where he worked as an armed guard during a coal miners' strike. Then they came on to Livingston in 1921 where he worked as a locomotive painter...
Tom retired from the railroad at the age of sixty-five. He and his eldest son, Joe, bought the Thomas B. Venable ranch in the Pine Creek area in 1947, and raised registered Angus cattle, hogs, etc. They also milked some good Brown Swiss cows.
Tom retired from ranching and leased his interest to his son Joe and moved to his last home, just past the Pine Creek turn-off. Joe bought his Dad's interest a few years later from his mother...
He (Tom) was active until his death in 1960 at seventy-four years... Della passes away in 1971 at the age of seveny-nine. She was a grand lady. They are both buried in the Shorthill Cemetery.

John Porfirio Kinnick

Obituary:

John P. Kinnick, 82, longtime of Clarkston (WA) resident, died of cancer Monday (29 Mar 1999) at the Tri-State Health and Rehabilitation Center in Clarkston. He was 82. He was born Jan. 29, 1917, to William and Guadalupe Covarrubler Kinnick at Park City, Montana. He married Earlene Leffingwell on Nov 16, 1940 in Livingston, Montana. They moved to Clarkston in 1951.

He worked for Potlatch Forests Inc., now Potlasch Corp., and the Snowcrop cannery. He also was a Fuller Brush representative and for a time owned a janitorial service.

Kinnick worked as a meat cutter at McPherson's Supermarket and later for the city of Clarkston. After retiring, he had a yard maintenance service until 1997. His wife died March 25, 1998.

He was a member of the Moose and Eagles lodges. He enjoyed working in his yard, dancing and being with family and friends.

Survivors include two daughters, Linda DesChamps of Salam, OR, and Kay Morrison of Los Cruces, NM; a son, Ron Loomis of Goldendale, WA; two sisters, Rachel Olson of Grants Pass, OR, and Marge Chase of Milton-Freewater, OR; two brothers, Fred Kinnick of LaGrange, OR, and George Kinnick of Livingston, MT; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at Merchant Funeral Home in Clarkston. Steve Huey and Marion Renfro will lead the service. The family suggests any memorials be given to Tri-State Home Health and Hospice at Clarkston or the Shriners Children's Hospital, P.O. Box 2472, Spokane 99210-2472.

George William Hurley

Sketch, page 262,
History of Park County, Montana 1984,
Published by Taylor Publishing Company:

Bill was born to William Wallace Hurley and Dorothy Kinnick Hurley in Long Beach, California, February 1, 1938. The first few years of Bill's life were spent in California and Montana as these were the hectic years of World War II and life was in a turmoil for nearly everyone, including this young boy.

After having lived in various places in Livingston, Dorothy married Joe Adams and Bill and his mother moved to the Adams ranch near Pine Creek. Growing up in the shadow of the Three Sisters mountain peaks was an experience that every young boy should enjoy. There were roundups, morning chores, haystacking in the summer and feeding the cattle in winter. But the key features of life on the Paradise Valley ranch were the Pine Creek School and the Pine Creek Church, which was the center of all social life for this community. Learning about life in a school yard and learning about mankind in the Sunday School at Pine Creek Church were highlights of a near ideal childhood.

Bill's profession of being an engineer was predicated fairly early. With his two best friends, Dwight and Gary Davis, sons of Reverend Ben Davis, who had cast envious eyes at Fox's bicycles built-for-two for rent in Livingston, decided to design and manufacture one of their own. Two old bicycle frames were put together with heavy steel pipes between the two frames to become a rather sturdy machine. There was only the problem of synchronizing the steering for this contraption. Demmonstrating that the spirit ws right but the education was lacking, Bill then designed a steering rod between the two front wheel but neglected to note that if one turned them a bit too far, the rod went past center and suddenly both wheels went in opposite directions. Gary and Bill rode this bicycle built-for-two many times between Pine Creek School and Pine Creek Church and enjoyed it immensely. On one memorable occasion, Gary and Dwight were riding the four wheeler between the Church and Mildred Smith's home. When approaching Pine Creek Bridge they turned the steering mechanism a little too far and both wheels went in opposite directions and both landed upside down in Pine Creek.

