KINCH: At the beginning of this chapter on Tignish history and in general terms relative to the Irish settlers who came here, we indicated that the Kinch family was German in origin. We mentioned as well that the German word Von, meaning son of, preceded it. Hence, it was known as Von Kinch in Germany. This fact is further corroborated as one peruses Kinch genealogical records. During the Protestant Reformation, under Martin Luther (1483 - 1546), principally in Northern Germany where the Kinchs are thought to have originated, we believe that since they were Roman Catholic they left Germany because of religious persecution. Although Catholics were likewise subjected to periods of religious persecution in Ireland under Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell, people like the Kinchs eventually found a more tolerable religious existence. It is said that the prefix Von was done away with after the Kinchs settled in Ireland. Quite often history records different versions of ones origins. Some are based on speculative or romanticized writings or oral history, while others are more factual in nature. There exists a report which states the existence of several versions about the origins of Kinchs on Prince Edward Island. All seem to corroborate the German origin of this family since the name Kinch does not sound very Irish. Thomas P. OConnors mother Catherine (nee) MacKie, tells a story based on family tradition that a German soldier named Von Kinch had deserted from the German Army and fled to Ireland. She further tells that he married there and that he or his descendants migrated to Prince Edward Island early in the eighteenth century. There was a Father Edwin Kinch, O.S.M. stationed at Emanuel Cathedral in South Africe in 1980 who, however, reported evidence which seems to contradict the German origin story. During a visit to Ireland he found that Kinch is the Isle of Man version of MacAonghouis or MacGuiness and is found mostly in the counties of Wicklow and Wexford. He also discovered that the Kinch coat of arms indicates they were military, which might be part of the basis of the deserter story. Sr. Rita Kinch quoted below had a grand-uncle named John born in Minnesota, and it appears that Father Edwin was a grandson of his. Sister Rita Kinch, C. S. M. (Congregation of St. Martha), born in Alma, P.E.I., daughter of Peter Kinch, postmaster at St. Louis, P.E.I., now retired in her nineties at the Mother House of Mount St. Marys in Charlottetown, describes a certain Lawrence Kinch living in Northern Ireland with five or six of his sons who witnessed the murder of a saintly priest in Belfast. The experience, she states, bothered them so much that they became Catholic and were consequently forced to emigrate. Three of them came to America, one to Bermuda and two to Canada to work on the Rideau Canal. One of these, named Lawrence, she continues, later came to Alma, P.E.I. There was another story told to Sister Rita years ago by Mary McNally, R. N., daughter of James Kinch of Kinchs Corner (also known as Tignish Corner). Her story claims that there were two different Kinch families. The Alma, P.E.I. branch of Kinchs, it states, was established when an Island woman went to work for a family in Ontario, later marrying the widowed father. His name was Kinch and they moved to the Alma area as the first of that line on Prince Edward Island. Meanwhile, the Kildare, P.E.I. Kinchs were supposedly not closely related. While it is supposed that these stories all contain some element of truth, one cannot vouch for their infallible accuracy. Based on Kinch genealogical records covering our area, the 1826 census of the province lists a Lawrence Kinch at Cascumpec, P.E.I. near Alberton. He is listed as being 40 years of age while his wife is 30 years old. The census also lists a William Kinch, 20 years old, who was probably Lawrences brother or son from a previous marriage. Kinch children listed were Anne 8, Ellen 6, and Lawrence 5 years old. Tignish church records indicate that Catherine, daughter of Lawrence and Julia, had married George Coughlin on May 14, 1849. She must have been born before the 1826 census. Early Kinch settlers in West Prince settled at three principal locations. These were at Horse Head (Waterford, P.E.I.), at Central Kildare and at Alma, P.E.I., halfway between Tignish and Elmsdale. At the apparent risk of being contradictory, since nothing seems certain at this time point, a report from a Kinch descendant states that