Allen line: Thomas Kinton 1702-1779

 Thomas Kinton is new to our family tree and I'm not sure I have him completely figured out yet.  He had a son Thomas who may actually be the Thomas of some of these stories.  Part of the confusion is that it's possible that this Thomas may have had two wives, one, Rebecca Stoves, and the second, Rachel Carson. The Thomas I am writing about was married to Rachel Carson, daughter of John and Sarah Elizabeth Dickey (not 100% sure of her mother's name) Carson, and that is our line. Thomas who was married to Rebecca was born March 1, 1701 and that doesn't leave much time for a Thomas Jr. to be born and married to Rachel by about 1740, although it is possible.  

The reason I'm writing this post without being sure of parentage and dates is that Thomas Kinton was an absolutely fascinating man.  We need to know his story, even though we're not sure which Thomas was which.  

I've written about a lot of people who settled in Pennsylvania.  Some, mostly in the Beeks line, were Irish or Welsh Quakers.  Many in the Harshbarger line and a few in the Holbrook line were Swiss or German, Lutheran or Reformed or Mennonite.  And then, in the Allen line, we have a few Scots-Irish, and possibly a few Irish.  Thomas Kinton may be Irish, as his father (or grandfather) was reportedly John O'Canton of Lycargus, County Down, Ireland.  

Be that as it may, Thomas was a very early settler in what was then wilderness but became Bedford County in Pennsylvania.  There is a story that Thomas first became a landowner when he sold a barrel of whiskey to a native American in return for 600 acres of land, perhaps as early as 1738.  This was long before settlement in the area was common, and any neighbors would have been very distant.  Thomas and Rachel would have been on their own, except that Thomas somehow became friendly with George Croghan, who was a fur trader (and more) of the time.  Croghan became a huge land owner and it's possible that Thomas purchased more land from him.  Thomas signed petitions as one of the "Suffering Traders" who had lost property to the French from 1749-1754, just prior to the outbreak of the French and Indian War. 

Thomas traveled with Croghan at times, although it's hard to pinpoint exactly when and where.  He was with Croghan at a place called Pickawillamy (now Piqua, Ohio) on the Great Miami River when a trading post was established there in 1748.  Although he was likely involved earlier than this, he is known to have been horsemaster of the Forbes Expedition in 1758, the third time George Washington was involved in the effort to capture Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) from the French.  The expedition started out with about 6000 men so we don't know whether Thomas ever met then Colonel Washington in person, but he surely would have at least laid eyes on him.  Thomas was horsemaster for York County, through at least 1764.  By this time, he would have been 63 and perhaps no longer up to the duties and traveling requirements of the job.  

When Thomas was not involved in military expeditions or traveling to trade with natives (or possibly after he stopped trading with them), he apparently kept a tavern, which would have been a welcome respite for others who were traveling as well as for anyone in the general neighborhood.  He did spend a considerable amount of time at home because at least eight children were born to the couple.  Thomas gave up his trading after the French and Indiana war and settled in Bedford, where he had two lots laid out in 1766.  He also owned land near what is known as Kinton's Knob in Bedford County.  

Thomas made in will in February of 1777 and died in March of 1779.  In it, he mentions his three sons and two of his five daughters. 

Thomas had a brother, Mark Kenton, who made his home in Virginia, and Mark had a son, Simon, who is famous in Kentucky and Ohio River valley history as a longhunter, Indian trader, and translator.  It's reported that our Thomas was one of Simon's mentors and that he occasionally visited Thomas and Rachel's home when he needed a bit of respite or was just generally in the area.  (You can read Simon's story in "The Frontiersman" by Alllen W. Eckert, among others.)

Thomas's story is fascinating to me.  How did he decide, once he'd arrived in Pennsylvania, to travel to such a place as western Pennsylvania, then mostly unknown?  Did he know George Croghan, or his family, in Ireland?  What kind of woman was Rachel Carson, that she would agree to live in such an unsettled place?  How did Thomas gather the courage to trade with people of such a completely different culture as the one he came from?  And oh, I wish we could hear his stories, of military life, of the natives he traded with, of what sort of encounters he had with the wild animals of the area.  These stories are just as interesting as those of our more settled families, "Back East".

The line of descent is

Thomas Kinton-Rachel Carson

Rachel Kinton-Solomon Adams

Mary Adams-Joseph Knott

Thomas Knott-Hannah Bell

John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants