This genealogy of the Kimball family comes from a four volume set of genealogy research compiled in the early 1900s. Each generation is shown in parentheses ( ). Begin with one individual and continue that line through the furthest generation currently known before starting a new descendancy for the next sibling. This method keeps each family group intact, while presenting the families of siblings separately but under the same generational number.
The name in England, as records KIMBALL show, appears in the various forms of Kymbolde, Kembold, Kembould, Kembolde and Kemball. Henry Kemball, a brother of Richard, has descendants in New Hampshire (see Kemball).
(I) The common ancestor of the great majority of Kimballs in this country was Richard Kimball, who with his family embarked at Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk, England, April 10, 1634, in the ship “Elizabeth,” William Andrews, master. He arrived at Boston, and from thence went to Watertown, Massachusetts, where he settled and became a prominent and active man in the new settlement. He was by trade a wheelwright. He was proclaimed a freeman in 1635, May 6, and was a proprietor in 1636-37. Soon after this date he was invited to remove to Ipswich, where was needed a competent man to act as wheelwright to the new settlement. Here he spent the remainder of his days as one of the leading men of the town. He died June 22, 1675. Richard Kimball married (first) Ursula Scott, daughter of Henry Scott, of Rattlesden, in the county of Suffolk, England. He married (second), Margaret Dow, widow of Henry Dow, of Hampton, New Hampshire, October 23, 1661. His children, eleven in number, were by his first wife: 1. Abigail, born in Rattlesden, county of Suffolk, England. She married in England, John Severans, and they came to America. She died at Salisbury, Massachusetts, June 17, 1658, and he died at the same place, April 9, 1682. They were the parents of twelve children. Their youngest child, Elizabeth Severans, married in 1686, Samuel Eastman, of Salisbury, Massachusetts. Her granddaughter, Abigail Eastman, born July 10, 1737, daughter of Thomas and Abigail (French) Eastman, married Ebenezer Webster, and was the mother of Daniel Webster, the statesman. 2. Henry is mentioned at length below. 3. Elizabeth, born in Rattlesden, Suffolk county, England. 4. Richard, receives further mention in this article, with descendants. 5. Mary, born in Rattlesden, England, in 1625, married Robert Dutch, of Gloucester and Ipswich, Massachusetts. 6. Martha, born in Rattlesden, August, 1629, married Joseph Fowler, who was born in England in 1622, and was killed by the Indians, May 19, 1676, near Deerfield, Massachusetts. 7. John, born in Rattlesden, England, 1631, died May 6, 1698. 8. Thomas, born 1633, died May 5, 1676. 9. Sarah, born at Watertown, Massachusetts, 1635, died June 12, 1690. She married, November 24, 1658, Edward Allen, of Ipswich, Massachusetts. 10. Benjamin is the subject of a paragraph in this article. 11. Caleb, born at Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1639, died 1682.
(II) Henry Kimball, eldest son and second child of Richard Kimball, was born in Rattlesden, Suffolk county, England, baptized August 12, 1615, and came to America in the ship “Elizabeth” with his father in 1634. He first settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, but some time after 1646 followed his father to Ipswich, and about 1655 removed to Wenham, and spent the remainder of his life in that town. November 8, 1657, he subscribed £3 as minister’s rate, one half in wheat, the other half in Indian corn, “at Marchant’s price.” In 1659 he subscribed £3.50, one-half in corn; and in 1660-1, he contributed 10s toward the new meeting house. He was chosen constable, October 22, 1669. He died in Wenham in 1676, leaving an estate inventoried at £177 12s. He married (first), about 1640, Mary, daughter of John and Mary Wyatt, who came to America in the same ship with him. Mary died in Wenham, August 12, 1672, and he married (second), Elizabeth (Gilbert) Rayner, widow of William, son of Thurston Rayner, and daughter of Humphrey and Elizabeth Gilbert. Henry and Mary (Wyatt) Kimball were the parents of thirteen children: Mary, Richard, John, Caleb, Dorcas, Abigail, Sarah, Henry, Mehitable, Benjamin, Joseph, Martha and Deborah. (Mention of Joseph and descendants appears in this article).
(III) John Kimball, second son and third child of Henry and Mary (Wyatt) Kimball, was born at Watertown, December 25, 1645, and died previous to May 20, 1726. When sixteen years of age he went to live with his grandfather, John Wyatt, of Ipswich, where he remained until the death of Mr. Wyatt, in December, 1665, when he became heir to the property left by him, provided he performed certain conditions. This property was bounded by the “Meeting house Green,” which shows where he lived. He sold his estate March 25, 1667, and removed to Newbury, where he was living June 17, 1668. About 1669 he removed to Amesbury, where he afterward lived. He testified in the trial of Susan Martin for witchcraft, May 16, 1692. A full report of his testimony may be found in Increase Mather’s account of witch trials. He was a yeoman and wheelwright, and took the oath of allegiance December 20, 1677, was made a freeman in 1690, served as appraiser of different estates, and died in 1726. He married (first), October, 1665, Mary, daughter of Francis and Jane Jordan. He may have married (second), February 9, 1713, Mary Pressey, of Amesbury, as a marriage is recorded at Newbury between John Kimball and Mary Pressey. If this be so she soon died, and in April, 1715, he married (third), the widow Deborah (Weed) Bartlett, born June 15, 1659, daughter of John Weed, who survived him. He had seven children, all by the first wife. Their names are: Mary, John, Abigail, Joseph, Abraham, Hannah and Deborah.
(IV) John Kimball (2), oldest son and second child of John (1) and Mary (Jordan) Kimball, born in Newbury, July 19, 1668, was a wheelwright by trade, and lived in Amesbury. He married Hannah, daughter of Nathaniel Gould, as is shown by a deed made February 11, 1714, in which John Kimball, Jr., and wife Hannah, of Amesbury, Samuel Gould, Joseph Gould, Thomas Beedle, and Mary Jones, widow of Joseph Jones, children of Nathaniel Gould and Elizabeth his wife, conveyed property that they inherited from Nathaniel Gould, who died in 1693. The nine children of this marriage were: Benjamin, who died young; Sarah, Jonathan, Judith, Benjamin, Hannah, Mary, John and Nathan.
(V) Nathan Kimball, fifth son and ninth child of John (2) and Hannah (Gould) Kimball, was born in Amesbury, June 21, 1719, died in 1753, and resided in Amesbury. He married, December 16, 1742, Hannah Ring, and they were the parents of children: Nathan, Josiah, Bachelder, Hannah, Esther, Judith and Thomas.
(VI) Nathan Kimball (2), oldest son and child of Nathan (1) and Hannah (Ring) Kimball, was born in Amesbury, March 3, 1743, and died December, 1816. At the time of his marriage he resided in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, where he was a farmer. He afterward removed to Weare, and lived there at the time of his death. He married Judith Kimball, born May 12, 1739, daughter of Benjamin Kimball. She died May 2, 1785. They had five children: Betsey, Hannah, Judith, Benjamin and Mark.
(VII) Hannah Kimball, second daughter and child of Nathan and Judith (Kimball) Kimball, married Samuel Muzzey, of Weare, and settled in Newbury. (See Muzzey, VIII).
(III) Joseph Kimball, sixth son of Henry and Mary (Wyatt) Kimball, was born in Wenham, January 20, 1661-2, and died 1713. He married Elizabeth Needham, born February 1, 1674, at Lynn and died October 6, 1708. He lived in Boston and followed the sea, and probably was lost at sea. Administration on his estate was granted his brother-in-law, Ezekiel Needham, April 14, 1713. Children: 1. Joseph, born February 24, 1701, mentioned below. 2. Mary, born May 27, 1703, in Boston.
(IV) Joseph Kimball (2), son of Joseph (1) and Elizabeth (Needham) Kimball, was born in Boston, February 24, 1701; died 1767 at Preston, Connecticut, where he was an early settler. He married in Boston, May 25, 1721, Bethia Mackerwithe, of Dedham, Massachusetts. Children, all born in Preston: 1. Benjamin, born April 15, 1722; died August, 1796. 2. Bethia (twin), born February 18, 1723-4. 3. Sarah (twin), born February 18, 1723-4. 4. Joseph, born December 29, 1731; died October 22, 1822, in Plainfield, New Hampshire; mentioned below.
(V) Joseph Kimball (3), son of Joseph (2) and Bethia (Mackerwithe) Kimball, was born in Preston, Connecticut, January 9, 1732; married May 2, 1754, Hannah Morgan, who was born October 1, 1731, and died March 1, 1756, in Preston. He married second, Mary Clift, daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Doggett) Clift, born at Marshfield, Massachusetts, October 1, 1738, died July 9, 1781. He married third, Eleanor Dunlap, born at Killingly, Connecticut, October 25, 1743, died December 18, 1833, at Plainfield, New Hampshire. Eleanor Dunlap was the daughter of William and Sarah (Ledlie) Dunlap, emigrants from Ireland, some say Scotland. Her brothers were: John, Joshua and Robert. Her sisters were: Elizabeth and Mary. Joseph Kimball settled at Plainfield, New Hampshire, in 1764. He was a soldier in the Revolution, and took part in the battles of Fort Ticonderoga and Bennington. The inscription on the family monument reads: “He was the first proprietor of a farm inclosing this cemetery, a successful hunter and kind neighbor, a soldier of the Revolution at Fort Ticonderoga in 1776.” The original slate-stone slab, still standing, is inscribed “Lieutenant Joseph Kimball,” but whether he was lieutenant in the regular army or the militia is not known. He settled first in the town then known as Plainfield Plain, and later removed to a farm near the village of Meriden, New Hampshire, where he lived until his death. Joseph Kimball had one brother, Benjamin, who died at Plainfield, August, 1796, aged seventy-seven. Benjamin Kimball’s son, Daniel Kimball, died February 27, 1817, aged sixty-three years. He was the founder of Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire. Hannah Chase Kimball, wife of Daniel Kimball, died June 17, 1847, aged eighty-nine. Joseph Kimball’s only child of first wife: 1. Hannah, born March 22, 1755, died May 10, 1756. Children of second wife, born in Connecticut: 2. Wills, born March 31, 1760, died August 13, 1843, married Mercy Roberts; their son Elisha died April 3, 1873, married Tryphena Ticknor. 3. Hannah, born September 6, 1761, died August 19, 1788. 4. Benjamin, born March 6, 1763, died March 18, 1815. 5. Elisha, born March 1, 1765, died September 3, 1766. Children of second wife, born in Plainfield, New Hampshire: 6. Mary Clift, born November 30, 1767, died January 27, 1855. The second white child born in Plainfield, New Hampshire. 7. Sally, born July 15, 1769, died March 9, 1803. 8. Lydia, born April 3, 1771, died October 2, 1775. 9. Joseph, born September 9, 1775, died September 1, 1823, at Deerfield, near Utica, New York. Children of third wife: 10. Eunice, born January 19, 1783, at Plainfield, New Hampshire, died October 4, 1862, at Hopkinton, New Hampshire; married Abraham Brown, who died December 15, 1852. 11. Betsey, born December 16, 1784, in Plainfield, New Hampshire, died January 19, 1866, at Meriden, New Hampshire, unmarried. 12. Robert, born December 16, 1786, mentioned below.
