Luverne, Minn., June 21. R. B. Hinkly, president of the Rock County bank, in this city, has just finished the work of establishing a new brick yard on his place, one mile southwest of this city. This is the only representative of the brick manufacturing industry in this section. (The Saint Paul Globe, Saturday, June 23, 1900, Volume XXIII, Number 174, Page 3)
Luverne, Minn., June 29. A new bank was this week organized at Kenneth, one of the new towns in this county on the Burlington extension between Worthington and Hardwick. The officers are: R. B. Hinkly, president; C. J. Martin, vice president, both of the Rock County bank of this place; A. D. Parker, of Kenneth, cashier, and A. Rothschild, of Luverne. (The Saint Paul Globe, Sunday Morning, June 30, 1901, Volume XXIV, Number 181, Page 7)
Luverne, Minn. The offices and exchange of the Enterprise Telephone company were moved to-day to the Regan block, which was built this summer by R. B. Hinckly for the especial accommodation of the company. The building is a brick structure, three stories high, with a ground dimension of 100x26 feet. Mrs. Lillian Gamel has charge of the exchange. (The Minneapolis Journal, Thursday Evening, October 8, 1903, Page 13)
Page 231. Hinkley, Ray Benjamin, banker, farmer, manufacturer; born at Clermont, Ia., July 24, 1860; son of Benjamin H. and Emma C. (Bryant) Hinkley; educated in public schools of Clermont,
Page 232. Lansing (Mich.) High School, Oberlin College, Oberlin, O. Was traveling salesman for Lansing (Mich.) cracker factory at age of 16; publisher of Clermont (Ia.) Independent, at 19; commenced practice of law in Iowa, 1881; came to Minnesota and organized Rock County Bank, Luverne, 1882, becoming cashier, and later, president; admitted to Minnesota bar, 1885; always interested in mechanics, and has acquired some note as an inventor. Farming and stock growing has also occupied his attention and he is at the present time directing operations on about 2,000 acres of productive land of Minnesota. President Rock County Bank, Luverne; vice president Enterprise Telephone Co., Edgerton; proprietor Luverne Brick & Tile Works; vice president First National Bank, Howard, S. D. Married at Clermont, Ia., 1882, to Miss Mary Bulah Harrington. Address: Luverne, Minn. (The Book of Minnesotans, A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the State of Minnesota, Albert Nelson Marquis, A. N. Marquis & Company, Chicago, 1907)
A Pioneer Clayworker. R. B. Hinkly, head of the Luverne (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co., has just celebrated his fiftieth birthday. Years ago he pledged himself at this time to retire from active labor, and therefore although he regrets to retire from the clay business he has decided to sell his splendid up-to-date brick and tile plant at Luverne. Mr. Hinkly has found this to be the banner year in the tile business and his plant has been in continous operation since the first of March, and at no time since April has it caught up with orders. During the past summer Mr. Hinkly has added a waste heat drier to his equipment, which greatly increases the output of the plant. The demands for tile however, make even this plant insufficient for the needs of the territory. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Co, Chicago, IL, September 1910, Volume XXXIII, Number 3, Page 116)
For Sale. I am going to retire from active labor and offer the Luverne Brick & Tile Co.’s plant for sale. It is the best located of any plant in the northwest and has always made good. Address R. B. Hinkly, Luverne, Minn. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, December 1910, Volume XXXIII, Number 6, Page 54)
R. B. Hinkly (1882), who has for nearly thirty years been a well known Rocky county resident, is a Luverne citizen of many extensive interests. He first came to Luverne in March, 1882, and organized the Rock County Bank, which commenced business May 2 of that year, and of which he became the first cashier and active manager. He was later elevated to the presidency, an office he held until retiring from all interest in the bank in 1909. His time has since been devoted to the supervision of the important and large industry he created a number of years ago in his home city, the Luverne Brick & Tile company, and his extensive farm and real estate possessions. A native Iowan, Mr. Hinkly’s birth occurred in 1860 at the town of Claremont, Fayette county. He was educated in the public schools of that place and later attended Oberlin college, Ohio. At the age of eighteen he assumed the editorship of the Claremont Independent and at the same time read law. He was admitted to the bar the year of attaining his majority.
He departed from Iowa and for a year previous to settling in Luverne he was engaged with the Northern Pacific railroad at Brainerd, Minnesota. During his long and successful career as a banker he assisted in the organization of a number of financial institutions in Minnesota and South Dakota, but now has disposed of all such interests except a connection with the leading bank of Howard, South Dakota. Mr. Hinkly owns several thousand acres of Rock county’s choicest land and has made heavy real estate investments in the Gulf Coast country in Texas, near San Benito. In Claremont, Iowa, on September 26, 1882, R. B. Hinkly was united in marriage to May Harrington, a native of Boston. Three sons and one daughter have been born to these parents. They are William, the organizer and cashier of a bank at San Benito, Texas; Harry J., who assists in the management of his father’s real estate; Bryant Stanton, superintendant of the Luverne factory, and Laura (Mrs. John Connell), of Luverne. (An Illustrated History of the Counties of Rock and Pipestone Minnesota, Arthur P. Rose, Northern History Publishing Company, Luverne, Minnesota, 1911, Page 487)
Luverne – The "Objectors" ticket was elected here by a majority of 321. A record vote of 1,234 ballots was cast. R. B. Hinkly was elected mayor. (The Tomahawk (White Earth, Minnesota), Thursday, April 13, 1922, Volume XVIIII, Number 48, Page 2)