LEVI   W.   KINGMAN,   deceased, was born in Worthington, May 16, 1825, son of Isaiah and Lucy (Daniels) Kingman.    Isaiah Kingman was a native of Connecticut, and came from that   State to Worthington, where he engaged in agriculture, at the same time working at his trade, which was that of a tailor.    His wife, who was born in Connecticut, became the mother of eleven children, as follows: Alphonzo, who married Sally Parsons,   both now deceased; Franklin, deceased, who married Theodosia Smith; Sophronia,   who died young; Mary, deceased, who married George Davis, of New York; Sophronia (second), who married the Hon. Elisha Brewster, formerly a prominent resident   of   Worthington,   both deceased; Emily, who also died young; Lucy, deceased, who married Jonathan Davis; Charles, who died in his youth; Samuel A., an ex-Chief Justice in the State of Kansas; Levi W., the subject of this sketch; and Emily, who died in infancy.

ELBRIDGE KINGSLEY, the "artist engraver," who has been pronounced by good authority to be as strong a personality in American art as was Jean Francois Millet in that of France, was born in Carthage, Ohio, September 17, 1842. He is a son of Moses W. and Rachel W. (Curtis) Kingsley, both natives of Hatfield, Hampshire County, Mass., in which town the former cultivated a farm. He spent his life, with the exception of a few months passed in Ohio, in Hatfield, dying there in 1893. Mr. and Mrs.  Kingsley reared six children, of whom Elbridge was the oldest.

Elbridge Kingsley was reared on a farm.  He gathered the elements of his education in a wooden school-house on a hill, guarded by a patriarchal elm, while his out-of-school hours were pretty well taken up with farm work.  One of his duties was the task of driving the cows to "Jericho," a wild tract of land used as a common pasture, some two miles from the village. At first he drove only the cows from the home farm. Later he drove those of two of the neighbors, for which he received two shillings a week.    And as the barefoot boy trudged along behind the indolent, slow moving animals, his quick eye noted the beauties of Nature's panorama, and learned many a secret destined to be of use to him in after life. In the garret of his home was a goodly store of old papers and books, which contained many a tale of Indian warfare that made its impress on his boyish imagination. The result was that Indian chiefs and squaws, trappers and cowboys, done on brown store paper, decorated the walls of his bedroom. One warrior of gigantic frame and gorgeous trappings attracted his father's attention; and his friend, the village blacksmith, was invited in to pronounce upon the drawings. With bated breath and throbbing heart young Kingsley watched the muscular art critic, who was very near-sighted and poked his grimy fingers over the picture to assist his vision. "Pretty good, considerin" was the judgment rendered ; and on the strength of that Elbridge was sent to join the class of a traveling teacher who happened to be in town, giving lessons in Grecian and Oriental painting. The lessons ended in a few weeks, as the teacher, in pursuance of his itinerary, then left town.

