George H. Kinnaird

ESKEW, KINNAIRD, MUNDAY, YOUNG

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 8/27/2004 at 16:20:37

G. H. Kinnaird, a retired farmer residing in Union township, has made his home in Madison county for over fifty years and there are very few living in the county today whose arrival here antedates his. He was born in Kentucky on the 28th of May, 1842, a son of Joseph and Cornelia (Munday) Kinnaird, who were lifelong residents of the Bluegrass state. His paternal grandfather was from Virginia.

G. H. Kinnaird grew to manhood in his native state and there acquired a common school education. When in his twentieth year he drove across the country with a cousin to Madison county, Iowa, and found work here as a farm hand. On the 9th of August, 1862, however, he put aside all personal interests and enlisted at Winterset in Company H, Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain James E. Goolman and Colonel William Dewey. He participated in the battles of Pittman's Ferry and Milliken's Bend, and also took part in the siege of Vicksburg. He was then on detail duty as orderly, carrying dispatches. Having contracted typhoid fever, he was in the hospital at New Orleans for a month, but he was never wounded. He was mustered out in Harrisburg, Texas, on the 26th of July, 1865, and then returned to this county,-again working as a farm hand. After his marriage he purchased forty acres of land in Scott township and began its operation. When it came into his possession it was but little improved and there was no house of any sort on the place, but he erected a residence, in which the family resided until the spring of 1914. He added forty-five acres to the original tract and his industry, thrift and careful management enabled him to accumulate a competence. Since selling his land he has lived with his children, spending most of his time with a son in Scott township.

Mr. Kinnaird was twice married, his first union being with Miss Sarah Eskew, who was born in Kentucky. Her parents, however, were numbered among the early settlers of Scott township, this county, and the family name has long been an honored one here. She died leaving a son, Robert L., who is married and lives in Wyoming. Mr. Kinnaird chose as his second wife Miss Cynthia Young, who was born in Pennsylvania but was brought by her parents to this county when but two years old. She died in 1907, leaving three sons: James H., who is married and lives in Oregon; Joseph L., who is married and resides in Scott township; and C. A., a farmer of Winnebago county, Iowa, who is also married.

Mr. Kinnaird is a republican and for four terms held the office of township trustee. He was also school director and has always taken a great interest in the cause of public education. He has belonged to the United Brethren church since 1868 and his wife was also a member of that organization. He holds membership in Pitzer Post, No. 55, G. A. R., and is justly proud of the fact that in the time of his country's need he did not fail her. During the fifty years and more that he has resided in Madison county he has not only witnessed a great change and development but has also done his part in bringing them about, and he is justly held in high esteem by those who know him.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915”