five Kinch brothers landed at Cascumpec in the early nineteenth century and that three of them chose to settle in West Prince, while two moved on to the United States, remaining anonymous to us to this day. The three Kinch brothers who remained were Lawrence who settled at Alma, and James and Peter who, for opportunistic reasons, settled at Tignish, P.E.I. While James settled at Tignish Corner, which was also named Kinchs Corner after him having opened and operated a general store there, his brother Peter settled in the heart of the village where he became a carriage builder and undertaker. Tignish Corner is situated about a mile west of Tignish where the Haywood Road meets Highway Number Two. Although much more will be written about it in a future chapter, it was in Peter Kinchs carriage shed where a devastating fire occurred on August 30, 1896, destroying much of the Village of Tignish. This then represents the Alma-Tignish line of Kinchs, since we are again faced with different branches having the same name yet not bearing close relationship with one another. The story of the five brothers doubtlessly has a connection with the five sons referred to previously in Ireland. We are told that the line of Kinchs presently settled at Northport, P.E.I., near Alberton make up a different line, while the William Kinch line originating at Horse Head (Waterford, P.E.I.) represents yet another distinct and separate Kinch line. We shall treat here the story of the Lawrence, James, Peter and William Kinch lines, since their descendants figure significantly within the scope of this history. Lawrence Kinch Sr., born in Ireland in 1820, died September 24, 1872. His wife was Catherine AHearn, who had been born on Prince Edward Island in 1826. She passed away on April 30, 1900. Having settled at Alma, P.E.I. they raised the following children: Julia (b. 1844); Lawrence (Nov. 25, 1845 - Oct. 9, 1915); Joseph (Feb. 28, 1848 - 1905); Peter R. (1850 - Nov. 19, 1919); John (Aug. 27, 1853 - d. ??); William (April 2, 1856 - d.??); James W. (Nov. 22, 1857 - Oct 9, 1926); Mary Ellen (Sept. 19, 1860 - Jan 17, 1898); Catherine Teresa (1863 - probably died as an infant); and Catherine Teresa (Sept 15, 1866 - d. ??) When Lawrence Kinch Sr. settled at Alma with his wife he had about 50 acres of land and like so many early settlers lived in a log cabin there. He later built a home to replace it, which still stands today after his son Lawrence and his grandson Francis (Frank) dwelled in it. Today the latters daughter Margaret lives in this same home, renovated over the years on about 115 acres of land. Lawrences son, also named Lawrence, inherited the property. He was married to Elizabeth AHearn (May 15, 1853 - June 13, 1909). The following children were their offspring: Peter (Joseph) (b. Jan. 7, 1873); Michael (b. Dec. 15, 1874); Bernard (James) (b. Feb. 14, 1877); Augustine (b. Feb. 12, 1879); Lawrence (b. July 3, 1881 ??); (John) Daniel (b. July 18, 1883); (Benjamin) Fred (b. March 3, 1886); Francis (Xavier) (b. Dec 3, 1888); Mary (Beatrice) (b. Dec. 25, 1889); (Mary) Loretta (b. May 26, 1892); Benedict (b. July 7, 1894). The children went by the names which do not appear in brackets. Lawrence Kinch Jrs son Francis (Frank)(Dec. 3, 1888 - Aug. 19, 1980) then became property owner of the original Kinch land at Alma. Frank was married to Lucy Callaghan (Aug. 11, 1893 - Aug. 1957). They raised a family of ten children, namely Elmer (Nov 1, 1915 - 1960) who married Mary Harper, daughter of Howard Harper and Bernetta McIntyre. They had five children: Billy, Helen, Brian, Frank, and Cathy; Frances (b. Dec. 3, 1916) m. Alvin Rayner (Greenmount); Irene (b. July 28, 1918) m. George Obee (from England), Royal Canadian Navy, Halifax, N. S.; Michael Gregory (Feb. 17, 1920 - Sept. 1989) m. Edna Burns. Gregory and Ednas family consisted of Lorraine, James, Maureen, George, John, Leo and Rita. Having settled near Palmer Road Roman Catholic Church they had purchased the old Richard Noonan farm from Albert MacDonald, which consists of 91 acres where Edna lives today in a new home replacing the old Richard Noonan home destroyed by fire in 1995. Richard Noonan had donated land from his farm for the location of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Palmer Road, as well as for the graveyard and location of the school at Palmer Road. Frank Kinchs and Lucy Callaghans fifth child was named Evelyn (b. Jan 17, 1921). She married Herman Kennedy of Waterford, P.E.I. (see