Dr. Floyd Kinsolving of Dunklin County

When Dr. Floyd Kinsolving died May 5, 1942, at Presnell Hospital in Kennett, Missouri, news of what was found at his home in Hornersville, Missouri, went "viral" in today's parlance. Found on his property were every car he ever owned since 1911, piles of tires as a rubber reserve, and $160,000 in the basement. News of his eccentric habits made it all the way to a newspaper in Plattsburgh, New York.

Kinsolving was born Feb.12, 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in Lyon, Kentucky, a son of William S. Kinsolving and Celia Verd. He settled in Southeast Missouri in 1881, where he taught school for several years in Malden and Kennett before going to the University of Louisville to attend medical school. Upon graduating, he moved back to Missouri and settled in Hornersville, Dunklin County, Missouri, where he practiced medicine for 30 years.

He is known for raising long-staple cotton of high quality with the help of geese to eat the grass on his 3,000 acres he owned in Dunklin County; Mississippi County, Arkansas; and Lawrence County, Kentucky. According to newspaper accounts, he began using approximately 3,000 geese to eradicate the grass in his cotton fields in 1909. This allowed him to have higher yields at harvest time. In his probate correspondence, numerous friends commented on how much of a "conversationalist" and "smart" he was. He was known to be a voracious reader. His love of reading lead him to try his hand at a variety of professions, including surveyor, inventor, herpetologist, ginner, saw mill operator and machinist. His innovative side led him to perfect the cotton chopper.

During his lifetime, he was married twice. His first marriage was to Isabel V. Kelly of North Carolina in September 1886. Four children were born to this union, Floyd Jr., Celia, Norris, and Flora. The couple divorced in 1902, after they had moved to Hornersville with Isabel gaining custody of their children and moving them to Kennett. This led to years of estrangement between him and his children. Floyd remarried soon after his divorce to Josie H. Shepherd Anderson; she died Dec. 6, 1939.

He was a lifelong asthma sufferer, which caused him to be confined to hospitals on several occasions toward the end of his life. He succumbed to this ailment May 5, 1942, at Presnell Hospital in Kennett. He was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, where his second wife was buried.

A copy of Floyd Kinsolving's will from U.S. District Court case around 1943.Submitted

His death left open who inherited his property. A will from 1917 left his property to his wife, if she was living. Otherwise, the property would be divided between the University of Missouri-Columbia and University of Louisville Medical School. His children were left out of the will. Allen L. Oliver of the Oliver and Oliver law firm and another attorney represented the two universities in the litigation. The universities ultimately gained 85% of proceeds from the sale of the property.