Narcissa Edith White Kinney

Narcissa Edith Kinney ( White; July 24, 1854 – January 5, 1901) was an American temperance worker. She was associated with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Chautauqua Association.

Early life

Narcissa Edith White was born in Grove City, Pennsylvania, the daughter of George Washington White (1812–1882) and Susannah Kerr Wallace (1815–1872). She was Scotch-Irish through ancestry. Her mother's maiden name was Wallace, and family records show that she was a direct descendant of Adam Wallace, who was burned in Scotland for his religion, and whose faith and death are recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. At his death his two sons, David and Moses Wallace, fled to the north of Ireland, whence Narcissa's grandfather, Hugh Wallace, emigrated to the U.S. in 1796. Her father's ancestor, Walter White, was also burned during Queen Mary's reign, and the record is in Fox's Book of Martyrs, and four of her far-away grandfathers, two on each side of the house, fought side by side in the Battle of the Boyne.

She was raised in a Conservative church, the United Presbyterian. The first meeting of the new Chautauqua Assembly of Oregon was held in August 1891. Kinney liberally supported the Chautauqua movement in Oregon, having contributed about $6,000.00 to the work. At the time, he owned the world's largest salmon cannery. They married in 1888 and relocated to Astoria.