William and Sarah were married on 12-7-1891 in Langdon North Dakota and all the children were born there. Barbara was said to be a foundling and was born two months before the marriage and although she is shown as a 'domestic' in the 1911 Estevan census, she seems part of the family.
Sarah's Farther was James Lindsay born December 1882 in Ireland and was a farmer. Sarah's mother was Mary Hill also born in Ireland.
In about 1916, Sarah took 5 of the children and moved to San Antonio. She lived down there the rest of her life and William stayed in Estevan and ran the Lumber business. They were never divorced, just lived apart and he sent her money all the time. He did go to San Antonio in 1936 and died there in 1937. Sarah remarried a Mr S S Boardman about a year before she died
William Kinna[5] emigrated to America and landed in New York, with a $1.0 in his pocket, in about 1879 age 18. Probably with his brother John. Initially they went to work in the mines. The US government offered land to settlers who would go to live in North Dekota, so they settled in Langdon, Cavalier County, North Dakota. There they obtained land concessions which they farmed. William obtained 2 parcels and received the patents in 1890 and 18951, about 360 acres. John received his patent in 1890. William built a shack which was burnt out twice. Soon after moving to Langdon William met and married Sarah Lindsay, whose family had emigrated from Ireland. Their first child was born in 1892, John E Kinna, but there is a child Barbara born in 1891 and although not shown in the 1900 census is in the 1911 census of Estevan all be it as a domestic. It is also possible that Barbara was not their child but adopted.
William's brother Robert (Jack ) arranged for their parents and the remaining children to come to Langdon. The family arrived in New York on the 'State of Indiana' on the 12th April 1888. In the Langdon census of 1900, William and his family are shown living in Langdon Township and William's parents and his brother James in Langdon City. William's father, Robert, was shown as retired in the census but he also obtained a land patent in 1901 together with Samuel. After his parents arrived Jack left for the Klondike. In 1903 William and his family moved to Estevan. At the time of William's death in 1937, both James and Samuel were in Moose Jaw. I have been able to determine what happened to others of the family. Robert and Elizabeth died in Langdon probably before 1910, Sarah's Mother and father are also buried in Langdon.
Elianne Burlinguette wrote a family history in March 1980 which contained the following paragraphs:
Raphael and Sophie Burlinguette sold their dairy and fruit farm at Thurso, Quebec in 1900 and arrived at Estevan, N.W.T. about April sixth. Dad knew there was no lumber yard in Estevan so bought all his lumber and nails etc. to build his house from Ottawa, Ontario. Also sixteen cows and four horses, machinery etc.
In 1903 my dad, met a stranger on the street of Estevan, William Kinna Sr., who wanted to start a business. He asked Dad for advice and Dad suggested a lumber yard. .
William took the advice and opened The Kinna Lumber Yard
William and John obtained land in 19022 and William obtained another parcel in August 1903. Other land grants were made to Robert Kinna, Samuel, and John Edward [Edwin?] Kinna also to Reginald John Kinna who was a sort of cousin. Eva H Kinna is also shown as having a parcel as Legal Representative of John Kinna, deceased. William's Land Grant dated 16 August 1905, is shown below.
The House on 1st Street Estevan, The Fisher House, is a good example of a frame house, with its decorated gables. It was built in 1905 by William Kinna, and sold around 1910 to Miss Minnie Fisher. With her brother's help, she ran it as a boarding house. It was partly burned in a fire a year later, and in 1913 the boarders sheltered in the basement when a cyclone destroyed a nearby skating rink and blew its timbers into the house. William also built a house 935 Second Street as the family home.
William also owned and presumably built Estevan first theatre, The 'Delight' theatre was subsequently put to use as a hospital, It was destroyed by a fire that took place in 1936.
William ran the Kinna Lumber Yard with his son, William Earl known as Earl, until he retired. The Yard closed down and went out of business in the mid-thirties. It became city property through tax arrears.
Previous to 1930 William Earl was volunteer fire chief. He was succeeded in 1933 by J.R. Hitchcock, and in 1939 William was engaged as full time chief. He held the position for eight years and in 1946 William Winton was engaged. William was kept on for a time until Winton became acquainted with the equipment.
It started as a tent community in 1892 when the CPR line was built from Brandon to the site. The site continued to grow when the Soo Line railway was built to connect Canada and the US. Trains stopped there on the way from Minneapolis to Moose Jaw. It is thought that Estevan was named after two people - George Stephen ( first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and not to be confused with the Stevensons) and William van Horne ( second president of the company). Parts of the two names were combined to form the name Estevan. But according to the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, Estevan was the "telegraph address" of George Stephen and that is how the community got its name.
Stephen enjoyed an illustrious career. He was the president of the CPR from 1881 - 1888. Stephen has been referred to as the "organizer" of Canada's first transcontinental railway, as he turned the bankrupt St. Paul and Manitoba railway into the "Confederation Line" unifying the nation.