(VI) Robert Kimball, youngest child of Joseph and Eleanor (Dunlap) Kimball, was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, December 16, 1786, died September 20, 1876, at Lebanon, New Hampshire. He married at Wolcott, Vermont, November 19, 1817, Fanny Willis, born January 3, 1792, in Hanover, New Hampshire, died at Lebanon, New Hampshire, September 15, 1860. She was the daughter of Dyer and Elizabeth (Warner) Willis, of Hanover, New Hampshire. Children: 1. Daughter, born and died September 4, 1826. 2. Robert Byron, born October 24, 1827, died March 16, 1877, at Lebanon, New Hampshire. 3. Mary Elizabeth, born January 21, 1834.
Robert Kimball was a worthy representative of his race, a race of men strong physically and intellectually. Like the Kimballs who preceded him, he was ready in the defence of a friend, a cause, or an opinion. With the Vermont volunteers he saw service in the American army in the War of 1812, and was present at the battle of Plattsburg. In early life a merchant in Morristown, Vermont, he removed to Plainfield, New Hampshire, to assist in the management of his aged father’s farm. Each of these towns, during his residence in it, chose him as its representative in the state legislature. On the death of his father he removed to Lebanon, New Hampshire. He was at once recognized as a leading citizen, and continued to exert a wide influence in the town until the infirmities of age compelled him to step aside from active life. He represented Lebanon in the legislature in 1842 and 1843, was a member of the convention which revised the constitution, and was president of the Bank of Lebanon for twenty-five years. Mr. Kimball was a Mason, when it cost to be a Mason; an original owner in both the Concord and the Northern railroads, and their staunch supporter; an abolitionist, when abolitionism was most unpopular. When at the age of eighty-nine, he died, full of years and of honor, it might well be said of him that he had “fought the good fight.”
(VII) Robert Byron Kimball, only son of Robert Kimball, was born October 24, 1827, in Plainfield, New Hampshire, and died March 16, 1877, at the family homestead in Lebanon. He never married. He was a successful business man and financier, and a director of the Savings Bank and the National Bank of Lebanon. His was a busy, useful life, too full of business cares and private enterprises to admit of his holding public office. But his deeds of charity and his unblemished character caused him to be widely beloved, and he still lives in the memory of his townspeople, a Christian gentleman.
(VII) Mary Elizabeth Kimball, daughter of Robert Kimball, born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, January 21, 1834, has lived since her infancy in the Kimball homestead in Lebanon, New Hampshire. She is unmarried, and has an adopted daughter, Anna Cunningham Kimball, born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, October 2, 1881.
(II) Richard Kimball (2), fourth child and second son of Richard (1) and Ursula (Scott) Kimball, was born at Rattlesden, county of Suffolk, England, about 1623, and came to America with his father in the ship “Elizabeth.” He went to Wenham between the years 1652 and 1696, and was the first settler of the name in that town. He was called a wheelwright and yeoman. He was a large landowner, and appears to have been the largest taxpayer among the early settlers. He was a grand juror of the town of Wenham in 1661. He died in 1676. He married twice, both of his wives having Mary for the given name. It is probable that his second wife was Mary Gott. His first wife died September, 1672. He had nine children, of whom eight were alive at the time of his death, as is shown by an agreement made between them and his widow. Their names follow: John, Samuel, Thomas, Ephraim, Caleb, Christopher, Richard and Nathaniel. (Samuel, Thomas and Caleb and descendants are mentioned at length in this article).
(III) John Kimball, oldest child of Richard (2) and Mary Kimball, was born about 1650 and died about 1721. He was an inhabitant of Boxford as early as 1669. August 24, 1665, Richard Hubbard confirmed to Richard Kimball of Wenham his farm in Rowley village (now Boxford). John probably settled on this land. He was made a freeman March 22, 1689. By the frequency with which the name of “Corporal” Kimball is found upon the early records of the town it is evident that he was a man of much importance in town affairs. In 1675 he was tax collector. In 1711 his name and those of his sons are upon the tax list. He was a member of the Church of Topsfield, and was dismissed to the Church in Boxford in 1702. His will is on file at Salem, Massachusetts, and bears date February 19, 1718, and was probated April 15, 1721.
He married (first), Sarah, who died July 27, 1706; married (second) October 29, 1707, Hannah Burton, daughter of Isaac Burton. She was born in 1686, and survived her husband sixty-five years, dying October 16, 1786, aged one hundred years. Their children were: Sarah, May, Richard, Abigail, Elizabeth, Hannah and John.
(IV) Richard Kimball, son of John and Sarah Kimball, was born September 28, 1673, and died April 22, 1753. He resided in the southerly part of Boxford, Massachusetts, on the place where Major Samuel Perley erected a house in 1833. He dealt considerably in real estate. His will, approved May 7, 1753, is on file at Salem, Massachusetts. In the ancient burial ground where he and his wife are buried there are but fourteen very old and sadly neglected stones (1897). He married February 22, 1698-9, Hannah Dorman, daughter of Ephraim Dorman of Topsfield, Massachusetts, born 1682, died March, 1748. They had nine children: Jacob, born June 9, 1700, resided at Andover, Massachusetts; died 1787. Hannah, born June 30, 1702, married, April 28, 1724, John Andrews (3rd). Aaron, born January 17, 1704-5, died 1732. Amos, born September 8, 1707, died January 26, 1788. ——, born June 11, 1710, died December 19, 1785, at Rindge, New Hampshire. John, born March 6, 1713, resided in Boxford, Massachusetts. Mary, born October 10, 1715-16. Moses, born August 23, 1718, died in Amherst, New Hampshire. Ephraim, born April 11, 1721, resided in Boxford, Massachusetts.
(V) Amos Kimball, third son and fourth child of Richard and Hannah (Dorman) Kimball, born in Boxford, September 8, 1707, and died January 26, 1788. He was a farmer in Boxford. He married (first), March 1, 1736, Margaret Hale, born February 23, 1712-13, and (second), June 23, 1765, Abigail Session. His children were: Jesse, born April 15, 1738, died March 18, 1814; Joanna, born September 24, 1739, died young; Jethro, born August 23, 1741, died March 11, 1828; Enoch, born February 28, 1742-3, died 1816; Eli, born July 5, 1744, died in Swanzey, New Hampshire; Peggy, born January 7, 1746, died young; Lydia, born 1749, died September, 1835; Amos, born November 9, 1752, died January 9, 1824; Joseph, born February 6, 1754, died October 9, 1813.
(VI) Jesse Kimball, eldest child of Amos and Margaret (Hale) Kimball, was born in Boxford, Massachusetts, April 26, 1738, and died at Manchester, New Hampshire, March 18, 1814. He resided in Boxford and Andover, Massachusetts, until 1775, when he removed to Chester, New Hampshire. His home was on the river road between Martin’s Ferry and the Derry line. He married at Andover, Massachusetts, May 5, 1763, Susanna Jackson, born in Andover, July 2, 1744, died at Manchester, New Hampshire, April 22, 1808. They had twelve children: Jeremiah, born at Andover, November 20, 1764, died July 18, 1765. Jedediah, born at Andover, May 25, 1766, died November 5, 1814. John, resided in Chester and went to Bangor, Maine. Peggy, born in Andover, May 16, 1769, married Gould, died in Chester, New Hampshire, July 17, 1794. Nathan, born in Andover, March 29, 1771, went to Bangor, Maine. Ruth, born in Andover, May 7, 1773, died at Manchester, New Hampshire, October, 1831, single. Ezra, born in Chester, November 14, 1775, died October, 1831. Amos, born in Chester, July 26, 1778, died 1854. Stephen, born in Chester, January 28, 1781, died July 13, 1852. Phebe, born in Chester, September 4, 1783, died in Chester, February 27, 1819, married Whittier. Daniel, born in Chester, November 23, 1786. Sarah, born in Chester, August 13, 1791, married (first), Cheever; (second), William Foster, of Argyle, Maine. (Mention of Amos and descendants appears in this article).
(VII) Nathan Kimball, fourth son of Jesse and Susanna (Jackson) Kimball, was born in Andover, Massachusetts, March 29, 1771. He resided in Chester and Manchester, New Hampshire, and Bangor, Maine. He married Eunice Hoyt. They had five children: Mary, born June 11, 1796, married David Martin, of Martin’s Ferry, Hooksett, New Hampshire. Eunice, born May 29, 1798. Susan, died aged nineteen years. Lucinda, married Benjamin E. Sawyer, and resided in Canada. Stephen, born March 7, 1808, died July, 1889.
(VIII) Stephen Kimball, fifth and youngest child of Nathaniel and Eunice (Hoyt) Kimball, was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, March 7, 1808, and died in Auburn, New Hampshire, July, 1889. He resided in Hooksett about twenty years, and for the last thirty-three years of his life in Auburn. He was a farmer by occupation, a Universalist in religious belief, and a Republican in politics. He served as selectman in Hooksett, and also in Auburn. He married, November 26, 1834, Mary Anna Woodbury, of Dunbarton, born August, 1814, daughter of Ebenezer and Susanna (Hoyt) Woodbury, who died in Auburn. She was a member of the Methodist Church. Their children were: 1. Frederick Smith, born December 17, 1835, died November 5, 1894. 2. George Clark, born April 10, 1840, married three times. 3. Emily Ann, born October 18, 1845. 4. Eliza Ordway, born August 27, 1850.
(IX) George Clark Kimball, second son and child of Stephen and Mary Anna (Woodbury) Kimball, was born April 10, 1840. In early life he learned the trade of shoemaker and also served on a railroad, where he was employed many years. His residence is on Hackett Hill, three miles from Hooksett, and commands a fine view of the country.
(VII) Amos Kimball, eighth child and sixth son of Jesse and Susanna (Jackson) Kimball, was born in Andover, Massachusetts, July 26, 1778, and died in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1858. He married, December 24, 1801, at Pembroke, Anna Stark, and they had children: Peter, Betsey, Fanny Stark, Margaret, Almira Stearns, Reuben, Frederick, Emily, Mary Ann and Harriet.
(VIII) Frederick Kimball, seventh child and third son of Amos and Anna (Stark) Kimball, died in 1871. He married Martha ——, and they had one child, Emma, who married Hugh K. Ramsey. (See Ramsey).
