Father: Jesse D. Kinman

Mother: Ann I. More

Marriage: Mary Ann SHOTWELL
b: 24 APR 1836
in Plainfield, New Jersey

Married: 20 FEB 1856
in Green Valley, Tazewell Co., Illinois
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Excerpt taken from The Edna Sun, Edna, Kansas, March 7, 1929:

MARRIED SEVENTY-THREE YEARS

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lewis Kinman, who were among the very first settlers in the Blackford school district, eight miles southwest of Edna, on February 20th, celebrated their seventy-third wedding anniversary at their home at College Park, near Walla Walla, Wash. Mr. and Mrs. Kinman resided for 20 years in Howard township and a son, Dan Kinman, still resides in the old neighborhood. A granddaughter, Mrs. Joy Thornton, also resides near Edna. According to a survey made recently they are the longest married couple in the United States. From the Kansas City Times we clip the following interesting story of this remarkable couple:

The Kinmans were married in Ohio, not far from Springfield, Feb. 20, 1856, when Mr. Kinman was 24, while Mary Shotwell, his bride, was 20. The couple are now 97 and 93 respectively. The romance came from a meeting at a "play party" according to Mrs. Kinman, and through seventy-three years of joy and sorrows, the romance of their marriage has continued.

"Both husband and wife apparently are in the best of health, considering their ages, although Mrs. Kinman, on being interviewed, said "the mister has just gone through a siege of the flu and he has a cough yet."

Mr. Kinman lost his eyesight several years ago but his wife is still able to read a great deal of the time without glasses.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Kinman still thrill with excitement as they talk of the day that the Daltons shot up Coffeyville and were in turn killed.

"That was an exciting time" he said, describing the bodies of the bandits propped against the stone wall of a Coffeyville building.

On the completion of their seventieth anniversary three years ago all of the members of the immediate family nine children and a goodly portion of thirty-four grandchildren and thirty-seven great-grandchildren, gathered at the Kinman home to celebrate the event.  

Last year the celebration took the form of an airplane ride for Mr. Kinman, but his wife refused to avail herself of this chance.