When fourteen years of age he was sent to Hopkins Academy in Hadley; and for two years he alternated between Hatfield and Hadley, attending school in winter and working on the farm in summer.  In his sixteenth year he entered the office of the Hampshire Gazette to learn the printing trade, remaining until twenty-one years of age.  In the mean time his drawing was not neglected; and sketching went on as steadily as the opportunities came, in an out-of-the-way corner of the building. In 1863, having attained his majority, and equipped with a new suit of clothes as well as with a fair knowledge of the printer's trade, he started for New York City. In the city he had many adventures such as usually befall a country boy on his first visit.    He finally obtained a position as compositor on the Tribune. At the same time he began to attend the evening course of drawing and painting at Cooper Institute. After changing his place of employment several times he finally gave up type setting and devoted his attention to wood engraving. Most of his work at this time was upon mechanical illustrations; but he was occasionally enabled to do a block for Harper's, through the firm that employed him. While in New York he was for some time city correspondent for the Hampshire Gazette. In 1871 he returned to Northampton and engaged in the printing and engraving business with Messrs. Snow & Harris. There he became acquainted with J.  Wells Champney and C. A. Burleigh. He now began to work in oil colors out of doors, and one winter he walked daily to Amherst, in order to sketch from the casts in the college gallery.    In 1874 the firm with which he was connected dissolved, and he went back to New York.    In that year he cut a block for Scribnet's Magazine (now the Century), which so pleased the art department that his connection with that publication has continued to this day.    This was in reality the beginning of Mr.  Kingsley's career as an engraver. He returned to Hadley every summer to do open air sketching; and believing that an artist, in order to faithfully portray Nature, must see her in all her varied aspects, he had a car built which is a diminutive studio and dwelling-house on wheels.    In 1882, while out in this car in the woods near Hatfield, Mr. Kingsley performed a feat in wood engraving that had never been attempted before.    This was cutting a block directly from nature.   The engraving subsequently appeared as a full-page cut in the Century, together with a description of his method of working by the artist.    Since that time he has regularly contributed original engravings of this sort to the Century and to St.  Nicholas, most of them being made from or suggested by scenery in Hampshire County.  It will be readily seen that this departure raised wood engraving from the position of a handmaid of the graphic arts to that of a creative and primary art, which Mr. Kingsley claims it is. In 1885 he illustrated Whittier's "Poems of Nature."

Years ago Elbridge Kingsley was ranked by Hammerton, perhaps the ablest of English art critics, in his "Graphic Arts," as one of the best   wood   engravers in   the world. Since then he has made a decided advance, and the power and delicacy shown in his landscape work have never been excelled.    He received the highest award for wood engravings from the Paris Exposition of 1889; and in 1893 he had thirteen small engravings marked as medal winners at  the Chicago Exposition.    In the same year he was awarded a gold medal at the Midwinter Fair held in San Francisco. In a lecture on wood engraving written by him he gives his ideal of what an artist should be, as follows: "Rising on the heights of knowledge but enlarges the horizon, and true art for the individual begins where his training leaves off."   As a colorist Mr. Kingsley displays in his paintings a daring and originality that is unique, while nevertheless true to nature; and a recent  writer places   him   before George Inness in the handling of color.

While in New York Mr. Kingsley was united in marriage with Miss Emma Brown, a native of New York City, of English descent. She died eight months after marriage. Three years subsequently he was again married, his bride being Elizabeth E. Cook, of Brooklyn, N.Y. She passed away in March, 1891, leaving three children - Emma B., Mary R., and Lepha N. - all of whom are living with their father.

His home is a picturesque two-story house, surrounded by well-kept  lawns and hedges, situated in a pleasant part of old Hadley. He is always ready to receive a visitor who is interested in art, and to show his studio and several smaller rooms where he engraves and paints, the "den " downstairs where he reads and writes. Democratic in the extreme, he knows no difference between rich and poor; and his optimism sees a sunbeam in every shadow.    His mind is an exhaustless reservoir of poetic beauty; and his heart is filled with kindliness, generosity, and sympathy.   Elbridge  Kingsley is a rare man, and one of whom New England may well be proud.

JUSTUS HOLLAND KINGSLEY, the worthy descendant of an old and honored family of Hampshire County, was born December 30, 1842, in Westhampton, where he is now a conspicuous figure in the farming community. His father, the late Zenas Kingsley, was a native of Westhampton, and for many years carried on an extensive business in the manufacture of woolen goods, and was also identified with the farming interests of this town. In the latter part of his life he removed to Stratford, Coos County, N.H., there becoming interested in the lumber business, continuing thus engaged until his demise in 1881. To him and his wife, formerly Susan Elwell, nine children were born, namely: Susan M., wife of Henry M. Parsons, of Northampton; Edward W., of Westhampton; Joseph H., of whom a short sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Cynthia S., who married Charles Clark, both she and her husband being now deceased; Zenas Mahlon, a soldier in the late Civil War, who died in his country's service; Nelson H., of Riverside, Cal.; Ellen V., widow of the late Enoch Perkins, of Northampton; Justus Holland; and Fidelia M.