(III) Samuel Kimball, second son and child of Richard (2) and Mary Kimball, was born in Ipswich, about 1651, and died in Wenham, October 3, 1716, aged sixty-five. He resided in Wenham where he was surveyor in 1676, constable in 1677, was made freeman May 24, 1682, and was selectman in the same year. He was also an ensign in the militia. On March 2, 1701, he and his wife deeded a lot of ten acres and a house to their son Samuel. His estate was settled by the son Samuel, who took the property and paid off the claims of his brothers and sisters. Their settlement contains the signatures of the husband of the married sisters, and serves to identify them. Samuel Kimball married, September 20, 1676, Mary Witt, daughter of John and Sarah Witt, of Lynn, Massachusetts. Their thirteen children, all born in Wenham, were: Samuel, Sarah, Martha (died young), Mary, Richard, Jonathan, John, Ebenezer, Martha, Thomas, Benjamin, Abigail and Jerusha. (Mention of Ebenezer and descendants follows in this article).
(IV) Jonathan Kimball, sixth child and third son of Samuel and Sarah (Witt) Kimball, born in Wenham, Massachusetts, in 1686, died February 19, 1758. He removed to Boston about 1708, and probably returned to Wenham about 1718. He served on a jury in 1721, and is then called of Wenham. He was a cordwainer by trade, was a captain in the militia and town clerk 1751-52-55-59-60. He and his wife united with the church, February 27, 1737, and he was made a deacon of the first church in Wenham, November 26, 1742, holding that office until his death. He was married in Boston, July 28, 1729, by Rev. Cotton Mather, to Hannah Hopkins, of Boston. Their children were: Jonathan, Hannah, Samuel, Sarah, Mary and Abigail.
(V) Jonathan Kimball, eldest child of Jonathan and Hannah (Hopkins) Kimball, was born in Boston, October 9, 1710, resided in Wenham, and was town clerk of that town in 1751-52-55-59-60. He married, April 21, 1732, in Ipswich, Martha Ober, of Beverly. Their children were: Martha, died young; Margaret, died young; John, Martha, Isaac, Ezra, Margaret, Mary, Abigail, died young; and Abigail.
(VI) Isaac Kimball, second son and fifth child of Jonathan and Martha (Ober) Kimball, was born in Wenham, January 18, 1742, resided in Wenham and Beverly, Massachusetts, Temple, New Hampshire, and Waterford, Maine. He married, November 9, 1762, Abigail Raymond, of Beverly, Massachusetts. They were the parents of twelve children: Abigail, died young; Isaac, John, David, Mary, Jonathan, George, Abigail, Sarah, Hannah, William and Betsey. (Mention of John and descendants follows in this article).
(VII) Isaac Kimball (2), second child and eldest son of Isaac (1) and Abigail (Raymond) Kimball, was born in Beverly, June 17, 1765, and died in Temple, New Hampshire, June 13, 1804. He went to Temple soon after marriage, and there he resided for years. He owned a farm in Andover, Vermont, upon which he built a barn. While this was in progress of construction he went into it after dark and fell through the floor to the cellar, injuring himself seriously. He soon afterwards sold the farm in Vermont, and was carried on a litter to Temple, New Hampshire, where he died after months of suffering. He married Sally Cutter, who was born June 30, 1767. They had eight children: Isaac, Benoni Cutter, John B. (died young), Sally, George B., William Barber and Simeon Gould.
(VIII) Benoni Cutter Kimball, second son and child of Isaac (2) and Sally (Cutter) Kimball, was born in Temple, New Hampshire, March 13, 1791, and died there March 29, 1868, aged seventy-seven years. He was a house carpenter and resided on the second farm in Temple, on the Mason Village road, from which he removed to the new house at Mason Village, in which he resided for a time. Afterward he built another house there in which he lived until he bought a two-third interest in the Dunster homestead, about 1835. He bought the other third at the death of the Widow Dunster in 1858. He was an influential member of the Congregational (Orthodox) Church, and took a prominent part in organizing the new church at Mason Village. In all enterprises connected with their church, he and his wife took an active and leading part. He married, December 28, 1815, Mary Dunster, who was born in Mason, February 16, 1796, and died May 31, 1864, aged sixty-eight. Her parents were Jason and Mary (Meriam) Dunster. (See Dunster, VI). Fifteen children were born of this marriage, as follows: Benoni, George, Mary Ann (died young), Eliza Ann, Addison (died young), Franklin, Isaac Newton, Samuel Dunster, Frederick, James, Marshall, Mary, Ellen Maria, Edward and Abby Jane.
(IX) Marshall Kimball, eleventh child and ninth son of Benoni C. and Mary (Dunster) Kimball, was born in Mason Village, October 2, 1832. He was educated in the public schools and at Appleton Academy, at New Ipswich, and after leaving the latter institution he taught school three terms. He is a lifelong farmer, and owns the Dunster homestead, Lot 10, in the eighteenth range. In 1867 he built the commodious barn, from the cupola of which he fell, striking on the roof and other portions, till he reached the ground, a distance of forty feet. He was seriously injured, and has never fully recovered from the lameness succeeding the injury. In 1870 he was one of the selectmen of the town, and has held other town offices. October 18, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers, and did duty with his regiment, principally in Louisiana, until it was mustered out at Concord, New Hampshire, August 20, 1863. He united with the Mason Village Congregational Church, May 6, 1849, by profession; and November 5, 1858, was elected deacon of that church, which office he still retains. He was married, May 15, 1859, at the village church, by Rev. George E. Fisher, to Louisa Judith Allen, who was born October 7, 1832, daughter of Oliver and Harriet (Harding) Allen, of Mason. She graduated at Appleton Academy, and taught school in Mason and other towns constantly for ten years, and until her marriage. She is a gifted writer, and is the author of the “Song of Welcome,” sung at the Mason Centennial Celebration in 1868. She died November 4, 1900. Six children were born of this union: 1. Elmer Allen, born January 18, 1862; graduated from Dartmouth with the class of 1885 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was afterward a successful lawyer in Chicago, and is now president of the Ogden Gas Company of that city; he married Ella Howard, and they have one child, Allen Howard, born January 23, 1899. 2. Mary Lillian, born June 2, 1864; married Ernest L. Sawyer, and has six children: Bertha Roxana, born July 24, 1887; Ralph Marshall, February 18, 1889, died April 26, 1902; Ruth Ernestine, born December 27, 1890; Ethel May, April 6, 1895; Catharine Louisa, April 9, 1899; Marguerite Ainsley, May 20, 1904. 3. Fred Benoni, born March 18, 1866; married Martha A. Russell; they have five children: Marion, born April 6, 1891; Esther, April 17, 1893; Hazel, November 25, 1894; Bernice Naomi, June 6, 1899; Russell Marshall, December 27, 1905. 4. Lena Harriet, born November 22, 1870, married Charles Thomas Wheeler, of Greenville, and they have two children: Doris Mabel, born October 27, 1896; and Elsie Faye, born April 19, 1901. 5. Flora Louisa, born February 8, 1872, resides at home. 6. Edward Marshall, born September 13, 1873, married May Newby, January 22, 1906. They have one child, Marshall, born May 11, 1907. The mother of this child died May 31, same year.
(VII) John Kimball, third child and second son of Isaac and Abigail (Raymond) Kimball, was born in Temple, New Hampshire, March 8, 1767, died in Wilton, New Hampshire, December 13, 1853. He resided in Temple until 1802, when he went to Wilton, and bought a farm in the southeast part of the town. He was a prosperous farmer and a good citizen. He married (first), March 8, 1797, Abigail Billings, who died October 31, 1814. He married (second), April 11, 1816, Anna Livermore, born August 20, 1781, died June 5, 1824, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Livermore. He married (third), March 26, 1829, Achsah Spaulding, born September 2, 1788, died April 27, 1873, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Marshall) Spaulding, of Wilton. His children were: John, Anna Hunt, Harriet, Achsah, Daniel Raymond, Granville, Augustine, Samuel Livermore, Abigail, Jonathan Bowers and Mary.
(VIII) Anna Hunt Kimball, second child and eldest daughter of John and Abigail (Billings) Kimball, born in Temple, August 4, 1800, died May 16, 1864. She resided in Wilton, was a school teacher in early life, and was noted for her kindness to the poor and unfortunate. She married, May 29, 1823, Moses Spaulding. (See Spaulding, VII).
(IV) Ebenezer Kimball, eighth child and fifth son of Samuel and Mary (Witt) Kimball, was born in Wenham, about 1690, and died in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, in 1769, aged seventy-nine. He resided in Wenham and Beverly, and was a yeoman and a mason. In 1740 he moved to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and bought property and resided there the remainder of his life. His will, probated in 1773, is on file in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He married, June 9, 1712, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Carr, of Salisbury, Massachusetts. They had nine children: Elizabeth, Mary, Dorothy, Ebenezer, Richard, Abigail, Sarah, Anna and Boice.
(V) Richard Kimball (3), fifth child and second son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Carr) Kimball, was born in Wenham, December 20, 1722, and died in Newton, Massachusetts, March 2, 1803, aged eighty-one. He went from Wenham with his father to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, where he lived till about 1764. March 5 of that year he bought a house and lot in Natick, Massachusetts, and resided there till 1790, when he bought land in Newton, and removed to that place, where he spent the remaining thirteen years of his life. His wife’s forename was Sarah. Their eleven children were: Sarah, Abigail, Mary, Elizabeth, John (died young), Thomas, Sibilla, Richard, Ebenezer, John and Edmund.
(VI) Richard Kimball (4), eighth child and third son of Richard (3) and Sarah Kimball, was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, April 17, 1773, and died in Rindge, New Hampshire, November 13, 1845, aged seventy-two. He removed to Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1807, and bought one hundred acres of land about one-half mile west of the village of West Rindge, and was a farmer and the first manufacturer of clothes pins in the town. These latter he made with a knife and a hand saw. He whittled them into a desired form, and made the wedge-shaped opening with a handsaw. He sold them during his accustomed travels through Rindge and the adjoining towns in quest of customers. He was an ardent Methodist, and was licensed to preach. He married Lydia McIntyre, in Boston, Massachusetts, April 16, 1793. Their children were: Sibilla, Richard, Sally (died young), Samuel M., Ebenezer, Dewing, Sarah, Lydia, James W., Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Elijah S.