Kennedy). Their next child was Rita (Dec. 28, 1922 - 1955) who was celibate and died at Alma, P.E.I. Alice Patricia (b. March 17, 1926 - d. young) was then born to them, followed by Maurice (??) (Aug. 12, 1931 - 1996) who married Everett Kelly (July 14, 1927 - Nov. 14, 1984), who lives in her parents home at Alma, P.E.I. on a 115-acre farm. Finally, there is Joyce Kinch (b. Dec. 11, 1937) who married Ronald McKeigan. They live in Charlottetown and raised three daughters. We have digressed somewhat from listing Lawrence Sr.s children and must now write about three more of them, who were Mary Beatrice (b. Dec 25, 1889), Mary Loretta (b. May 26, 1892) and Benedict (b. July 7, 1894). Lawrence Kinch Sr. and Catherine AHearns third offspring was Joseph, as we have seen. His first wife was Ann AHearn (1853 - Feb 8, 1889). On July 29, 1890 he married Ellen Ready (1853 - 1936). The following children were born from the first union: William James (b. Oct 3, 1876); Nicholas (b. May 23, 1878); Catherine (b. March 17, 1880); Lawrence (b. May 1882); Peter Joseph (b. Aug 6, 1884). Peter Joe Kinch, postmaster at St. Louis, P.E.I. was married to Alice FitzGerald. They had four children, namely John, Bernard, Agnes and Rita (Muriel), Sisters of St. Martha. Bernadette Teresa (b. Oct 15, 1891) was the only child born from the second marriage. We shall now learn about Peter R. Kinch, Lawrence Kinch Sr.s fourth offspring. Peter was born in 1850 and died Nov. 19, 1919. He and his family lived in the center of Tignish Village where he became a carriage builder and undertaker. His renowned Kinch Sleigh became for many a prized possession. He was twice married, first to Bridget Kavanaugh (b. 1853 - d. Jan 25, 1883) and then on July 29, 1884 to Mary Ellen Murphy (1864 - 1952) of Lot Seven. Four children were born from the first marriage, namely Lawrence (b. Aug 22, 1877); Ellen (b. Dec. 2, 1878); Bridget Catherine (b. April 23, 1881), and Charles (b. Jan 15, 1883). From the second marriage there were Charles Wilfred (b. March 19, 1888); Bertha Mary (b. March 18, 1889), Gertrude (b. Aug 6, 1890); Lucinda (b. Dec. 11, 1891); Charles (b. Oct 14, ??), Peter Leo (b. Dec 31, 1894); Elizabeth Lea (b. Jan 30, 1896); John Henry (b. March 7, 1897); Mary Ethel (b. July 11, 1898) and Margaret (b. Oct 14, 1899). Meachams 1880 Atlas indicates that Peter Kinch had purchased Lot Number 37 when Tignish Village was laid out in l ots. It was situated at the corner of Phillips Cross (Phillip Street today) and Railway Street. It is presently the lot where James Boyles resides. Peter Kinchs house is long gone. His undertaking business here was carried on by his wife after his death in 1919. As has been mentioned, it was here where the Great Tignish Fire of August 30, 1896 began. All of the land at Tignish had once been owned by the Cunard absentee landowners. Having been forced to sell their lands by the government, much of at Tignish was bought by the Parish of St. Simon and St. Jude, which in turn sold it to the people. Based on maps, it was thus that Peter Kinch seems quite likely to have obtained his lot. It must be noted that Peter Kinch was likewise in possession of ten acres of land south and bordering Phillips Street once owned by J. (Jerry) E. Richard. It extended from Church Street where John Chaisson lives in a westerly direction to a brook separating Ben Peters property and that of the writer of these words. After Peter R. Kinch, there came his brother named John (b. August 27, 1853 - d. ??) On April 6, 1875 he married Elizabeth OBrien (b. 1853 - d. ??). Their children were Martin (b. July 27, 1875); Mary Ann (b. Dec. 4, 1876); Lawrence (b. Feb. 1879); Mary Ann (b. Feb. 1881, the second of that name. The first must have died young; George (b. Feb. 1883); John Herman (b. June 25, 1885); William Bennett (b. Aug. 22, 1887); James Leo (b. Oct 11, 1889), and Mary Honora (b. Aug. 23, 1892). John was followed by William (b. April 2, 1856). Since nothing else is known about him at present, we must presume that he died at an early age without issue. James W. Kinch (Nov 22, 1857 - Oct 9, 1926) is the next child born to Lawrence Kinch Sr. and Catherine AHearn. On October 9, 1883 he married Anastasia Ready (1855 - 1949). They bore the following children: Etta Ann (b. July 3, 1884); Catherine Zita (b. Feb. 14, 1886) who m. Clarence F. Morrissey, MLA; Charles Boromeo (Romey) (b. April 21, 1888); Mary (b. Oct. 1890) m. John McNally of Summerside, P.E.I.; James Guy (b. Oct 8, 1892) and