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KINNEY came of a long-lived family. His father died at the ripe age of eighty-seven
years, and his mother, ninety-four years old, is still living. He was born January 29, 1838,
and his parents were Alonzo Nelson and Eliza (Sharpe) Kinney, his birthplace being
Wynants Kill, Rensselaer County, New York. He prepared for college at Burr and Burton
Seminary, Manchester, Vermont, and entered our Class in September, 1859.
In college, he was a member of the Lyceum of Natural History, of Mills Society, and
of Greylock Baseball Club; and was on the committee of arrangements for Biennial
Celebration. At the close of Sophomore year, Kinney left college for service in the Civil
War, and entered the volunteer infantry service September 2, 1862. He was appointed
regimental quartermaster of the 169th New York Volunteer Infantry, continued in service
nearly three years, and was honorably discharged from the service January 9, 1865. Very
shortly after leaving the army and returning to civil life, Mr. Kinney, in recognition of his
meritorious service in the war, received from Hon. Reuben E. Fenton, governor of the State
of New York, a commission as captain of the State National Guards. For a few years after
the war, Kinney resided in Albany, New York, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In
January, 1873, he removed to Peoria, Illinois, and engaged in the fire and life insurance
business, which continued to be his occupation, and in which he was successful, for
twenty-six years. Within a few years Kinney has returned to the region of his old home, and
now resides in Troy, New York. While in Peoria, he was for a number of years a member
of the National Blues of that city, an excellent military company which rendered efficient
service to the State upon several important occasions. He was also a member of a local post
of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Masonic fraternity, and of the Knights
Templar. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kinney and all their children were members of the First Congregational
Church in Peoria, and the father and mother belonged to, and were active workers in, the
various church societies.
On October 4, 1866, our classmate married Miss Charlotte E. Deforrest, daughter
of David Phillip and Hannah (Winne) Deforrest, of North Greenbush, Rensselaer County,
New York. They have had five children, all now living.
Garrett DeForrest, born 1868. He was graduated at the Peoria High School, and
spent one year in Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, when he left the university to enter
into business, and he is now with the wholesale drug house of Colburn, Birks and Company,
of Peoria, Illinois. He is married. He is also a trustee of one of the Illinois State
Institutions, by appointment of the governor, Richard Yates.
Anna Winne, born in 1870. A graduate of the Peoria public schools, with high rank,
and also, with honor, of the Pratt Institute, of Brooklyn, New York; and immediately after
was appointed teacher of manual training in the public schools of Newark, New Jersey. On
August 20, 1902, she was married to Mr. C. F. Langlas, principal of the manual training
department of the Newark (New Jersey) High School.
Alonzo Nelson, born in 1873. A graduate of the Peoria High School, and is a
bookkeeper in the Deering Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
Francis Ellsworth, born in 1875. Educated at the Peoria public schools, taking high
rank. In 1902, he married Miss Ada Louise Lape. He resides in North Greenbush, New
York, and is managing the Homestead farm.
Maude Van Alen, born in 1880. After going through the Peoria public schools, she
was graduated from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, and is now in charge of one of the
departments of the Normal and Collegiate Institute at Asheville, North Carolina.
Within the past year, on the 16th day of May, 1902, our classmate bade "good-by,"
for a while, to his wife. She was a rare, sweet woman, a consistent Christian, beloved by all
who knew her. Our sympathies are with our afflicted brother.
Source:
Class of Sixty-Three Williams College Fortieth Year Report, by
the Class Historian, Thomas Todd Printer, Boston, 1903
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