(VII) Samuel McIntyre Kimball, fourth child and second son of Richard (4) and Lydia (McIntyre) Kimball, was born in Natick, Massachusetts, March 28, 1801, and died in Rindge, 1882. He was educated in the common schools and grew up on his father’s farm. In 1839 he bought one hundred acres of land near the village of West Rindge, and there engaged in farming and also carried on the business of wheelwright until the time of his death. He was a Republican in political sentiment, and for more than twenty successive years was elected sealer of weights and measures. He was a Methodist, and for many years steward and trustee of the Methodist Church. He married Melinda Peirce, who was born in Rindge, May 3, 1803, daughter of Elipha and Phebe (Streeter) Peirce, of Rindge. Their children were: Samuel D., Elipha S., Mary M., Susan H., Charles D., George E., S. Warren, Harriet E. and Martha Jane. Samuel D. died young; Elipha S., born July 13, 1823, was a manufacturer of woodenware, and resided in West Rindge. Mary M., born August 13, 1826, married, August 13, 1846, Edmund Bemis, of Troy, New Hampshire, and resided in Rindge. Susan H., born October 12, 1829, married Elijah Bemis, of Rindge. Charles D., born June 4, 1832, resided in Rindge. George E., born June 20, 1833, resides in West Rindge, New Hampshire. Samuel W. is the subject of the next paragraph. Harriet E., born February 21, 1843, married, December 23, 1861, Ambrose Butler. Martha Jane, born April 17, 1844, died February 21, 1864.
(VIII) S. Warren Kimball, seventh child and fifth son of Samuel M. and Melinda (Peirce) Kimball, was born in Rindge, December 31, 1835. He was educated in the common schools of Rindge, and was variously employed until 1864, when he began the manufacture of woodenware, such as butter prints, mauls, rolling pins, etc., on a small scale. By attention to business and by turning out good work he built up a good trade, to supply which required the assistance of two or three hands. He was engaged in manufacturing until 1902, when he retired. He is a Republican, and has been a member of the board of selectmen and filled minor town offices. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for fifty-four years, and has been steward twenty years, and class leader twelve years. He is a member of Mary L. Weare Grange, No. 192, Patrons of Husbandry, of which he has been chaplain and master. He married (first), October 2, 1855, in Keene, New Hampshire, Emilie F. Davis, who was born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, September 15, 1835, and died in Rindge, September 17, 1874, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Lawrence) Davis, of Ashburnham. He married (second), October 13, 1875, Lucia O. Austin, of Gardner, Massachusetts, who was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, December 13, 1849, daughter of William and Lucy (Richardson) Austin, of Gardner. They have an adopted daughter, Annie B., who married Elwin Jewell, and resides in Rindge.
(III) Thomas Kimball, third son of Richard (2) and Mary Kimball, was born November 12, 1657, and died October 16, 1732, near the close of his seventy-fifth year. His wife, Elizabeth Potter, died December 4, 1823. They had several children, of which, Daniel was one.
(IV) Daniel Kimball, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Potter) Kimball, was born 1684, and died December 17, 1754, aged seventy years. His wife, Esther Foster, died June 12, 1753. They had at least Thomas.
(V) Thomas Kimball (2), son of Daniel and Esther (Foster) Kimball, was born July 29, 1716, and died December 8, 1767, in his fifty-second year. He was married March 3, 1743, to Penelope Johnson of Andover, Massachusetts, and their children were: Phebe, John, Rebecca and Thomas.
(VI) Thomas Kimball (3), youngest child of Thomas (2) and Penelope (Johnson) Kimball, was born July 17, 1753, and was a soldier of the Revolution, serving in Captain Samuel Johnson’s company in 1776. He died October 20, 1825. He was married March 6, 1781, to Olive Lovejoy, who was born 1754, and died January 28, 1842, in her eighty-eighth year. Their children were: Olive (died young), John, Sally, Rebecca, Thomas, Olive, Betsey, Phebe and Susan.
(VII) Olive Kimball, fourth daughter and seventh child of Thomas (3) and Olive (Lovejoy) Kimball, was born March 15, 1794, and became the wife of David Cross (see Cross, V).
(III) Caleb Kimball, fifth son and child of Richard (2) and Mary Kimball, was born in Wenham, Massachusetts, April 9, 1665. He was a mason by trade. He bought land in Exeter, New Hampshire, as early as 1720, and resided there for a time, then returned to Wenham. He sold his farm to his son Abraham, on condition that he should pay the other children their shares. (Mention of Abraham and descendants follow in this article). His wife’s name was Sarah. She died February 20, 1731-2, and he died in Wenham, January 25, 1725-6. John was a child of Caleb and Sarah.
(IV) John Kimball, third child and second son of Caleb and Sarah Kimball, was born December 20, 1699, in the town of Wenham. He was a carpenter by trade, and resided on land in Exeter, New Hampshire, that he obtained from his father. He also owned land in Kensington and Chester, New Hampshire. He married (first), February 14, 1722-3, Abigail Lyford, who died February 12, 1737-8. He married (second), September 18, 1740, Sarah, daughter of Deacon Thomas and Mary L. Wilson. She was born November 23, 1709. He died in Exeter, 1785. He was the father of fifteen children, of which Joseph was one.
(V) Joseph Kimball, fourth child and second son of John and Abigail (Lyford) Kimball, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, January 29, 1730-1. His first wife, according to tradition, was Olive Wilson. He married for his second wife, in 1762, Sarah Smith, born 1740. They resided in Exeter, and in 1788 removed to Canterbury, New Hampshire. He became blind before leaving Exeter, and never saw the town of Canterbury, in which he resided for twenty-six years. He and his wife died in Canterbury, November 6, 1814, and March 1, 1858, respectively, and are buried in the cemetery near Hackleborough, where a monument has been erected to their memory. John was one of his children.
(VI) John Kimball, eldest son and third child of Joseph and Sarah (Smith) Kimball, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, November 20, 1767. He married, November 21, 1793, Sarah Moulton, daughter of Benjamin Moulton, of Kensington, New Hampshire. She died April 30, 1853. They moved from Exeter to Canterbury, New Hampshire, February 17, 1794, and settled on the farm owned by his father, just north of the Shaker village, where he lived for sixty-seven years. He was “a farmer, wheelwright, and hay-rake manufacturer, and did a large business through central New Hampshire, buying wool. He died in Canterbury, February 26, 1861. Benjamin was one of their children.
(VII) Benjamin Kimball, eldest child and son of John and Sarah (Moulton) Kimball, was born in Canterbury, New Hampshire, December 27, 1794. He married, February 1, 1820, Ruth Ames, daughter of David and Phebe (Hoit) Ames, of Canterbury, New Hampshire. After living two years with his father on his farm, he resided two years on a farm in Northfield. He moved to Boscawen, New Hampshire, in the spring of 1824, and purchased the farm on High street, then known as the Frost place. In 1830 he purchased of Hon. Jeremiah Mason, of Portsmouth, attorney for the United States Bank, its land and water power at the south part of the town (now Penacook). He removed there and resided in the house he had bought, situated next east of the hotel. He was an active and influential business man. In 1831 he built the lower dam across the Contoocook river, and erected and put in operation the brick grist and flouring mill now in use. This was the first improvement of the water power at the upper falls, now the centre of the growing village of Penacook. In company with his cousin, William Moody Kimball, he carried on an extensive lumber trade. In March preceding his death he was elected to represent the town in the legislature, but his health did not permit him to take his seat. He died at Penacook, July 21, 1834. His wife died October 22, 1874, at the residence of her son John, with whom she had lived as a widow forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Kimball were the parents of five children: 1. John, born April 13, 1821. 2. Elizabeth Jane, born April 12, 1825. She was drowned in the pond near the carding mill of Captain Samuel M. Durgin, in Boscawen, September 20, 1840. 3. Joseph Ames, born October 8, 1826, died February 20, 1827. 4. Lucy Ann, born August 28, 1829, died August 25, 1832. 5. Benjamin Ames, born August 22, 1833.
(VIII) Hon. John Kimball, eldest child of Benjamin and Ruth Ann Kimball, was born April 13, 1821, in the town of Canterbury, New Hampshire. At the age of three years, in 1824, he went with his father to the town of Boscawen, and at the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to his cousin, William Moody, to learn the trade of millwright. In 1848 he took charge of the new machine and car shop of the Concord railroad at Concord, New Hampshire, and in 1850 was made master mechanic, a position he held for eight years. He became actively identified with various important interests, and has been for many years treasurer of the Merrimack County Savings Bank, and a director of the Mechanics’ National Bank at Concord; president and treasurer of the Concord Gas Light Company, to which he was elected in 1880; and is a director in the Concord Republican Press Association. He has ever been deeply interested in charitable and religious institutions, and has been active in his aid to the New Hampshire Odd Fellows’ Home and the Centennial Home for the Aged, of both of which he is president, and the New Hampshire Orphans’ Home and the New Hampshire Bible Society, of both of which he is treasurer. He became a member of the South Congregational Church of Concord by letter, June 28, 1849, and was one of the committee of nine that built the present house of worship of that society. For thirteen years he was a deacon of the church.
Mr. Kimball has been conspicuously useful in the public service both at home and in the state at large, and the city in which he resides owes much of its advancement to his wise and long continued effort. In 1856 he was elected to the common council of the city of Concord, and when he was re-elected in the following year he was chosen to the presidency. From 1859 to 1862 he served as city marshall and collector of taxes. He was elected to the mayoralty in 1872, and the efficiency of his administration finds evidence in his re-election to three consecutive terms following. During this period the system of water supply from Long Pond was successfully completed under his immediate direction as president of the board of water commissioners. During his administration as mayor one wooden and two iron bridges were built across the river within the city limits, and the fire department was provided with new buildings and apparatus.
In 1858 Mr. Kimball was elected to the house of representatives of the state of New Hampshire, and again in 1859. In 1862 President Lincoln appointed him collector of internal revenue for the Second District of New Hampshire. This highly important position he held for a period of seven years, during which time he collected and paid over to the treasurer of the United States the sum of nearly seven millions of dollars, and keeping so accurately the complicated accounts indispensable to this immense business that their final auditing at his retirement was promptly accomplished and without inaccuracy to the amount of a dollar. In 1876 Mr. Kimball was elected to the convention for the revision of the state constitution, and he bore an active part in the deliberations of that body, and aided in formulating some of the most important provisions in the new organic instrument. In 1877 he was appointed by the governor one of the three commissioners to whom was committed the erection of the new state prison. In 1880 he was appointed by the supreme court of the state one of the three trustees of the Manchester & Keene railroad. In November of the same year he was elected to the state senate, and at the beginning of its session received the high honor of being elected president of that body.
