The Kingston Family first came to Chile in the early 1900's. Carl John Kingston, the patriarch and pioneer, came to Chile looking for copper (good idea) and gold (crazy idea). "Gramps" Kingston was an American originally from Central Mine, Michigan, which exists only as a ghost town today in Michigan's upper peninsula.

The Kingstons settled in Casablanca in the 1920's. One of Gramps's dreams of finding the "Gramps" Kingston motherlode yielded a 7,500 acre ranch with a herd of cattle, but no gold. Rumor has it that there is some gold deep down under "the Farm", but it is apparently so far down that maybe our great-great-grandchildren will hit pay-dirt.

The Old Farm House

Children were home-schooled using American distance learning programs before being sent off to college in the United States. Cleveland Indian baseball games were listened to via short-wave radio. Rare trips north were a lengthy endeavor by ship, taking weeks to pass through the Panama Canal, via Havana, Cuba, and ultimately to New York.

CJ Kingston II, wrote the following description in the 1970's reflecting on his generation's childhood growing up in the remote Chilean campo in the 40's and 50's:

"At one point, for about ten years, we lived in a unique universe. It was like a greenhouse. And there was a distinct bond between us because we were in it together. Our existence was carefully worried over; we were taught about school, work, animals, God, the Puritan ethic, and baseball. And sometimes we ran into some people; but we seemed to miss out on bullies, hoods, dope peddlars, and girls."

John and Janet Kingston, Sailing SS Helena, June 22, 1935

The Kingston home from the 1800's, in 2003.

Michael and Sam Kingston