Claude Morris (b. July 3, 1895) m. Anne Morrissey, sister of Clarence above. Shortly after their marriage James and Anastasia had purchased a home at Tignish Corner named Kinchs Corner after them, where they operated a general store carrying on a thriving business. Their youngest son Claude, who had served in the North Shore New Brunswick Army Corps as a signalman during World War I (1914 - 1918) took over his fathers business after working in Maine for a Canadian Railway. His father was in failing health at the time. The business folded during the time of the Great Depression of the late 1920s. On Nov. 9, 1920 Claude (1895 - Oct 17, 1960) married Anne Morrissey (1898 - 1992), daughter of Patrick Morrissey and Mary Anne Doyle. They raised the following children, including two sets of twins: Robert (Bobby) (1921 - 1944), killed in action in Second World War as signalman for the Royal Canadian Army New Brunswick North Shore Regiment, buried in the Bayeux, Normandy, France Commonwealth Cemetery; Jeanette (1923 - 1968), Sister of Service W.W.II; Paul (b. 1925) m. Thelma Gaudet, daughter of Peter (the Barber), Benny and Betty (twins, b. 1930); Barbara (b. 1931); Jimmy (b. 1933); David and Danny (twins, b. 1936); Mary (b. 1937 - d. six months); and Eugene (1940 - 1991). Three brothers married three Glace Bay, Cape Breton sisters. Benny married Winnie McInnis, Jimmy married Frances McInnis and David married Isabel McInnis. Betty is married to Albert Walsh and lives in Cardigan, P.E.I., Barbara married and lives in Durham, Ontario. Danny is celibate and works as a Roman Catholic Archdiocesan religious education consultant in Toronto. Eugene had married twice, first to Ernestine McDonald, daughter of Joe McDonald, Tignish C. N. R. station agent and Lottie Rossiter. His second wife was a niece of the three McInnis sisters listed, Sandra McInnis. After the Kinch general store closed at Kinchs Corner, Claude Kinchs family moved from there to the second floor of the present Tignish Post Office where Claude became caretaker of the building. The five youngest children were born here. The others were born at the Corner. Claude and his wife Anne were noted for their commitment to community affairs. Claude spearheaded the establishment of the Tignish Royal Canadian Legion and the construction of the War Memorial on land donated to the Legion by the nuns at Tignish Convent. He was also a noted Boy Scout Master at Tignish and worked towards establishing a first aid post for the village as well as organizing swimming lessons for the area. In 1953 he and his wife moved to Toronto. Their children had preceded them there and soon moved in with them. Both he and his wife died and are interred there. Claudes youngest sister Mary, who had once been a teacher at the Tignish Grammar School, then became a registered nurse for many years in Boston. Eventually she returned to the Island and married John McNally of Summerside, P.E.I. The moved to Kinchs Corner in 1940, living in the home of her birth, which she later largely altered and restored. They came with Lawrence, Johns son from his first marriage. Lawrence became a Tignish Village milkman, since the McNallys operated a farm there. He delivered milk daily by horse-drawn wagon and sleigh. Mary taught school again, this time at Harper Road, and continued nursing for a while in Boston. At present her home is owned by her nephew David and is the summer home of all the Kinchs, children of Claude and Anne and their children. Lawrence Kinch Sr.s next child, Claudes aunt, was Mary Ellen (b. Sept. 19, 1860 - d. Jan. 17, 1898). She married Peter McKenna (b. 1852) on August 26, 1879. They raised a family of ten children: Julia, Mark, Lawrence, James, Catherine, Joseph, Bridget, Peter, Mary Colette, and John Stanislaus. Lawrences last two children who had the same name were Catherine Teresa. The first was born March 12, 1863 and presumably died as an infant. The second was born Sept. 15, 1866. She married Andrew McLean. They had two children, Mary Viola (b. Dec. 13, 1889) and Mary Ethel (b. June 20, 1892). Before leaving Tignish Kinchs for the moment we shall relate that there was a Mrs. William Kinch from Kildare who lived on Main Street in Tignish with her daughter Carrie, who was bedridden most of her life with tuberculosis from which she succumbed like so many young girls at the time. Carrie made and sold greeting cards, one of which was given to this writer. Her mother was Margaret Handrahan, a sister of Mark, the late