Mr. Kimball was an original Republican, aiding in the formation of the party in 1856, under the first standard bearer, John C. Fremont, and from that time to the present has been one of the most steadfast of its supporters. He has frequently sat in the state and other conventions of the party, and has enjoyed the intimate friendship and confidence of many of the most eminent statesmen of his day, and particularly during the Civil war period, when he rendered all possible aid, by effort and means, to the administration of President Lincoln in its gigantic struggle for the preservation of the Union. Of cultured mind and reflective habits of thought, Mr. Kimball is deeply informed in general affairs and in literature, with a particular inclination toward historical and genealogical research, and his attainments found recognition at the hands of Dartmouth College, which in 1882 conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. Entirely regular habits of life and total abstinence from stimulating beverages and drugs (through conviction of conscience as well as for other reasons) have preserved to him excellent physical powers, and his form is tall and erect, and his presence commanding. While firm and decided in his views, he is ever genial and courteous, and his wealth of information and fine conversational powers make him a welcome addition to the most polished circle in his state. His residence has long been in Concord.
Mr. Kimball was first married May 27, 1846, to Maria Phillips, daughter of Elam Phillips, of Rupert, Vermont. She died December 22, 1894. Of this union there was born one child, Clara Maria. Mr. Kimball married (second), October 15, 1895, Charlotte Atkinson, of Nashua, New Hampshire.
(IX) Clara Maria Kimball, daughter and only child of Hon. John and Maria (Phillips) Kimball, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, March 20, 1848. She married, June 4, 1873, Augustine R. Ayers, who was for many years a merchant in the city of Concord, and is now a resident of that city.
(X) The children of Augustine R. and Clara Maria (Kimball) Ayers are: Ruth Ames Ayers, born March 11, 1875; John Kimball Ayers, born July 9, 1876; Helen McGregor Ayers, born October 26, 1878; Joseph Sherburne Ayers, born January 17, 1880, died February 7, 1880; Josiah Phillips Ayers, born November 15, 1881, died April 27, 1882; Augustus Haines Ayers, born March 1, 1883; Benjamin Kimball Ayers, born March 28, 1888.
(VIII) Benjamin Ames Kimball, youngest son of Benjamin and Ruth (Ames) Kimball, was born in Boscawen, August 22, 1833. His father died in the autumn of 1834, and when the subject of this sketch was sixteen years of age his widowed mother, whose memory is precious to her children, established a home with her oldest son, Hon. John Kimball, at Concord. In youth and in manhood Mr. Kimball has lived and labored in the capital city of his native state. He was prepared for college in the Concord high school, supplemented by a course of study at the Hildreth preparatory school at Derry. He was graduated from Dartmouth College, Chandler Scientific Department, with the highest honors in the class of 1854, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. Immediately afterward he entered the service of the Concord railroad as a draftsman in the mechanical department, where his industry and ability won for him an early promotion, for two years later, in a generous expression of confidence and approval on the part of the corporation, he was appointed superintendent of the locomotive department. In this employment the dreams of the youth were realized, and the drawings and mechanical studies of the former student were tested and matured in the culture and experience of manhood. The well-remembered locomotive “Tahanto” and others were constructed from the drawings of Mr. Kimball, revised in the more practical school of experience. These years of discipline, vivid and gratifying in the memory of the subject of this sketch, constituted the superior school of preparation for future and graver responsibilities.
At the completion of eleven years, Mr. Kimball resigned his position as master mechanic of the Concord railroad, and for several years was actively and successfully engaged in private business, but no other calling could permanently separate him from a predestinated career in the world of railroads. In the ambition of his youth and in his first employment in the mechanical department in railroad work, his future was clearly outlined and foretold. The story of his ready comprehension of and of his firm grasp in railway affairs in later years, was the natural sequence of his first employment and of his lively and constant ambition and his success was early assured. If in later years and in a broader field he has borne graver responsibilities, and if the sword of his resources has been often tempered in the heat of fiercer conflict, he has fought his way with the same qualities of courage and intelligence which attended him in early manhood. Mr. Kimball was recalled to the railway service when in 1873 he was elected a director of the Manchester & North Weare railroad. In January, 1879, he was chosen a director of the Concord railroad, succeeding ex-Governor Onslow Stearns, who died in December, 1878. He has since been elected annually to the board of the Concord, and its successor, the Concord & Montreal railroad, to the present time, and he has been president of the corporation since 1895. He is a director and president of nearly all the leased roads connected with the Concord & Montreal railroad system, which is now leased to the Boston & Maine railroad, including its electric branches.
In the progressive and liberal policy of the Concord, and later the Concord & Montreal railroad, in the construction and control of contributory roads, in the substantial character and attractive architecture of the depots and the equipment of the system, in the memorable controversies with rival corporations, Mr. Kimball has been sagacious in council and efficient in action. He originated many and has ably supported all of the comprehensive measures which developed and expanded the Concord & Montreal system, and which made it a potent factor in the growth and prosperity of New Hampshire. At all times he has given a willing and efficient support to the enlargement of the system and to the construction and management of the connecting and subsidiary roads. To him the people of the state and the summer tourists are forever indebted for his foresight and loyal attitude in the vexatious and prolonged litigation, in the interest of the public, for the control of the summit of Mt. Washington.
In association with the managers of the railroads of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Mr. Kimball clearly comprehended the increasing volume of traffic over the trunk lines from the west to tide water, and the necessity of a more systematic and economical management of the connecting roads. From the beginning of the discussion he has been an intelligent and consistent supporter of the consolidation of the connecting systems. In advance of many of his associates and until other events rendered the plan impossible, he was an intelligent and earnest advocate of a Merrimack Valley system, combining the roads from Canada, through Concord, Nashua and Lowell to Boston. In the leases of the subsidiary roads and in the union of the Concord, and the Boston, Concord & Montreal roads, this plan was practically consummated. The transition from the support of the proposed Merrimack Valley system to an approval of the lease of the Concord & Montreal to the Boston & Maine was only an enlargement of an original plan, and was firmly supported by Mr. Kimball. In the consummation of the lease he labored successfully to preserve the integrity of the subsidiary corporations, the property rights of stockholders and the larger interests of the public. In consequence of several measures by him proposed and successfully advocated, the union of the separate interests is harmonious, the state is the recipient of an increased revenue, and the public enjoys the benefit of lower rates of fares and freight. In 1865, at the time of his temporary retirement from railroad business, he became an active partner of the firm of Ford & Kimball, manufacturers of brass and iron castings. To a prosperous industry he added the manufacture of car wheels which for the past forty years has been an important feature of the business of the firm. He was one of the founders and is a director and president of the Cushman Electric Company, and is a director or president of several other successful manufacturing corporations.
In the monetary institutions of Concord his ability has been recognized and his service has often been sought. During the life of the institution he was a trustee and president of the Concord Savings Bank, and he was also a trustee of the Merrimack County Savings Bank. At the organization of the Mechanics National Bank he was elected a director and vice-president, and he has been president of this institution since 1884, succeeding the Hon. Josiah Minot. In the securing of a new city library building under the liberal donation of William P. and Clara M. Fowler, in the perfected project and in the construction of the city waterworks, and in the location and spacious surroundings of the postoffice and state library buildings, Mr. Kimball has rendered enduring and valuable service to the city of Concord. Immediately succeeding the passage of the valued policy insurance law in 1885, the foreign companies withdrew from this state, leaving property owners an inadequate protection from loss by fire. It was a season of unusual solicitude. Mr. Kimball was one of the resolute and self-reliant men who came to the rescue by joining in the organization of new companies to succeed the ones which refused to renew expiring policies. He was one of the incorporators and a director of the Manufacturers and Merchants Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In any review of the unusual insurance problems of twenty years ago, the prompt action and the comprehensive plans of Mr. Kimball and his associates will merit attention and commendation.
From early manhood Mr. Kimball has been allied with the Republican party, and he has been an influential factor in the conventions and councils of the organization. He has never sought political preferment. If he has had any ambition to participate in governmental affairs, it has been restrained by the accumulating demands of an active business career, and he has declined many complimentary overtures of his friends and political associates. In 1870 he was a representative in the state legislature and a delegate to the constitutional conventions of 1876, 1889 and 1896, and was an alternate delegate to the Republican national convention of 1880 and a delegate at large in 1892. At the state election in 1884 he was elected to the executive council, and served with distinction during the administration of Governor Currier. He was an agent, representing the council, to designate and prepare the site of the statue of Daniel Webster in the state house yard. In the autumn of 1886 Governor Currier appointed Mr. Kimball a commissioner to represent New Hampshire in a convention of commissioners from the states which assembled at Philadelphia, December 2, 1886. At this time the commissioners outlined and subsequently conducted the historic and memorable ceremonies of the commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the promulgation of the constitution of the United States. In accordance with the arrangements determined at the first meeting of the commissioners, the demonstration occurred at Philadelphia on September 15, 16 and 17, 1887.
In 1889 he was appointed one of a commission of five to mature plans accompanied with recommendations for the erection of a state library building. His associates in this commission were: John W. Sanborn, Charles H. Burns, Irving W. Drew and Charles J. Amidon. The recommendations of the commission were adopted by the legislature, and were incorporated without amendment in an act providing for the immediate construction of the edifice, which was completed in the autumn of 1894. In all of its appointments the structure is an enduring testimonial of the ability and good judgment of the commission, and of their appreciation of the present and future needs of the people of the state.
From 1890 to 1895, succeeding Charles Francis Choate and associated with Jeremiah Smith, Mr. Kimball was one of the board of visitors of the Chandler Scientific School of Dartmouth College, and since 1895 he has been a trustee of the college. He is regarded by his associates as an able and useful member of the board, and in the financial affairs of the corporation and in the construction of new buildings his experience has been of value and the ripeness of his judgment has been approved. Mr. Kimball was among the first of the alumni of the Chandler Scientific School to realize the importance of its complete consolidation with the college proper, and took a most active and influential part in the negotiations that finally resulted in the accomplishment of that object. He is a member of and a trustee of the Alpha Omega Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi of Dartmouth College; for the past four years he has been chairman of the finance committee of the board of trustees of Dartmouth College, a position in which his well-known ability and love of his alma mater find a useful field. Since 1890 he has been a member of the American Social Science Association, and for many years an active member of the New Hampshire Historical Society and president of the society 1895-1897. At the present time Mr. Kimball is interested in the project of a new and modern building for the latter, and in the possible and happy realization of his ideals this society will enjoy a home of ample dimensions and ornate architecture.
At a meeting of the New Hampshire Historical Society held June 29, 1907, Benjamin A. Kimball, Samuel C. Eastman and Henry W. Stevens, of Concord; Frank N. Parsons, of Franklin, and Frank W. Hackett, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, were appointed a building committee with full authority to procure a suitable lot and erect a new building for the Society.
Mr. Kimball, chairman of the committee, has from time to time during the past three years, conferred with prominent members of the society relative to the growth and needs of the Society, and the absolute necessity of a new and commodious fire-proof building for its use. They believe that it should be of classical Greek architecture, and should meet all the requirements of the Society. Mr. Kimball has procured from Mr. Guy Lowell, a prominent architect of Boston, several studies of the proposed building, which have been approved. A commanding location has been selected among the notable group of public buildings at the capital of the state.