Justus H.  Kingsley was reared and educated in this town; but, when his father removed to New Hampshire, he accompanied him thither, remaining with him, assisting him in his labors, and caring for him in his last days.   In 1886 Mr. Kingsley and his sister Fidelia returned to the home of their childhood years, and here bought their present farm of two hundred acres, on which they have since resided.   Mr. Kingsley takes a genuine interest in tilling the soil, and is continually making substantial improvements on his estate, rendering it one of the best in point of equipments of any in the locality.   He pays especial attention to the raising of choice fruits, besides which his principal productions are hay and corn, his harvests being large and profitable.    A   Republican in his political affiliations, Mr. Kingsley is an earnest supporter of the principles of that party; and, religiously, both he and his sister are valued and esteemed members of the Congregational church. As citizens and neighbors they are held in high regard throughout the community.

CHARLES MILTON KINNEY, a retired marble and monument dealer of Northampton, was born in the town of Sunderland, Bennington County, Vt., in 1818. He traces his descent to Sir Thomas Kinney, a nobleman of England.

His grandparents were Benjamin and Martha (Harris) Kinney. Benjamin, who was a carpenter and joiner, came from England to this country, settling in Connecticut; and his wife was a native of Norwich, Conn. Their union was blessed by the birth of a son and daughter. The son, whose name was Joel Kinney, received a mechanical education from his father. He took an interest in public affairs, was a Democrat in politics, was for thirty years a Justice of the Peace, served acceptably as a member of the legislature of Vermont, and held many town offices. He married Miss Clarissa Ford, a daughter of Charles and Annie (Harris) Ford. Though both of Mr. Kinney's grandmothers bore the name of Harris, they were not related.

His parents were married January 15, 1814. They lost their first-born, a son, and two other children. They reared three sons and two daughters, of whom two sons and a daughter are now living: F. J., Charles Milton, and Laura. Benjamin Kinney, deceased, born in 1820, became a sculptor, and won for himself quite a reputation in his art. His specialty was the cutting of busts, both in marble and in cameo. He was also a man of literary talent, besides possessing a natural gift for his chosen profession. F. J. Kinney, who resides in Worcester, Mass., is one of the leading market gardeners and florists of that city, and also devotes considerable attention to fruit growing. One of his sons, Lorenzo F. Kinney, is Professor of Horticulture in the Agricultural College of Rhode Island. He went to Europe to complete his education, and ranks high as a teacher in that branch of study. Laura Kinney, who never married, is now upward of eighty years of age, and is living on the old farm on which their parents spent their lives.

Charles Milton received a good, practical education in the common schools.    When in his eighteenth year, he taught school for one winter in Mexico, N.Y.   He then learned the trade of a marble cutter in Pittsfield, Mass., where, when he had served an apprenticeship of six months, he was engaged at two dollars per day.    He seems to have  inherited his fathers skill; for he made such progress in his chosen avocation that some years later, in 1845, he was able to open his shop in Northampton.    Here he conducted a thriving business for thirty years, and then retired from active participation in mercantile life. He is a member of the Northampton Grange, and he and his wife are members of the Unitarian Society.

He was married on June 1, 1842, at Barre, Mass., to Miss Submit Walker, of that place. Her mother was a cousin of General Samuel Lee,  of Revolutionary fame.    Six sons and two  daughters were   born   of  their union. Two sons died in infancy.    Martha Ann, the wife of Thomas L. Irwin, died in 1882, leaving one son, Phillip L. Irwin, who is now a lad of thirteen years, and has lived with his maternal   grandparents   since   his mother's death.   His father died December 19, 1892, at thirty-nine years of age. A brief account of the living children follows: Albert is a successful dealer in monumental work in Milford, Mass. Charles Walker, who was born in Northampton on August 15, 1845, succeeded his father at the head of the firm.   He is President of the City Water Board, and has served with honor on the Common Council.    He was married in 1872 to Miss Eva M. Collins, of Springfield, Mass.,   who died in   1879.    He was again married in 1880 to his present wife, who was Miss Harriet J. Annable, by whom he has one son,   Charles M., a youth of thirteen years, who is attending school.   Fred Kinney is a piano tuner and a performer on the flute.    Edward is a book keeper in Holyoke, Mass.; and Ella Lee, the wife of William H.  Abbott, of Holyoke, has three sons and three daughters.

