Kinney, Wilson

Born in Ohio in 1847 and raised on a farm in Shelby County, Illinois, Wilson Kinney pursued various mercantile and mining enterprises across Missouri and Colorado before relocating to California in 1882. After farming near Kingston for five years, he acquired half a section of land in the Coalinga district, which he developed and farmed to grain for eight years.

In 1895, Kinney moved into the nascent town of Coalinga, where he constructed and operated the Grand Central Hotel and an accompanying livery stable for many years. Active in civic affairs, he served as a school trustee in the district and retired in Coalinga with his wife, Cynthia Field, whom he married in 1873. Together they raised six children: William J., Charles L., Arthur W., Albert E. (who served as an army sergeant), Carrie B. (Mrs. Whitmer), and Robert H.