William Baker Kinsey was born on May 11, 1836, in Willistown, Pennsylvania, to John and Margaret Kinsey. His father was a physician who owned $3,700 of real estate by 1850. He grew up and attended school in Willistown, Pennsylvania.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on April 30, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company A of the 23^rd New York Infantry on May 16. In September 1862, he was promoted to 1^st lieutenant in the 161^st New York Infantry. The regiment took part in the siege of Port Hudson, the Red River campaign, and the Mobile campaign. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in April 1863, and he mustered out on September 20, 1865.

 

He settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the war, and he married Ada Wenzell in January 1868. They had at least three children: Virginia, born around 1870; Alice, born around 1872; and Helen, born around 1877. Kinsey worked as a coal dealer until the late 1800s, when he began working as an insurance agent. He supported the Republican Party, and he served on the local Board of Health for several years. He applied for a federal pension in October 1902 and eventually secured one. He died of a cerebral effusion in Philadelphia on January 21, 1919.

 

Image: William B. Kinsey (Philadelphia Commercial List and Price Current, 10 December 1887)

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