Robert Florentine Kinney was born on December 9, 1867. His father Peter was 63 and his mother Delilah “Dillie” was 27. His father Peter had been married twice before. He had three half siblings (two sisters and a brother) through his father. These were Sabrey “Sibbie” Kinney, George Wesley Kinney, and Martha Elen Kinney. His mother, Dillie had been married before and was a Civil War widow. Robert had a half sister from his mother’s side. This sister was Mary Elizabeth Breedlove
Robert was born in Patterson Township in Alamance County, close to the Randolph County line. During the Civil War the stock of available men in the South had been depleted as they were away on the field of battle. It is no wonder that his mother Dillie married a much older man in 1864. Robert was the second oldest child born to Peter and Dillie. The other children were William Henry, Annie Jane, Jennie Selina, and Esther Delina. Jennie and Esther were twins.
Robert continued to live with his father and mother near Liberty, North Carolina until 1884 when his father died at the age of 80. Peter had arthritis and was unable to provide for his family. There were several instances documented in the local paper where the county had to help with food and provisions for the Kinney family. This clipping is from The Alamance Gleaner, March 21 1876 Tuesday, page 3.
Three years after the death of his father, Robert married Martha Emma Shue in Guilford County on Sunday, September 2, 1887. A year later his first son Henry Bascom Kinney was born. Robert and Martha purchased some land in Alamance County. They attended Graham Baptist Church and mother Dilly lived nearby with the girls and her third husband John Henry. Robert and Martha had two more children born in Alamance County. They were Lystra Blanche born August 11, 1890 and Tempie Lorenah born November 10, 1892. 
On November 11, 1893, the Kinney family sold their land in Graham, Alamance County to Rachel Shoe May and on November 21, 1893, the Kinneys purchased 100 acres in Grant Township from Eli Preston Spoon for $117.50. Eli Preston Spoon was the son of Joseph Spoon who had discovered gold near Asheboro in a region where it was not supposed there were any known gold deposits before. Robert worked some at the neighborhood Spoon Gold Mine but he mainly made his living as a farmer.
Robert and Martha’s fourth child Peter Chesley was born in Randolph County on March 4, 1895. This was the same period of time that the Wright Brothers made the first flight in North Carolina. James Ernest Kinney was born on July 8, 1898 and Wilbert Frederick was born September 10, 1900. James Ernest was a sickly child and he passed away on November 25, 1902 at the age of four. The next year daughter Esther Ursula Marie was born on April 27, 1903.
During this period, the older children were becoming teenagers and there are many articles in the Courier about visiting and taking part in church services at Spoons Chapel and Mount Tabor Church and other Squirrel Creek neighborhood activities. Son Robert Roosevelt was born November 13, 1906 and daughter Adell was born January 9, 1908. This picture is with Ursula, Wilbert, and Rob (the baby on the knee).
Adell tragically lost her life as a small toddler when she fell into the washtub while her mother was washing clothes and was scalded to death. The baby of the family, Earl Jethro was born on April 19, 1910. Robert’s mother Dillie died three years later at the age of 73.
Robert and Martha continued to live at the residence in Grant Township where he performed his civic duty by serving as a juror for the March and April Term of the 1917 Randolph Superior Court. His children began to leave the household. He purchased a car but he never learned to drive it. Son Robert Roosevelt was his designated chauffeur and he took him to visit family and other friends and neighbors in the car.
Robert Florentine Kinney died at a fairly young age. The Courier Tribune reported he collapsed in a rye field when he died at age 57 on May 17, 1925. His death certificate said the cause of death was carcinoma of the stomach. He is buried in the Mount Tabor Church Community Cemetery.
Robert Roosevelt Kinney and Martha Emma Kinney had ten children in 21 years. Those children and their spouses are:
1. Henry Bascom Kinney 1888-1972 married Mary Ellen Pugh 1893-1958
2. Lystra Blanche Kinney 1890-1975 married William Henry Berry 1878-1957 and Will Watson 1900-1976
3. Tempie Lorenah Kinney 1892-1959 married William Edmund Brown 1886-1949
4. Peter Chesley Kinney 1895-1972 married Rosetta Myriah McPherson 1895-1971
5. James Ernest Kinney 1898-1902
6. Wilbert Frederick Kinney 1900-1953 married Naomi Blanche Mann 1903-1994
7. Esther Ursula Marie Kinney 1903-1978 married Colon Monroe Hicks 1903-1966 and Thurl Howard York 1914-1994
8. Robert Roosevelt Kinney 1906-1984 married Nellie Victoria Jones 1904-1979
9. Dillie Adell Kinney 1908-1909
10. Earl Jethro Kinney 1910-1971 married Lessie Elmage Purvis 1910-2002
References available at Rogers Family Tree on Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/34712803/family
and at Family Search https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LK3B-2J5
Martha's Family Connections 