My Great-Grandfather, Archibald McKinnon, Sr., was a very well respected pioneer and leader in the Randolph, Utah, community. He had two wives, and I descend through his first wife, Mary McKay. The records I had looked pretty complete for his family, but I went through each child one by one, to be sure.
When I got to Donald McKinnon, I saw no children, and somewhere I had heard that Donald, and his wife, Dorothy Wilson, had had no children. Then,... I found an obituary for Donald McKinnon... and a 'red-flag' of mystery went up.
In Donald McKinnon's obituary, it states (bold and italics added):
and an adopted son, Rov McKinn n;... "
"Rov?", I thought, "that's an odd name." But, since the scanned newspaper had some letters missing, it was easy to guess it was really "Roy McKinnon". So, according to this, they had adopted a son, named Roy. This single reference led me to wonder, "If he was adopted, who were his original parents?" I began an investigation to find out.
I began with a research tool that had proved invaluable to me already, especially for looking up news of an individual in the area where they lived... the Utah Digital Newspapers site.
Using its Advanced Search, I was able to find a lot of articles about Roy McKinnon as he grew up in Randolph. These articles show that he was a boy-scout, played the clarinet, sang well, danced well enough to win a dancing contest, and enjoyed performing. He was quite talented and sociable, and was helpful and considerate. He eventually went to BYU, and was part of the chorus for "The Sun Dance" Opera there.
About 1936, he went on a two-year LDS mission to the Tacoma, Washington region. Late in his mission, he had to return home for an appendectomy. This operation apparently didn't stop him from returning to the field and completing his 2-years in Tacoma. He must have really loved it there, as that's where he headed once he married, and where his children were born.
Below is a list of the articles I found about "Roy McKinnon" in the Rich County News on the Utah Digital Newspapers site, providing glimpses into his youthful life in Randolph and round-about. It also shows a strong connection to Tacoma, Washington.
Somewhere in the midst of this research, I ran across the name of "Roy S. McKinnon" of Tacoma, Washington, and I immediately began to try to prove the two were one and the same person. I guessed that perhaps his middle-initial "S" might stand for his original surname. When I did a search for Roy S. McKinnon on FamilySearch.org, I got a hit for "Roy Smith McKinnon", with a birth-date of 6-15-1915, in Scranton, Iowa; and a death-date of 12-5-1987, in Tacoma, Washington. Now the trick was to determine whether Roy McKinnon = Roy Smith McKinnon.
LINKS TO UDN ARTICLES ABOUT "ROY MCKINNON" IN RANDOLPH
Rich County News 1930-01-31
Randolph Scout News
Roy becomes second class scout
(Presumed Age: 14 years 6 months 17 day)
Rich County News 1930-04-25
Untitled
Roy plays clarinet and tells jokes for a one-act farce-comedy
(Presumed Age: 14 years 10 months 10 days)
Rich County News 1930-05-09
Mother's Day Program
Roy gives 2 1/2-min talk: "How a Boy Can Honor His Mother" // Boy, I'd love to been there to hear this speech, and see if he spoke of only Dorothy McKinnon, his adopted mom, or whether he mentioned his real mother. //
(Presumed Age: 14 years 10 months 24 days)
Rich County News 1931-04-17
Elders Hold Cottage Meeting
Roy McKinnon sings in quartet
(Presumed Age: 15 years 10 months 2 days)
Rich County News 1933-04-21
M I A Holds Dance Contest
Roy McKinnon and Wilda Dana winning couple in dance contest
(Presumed Age: 17 years 10 months 6 days)
Rich County News 1933-05-26
Mutual Contest Finals at Coalville
Roy McKinnon tells dramatic story
(Presumed Age: 17 years 11 months 11 days)
Rich County News 1934-02-02
Local and Personal
Roy McKinnon and Lucille Johnson accompany Francis Tingey to Logan
(Presumed Age: 18 years 7 months 18 days)
Rich County News 1934-03-16
South Rich News
Roy McKinnon as 'Anthony Arsdale' in Senior Play, "Girl-Shy"
(Presumed Age: 18 years 9 months 1 day)
Rich County News 1934-09-21
Local and Personal
Roy McKinnon, with friends, goes to Provo, to stay for school
(Presumed Age: 19 years 2 months 6 days)
Rich County News 1935-03-01
Roy McKinnon Selected Member of "The Sun Dance" Opera
Roy McKinnon selected member of "The Sun Dance" Opera (and "Y" chorus)
(Presumed Age: 19 years 8 months 14 days)
Salt Lake Telegram 1935-02-28
Chorus for B. Y. U. Opera to Represent Eight States
Roy McKinnon in "The Sun Dance" Opera Chorus
(Presumed Age: 19 years 8 months 13 days)
Rich County News 1935-03-22
Local and Personal
Roy McKinnon (from BYU) attends Junior Prom
(Presumed Age: 19 years 9 months 7 days)
Rich County News 1935-11-22
Local Overflow
Roy and Dorothy McKinnon, and Grace Norris motor to Logan, Roy to pick them up Weds.