As time went by, the life of a ranch boy became a bit dull which led Bill to change his vocation from ranch boy to aspiring lumberjack with his uncles, the Kinnick Brothers. Bill worked with his Uncle Bill's sawmill at Big Creek, Deer Creek and on the Bozeman Hill. Life in one of these small portable sawmill camps was certainly the stuff that legends are made of. One started out setting chokers on logs and progressed to skidder and then riding the carriage on the sawmill. The mill was arranged such that behind the main saw where the boards came off was the edger. Uncle Ed was the sawyer for this operation and Uncle George operated the edger. The shifts were long and for a teenager somewhat boring. The noise was deafening and it became good fun to shout something unintelligible to Uncle George which, after awhile, turned to laughter between Bill and George which peaked the curiosity of Uncle Ed to the point where, after forty-five minutes of this soundless laughter, there was nothing for him to do but shut down the sawmill and ask what the heck was do darned funny. These are the things that thirty years later bring back many pleasant memories.

Finally Bill joined the U.S. Navy to "see the world." Fortunately, a good technical education came with his commitment. Most of this time was spent in the Mediterranean Sea area. Upon completion of his Navy work, Bill returned to the place of his birth, Southern California, and went to work for North American Aviation and entered the University of California.

Bill worked on fighter planes such as the F104 Starfighter and the Apollo Mission. In 1970 Bill married Judi Poulsen, from Concordia, Kansas and they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and now reside in Saratoga, California. In 1971 Gavin William was born and in 1975 they were blessed again with Geoffrey William.

Bill was in a business where overseas was the place to go to find contracts. This took him to nearly every place on earth which was a non-communist country. One of the most valuable assets during those times were the stories he could tell these people in foreign lands about his life on a Montana ranch. He and his family spent over a year living in Rome, Italy and traveling the European Countries.

Some vacations are spent in Paradise Valley with Grandma and Grandpa Adams, Aunt Janet and Uncle Johnnie Franks, Aunt Judy and Uncle Wally Wines on the Boulder River in an effort to instill in Gavin and Geoffrey the values that their father learned growing up on the Yellowstone.

Thomas Jesse Kinnick

Livingston Enterprise, Wed, July 21, 1993, p. 2:
Thomas J. Kinnick, 72, died Tues. evening July 20 at the Livingston Convalescent Center following a long illness. Arrangements are pending at Franzen-Davis-Bebee Mortuary.

Same Newspaper, July 22:

Thomas Jesse Kinnick, 72, long time Park county resident, died Tues. evening on July 20, 1993, at the Livingston Convalescent Center following a long illness. A time for visitation and viewing will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 22, 1993 at the Franzen-Davis-Bebee Chapel with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints officiating. Cremation will follow the services and graveside commital and burial of the cremated remains will take place at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, July 24 at Mountain View Cemetery.

He was born February 15, 1921 in Hilda, MO, the son of William K. and Guadalupe R. Kinnick. The family later came to the Livingston area. Mr. Kinnick was self employed for many years in the sawmill and lumber production business in the area. He was a member of Sgt. Tommy Ray Post #2154 of the VFW and Lodge #246, BPOE.

Survivors include his very close friend of many years, Pearl Ostrum of Livingston, two sons, Robert D. and Raymond T. Kinnick, both of Salt Lake City, Utah. Five brothers William J. Kinnick of Santa Maria, CA, John P. Kinnick of Clarkston, WA, Frederick W. Kinnick of Hermiston, OR, Edward M. Kinnick, south of Livingston and George A. of Burlington, IA; three sisters, Mrs. V.C. (Rachel) Nickerson of Grants Pass, OR, Mrs. Vern (Marge) Chase of Clarkston, WA, and Mrs. Joe (Dorothy) Adams of Pine Creek (South of Livingston). Eleven grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by a daughter, Toby Lynn Kinnick, and a brother, Michael Kinnick.

This page created 8 Mar 1998. Last updated 20 Aug 1999, by William L. (Bill) Smith.