Mr.   Kinney erected a home on Phillips Place, where he resided for fifteen years; and in i860 he purchased a farm of thirteen acres on Prospect Street, near Dickinson Hospital, where he built a fine brick house and outbuildings, and set out some choice fruit and shade trees, which have now grown into an orchard that produces a good variety and quantity of apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits. He lived there for thirty-two years, celebrating with his wife their golden wedding on June 1, 1892.    Among the many tokens of regard left them by their numerous friends and acquaintances on this occasion was a gold-headed cane from the Northampton Grange and a sideboard from their children.    Mr. Kinney sold his farm in the September following, and purchased his present home at 134 King Street.

FREDERICK NEWTON KNEELAND, Cashier of the First National bank of Northampton, was born in that city on  September 8, 1850, son of Isaac Newton and Frances Maria (Strong) Kneeland.

The Kneeland family were originally natives of Norway. They removed to Scotland in the tenth century; and in 1631 some of the descendants came to Salem, Mass.. making the voyage, according to tradition, in a vessel laden with grain for the Pilgrims. Edward Kneeland, the great-great-grandfather of Frederick Newton Kneeland, was born about the year 1700. He removed from Boston to Royalton, Vt. ; and there, when he was about eighty years of age, he and his sons, Joseph and Edward, were captured by the Indians.  Joseph was killed; while Edward, who was then but eight years of age, was adopted by the savages and roamed with them over their hunting grounds during the next ten years.  He was finally purchased from the Indians by a French trader, who took an interest in the boy and desired to adopt him. Some time after, he had settled in Hadley and was engaged in farming. He married Miss Elizabeth Peck, of Rehoboth, Mass. ; and they reared four sons and three daughters, all of.  whom lived to marry and have families. His  son Joseph Kneeland, who was also a farmer, married Miss Lydia Champion, of West Springfield, who was born on December 20, 1791. After her death, which occurred on November 4, 1828, he married her sister, Lora Champion. Of his children the living are: Mrs. Laurietta Russell, of Amherst, Mass. ; and Mrs. Josephine Stone, a widow, residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. His son, Isaac Newton Kneeland, died in 1860, when but forty years of age. He was at one time a  clothing merchant in Northampton, and also followed the business of photographer. His wife, formerly Frances Maria Strong, to whom he was married on August 19, 1841, was born in Northampton on February 4, 1821, and was a daughter of Seth and Phoebe Strong.  Seven children were born of their union, two sons and five daughters, of whom Frederick Newton Kneeland and two sisters reached adult life.

Frederick N. Kneeland acquired a good practical education At fifteen years of age he left the high school to enter a jeweler's store as clerk, after which he worked for a time in a clothing store.    In March, 1869, he secured a position as clerk in the First National Bank; and, beginning at the foot of the ladder, he has worked his way up, so that for the past eighteen years he has filled the position of Cashier with credit to himself and satisfaction to the patrons of the bank. He is also a man of literary ability, and has published a work on Northampton entitled, "Northampton, the Meadow City." On December 9, 1879, he was united in marriage with Miss Adelaide Frances Dyer, who was born at South Abington, Mass., on December 9, 1855. Their union has been blessed by three children, namely: Doris, born December 6, 1889, who died when she was but seventeen months old; Mary Frances, born January 2, 1882; and Robert Strong, born April 26, 1883.

Mr. Kneeland is a faithful adherent of the Republican party. For over thirty years he has been a member of the Edwards Church, of which he has been Director and Treasurer.  He also served as assistant superintendent of the Sunday-school for fifteen years, and has been superintendent for the past three years.  In 1882 he purchased the four acre lot on Paradise Road, near Kim Street, and erected the substantial brick house which has been the family residence since January 1, 1883.

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