A LOOK BACK Kinsman history

Founded: 1802 by John Kinsman.
Population: 1,943, according to 2000 Census.
Notable residents: Clarence Darrow, famed trial attorney and "defender of human rights," who grew up in the Octagon house. Darrow served defense attorney in many famous trials, including the 1924 murder trial of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. The teacher was acquitted. His summation is still considered by many as the most eloquent attack on the death penalty ever delivered. He also won acquittal of the defendant in what was called the Scopes Monkey Trial, in which a teacher was tried for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.Ernest Lyman Scott is considered by many to be the true founder of insulin, a drug used to regulate diabetes.
Historic sites: The Octagon House, which not only served as Darrow's boyhood home, but possibly was a station for the Underground Railroad. The home was built in 1838.The Scythe Tree, one of many throughout the country, gained its fame starting in 1861. Answering the call to arms for the Civil War, a Kinsman man laid his scythe down in the branches of a tree when he left for war. Friends and relatives decided to let the scythe remain there until the man returned home, but he never did. In 1995, old age and high winds combined to destroy the tree, but the section with the scythe is housed in the library.