In his relations to the public, Mr. Kimball is conscientious in the discharge of his duties, and is generous in a willing support of every commendable institution or enterprise. He has ever maintained personal and friendly relations with his associates and with men in his employ. His friendly greetings, his words of kindness and sympathy and often his substantial favors in times of need are secretly treasured in the memory of many who have been employed by the corporations with which he is connected. In the lives of men and the growth of a state, the parallels of development run close and far. The history of New Hampshire is mirrored in the biographies of the men who have shaped events and have given direction to public and business affairs. In the early childhood of Mr. Kimball the people of the inland towns were not far removed from many features of pioneer life. Labor was the common inheritance of all. The first mile of railroad in this state had not been constructed, and the conveniences of life, compared with the present, were few and limited. From such conditions the state has advanced, and under such conditions the life work of Mr. Kimball was begun. His success is the merited reward of industry, ability and integrity. Possessing a vigorous mind, disciplined by a liberal education and strengthened by a ripe experience, he has ever been an active and an able promoter of the best interests of the city of Concord and a potent factor in the development of the material interests of the state. Mr. Kimball has taken many trips to Europe, has a large, well selected and very valuable private library and a choice collection of costly paintings and statuary. His attractively located residence and grounds have been embellished under his personal supervision and his home is one of the most noted in the Granite State. The summer residence of the family is a baronial structure, known as “The Broads,” on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee. Mr. Kimball is a lodge and encampment member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the South Congregational Society of Concord.
Mr. Kimball was married, at Canterbury, January 9, 1861, to Miss Myra Tilton Elliott, a daughter of Ira Elliott, of Northfield. In his domestic relations he is very fortunate and in the happiness of his home he receives much needed rest from the cares and burdens of his busy life. They have one son, Henry Ames Kimball, born in Concord, October 19, 1864. He was a delicate boy, and was not sent to the public schools. His early education, under the direction of a tutor, was secured in the light and love of home. Later he pursued a preparatory course of study at Phillips Andover Academy, then under the direction of Rev. Cecil F. P. Bancroft, LL.D. Relinquishing a collegiate education, he renewed his study under the instruction of an accomplished tutor with whom he studied and traveled in Europe, visiting many places of historic interest in England and on the Continent. While in London in 1887 he was admitted, on examination, a fellow of the Society of Science, Letters and Art. Returning to his home in Concord, he addressed himself to the more exacting concerns of a business career. He is and for several years has been a partner and associate manager of the firm of Ford & Kimball, and of the Cushman Electric Company. He is a member and now recording secretary of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and for many years he has been an interested and active member of the Young Men’s Christian Association. He was married at Nashua, November 17, 1904, to Miss Charlotte Atkinson Goodale, born at Nashua, May 26, 1875, and daughter of John Harrison and Josephine Bonaparte (Atkinson) Goodale. She is a graduate of the Nashua high school and of Wellesley College, class of 1898. Mr. Goodale, her father, was secretary of state, and was prominent and esteemed in the literary and political circles of his time.
(IV) Abraham Kimball, third son and fourth child of Caleb and Sarah Kimball, was born in Wenham, Massachusetts, August 19, 1702, and died in 1772, aged seventy years, in Wenham, where his whole life had been spent. He united with the church January 13, 1730. His intentions of marriage with Elizabeth Houlton were published April 26, 1729. She survived him. Their children were: Caleb, Sarah, Elizabeth, Keziah, Ebenezer, Mehitable, Benjamin, Abigail, Hannah, Henry and Anna.
(V) Benjamin Kimball, seventh child and third son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Houlton) Kimball, was born in Wenham, January 5, 1745, and died in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, June 4, 1813. He resided in Wenham and Topsfield, Massachusetts, and went to Hillsborough, New Hampshire, in 1776. He married at Topsfield, Massachusetts, July 7, 1768, Hannah Parker, who was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, and died in Hillsborough, August 21, 1825. They had thirteen children: Abraham, Hannah, Mehitable, Sarah, Samuel, Benjamin, child died young, Keziah, Betsey, Retire P., Henry, Abigail and an infant that died young.
(VI) Mehitable Kimball, second daughter and third child of Benjamin and Hannah (Parker) Kimball, was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, October 10, 1773, and married Fisher Gay, of Hillsborough, New Hampshire. (See Gay, II).
(II) Benjamin Kimball, tenth child and fifth son of Richard Kimball, born in 1637, about the time his father moved from Watertown to Ipswich, Massachusetts, died June 11, 1695. He was probably a resident of Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1659, a carpenter by trade. He removed to Salisbury, Massachusetts, in or before 1662, and was a resident of Rowley, Massachusetts, May 12, 1663, when he bought land which is within the limits of the present town of Bradford, then a part of Rowley. On February 20, 1668, at the first town meeting in Merrimack, afterwards Bradford, he was chosen overseer of the town. He was called of that town March 16, 1670, and March 15, 1674. On November 23, 1667, he bought several tracts of land; among them was land which once belonged to his brother, Thomas Kimball, who was killed by an Indian May 3, 1676. He was a wheelwright and farmer, and his house was in the west parish of old Bradford, not far from the ancient cemetery. He was a cornet of horse troops and was known as “Cornet Kimball.” He and his brother Richard Kimball were soldiers in 1683 and 1684, under Captain Appleton. His inventory showed that he was well off for the times, the total amount of his estate being one thousand and sixty pounds, seven shillings. Among the assets was a quarter interest in a saw mill in Haverhill, near the Amesbury line, which he bought of Matthew Harriman. This interest was handed down in the family for several generations. The gravestones of Benjamin and Mercy Kimball may still be seen in the cemetery at Bradford. Benjamin Kimball married, April, 1661, in Salisbury, Mercy, daughter of Robert and Ann Hazeltine, born “16, 8 mo, 1642,” and died January 5, 1708. She was one of the first members received into the first church in Bradford, when she with sixteen other women were admitted January 7, 1683. The children of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball were: Anna; Mercy; Richard; Elizabeth; David; Jonathan; Robert; Abraham; Samuel; Ebenezer; and Abigail. (David, Jonathan, Robert, Samuel, and Ebenezer and descendants are noted at length in this article).
(III) Richard Kimball, oldest son and third child of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, born December 30, 1665, died January 10, 1711, lived in Bradford, and was prominent in town affairs, being town clerk for many years. In the division of his father’s estate he received one quarter of his interest in the saw mill in Haverhill, also land and meadows in that place and in Amesbury. He married, September 6, 1692, Mehitable Day, born January 26, 1669, daughter of John and Sarah (Pengry) Day. After Richard Kimball died she married her cousin Richard, the son of Thomas, and survived him. She was the wife of two Richard Kimballs, and had a son and stepson Richard Kimball. The seven children of Richard and Mehitable were: Sarah, Benjamin, Abraham, Abigail, Job, Stephen and Richard.
(IV) Benjamin Kimball (2), oldest son and second child of Richard and Mehitable (Day) Kimball, was born in Bradford, July 11, 1695, and died in 1752. He married in Haverhill, February 17, 1719, Priscilla Hazen, a woman of great strength of character and ability. She was a daughter of Richard and a granddaughter of Edward Hazen, who settled in Rowley as early as 1648. Her mother was Hannah, daughter of Robert Andrews, the emigrant ancestor of Governor Andrews, of Massachusetts. She married a Peabody for her first husband, and Richard Hazen for her second. Priscilla Hazen was born in Haverhill, November 25, 1698, and died November, 1782. After Benjamin’s death his widow married, February 26, 1756, Captain Daniel Ames. The children of Benjamin and Priscilla (Hazen) Kimball were eleven in number, as follows: Mehitable, Mary, Abigail, Obadiah, Sarah, Richard, Priscilla, Benjamin, John, Bettie and Dudley.
(V) John Kimball, fourth son and ninth child of Benjamin and Priscilla (Hazen) Kimball, was born in Bradford, February 5, 1739, and died in Concord, New Hampshire, December 31, 1817. He lived on the homestead in Bradford, Massachusetts, until his marriage, when he moved to Concord, where he lived on the place now (1897) occupied by Samuel S. Kimball. He was a man of strong religious convictions, and at the age of eighteen united with the church of Bradford, and during his long life honored his Christian profession. During thirty years he was absent but once from public worship. He was very hospitable, and clergymen were always his welcome guests. For twenty-nine years, 1789 to 1817, he was an officer in the church, and was noted for the fidelity and promptness with which he performed his public and private duties. Mr. Kimball was one of the signers in the church at Concord, and proposed to Rev. Mr. Walker, the pastor, to abolish “lining the hymns,” as it was called, on the Sabbath, and adopt the present style of singing. This was done, and took effect in the time of the Revolutionary war. He was on the committee of safety in 1777 and 1778. The number of offices he held was large, and he filled some of them for many consecutive years. He was chosen tything man in 1767 and again later; constable two terms; surveyor of lumber many years; was sealer of weights and measures; field driver; selectman, 1775 and 1778; clerk, 1778 to 1786 inclusive; and treasurer 1785-6. He married March 23, 1765, Anna, daughter of Samuel and Ann (Hazen) Ayer, born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, October 3, 1740, died in March, 1819. Their children, born in Concord, were: Hazen, John, Benjamin, Anna, Elizabeth, Hannah, Sarah and Samuel Ayer.
(VI) Hannah Kimball, third daughter and sixth child of John and Anna (Ayer) Kimball, was born in Concord, June 24, 1777, and died in Concord, November 16, 1846. She married, March 2, 1802, Rev. Sylvester Dana. (See Dana, V).
(III) David Kimball, second son and fifth child of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born July 26, 1671, in Rowley, Massachusetts (that part which is now Bradford), and died in Bradford, June 14, 1743. He resided all his life in that town, and his father gave him from his estate six acres of land on which his house stood, January 21, 1697. This was adjoining the ferry. His first wife, Elizabeth Gage, daughter of John Gage of Ipswich, was born March 12, 1674. No record of her death has been found. Mr. Kimball was married (second), about 1717, to Ruth (surname unknown), who was born 1682 and died March 14, 1770. There were ten children, all of the first wife and two of the second, all born in Bradford, namely: Hannah (died young), Samuel, Hannah, David, Rebeckah, a son unnamed, Jeremiah, Aaron, Elizabeth, Abraham, Ruth and Abigail. After the death of Mr. Kimball, his widow resided with Ralph Hall, her son-in-law, in Salem, New Hampshire, and he was, at that time, forced to give security that she should not become a charge upon the town.