(Presumed Age: 20 years 5 months 7 days)
Rich County News 1935-12-27
Local and Personal
Roy McKinnon and Ben Rex host Margaret Johnson and Afton James (of Evanston) for Christmas in Randolph
(Presumed Age: 20 years 6 months 12 days)
Rich County News 1937-10-01
Local and Personal
Elder Roy McKinnon home from mission Sat. to undergo appendectomy... motored to SLC on Thurs.
(Presumed Age: 22 years 3 months 16 days)
Rich County News 1937-11-19
Local and Personal
Roy McKinnon, Lewis Longhurst, & Ray Hoffman were 'home missionaries' in Woodruff Sunday // Convalescing from his operation, no doubt. //
(Presumed Age: 22 years 5 months 4 days)
Rich County News 1937-12-31
Local and Personal
Roy McKinnon to spend rest of holidays with his sister, Helen Anderson, at Hyrum, UT
(Presumed Age: 22 years 6 months 16 days)
// Apparently, immediately after the holidays he went back to the mission field, in Tacoma. //
Rich County News 1938-05-13
Local and Personal
Roy McKinnon has received release and is in SLC with mother. Don McKinnon motored to Evanston, Thursday, for his son Roy who has just returned from a mission. They report Mrs. Don McKinnon, who is in the L D S Hospital much improved.
(Presumed Age: 22 years 10 months 28 days)
Rich County News 1938-05-27
Local and Personal
Roy picks up mother (Dorothy McKinnon) in Evanston, Sat.,... and left Monday to sell knit goods for Salt Lake Knitting Co. // With his talents, and recent experience as a missionary, it's not surprising his first 'real-world' job would be as a salesman. //
(Presumed Age: 22 years 11 months 12 days)
// Obviously his position with Salt Lake Knitting didn't last long, or led to better things, that took him out of state... when next we see him, less than 2-months later, he's arriving from Washington (state) by plane, to attend his dad's funeral. //
Rich County News 1938-07-08
Roy McKinnon Arrives by Airplane
Roy arrives by airplane for father's funeral
(Presumed Age: 23 years 23 days)
Rich County News 1938-07-08
Funeral Service Held for Don McKinnon
Roy's name not listed in funeral service notice // Perhaps the writer wasn't aware Roy had arrived? //
(Presumed Age: 23 years 23 days)
Rich County News 1938-07-08
Card of Thanks
Card of Thanks - Roy and Mrs. Dorothy McKinnon
(Presumed Age: 23 years 23 days)
Rich County News 1941-10-10
Locals
Mrs. Wm. Marsh, of Evanston, formerly Dot McKinnon, is visiting her son Roy McKinnon in Oregon
(Presumed Age: 26 years 3 months 25 days)
// Research shows that William Marsh's first wife, Mary Emma Spencer, died 23 Febrary 1940, and was buried in Evanston, on 25 February 1940. Dorothy Wilson was one of those who attended her funeral in Evanston, as was Mrs. Birdie McKinnon, my grandmother. Mary Emma Spencer was from Randolph, and a contemporary of Dorothy Wilson McKinnon. William Marsh, sold his Meat Market in Evanston in 1927, and retired to his ranch at the "Upper Bear River". Dorothy Wilson McKinnon, had recently become a widow herself, so it's likely that she and William became friends, and then more than friends. By 10 October 1941, Dorothy was the new "Mrs. Wm. Marsh". Perhaps her visit to Roy was to inform him of the marriage. //
Rich County News 1942-06-05
Locals
Mr. and Mrs. Roy McKinnon, and son, of Tacoma, Washington, and Mrs. Wm. Marsh, of Evanston, were weekend visitors at Randolph // It would appear Mr. and Mrs. Roy McKinnon, and son, stopped-off in Evanston to show the babe to Mom, before continuing to Randolph to show him off there. NOTE: the timing of this new son, fits logically with the birth of Roy Smith McKinnon's first son, Marlynn Donald McKinnon (born 1 April 1941, he would have been 1 year 2 months 4 days-old) at the time of his visit Randolph. //
