<http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=33537726> Edward Prentiss Kinney
Birth: Apr. 30, 1839, Prattsburg, Steuben County, New York, USA
Death: Feb. 22, 1870, Burlington (now part of Longmont) Boulder County, Colorado, USA
Burial: Burlington Cemetery, Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado, USA
Edward Prentiss Kinney, a Civil War Union soldier, saw mill owner, Left Hand Ditch Company partner, and assistant postmaster of the Burlington Post Office.
Edward was the son of Norman Kinney and Melissa Prentiss. He served in Company A., 9th Kansas Calvary during the Civil War as a private, and was stationed along the borders of Kansas operating against guerrillas and conducting escort duty to Fort Union, New Mexico. Enlisted August 25, 1862 at Junction City, Kansas and mustered out May 19, 1865.
Twenty-five year old, Edward Kinney arrived in Burlington, Boulder County, Colorado in 1865 and quickly established himself as a young entrepenuer. On February 27, 1866 Edward P. Kinney along with partners Lorenzo Dwight, and Joseph J. Jamison founded the Left Hand Ditch Company filing articles of incorporation with the Boulder County Clerk & Recording Office.
Edward married Tryphena Baker sometime in 1866 and they settled on land near the Burlington Post Office.
Tryphena Baker, daughter of Thomas Boon Baker and Maria Ann Goodwin, grew up in Stephenson County, Illinois, and removed to Kansas with her mother Mariah Goodwin and step-father David Spurlock, settling in Valey Township, Linn County, Kansas in 1859. Seventeen year-old, Tryphena first married William Hutchins in Linn County, and they had one daughter named Emma Jane Hutchins, born in 1861.
Edward purchased the Left Hand Saw Mill, also known as the Williams Mill from John Williams in December of 1866. Parents Norman Kinney and Clarissa Prentiss purchased land a mile south of Edward and deeded the land to their daughter Mary Kinney, and son-in-law Lorenzo Dwight.
Edward P. Kinney served as assistant postmaster of the Burlington Post Office in 1870, located adjacent to the St. Vrain Creek near present day Highway 287 and Ken Pratt Boulevard. Early in January of 1870 four young men named, William DuBois, Perry Walker, Theodore Smith, and George Morris, robbed a stagecoach, stealing the mail the coach was carrying. Mr. Kinney was a key witness in the robbery identifying William DuBois. Mr. DuBois was released from jail due to lack of evidence, and quickly sought revenge for his six weeks spent in jail, which he claimed caused him a great financial loss.
On February 22, 1870 William DuBois encountered Edward P. Kinney and John H. Wells who were bringing in a lost horse from the Big Thompson area. Edward Kinney was sitting in the back end of the wagon, with his feet handing out behind, leading a colt which he had been after. William DuBois approached the men, stopped their wagon, demanding money for his loss of time in jail. Bill DuBois drew his revolver and shot twice at Kinney. The colt jumped back and pulled Kinney out of the wagon. Bill then rode back to where Ed. Kinney stood and commenced, shooting at him again-killing him.
A posse in Burlington was quickly rounded up tracking William DuBois to his father's farm near the entrance of Left Hand Canyon. William DuBois, a miner and farmer, was the eldest son of eleven children of Ebenezer Dubois and wife Sarah Ann Cahoon, and was one of the partners who established the Altona Town Company in 1861. The posse surrounded the house, negotiations were made with Mr. Dubois for his surrender, yet he emerged from the house, escaping in the dark on his horse. The posse fired inflicting a gunshot wound to both William and his horse. The search resumed the next day where the posse tracked the trail of blood and in a volley of gun-fire killed William DuBois on February 23rd.
This was one of the most infamous murders in the early days of Burlington.
Edward's wife Tryphena Baker married Sanford Hess Smith, son of James Monroe Smith and Lorinda Burton on July 31, 1870. They moved west and Tryphena died in Stanislaus County, California on July 7, 1909. Lorenzo Dwight, wife Mary Kinney, and parents Norman Kinney and Clarissa Prentiss removed to Mark West, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California.
Created by: Barbara Lewellen
Record added: Feb 04, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 33537726