George Kinningham
circa 1863

	James Kinningham, b. 1883, with son James Robert.

George Kinningham lived in the mountains and hollows of Kentucky. He was born sometime in the 1800's and married Milly Jane Gambrel, of the Kentucky Gambrels. Together they had several children. A son named James Kinningham was born to them on August 8, 1883. Additional children pop up in researching George Kinningham, but with numerous conflicts (birth dates, counties of birth, residence, etc.), so I hesitate to mention them.

James Kinningham, son to George and Milly Jane, stood well over six feet tall. He was a very large and powerful man. He grew up to become a mountain man, like his father before him, and had quite a way with money, both earning it and investing it. By the time of his death, he had amassed a large amount of land in eastern Kentucky; however, which of his holdings was inherited/family land and which was land he independently acquired during his lifetime, I'm not sure. James, in order to cheat the tax man, put most of his property in his mother's name, with the understanding his wife and children would be seen to if he should pass on. Sadly, this would not be the case. James died unexpectedly on March 15, 1948, reportedly from a brain aneurysm. Soon after, his widow, Henrietta, was ordered from the family home and moved to DeWitt, Kentucky taking her children with her. In DeWitt, Henrietta would start over, raising James' children on a small farm, where she would open and run a general store. Henrietta would never remarry.

James Kinningham married Henrietta Francis Robinson late in life. Together they had four children: James Robert, Lonita Rae, Curtis and Billy Cecil. Sadly, all contact between James's surviving children and his own people was severed, except for one visit to Milly Jane Gambrel Kinningham's house, upon her request, by a very young Lonita Rae. This was the last known contact between the Kinningham family and James' children.

Lonita and James Robert would grow up in lower Stinking Creek, Kentucky, and would leave Kentucky as young adults. Years later, when asked about being a hillbilly, Lonita Rae, her accent full on, still laughs,"Nah, I ain't a Hillbilly. I'm a Hill William. We're better 'un those Billies."

I would love to trace this line back further, but find myself at a temporary impasse. A recent and lovely find for me was John Fetterman's "Stinking Creek; the Portrait of a Small Mountain Community in Appalachia." ISBN 0-525-47266-5. The introduction, by Harry M. Caudi, proved a strange case of deja vu, mentioning Appalachia, the "Resolutions of Separation' 1775, and the Battle of King's Mountain, all within the first paragraph. In any event, it was wonderful to find people, names and places that were known, on a first name basis, to members of my own family. Though, to be fair, a liberal bit of scoffing and rolled eyes were lavished about as well.

* Anyone with information about the Gambrels or Kinninghams, Stinking Creek or Kinningham Branch, please drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you.