Robert Crouch Kinney (July 4, 1813 – March 2, 1875) was an American businessman and politician in what became the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. A native of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, he helped found Muscatine, Iowa, before crossing the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

and settling in what became Oregon. In Oregon he was a prominent businessman in the milling business and served in the

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Represent ...

before being a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention.

Early life

Robert Kinney was born on July 4, 1813, in the town of Belleville in St. Clair County, Illinois, near

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 135. His parents were Samuel and Polly (née Gibbons) Kinney, both from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Robert’s uncle was William Kinney, who served as Lieutenant Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830. Robert Kinney was raised in Illinois where he received an education in the common schools of Springfield. In 1833, he married Eliza Bigelow, and the couple had eleven children, with eight living to adulthood. The eight children were Mary Jane, Albert William (married daughter of William T. Newby), Augustus Crouch, Marshall Johnson, Eliza Lee, Alfred Coleman, Josephine Elarena, and William Sylvester.Bancroft, Hubert Howe, and Mrs. Frances Auretta Fuller Barrett Victor
History of Oregon.
Vol. 1. San Francisco: History Co, 1886. p. 633. The year they were married the couple moved to what became

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, where they helped found the town of Bloomington (now Muscatine) along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Kinney built a hotel along with a wharf, and operated a boat from the town downriver to St. Louis. Later he entered the milling business, running a sawmill and flourmill, while also

reading law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship u ...

under judge Serranus Clinton Hastings, though he never practiced law.

Oregon

Kinney and his family, including brother Samuel, headed west overland on the

in 1847 in a wagon train that included Joel Palmer. He settled on a land claim in the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

in the Yamhill District near Lafayette. The next year the region became the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

and in 1850 the Donation Land Act secured title for the settlers on their land claims. Kinney farmed his land claim in the Chehalem Valley and raised orchards. Kinney left Oregon for the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

in 1848, but returned the next year without having gained a large fortune.Gaston, Joseph. 1911
Portland, Oregon, its history and builders: in connection with the antecedent explorations, discoveries, and movements of the pioneers that selected the site for the great city of the Pacific
Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Vol. III. pp. 414-417. After farming for ten years he moved to McMinnville in 1858 where he purchased the flour mill of town founder William Newby in 1859. Kinney expanded his business by buying the Brooklyn flour mill in Portland in 1862, followed by buying into the wool mill owned in part by

Daniel Waldo Daniel Waldo (September 10, 1762 – July 30, 1864) was an American clergyman, born in Windham, Connecticut. He served in the American Revolutionary War and later became a missionary and clergyman. In 1856 at age 94, Waldo was named Chaplai ...

in Salem in 1868. He moved the family to Salem and began running the flour mill part of the business, the Salem Milling Company. The company expanded and opened branch offices in San Francisco, Portland, and England, and at one time milled a quarter of all of the grain crops in the state. The company also was the first to ship flour from Portland to Liverpool in England, along with several other ports around the world.

Political career

In 1849, Kinney was elected to represent Yamhill County in the first Territorial Legislature. After taking the 1850 session off, he returned in 1851 to again represent Yamhill County. In 1857, he was elected as a delegate for Yamhill County to the Oregon Constitutional Convention. Held in Salem in September and October, the convention creating the first Oregon Constitution and paved the way for Oregon’s entry into the Union. Kinney was a free stater and Anti-Democrat in philosophy, and he voted against the adoption of the constitution, though the convention did adopt the document and Oregon became a state in 1859.

Later life

Some of Kinney’s sons became partners in the milling business, including Marshall as manager of the San Francisco office. Kinney also entered the livestock business and had an extensive ranch in Eastern Oregon near Heppner where he raised sheep. Robert Crouch Kinney died in Salem on March 2, 1875, at the age of 61 and was buried at the

Salem Pioneer Cemetery Salem Pioneer Cemetery (also known as the Oddfellows, I.O.O.F. Cemetery or Oddfellows Cemetery) is a cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States. It has been listed as a National Register of Historic Places since 2013, under the name Odd Fellows Ru ...

References

External links

History of Muscatine County, IowaKinney, Robert Couch
– History of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Washington
Newsletter and Journal of the Yamhill County Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinney, Robert Crouch 1875 deaths 1813 births People from Belleville, Illinois People from McMinnville, Oregon Politicians from Salem, Oregon People from Muscatine, Iowa Burials at Salem Pioneer Cemetery Businesspeople from Oregon Members of the Oregon Constitutional Convention Members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon pioneers People from Heppner, Oregon 19th-century American businesspeople