(Presumed Age: 26 years 11 months 21 days)
Rich County News 1943-08-06
Daughter Arrives
Mr. and Mrs. Roy McKinnon have a daughter born July 29th. // I'd love to get my hands on some birth records for Roy Smith McKinnon's children. //
(Presumed Age: 28 years 1 month 22 days)
Rich County News 1944-05-05
Roy McKinnon Has Been Promoted
Roy McKinnon has been made District Manager of the Northern Life Insurance Co., with offices in Tacoma, Washington. (Roy spent 2-yr mission in Tacoma region.) // When I saw this, I thought of trying to contact the Northern Life Insurance Co., but it proved to not be necessay. This news item, combined with one sentence from the caption to a photo I found at the Tacoma Public Library proved to be the final link needed to prove that "Roy McKinnon", of Randolph, is the same person as "Roy Smith McKinnon", of Tacoma, Washington! See the link to the picture and details of the caption below. //
(Presumed Age: 28 years 10 months 20 days)
Somewhere along the line, when the clues began piling-up, I began labeling all the news items I had found for Roy McKinnon's youth in Randolph, Utah, with the "Presumed Age" he would have been if he had been born on 6-15-1915, Roy Smith McKinnon's birthdate. All the presumed ages made sense with regard to the progression of events in Roy McKinnon's child/teenager years and beyond.
In Summary: The theory that Donald & Dorothy McKinnon's adopted son, Roy McKinnon is in-fact, Roy Smith McKinnon, is well corroborated by several things:
1) the presumed-age of Roy McKinnon during the history of his life as shown in the articles I found, using Roy Smith McKinnon's birthdate;
2) the fact that both his wives come from Wellington, Utah, where Roy had spent time;
3) articles about Roy McKinnon, match the timing of the growth of Roy Smith McKinnon's family.
4) the talents Roy McKinnon displayed as a youth, and his eventually going to be a salesman, tie together with the theory nicely.
In 1940, Roy Smith McKinnon married Venda Lee Sweet, of Wellington, Utah. // I'd love to hear the story of how they met. // They must have moved to Tacoma, Washington, quickly, since he was back in Randolph visiting, with his wife and son in 1941. That son was likely Marlynn Donald McKinnon (1941-1968). Another article, about a year later, indicates a daughter was born to them, but I've found nothing about her, yet. She could yet still be alive.
One article mentions Roy's mother, Dorothy McKinnon, went to visit her son in Oregon,... although his presence in Oregon has not yet been corroborated. It could have easily just been a mistake by the reporter, mistaking Washington for Oregon. However, it has come to my attention that Oregon was part of the Tacoma Washington Mission at the time.
According to FamilySearch.org records, his wife, Venda Lee, died on August 1, 1955. Also according to FamilySearch.org, he married Edith Hanson, who was also born in Wellington, Utah, on 8 February, 1956, in Tacoma, Washington. They are credited with one son, Mark Hanson McKinnon (1951-1998), however, either his name is wrong or his birthdate is wrong, because Venda Lee was still alive in 1951.
Other Clues from other Papers:
Davis County Clipper 1966-06-24
Funeral Services Held for David Mckinnon
Funeral services for Darold Roy McKinnon, 24-day old son of Marlynn Donald and Karen Hansen McKinnon were held in the Bountiful 21st LDS Ward chapel Wednesday.