(IV) Jeremiah Kimball, fourth son and seventh child of David and Elizabeth (Gage) Kimball, was born October 15, 1707, in Beverly, and died in May, 1764, in Warner, New Hampshire. He was a resident of Beverly until April, 1733, when he and his brother David, of Concord, New Hampshire, sold land to Thomas Richardson. In the settlement of his father’s estate he sold land to James Head, June 10, 1734. He subsequently resided in Hopkinton and Warner, New Hampshire, and was buried at the old fort on Putney Hill, in Warner. He was married, January 20, 1732, to Elizabeth Head, and their children all born in Bradford, were: Elizabeth, Sarah (died young), Jeremiah, James, Reuben, David, John, Betty, Mary, Moses, Sarah, Abraham, Phoebe and Richard.
(V) Reuben Kimball, third son and fifth child of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Head) Kimball, was born April 17, 1738, in Bradford, and died May 2, 1811, in Warner, New Hampshire. He lived for a time in Hopkinton, and settled in Warner in 1762. He accompanied his father-in-law to that town and they were among its earliest settlers. Reuben Kimball built a log house and barn and he and his wife moved to their humble abode in the wilderness June 30, 1762. Their eldest child was the first white born in Warner. His tombstone stands near the wall in the southeast part of the cemetery in Warner, and bears the inscription “In memory of Mr. Reuben Kimball who died May 2, 1811, aged seventy-three years.” He belonged to that class of sturdy and industrious citizens who cleared from New Hampshire soil the virgin forest now enjoyed by his descendants and many others. He was married about 1760, to Hannah, daughter of Daniel Annis, of Hopkinton, and after her death he married Elizabeth (surname unknown). His children, all born of the first wife, were: Daniel, Jeremiah, Richard, Johnson Guill, Jane Betsey and Persis.
(VI) Jeremiah Kimball (2), second son and child of Reuben and Hannah (Annis) Kimball, was born December 14, 1767, in Warner, and died in that town, where he resided all his life, March 27, 1841. Besides farming he worked as a cooper and made flour and fish barrels, and pursued a quiet and uneventful life. He was married, November 21, 1793, to Molly Foote, who was born April 30, 1771, and died May 5, 1855. Their children were: Challis Foote, Hannah, Nancy Foote, Reuben (died young) and Reuben.
(VII) Rev. Reuben Kimball, youngest son and child of Jeremiah and Molly (Foote) Kimball, was born in Warner, April 29, 1803, and died in North Conway, November 18, 1871, aged sixty-eight years. The father being a farmer, Reuben was taught to cultivate the soil, and early earned his bread in the sweat of his face. Being the younger son, his parents placed their reliance on Reuben and he continued with them upon the homestead, his older brother, who was his senior by some years, having gone from home while Reuben was yet a youth. There was that, too, in the dutiful and affectionate spirit of this son which led them, particularly the mother, to look upon him as “the one to live at home and have the farm,” and to be the solace of their advancing age.
The son, however, had been earnestly desirous as a boy to obtain an education. He liked his book better than the farm, and as he grew up made the best possible use of the means of intellectual culture within his reach. His parents, not seeing perhaps at first whereunto this would grow, encouraged his bent in this direction, by giving him the best opportunities in their power. These were supplemented by his own persevering endeavors—teaching when he became qualified to procure the means of extending his privileges at the academy. He proposed to his parents, if they would consent to his leaving home to obtain an education, that he would educate himself, and would never ask for any portion of the patrimonial estate. But to this they did not feel that they could consent, and the appeal of the mother to the tenderness and fidelity of his filial affection, was more than he could resist, and he determined, as a dutiful son, to remain at home with his parents. In this expectation he married. A year or two before his marriage he had become the subject of renewing grace, and at the age of twenty-four united with the Congregational Church in his native town. His joining the church stimulated his desire for education. With this concurred the establishment of the Gilmanton Theological Seminary in his near neighborhood, in which facilities were afforded to persons desirous of entering the ministry, who could not take a full college course, to obtain their object by an abbreviated or a condensed system of classical and theological studies. He heard of some who had removed their families into the vicinity of the institution for the purpose of receiving its benefits. He visited the seminary and conferred with its professor, who encouraged him in his desires, provided he could make it compatible with his duty to his parents. They had lately been converted and joined the church and gladly consented to this plan. He now entered the seminary and pursued his studies with such success that he graduated in 1840, and shortly after obtained from the Hopkinton Association license to preach.
Mr. Kimball’s first field of labor was at Kittery Point, Maine, where he was ordained January 27, 1841. He remained here nine years, until his dismissal, January 9, 1850. From Kittery he went to Andover and Wilmot, in this state, laboring half of the time at each place, for the first two years, and afterwards, exclusively at Wilmot. In December, 1855, Mr. Kimball commenced his ministry in Conway. The church here was small and so situated, territorially, as to make it necessary to maintain worship in two places—one at Conway Corner, so called, and the other at North Conway, four miles distant from each other. Mr. Kimball resided for some time at the corner, but later at North Conway, preaching every Sabbath in both places. The population at the North was much increased during his ministry through the summer months especially, owing to the large number from the cities who resort to this locality at that season for health and recreation. This peculiar feature of his parochial charge in Conway rendered his post one of much responsibility, and, to a somewhat shrinking and sensitive spirit like his, one of no small solicitude and wearing anxiety. Yet it was here and on these accounts that his rare ministerial gifts and peculiar traits of personal excellence were rendered eminently conspicuous, through the many appreciative minds upon which successively they shone, and which have carried sacred remembrance of him, as a model minister, into all parts of the country, and of the world, even. His parish, under the shadows of the great mountains, was one of the high places of our American Zion.
His ministry here continued until about two years before his death when his health, for a long time slender, becoming more seriously impaired, he felt his strength to be insufficient for so arduous a service and resigned his pastorate. Subsequently, however, he performed missionary labors in some destitute sections of the country, under a commission at large from the New Hampshire Missionary Society. He was especially instrumental of a good work in Effingham, in procuring the repair of the dilapidated meeting house of the well-nigh extinct Congregational Church there, with whom he resided and labored for seven months.
It was pleasant to Mr. Kimball to be actively employed in the Master’s service, and he used every degree of his remaining strength in the work of the ministry so long as opportunity was granted him. A very useful department of labor in which he embarked with characteristic efficiency while at Conway, was the Bible distribution throughout a large and destitute section of the country, of which that place was the center. For this work he was admirably fitted by happily combining with the agency the labor of an evangelist—awakening attention and winning interest in the minds of the careless and ignorant, especially the children, in behalf of the divine word, which they were induced to receive at his hands.
As a minister Mr. Kimball was eminently faithful and devoted. While he often lamented that he had not enjoyed advantages of a more thorough education, yet seldom, if ever, was any deficiency in this respect apparent in his public performances. He made diligent and successful use of all the helps, literary and professional, which were at his command. His knowledge of the Bible was intimate and extensive. His faith in its doctrines was sound and discriminating. His preaching was serious, plain, practical, direct, tender, while he was the farthest possible from being harsh or dogmatic in his style of address. Yet he was never deterred by fear of man from a full and faithful setting forth of unwelcome truths. The visible fruits of his labor were many and of a desirable character. While there were no very extensive revivals under his ministry, there were frequent seasons of religious interest, in which some were converted and a few at a time were added to the church. His ministry was peculiarly adapted to promote the spiritual edification of believers. As a man and as a Christian, he was himself an example to the flock, having also a good report of them that were without.
The last days of the life of this beloved man of God, though oppressed with bodily suffering, were serene and peaceful. He labored to the last in Bible distribution, and when he gave it up and realized that he should not return to it again, he expressed regret that he should not be able to finish all that he had hoped to accomplish, as he had enjoyed these labors much, and felt that therein he was doing good. But he immediately acquiesced to his Heavenly Father’s will, saying that “he might as well go now as any time.” A member of the church who came to see him, said he would like to know his views while looking on death or near. He said in reply that he had not those ecstasies which some have spoken of, but he could trust his Savior now, as in life he has professed to do. Two or three days before his death, while his power of speech remained, in the morning, after a chapter had been read, he wanted the children to sing a hymn; and then, saying he would try to pray, he offered up a prayer in which he commended all his family and friends and the church to his heavenly Father for protection, being quite exhausted by the effort. This was his last audible prayer on earth; and for the last twelve hours he did not speak nor move a muscle, but lay as quiet as though dead, until he ceased to breathe. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for in the end that man is peace.” To his brethren in the ministry and his Christian friends, his death seemed sudden and premature. He worked up to the last few days and none knew his danger until it was over. “He walked with God, and was not; for God took him.”
Mr. Kimball was married, May 21, 1829, to Judith Colby, who was born in Warner, and died in Ipswich, aged about seventy-three years. She was the daughter of John and Sarah Colby, of Warner. Mr. Kimball was eminently happy in his domestic relation—the wife of his youth, who survived him, having advanced with equal step from the humble and private sphere in which they began life together, through the stage of its elevated and more responsible duties as a helpmeet, and in the full sympathy with the joys and sorrows incidental to his work. Nine children were born to them, whose names are as follows: Molly Foote (died at three years), Marcia Aletta, Edward Payson, Anna Louise, Reuben, Jeremiah, John Elliott, Sarah Mehitable, Moses Colby.
(VIII) Edward Payson Kimball, eldest son and third child of Rev. Reuben and Judith (Colby) Kimball, was born in Warner, New Hampshire, July 4, 1834. He was educated in the common schools of Kittery, Maine, and Hampton and Andover Academies. From 1855 to 1857 he was engaged in mercantile business in Kittery. In the latter year he removed to Portsmouth, and has since been engaged in banking. He was first a clerk in the Piscataqua Exchange and Portsmouth Savings banks. He became cashier of the First National Bank in 1871, and in 1882 was made president of that bank, and also of the Piscataqua Savings Bank. In addition to the interests named and others in Portsmouth, Mr. Kimball has business interests in the West. From his youth up he has adhered to the Republican party in all political contests, and has been a staunch supporter of the measures advocated in its platforms. He has been a member of the city government, and in 1885-86, served in the New Hampshire legislature. Since 1871 he has been a deacon of the North Congregational Church, and has held office as clerk and treasurer of the church since 1867. His liberality to the church is well known, also his deep concern for the welfare of the public educational institutions of the state, and the benevolent and charitable organizations of a private nature. He has been a member of the Portsmouth school board, is a trustee of the Cottage Hospital, the Chase Home for Children, the Portsmouth Seaman’s Friend Society, and is president of the Howard Benevolent Society, and the Young Men’s Christian Association. Mr. Kimball was instrumental largely in building the beautiful Young Men’s Christian Association building in Portsmouth and contributed freely for the same. In fact it is one of Mr. Kimball’s acts which has given him satisfaction. He is a member of Piscataqua Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and one of its board of trustees.
