Israel (Kenny) Kinney (1745 - 1820)

Born 6 Jan 1745 in Middleton, Essex, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Mehitable Wilkins — married 9 Oct 1794 in Middleton, Essex, Massachusetts

Died 5 Mar 1820 at age 75 in Maine [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Eugene Quigley [send private message]

Biography

The following comes from The Four Israels of Massachusetts [Israel Kenney] By Jeff Green (Revised 15 February 2006)[1]

Israel Kinney was born in Middleton, Essex, MA on January 6, 1745/46^[1], the only child of his unwed mother Rebeckah Perkins. He was raised in the home of his maternal grandmother and it's not known for sure whether his mother resided with them or not. But it does appear that she took an active part in raising him as he did name his first daughter Rebecca.

Israel wed Hannah Wilkins on September 18, 1864.^[2]

Rebeckah Perkins, the mother of Israel, died in Topsfield on May 15, 1774 "a middle aged woman". [R-04] According to her birthdate of Jan. 12, 1726/27 [R-04], she was 47 at the time of her death.

Israel and Hannah moved to Hollis, Hillsborough, NH sometime between August 1765 and September 1766. Their first child was stillborn in Middleton on August 19, 1765 [R-03] Their next two children were twins, born on September 19, 1766, and they were named Rebecca and Israel. They were most likely born in Hollis because I can find no record of their birth in Middleton.

Young Israel, III the male twin of Rebecca died in his bed on Feb 07, 1767 and this incident is recorded in the Middleton records. So this possibly could have occurred during a visit back home, as did the birth of their next child. On September 14, 1768, Hannah gave birth to a son they again named Israel. The next seven of their nine surviving children were evidently born in Hollis because they aren't registered in any other of the town records. They are, however, listed under the family if Israel and Hannah Kinney, with dates of birth, in the "History of the Town of Hollis New Hampshire" by Samuel T. Worcester.

On April 19, 1775, when his wife was four months pregnant with their son Moses, Israel Kenney and 91 other men, referred to as the Hollis Minute-Men, gathered on the Common in Hollis, NH and began their long march to Lexington to do battle with the British. He served in the 1st regiment of three New Hampshire Continental regiments, was in and out of battle till the end of the war, and is found to have fought in New York City, Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey.

In about 1805, Israel's son Moses Kenney and his wife of one year, Jennie Jane Knowlton, along with his sister Hannah and her husband, Solomon Blood, made settlement in the Knox Plantation in Hancock (now Waldo) County, Maine, just west of Belfast. Within the next ten years, several other brothers and sisters with their spouses joined them, as well as the widowed and aging Israel. It is here in the town records when Knox was incorporated on July 17, 1819 that Israel Kenney stated in his deposition that he was born January 6, 1745/46. [R-11] This statement and the Middleton birth record for Israel are irrefutable evidence linking this Israel to his birth mother, Rebeckah Perkins. On March 5, 1820, nine months after he gave this deposition, Israel Kenney passed away while living at the residence of his son Moses. He was 74.

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010). Middleton Births, Vol. 1, p. 32
2. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010). Middleton Marriages, Vol. 1, p. 91

Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Probate Record 1747, Middleton, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, Case Number: 15325, Note: page 1 of 8, Volume: Essex Cases 14000-15999, Page(s): 15325:1KENNEY, Israel

"Massachusetts, Marriages, 1695-1910," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FH1R-GBH : accessed 18 December 2014), Israel Kenny and Mehitable Wilkins, 09 Oct 1794; citing reference 195; FHL microfilm 877,468.