Notes
1 The Homestead Act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to up to 160 acres (65 hectares or one-fourth section) of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River. The law required three steps: file an application, improve the land, and file for deed of title. Anyone who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government, including freed slaves, could file an application to claim a federal land grant. The occupant also had to be 21 or older, had to live on the land for five years and show evidence of having made improvements. The original Homestead Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862.
2 Canada also had a Land Grant scheme, for $10 a parcel of about 160 acres of land was available. In order to receive the patent for the land the settler had to be a male 21 years of age or a woman who was the sole support of her family. Before being granted a patent the applicant had to be a British subject or a naturalized British subject, had to reside on the homestead for a period of time, usually six months of the year for three years, make improvements to the land by cultivating at least 30 acres of land, and erect a house worth at least $300.
William Earl Lindsay Kinna was born on March 31st, 1899 at Langdon, North Dakota.
His parents, the William Kinna's Sr., moved to Estevan in 1903 where Bill has
since resided.
He was first employed in his father's lumber business which was known in later
years as the "Old Kinna Lumber Yard", situated where the Canadian Tire Store is
now.
Bill was one of Estevan's pioneer fire chiefs and fire brigade members for many
w years. When Bill answered the fire alarm in the early years, it meant he and some
of the other volunteers would grab the fire wagon and pull it to the scene of the
fire. On a cold winter night most of the homes in those days were heated with coal
and this would frequently result in fires.
After resigning from being the fire chief he was employed by the Prairie Nurseries
for several years until ill health forced him to retire. He did so enjoy working with
John Koch and for his employer Mr. T. Torgeson.
Bill married Idella Dale on November thirtieth, 1922. Idella was born in Aitkin,
Minnesota, U.S.A. on July thirty-first, 1900. She came to Canada in 1905 with her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Dale and they homesteaded in the Outram district.
She took her commercial course in Weyburn. After receiving her diploma she
returned to Estevan and at the early age of sixteen began stenographer work for
the British North American Bank. As the Bank manager stated, she was the
youngest stenographer ever to start in a bank across Canada at that time.
Bill and Idella were members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Estevan. When Idella
was confirermed in the country Salem Lutheran Church, Torquay, she took her
instructions in Norwegian and therefore was confirmed in "Norsky".
She taught Sunday School at the Trinity Lutheran Church, Estevan while it was on
Fourth Street where the Co-op store is now and continued to teach for several
years at its present location.
The many Sunday School and neighbourhood children always appreciated her
thoughtfulness and kindness and will always remember her in this manner, and
rightly so. As the children were on their way to Valley View and the Separate
schools they would ask her for flowers for their teachers and would receive them.
She was always happy to share.
Idella always shared seeds, bulbs, slips and flowers with people from far and near.
She's made-up floral arrangements for teas, weddings and funerals and supplied
flowers for the altar in the summertime for a great number of years... She was a
great gardener and her love for nature and children was tremendous.
Bill passed away May 18, 1969 at seventy years of age. Idella passed away April
13, 1978 at the age of seventy-seven.
They had three daughters, Audrey Carlson (LeRoy), Shirley Larsen (Jack) and
Daphne Kinna who passed away at the age of seven years in 1935. Most of the
flowers at her funeral were from her mother's garden.
Audrey married LeRoy Carlson and their history will be found elsewhere. Shirley
married Jack Larsen on November 11, 1943 and they had one daughter, Sandra
(Briltz). The first few years of their married life were spent in Estevan, later
moving to Roche Percee.
During the flood in 1947 they were the last ones to move out of their home. They
lived closest to the river bank but up on higher land west of the village of Roche
Percee. They had a lot of baby chicks and had to move them across the road up,
on the side of the hill.
They brought Sandra to Estevan to stay with Grandpa and Grandma Kinna during
this time while Shirley and Jack camped in the Van to look after the chicks. Their
dog held good watch over the chicks, also.
During the flood, my dad and Dr. Gray would come the back way (south on 47 highway then east)
to see how they were doing and to bring them food supplies. A year later they moved hack to
Estevan where they have since resided. They moved close to Hillside school where Sandra attended,
as well as the Collegiate. She now works at the Toronto Dominion Bank. A special highlight of hers at this time
was moving from the eleven hundred block to the Bank's new location
Sandra has three children, Shari in grade twelve, Ricky in grade eleven and Lauri in grade ten. They all attended St. John's School, I.H.J.H. and now the Estevan Comprehensive. They have been very active in band, sports and school activities.
Jack Larsen passed away in January 1980.
A Tale is Told: Estervan 1880 - 1980 from
htts://cap.estevan .sk.ca/community/atalethat is told [This Site May Not Be Available Now In 2019]