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October 25th:
On October 25, 2007 a much-needed improvement was
added to the Augusta Cemetery. A tombstone was erected for the
members the Thomas Kinsey 1806-1880 family. They are buried next to
one another in the southeast corner of the old Augusta
Cemetery. The monument can be seen when entering the Augusta
Christian Church by looking East.
 The
new stone honors five members of the family. Three of them already
had old stones that could no longer be read. Those old stones
remain in place. Their names were included with the two family
members (Christina and her son, John) whose graves were never
marked.
The new stone honors Thomas Kinsey 1806-1880; his
first wife, Jane Johnston Kinsey 1785-1864; his second wife,
Christina Campbell Kinsey Haines 1839-1917; their daughter, Isabella
Campbell Kinsey 1872-1873, and their son, John Campbell Kinsey
1875-1895.
Christina and Thomas had three other children:
Mary Jane Kinsey Fassett 1873-1937 buried in Wellsville; Gertrude B.
Kinsey Rolley 1875-1960 buried in Wellsville, and Thomas James
Kinsey 1878-1955, buried in Augusta on the north boundary of the old
cemetery.
I attended Kinsey Family Reunions
periodically beginning in the early 1950's. Primarily those
attending were the descendants of Thomas James Kinsey and Emma Cleo
Hiner Kinsey. "TJ" and Emma had ten children. In the early days, I
recall Gertrude Kinsey Rolley, TJ's sister, attending from
Wellsville.
 The
early reunions were held at the Brown cabin at Guilford Lake. About
1970 the reunions moved to the "Grove" in Augusta across from the
Augusta Cemetery. Each reunion there was a "traditional tour of the
cemetery." It was noted that TJ and Gert's mother, Christina
Campbell Kinsey Haines, was buried in an unmarked grave in the
Augusta Cemetery in 1917. Each year, it was mentioned that we
needed to correct this oversight.
On Sunday, August 5, 2007, a tombstone committee
consisting of Donna Kinsey Tucker, Karen Locke Gruszecki, Mary Lou
Turnipseed Garrett and Bette Ina Brown was formed. Money was
gathered and the stone has become a reality. My estimate is that
the Kinseys "thought about this" for approximately forty years from
start to finish. On October 25, 2007, only three of the
grandchildren of Thomas and Christina were living. My mother,
Pauline Kinsey Brown, was one of those grandchildren. She knew her
grandmother. I wish she could have lived to see the marker!
Bette Ina Brown
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