Samuel Kinsey

Samuel Kinsey was born in Covington, Ohio on 25 May 1832 to Joel Kinsey and Elizabeth Brumbaugh. In 1852, he married Barbara Nead, daughter of Peter Nead, and together they had thirteen children. He joined the Brethren as a member in 1853. Kinsey was economically successful, and was at various times a carpenter, proprietor of a general store, owner of a tree nursery, and publisher. He eventually became a deacon and a minister of Lower Stillwater Brethren congregation near Dayton, Ohio.

In the mid to late nineteenth century, Kinsey's father-in-law, Peter Nead, was the primary leader for the reactionary wing of the Brethren, known as Old Order Brethren. Out of this group emerged a new periodical, The Vindicator, with Kinsey as editor. It was first published on 1 March 1870 as an eight-page monthly, composed of scriptural interpretations, exhortations to piety, and news on church affairs. In The Vindicator, Kinsey rejected that the church had any authority to change or adapt the ordnung, in contrast to both the conservatives, who became the Church of the Brethren, and the progressives, who became the Brethren Church.

In around 1874, Kinsey handed over control of his business interests to others in order to devote himself to the service of the church, including continuing his publishing. His work was not well received; Kinsey was reprimanded by the 1881 Brethren Annual Conference for encouraging dissension and criticizing church authorities. The Old German Baptist Brethren split at this conference, with Nead and Kinsey as their primary leaders. The proliferation of unauthorized and uncontrolled periodicals has been claimed as a major cause of the division. In 1882, at their first meeting, the Old German Baptist Brethren recognized The Vindicator as their official publication. Kinsey was also ordained as an elder in 1882.

Kinsey died on 8 June 1883. He was succeeded as editor by Joseph I. Cover. The Vindicator set a precedent of conservative periodicals that was followed by Mennonite George R. Brunk's Sword and Trumpet. Kinsey has continued to be influential in the Old German Baptist Brethren. The Vindicator continues to be published for the Old German Baptist Brethren over a century later.