Chapter 16 of Some Jasper County Pioneers Francis/Frank Vallejo Kinyon Richard L. Kenyon

Chapter 16 of Some Jasper County Pioneers Francis/Frank Vallejo Kinyon Richard L. Kenyon

This chapter is one of a series if 18 chapters which cover the ancestors and descendants of jasper county pioneer settlers, all of who are related in various ways. Chapter Number Chapter name 1. Loren and Iris (Kenyon) Milligan 2. A Milligan Album 3. Josephine Josie (Scott) Schmidt/Chinn 4. William H. and Estella (Beals) Milligan/Gibson 5. John and Mary (Carey) Scott 6. Jacob and Maria (Hopton) Milligan 7. David and Chelley (Herring) Beals 8. David and Sophia (Torrance) Scott 9. William T. and Anne (Dawson) Carey 10. Jacob and Mary Herring 11. Benjamin Franklin Bleakney 12 A Bleakney Album 13. Madison S. Kinyon 14. Vallejo Kinyon 15. Ira Kinyon 16. Francis/Frank Vallejo Kinyon 17. Don and Jean Kenyon 18. Ruth (Kinyon) Deer

Chapter 16 Francis/Frank Vallejo Kinyon Son of Ira Kinyon Richard L. Kenyon E-mail: rlkenyon@cox.net 32 Almond Tree Lane, Irvine CA 92612-2230 May 21, 2008, last edit Sep 27, 2012 Francis Vallejo Kinyon was the first child of Ira N. and Clementine (Bleakney) Kinyon. He changed his first name to Frank, and was called "Slim" by the family. He was born May 24, 1909, near Malcom, Poweshiek County, Iowa. During his youth, his mother was concerned about his growing too tall. He eventually reached 6' 4", about the same as his father. He had dark red-auburn hair, which turned white at a relatively early age. Frank married Effie Killion about 1938. They did not have any children. Frank s education consisted of four years of high school. He had an interest in higher education, and wanted to attend the Colorado School of Mines, but it was the depression and the family finances would not permit it. His sister Ruth recalled that he had an interest in literature, and could quote Shakespeare fluently. He worked on the family farm as a youth, but by 1942, he was living in Wichita Kansas, and was a foreman of a machine shop. Frank Kinyon (author s collection, gift of Ruth Deer) 16 Francis/Frank Kinyon Page 1

Military service Slim enlisted in the Army Air Force on October 23, 1942, at Ft. Riley, Kansas. His specialty was aircraft sheet metal repair. He departed the U.S. for England December 5, 1943, arriving December 16, 1943. He was part of the invasion of France. Slim s war stories, told to his sister Ruth, were mostly so gruesome that she did not wish to remember them. But one incident was a classic. His unit was trapped by enemy forces in France and mostly annihilated. Slim and one other person escaped by hiding in a haystack. They had no choice but to remain concealed in the haystack until the area was retaken by the allied forces however long that might take. At first they survived by making moonlight raids on a milk cow. The farmer soon discovered why the milk cow was coming up short. Instead of reporting them, he fed Slim and his companion until the area was finally liberated! One might wonder why Slim, involved in aircraft repair, would be so close to the front lines and be trapped by the enemy. The reason is that to be effective, a tactical air force had to operate from airfields as close to the front lines as it can get. Mobile repair teams were used, supplementing the harder-to-move depot level maintenance facilities. By the end of September 1944, the 9th Air Force had moved 82.5% of its 51,000 men to the continent. Thus Slim would have been quite close to the front lines. The Battle of the Bulge, which began December 16, 1944, is probably the occasion where Slim was trapped by the German counterattack, as they invaded the Ardennes in Belgium and Luxembourg. Moreover, the Hammond World Atlas even shows this area as dairy country! T the conclusion of his military service, Slim departed from England for the USA on August 29, 1945, and arrived September 11, 1945 at Camp Crowder, Missouri, where he was discharged October 21, 1945. He reached the rank of Technical Sergeant. Slim and Effie divorced in 1945 or 1946. He married Fay Adams Wasson about 1947. She had a son, Larry Wasson, from a previous marriage. Life in Arkansas Slim s military service had been very stressful. That is why he chose to live near remote and peaceful Viola, Arkansas. Before they moved there, Slim made a trip to see if the house was habitable. Fay told him "If I have to have an outhouse, be sure it has a door". It did, but the back wall had fallen out. The writer and his parents visited Slim in Viola about 1955. Viola was a very small town, with old men lounging on the porch of the general store. A dirt road was followed to Slim's farm. The farm was about 600 acres. Slim had a herd of milk cows, a nice barn, and a large woodland which he logged on a sustained yield basis. The logs were sold to make fence posts. His farming was modern, but his 16 Francis/Frank Kinyon Page 2

house was not. Unpainted, it leaned to one side. He lived there with his wife Fay and his stepson, Larry, who was about 12. We were invited to dinner, and dined on squirrel that Slim had shot that day on his property. Frank, Fay, and Larry at their home in Viola, Arkansas Photo by Richard Kenyon Slim s mother Clementine once visited Slim in Viola. She found that Slim had named a cow "Clementine". Ordinarily this is a good name for a cow, but Clem took it personally, and was very angry. 16 Francis/Frank Kinyon Page 3