DAROLD R. McKinnon died June 20 in a Salt Lake hospital of a heart ailment. He was born May 26, 1966, in Bountiful.
BISHOP HAROLD Chambers was in charge. Invocation, Jan Steenblik; remarks, Bishop Chambers; prelude and postlude music, Karen Wensel; vocal solo, Vicky Steenblik, "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked."
Speaker, Horace Duffin; vocal solo, Vicky Steenblik, "Till We Meet AgaIn."
Benediction, Willard Hansen.
PALLBEARERS were Raymond Hansen, Howard Hansen, Willard Hansen, and Horace Duffin.
Burial was in the Mountain-View Cemetery, Tacoma, Wash.
Surviving are his parents; grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Hansen, Moses Lake, Wash.; Mr. and Mrs. Roy S. McKinnon, Tacoma, Wash.; great-grandparents, Myron Layton, Cardston, Alberta, Canada; Mrs. Flossie Hansen, Tacoma.
(Presumed Age: 51 years 9 days)
The "Hansen" relatives mentioned in the Funeral Services Notice for Darold Roy McKinnon above, were likely Edith Hanson's relatives. Edith's mother, Mary Flossie Sweet, married Moroni Hanson, so this would fit the name shown in the obituary as Darold's great-grandmother.
OK, this was the point I was at (10 September, 2010) when I began researching source of information, on the Internet, for the TACOMA, WASHINGTON area. I was looking for information about "Roy Smith McKinnon" or simply "Roy S. McKinnon". I could hardly believe my results!
First Find - Burial records of McKinnons found in Mountain-View Cemetery in Tacoma, Washington:
I thought that this was great, but I really wanted to see if I could find some marriage information or actual obituaries/death certificates, and I found the death certs/obits are available for a fee. Setting this aside, I searched the Tacoma Library for what I thought was marriage information, but found it was of pictures of marriages. So, I decided to search for "McKinnon", and I turned-up seven (7) photos that were amazing.
This next link will take you to the results page of my search for "McKinnon" at the Tacoma Public Library, where you'll be able to see all seven pictures that I found there. I suggest you size your two browser windows, so you can view both this blog and the pictures, side-by-side:
Picture 1 of 7 is of Roy S. McKinnon, with his new car, in front of his office.
Picture 2 of 7 is of a son of Roy S. McKinnon posing for his Eagle Scout portrait.
Picture 5 of 7 shows the Tacoma Central Ward, Seattle Washington Stake membership posed outside their chapel, with Roy S. McKinnon identified at the left of the front row. (Are his wife and children there, too?)
Picture 6 of 7 proved to be the critical one. It's a picture of the offices of the "Northern Life Insurance Company of Seattle", and the last sentence of the photo description casually states (bold and italics added):
in the 1951 city directory."
This sentence hit me like a pile-driver, and my heart raced with the confirmation it provided! Remember the UDN article from the Rich County News (Reaper) that stated Roy McKinnon had been promoted to District Manager of the Northern Life Insurance Co., in 1944?
This proved to me that "Roy McKinnon = Roy Smith McKinnon" is correct!!
One final thing would be nice,... corraboration by a living relative. Well, I have just today (September 11, 2010) managed to connect with the still living son of Roy S. McKinnon. He has confirmed that Roy Smith McKinnon was adopted by Donald & Dorothy McKinnon!
He tells me he has an older sister still living, as well. I won't mention their names here, until they give me permission.
I've already updated my Family History records, completing the link for Roy Smith McKinnon to his adoptive parents, Donald and Dorothy McKinnon.
So, all this research was worth it, even though I didn't find out who Roy's original parents were.
There is one more mystery with regard to Roy... if he is adopted, why does he look so much like my older brother, and why does his son look so much like my younger brother? I may never find an answer to this (at least not in this life).
ADDENDUM to the Roy Smith McKinnon record (09 January 2011). Just last week, I ran across another article on the Utah Digital Newspaper site, that is of interest. Titled "Missionary Writes Home", it is signed simply "Roy". The content and timing assure me that this was in fact a letter from Elder Roy S. McKinnon. You'll note that he wrote it while in Portland, Oregon (proving that Roy had been in Oregon), and that the date matches up with time that Roy was on his mission.