Gerald Handrahans father. Carrie and her mother lived in a house which was once the kitchen part of the Austin MacDonald property, where his daughter Kay MacDonald and Clare OShea reside today. Carries home is presently an apartment building. Our Kinch history takes us now to our final Kinch lineage emanating from Horse Head (Waterford, P.E.I.). In 1880 William Kinch is listed as owner of 60 acres of land at Waterford, P.E.I. The land bordered Northumberland Strait and on its opposite flank bordered Black Pond. T. B. Hall operated a saw mill on the opposite side of the pond. By 1928 or sometime before then the Kinch lands had been augmented to one hundred acres in total, under the name of Mrs. William Kinch. The elder Mrs. William Kinch had passed away in 1910 and this Mrs. Kinch was no doubt the daughter-in-law of the elder William Kinch, as we shall see. These lands today are owned and farmed by Alvin and his brother Norbert Shea. It is believed that William Kinch had been married at least three times. His obituary states that he died March 9, 1916 in his 79th year. He was a blacksmith by trade and it was he who forged the wrought iron cross which graces the steeple of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Palmer Road, P.E.I. William was born at Kildare, P.E.I. and moved to Waterford in about 1871. At the time of his death the following children survived him: Mrs. John Doyle of Skinners Pond, three sons - Thomas of Boston, Alphonsus (Faun) of Fort QuAppelle, Saskatchewan, and William at home. Also five step-daughters: Hanora Shea (Mrs. Joseph Aylward) of Pleasant View, Mary Ann Shea (Mrs. Allan MacDonald) of Waterford, Eva Shea (Mrs. J. N. Robertson) of New York; Margaret Shea (Mrs. W. Cormier) of Boston; and Georgina MacDonald (unmarried in 1916) of Boston. The Sheas were daughters of Michael Shea, whose widow William Kinch Sr. had married. Georgina was likely an offspring of one of his wives who was a MacDonald. Cormier is listed as Creamer, and J. N. Robertson as Frederick Robinson in another obituary relative to the family. William Sr.s wife was Mary Nelligan who passed away at Waterford, P.E.I. on November 20, 1910 in her 72nd year. She had been married to William for 50 years. Williams son of the same name inherited the property of his parents. He was married to Alice Aylward (April 25, 1884 - Dec. 15, 1959), daughter of Patrick Aylward and Margaret Kelly. She had been Albert Kennedys second wife. His first wife was Maud OHalloran from the Dock Road. They bore a family of four children who were Mary Margaret (b. 1907), (Joseph) Howard (b. June 21, 1909), Mary Hanora (b. 1913), and Joseph Albert (b. 1914). Little is known about the last two who presumably died young. Since William Jr.s mother had predeceased her husband, he was caring for his father in the old homestead at Waterford at the time of the latters death in 1916 and his four children were born before then. Their son Joseph Howard, born June 21, 1909 at Waterford, P.E.I., took over the inheritance of the property where he farmed and fished. During the winter months he was a stevedore on the docks at Halifax, N. S. His wife was Viola Doyle, born Nov. 20, 1912 at Skinners Pond, daughter of Joseph Doyle from Rocky Point, P.E.i. (See Doyle) and Ida Ready, also from Skinners Pond. Two children were born to them: Adrien (Dec. 19, 1935) and Mary (b. March 19, 1951). Mary is unmarried and resides in Toronto, while Adrien lives on Phillip Street with his wife Freda Hogan, daughter of Walter Hogan and Mary Gavin (See Hogan and Gavin). Adrien and Freda raised the following children: Blair (b. 1958) m. Eileen Gallant; Vera (b. 1959) m. Kenneth Richard; William (Billy) (b. 1960) m. Raeanne Handrahan; Bernice (b 1963) m. David Landry; Kenneth (Kenny, b. 1966) m. Karen Perry, and Stephanie (b. 1974) m. David Adams. Our Kinch treatise has carried us far afield as we have attempted to assemble the various branches making up their genealogical tree. Their history has taken us from the far reaches of northern Germany to Ireland, Cascumpec, Kildare, Alma, St. Louis, Palmer Road, Waterford, and Tignish, Prince Edward Island. Their name will doubtlessly be perpetuated at Tignish as the youngest of them here, Perry (b. 1993) and Matthew Kinch (b. 1995), both sons of Kenny Kinch and Karen Perry on Church Street, are on the threshold of their lifes journey.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 04:28:28 +0000
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