Ann Blodgett, the daughter-in-law of Slim s brother Don, told me that in her youth, she spent a summer on Slim's place. She and Larry played tricks on Slim, which included hiding his false teeth. Slim s farmhouse in Viola Photo by Richard Kenyon The sleepy hollow lifestyle did not last. In June 1968 Don Kenyon wrote: Slim and Fay are doing well. They sold the farm to the Boy Scouts for a Boy Scout Camp complex, they are constructing three large camps on the place, it will be very nice when it is finished. Slim and Fay are still running the Penta Processing Plant [chemical treatment of wood to prevent decay], building and selling houses and running a lumber yard. Slim has just taken a Small Business Administration Loan, to buy some new equipment, he is trying to get his operation to a quarter of a million and then sell out. Slim is looking pretty tired. I sure hope that he takes care of himself so he can enjoy a few years in retirement. 16 Francis/Frank Kinyon Page 4

Slim kept his Walnut trees and a piece of land on which he lived while he pursued his business ventures in the area. The rest of his farm was reported to have become a very nice Boy Scout camp. Slim did retire, and moved to town on the Texas Coast. Brief glimpses of Slim's life were provided by letters from his sister Ruth. On Aug 21, 1980, she wrote: We heard from Slim finally. His town was demolished by a 9 ft. tidal wave. The direction that it came from saved him as there is a jetty of sand that was dredged from the shipping channel to the S. E. of his place, and that broke the wave up and they had only 1 ft of water in their house. The town had been evacuated before the storm hit. They had gone down in the Rio Grande Valley to wait it out. On Dec 8, 1985, Ruth wrote: Slim died November 11 after a very trying time for him. He was under chemotherapy in San Antonio for Hodgkins disease. He got an infection at a time when his resistance was low and things went downhill from there. We were called down there the 4th of Nov and he was conscious a day and a half and sort of knew we were there one other day but was in great pain. They thought he had a stroke too. He was buried at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in San Antonio and we went from there to S. Texas where he lived and started the process of straightening out his affairs. Montie came down to help a week and we finally got home Nov 30. I was worn out and sick so I'm just getting going again now. Slim is buried in Section 1, Site 766 of Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery. Nothing is known about what became of his wife. Acknowlegement When I belatedly began my research on the family history, my cousin, the late Ruth Deer, was virtually the only living relative who could provide any details about the family history. Slim was her brother. Most of my information on Slim came from Ruth, and from documents in her estate. This document would simply not be possible without the help that she gave me. 16 Francis/Frank Kinyon Page 5

Sources: Abbreviations: 1) QUESTIONAIRE: Questionaire sent by the author to Frank Kinyon s sister Ruth Deer, filled out and returned June 1990. 2) ARMY DISCHARGE RECORD: Frank V. Kinyon, Serial number 17 100 358. 3) CEMETERY RECORD: Frank V Kinyon, Tsgt US Army World War II; b 24 May 1909, d 11 Nov 1985; Service Start Date: 23 Oct 1942; bur: 29 Nov 1985, Section 1 Site 766, Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road San Antonio, TX 78209 Birth date: 1) Date from letter Ruth Deer to Beth Kenyon, Jan 19, 1988. 2) Discharge record Birth place: Residence of parents. See the chapter on Ira and Clementine Kinyon. Height: Discharge record. Mothers concern about height: Ruth Deer to Beth Kenyon, 1/19/1988 Education: Army discharge record. Colorado School of Mines: Ruth Deer to Richard Kenyon, 6/3/1992. Ruth wrote some school of mines but the Colorado School of Mines would have been the most likely. Shakespeare: Ruth Deer to Richard Kenyon, 6/3/1992. First marriage: Questionnaire Divorce from first wife: Questionnaire Military service: 1) Discharge record. 2) Letter Ruth to author, Deer to Richard Kenyon, 2/20/1992. Haystack story: 2) Letter Ruth Deer to Richard Kenyon, 2/20/1992. Army Air Force during the invasion: W. F. Cravens and J. L. Cate, The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. 3, Office of Air Force History, Washington DC. Copy in University of California Library, Irvine, CA. Discharge from the armed forces: Discharge record. Divorce: Questionnaire Second Marriage: Questionnaire. Checking farmhouse before moving in: Interview with Slim s sister-in-law Jean Kenyon, in Irvine 4/10/1992. Author s visit to Viola: October 16, 1955 Cow named Clementine: Interview with Slim s sister-in-law Jean Kenyon, 4/10/1992. Visit of Anne: Interview with Anne in Irvine 4/10/1992. Sale of farm: Letter from Slim s brother Don Kenyon to the Kenyon family in California, June, 1968, author s collection. Tidal wave: Letter from Ruth Deer to Richard Kenyon, 8/21/1980. Death: 1) Cemetery record. 2) Letter Ruth Deer to Richard Kenyon, 12/8/1985. 16 Francis/Frank Kinyon Page 6