Former Xenia editor was respected area poet

His family moved to Springboro in 1840, when Kinney was 14.

Kinney attended school there and worked at several different jobs. He worked in a saw mill and a woolen mill, and he trained to be a cooper.

After high school, Kinney worked as a teacher at Ridgeville and Mount Holly. William H. Venable was one of his students, and they remained lifelong friends. Both were writers and poets.

While teaching, Kinney wrote poems in his spare time. His poems were published in magazines and newspapers.

In 1849, Kinney spent an evening listening to the rain on a shingle roof and thinking of lyrics. He wrote a poem the next day while walking from Spring Valley to Mt. Holly. The poem, “Rain on the Roof” was published in a Cincinnati newspaper, and became very popular.

Kinney married Hannah Kelly of Waynesville in 1851. They had three children, but his wife and children died very young.

He decided to attend Antioch College because Horace Mann was president of the college. Kinney followed this training by studying the law with Thomas Corwin of Lebanon and Judge William Lawrence of Logan County. He became a lawyer in Cincinnati for a time, but the lure of literature drew him back.

His first book of poetry was published in 1855.

Kinney decided to move to Xenia and became the editor of the Xenia News. He later became editor of the Xenia Torchlight, the predecessor of The Xenia Gazette. He was a newspaper man for 37 years.

During the Civil War, Kinney served as a paymaster and reached the rank of Colonel. In 1862, Kinney married Mary C. Allen of Xenia. They had three daughters, Myra, Lestra and Clara.

In 1881, Kinney was elected to represent the Fifth Ohio District in the State Senate. He was known for his strength and clearness in debate and for his eloquence.

The last seven years of Kinney’s life were devoted to writing. Two books: “Lyrics of the Ideal and Real” (1887) and “Mists of Fire, a Trilogy” (1899) were published during this time.

Kinney died on Jan. 24, 1904 in Cincinnati and was buried in Miami Cemetery in Corwin beside his first wife and their three children.

Contact this columnist at rdyoakam58@yahoo.com.