Mr. Kimball is emphatically a man of business, and though he has held political offices, it has been more from business interests with a view to proper legislation than any desire for official honors. He is in no sense a nominal member of the various other organizations in which he holds official rank, but a worker for the end for which each institution was organized. He married in Wilmot, New Hampshire, September 13, 1864, Martha Jane Thompson, who was born in Wilmot, daughter of Colonel Samuel and Anna True (Smith) Thompson, of Wilmot. They have had three children: Elizabeth Colby, born January 27, 1866, died March 7, 1880. Martha Smith, February 28, 1870, who graduated from Smith College in the class of 1892. Edward Thompson Kimball, September 29, 1873, a graduate of Amherst College, in the class of 1896.
(III) Jonathan Kimball, third son and sixth child of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born November 26, 1673, in Bradford, and passed his life in that town, where he died September 30, 1749. He was a prosperous man, as indicated by his frequent purchases and sale of lands. In his possession were lands in Chester which he divided equally November 12, 1733, among his four sons, Benjamin, Nathan, Jonathan and Isaac. He was married (first), July 15, 1696, to Lydia Day, who was born March 18, 1676, daughter of John and Sarah (Pengry) Day, and died September 16, 1739. He was married (second), November 3, 1759, to widow Jane Plummer, and died in 1764. It is apparent that his last marriage was not a happy one, as his will contains this clause, “since my wife, Jane, has eloped and refuses to live with me, I give her five shillings and a pair of leather gloves.” It would seem that the widow refused to accept this legacy, and contested for a share in the estate, and the matter was probably compromised, as her receipt is on record for the sum of fifty pounds. Jonathan Kimball’s children, born in Bradford, Massachusetts, of his first wife, were: Benjamin, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Lydia, Moses, Isaac, Rebecca, Ruth, Abraham, Mehitable and Hannah.
(IV) Benjamin Kimball (2), eldest child of Jonathan and Lydia (Day) Kimball, was born May 16, 1697, in Bradford, and resided in Haverhill, where he died August 5, 1741. He lived in the northern part of that town and when the line was run between the two provinces in 1741, his property was found to be in New Hampshire, in the town now known as Hampstead. He and his wife were members of the church in Plaistow or North Haverhill, in November, 1730. He was a deacon of the church there, being elected February 3, 1731. He owned land in Chester, which was inherited by his son Moses. It is said that he married at the age of eighteen, and went three miles north of the river into the woods to clear a farm, and his mother was very much depressed because of his danger from attacks by the Indians. He married Mary Emerson, of Haverhill, who was born March 21, 1696. She was the daughter of Joseph and Martha (Toothaker) Emerson, and granddaughter of Robert and Ann (Grant) Emerson. Their children were: Mary, Jonathan, Benjamin, Lydia, Martha, Hannah, Moses, Abigail, Joseph and Mehitable.
(V) Jonathan Kimball (2), eldest son and second child of Benjamin and Mary (Emerson) Kimball, was born April 14, 1720, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and died October 17, 1807, in Plaistow, New Hampshire. According to the family tradition, he was one of the first to settle in the northern part of the last named town. In building his log cabin in the woods he was assisted by twenty men, two of whom stood guard against Indian attacks while the others worked. He subsequently returned to the present town of Plaistow, and served for a period of twenty-one years from 1757 to 1778 as town clerk. He joined the church at Plaistow, February 5, 1738, and for fifty-seven years he was a deacon of this society, being first elected January 25, 1739. He was married (first), August 22, 1738, to Elizabeth Little, who was born November 12, 1719, a daughter of Daniel Little. She joined the church May 18, 1740, and died February 8, 1753. He was married (second), November 29, 1753, to Abigail True, of Salisbury, Massachusetts, who was born November 26, 1722, and died January 23, 1814. There were five children of the first marriage and four of the second, including: Benjamin, Jonathan, Daniel (died young), Nathaniel, Daniel, Elizabeth, True, Martha and Joseph.
(VI) Benjamin Kimball (3), eldest son and child of Jonathan (2) and Elizabeth (Little) Kimball, was born August 5, 1741, in Plaistow, and lived in that town, where he died August 25, 1779, aged thirty-eight years. He was commissioned first lieutenant in Captain Samuel Gilman’s company of Colonel Enoch Poor’s regiment, May 25, 1775, and rendered valuable service as a Revolutionary soldier. He was promoted to captain at Ticonderoga, September 6, 1776, and was commissioned captain and paymaster in the First New Hampshire regiment in the Continental service, and remained in that connection until his death. He was shot through the heart at Tioga, Pennsylvania, by the accidental discharge of a soldier’s musket, while on Sullivan’s expedition against the Indians. He was buried at Tioga the following day. He was much respected and highly regarded both at home and abroad. His widow was left with a large family of small children, and received half pay in accordance with a resolution of Congress passed August 24, 1780. She was married (second), June 2, 1780, to Jonathan Poor, of Poor’s Hill in Atkinson, New Hampshire. Captain Benjamin Kimball was married in early life to Sarah Little, daughter of Samuel Little, who survived him and was married (second) as above noted. She died July 6, 1823. Their children were: Benjamin (died young), Jonathan, Tamar, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Abigail and Sarah.
(VII) Benjamin Kimball (4), third son and fifth child of Captain Benjamin (3) and Sarah (Little) Kimball, was born January 1, 1771, in Plaistow, and died in Kingston, New Hampshire, September 25, 1825. He was a farmer in Kingston, and was married April 16, 1793, to Abiah Kimball, who was born September 24, 1771, daughter of Jonathan Kimball and died August 21, 1861, almost ninety years of age. Their children were: Abiah, Sarah, Russell, Mary, Benjamin, Daniel and Richard (twins), Hazen, Amos and Elizabeth.
(VIII) Russell Kimball, eldest son and third child of Benjamin (4) and Abiah (Kimball) Kimball, was born December 7, 1798, in Kingston, New Hampshire, and resided in Piermont, New Hampshire, where he was a successful farmer. He was married to Louisa Bean, who was born in Lyman, New Hampshire, and died February 18, 1866, at Haverhill Corner. They were the parents of four children, of whom only the eldest survives, the others having died in infancy. They were: Peabody W., Sarah L., Charles R., and Ellen L.
(IX) Peabody Webster Kimball, only surviving son of Russell and Louisa (Bean) Kimball, was born October 24, 1834, in Piermont, New Hampshire. He had a fair opportunity for acquiring an education, being a student of the public schools in Haverhill, of Newbury Seminary, Newbury, Vermont, and of the Orford and Haverhill academies. After leaving school he was associated with his father in a general merchandise store at Haverhill Corner, where he continued two years. He then became a partner in the business and so continued until his father’s death in 1862. For a short time thereafter he conducted the business, which was ultimately closed out. He then engaged in farming on a small scale in Haverhill, and for fifty years this continued down to the present time. He has been an active citizen and has taken part in the management of local affairs, and represented the town in the general court in 1864-65. Politically he is a Republican. He is a member of Grafton Lodge, No. 46, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of Franklin Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Lisbon. He was married on Christmas Day, 1855, to Jane Pearson, who was born April 26, 1834, in Orford, New Hampshire, a daughter of George and Mary (English) Pearson. They are the parents of two children: Ellen L. and George Russell. The former was born January 5, 1860, and is the wife of Dr. Henry A. Hildreth, of Bethlehem, New Hampshire.
(X) George Russell Kimball Kimball, son of Peabody Webster and Jane (Pearson) Kimball, was born August 31, 1866, in Haverhill, and received his early education in the public schools of that town. He was subsequently a student at St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Returning to his native town, he was engaged in the printing business for two years. He then removed to Haverhill, where he was engaged one year in the printing business in company with F. W. and J. F. Bittinger, at Woodsville, New Hampshire, and then sold out to his partner. He returned to Haverhill Corner and was engaged three years as a printer with W. E. Shaw. He was afterwards employed for a period of two years as a clerk by Poor & Wesgate, general merchants. Their business was terminated by destruction of the store by fire. Mr. Kimball is quite active in fraternal circles, being a member of Grafton Lodge of Free Masons, at Haverhill; Franklin Royal Arch Masons, at Lisbon; St. Gerard Commandery, Knights Templar, of Littleton; Northern Star Lodge of Perfection, of Lancaster; Washington Council, Princes of Jerusalem, at Littleton; Chapter Rose Croix, at Littleton, and Edward A. Raymond Consistory, Thirty-second degree, at Nashua. He is also a member of Bektash Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Concord; and of the Eastern Star Chapter at Lisbon, New Hampshire. He is a member of Haverhill Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and of the Concord Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution.
(III) Robert Kimball, seventh child and fourth son of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born in Bradford, March 6, 1676, and died February 24, 1744. He bought, March 3, 1703, of his father-in-law, Philip Atwood, land which formerly belonged to Henry Kemble, blacksmith, of Boston. He resided in Bradford, and he and his wife were buried in the old cemetery there. He married Susanna, daughter of Philip and Sarah Atwood of Maiden. She was born in “Mauldon,” February 1, 1686. Their children, all born in Bradford, were: Susanna, Rachel, Philip, Sarah, Ebenezer, Joseph, Abigail, Oliver and Solomon. (Mention of Oliver and descendants follows in this article.)
(IV) Ebenezer, fifth child and second son of Robert and Susannah (Atwood) Kimball, born in Bradford, December 29, 1716, died June 1, 1798; was a farmer and resided in the town of his birth. He married, April 4, 1740, Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Priscilla (Hazen) Kimball, born April 11, 1723, died September 22, 1819. Their children, thirteen in number, were: Mary, Phineas, Ebenezer, Priscilla, Benjamin, Susanna (died young), Edward, Susanna, Obadiah, Dudley, Daniel, Asa and Betsey.
(V) Lieutenant Phineas Kimball, second child and oldest son of Ebenezer and Mary (Kimball) Kimball, was born in Bradford, December 8, 1745, and died November 6, 1826, aged eighty years. He removed to Concord, New Hampshire, and settled at Appletown, east end of Turtle Pond. He was a revolutionary soldier, and April 23, 1775, was in Captain Isaac Baldwin’s company, Colonel John Stark’s regiment. He was at Bunker Hill, and in service throughout the year, being in Captain Hale’s company, October 4, 1775, when he receipted for four dollars as full compensation for a coat promised him by the colony of New Hampshire. He was a lieutenant in the militia after the war. As a citizen he was honorable and prominent, and acquired considerable estate. He married, December 13, 1770, Lucy Pearl, daughter of Richard and Sarah Pearl. She died April 21, 1821. She was an amiable, accomplished, and much respected woman. Her family name has been bestowed upon many of her descendants as a Christian name. The children of Phineas and Lucy (Pearl) Kimball were: Pearl, Hepzibah, Molly, Sarah, Obadiah, Benjamin, Robert and Betsey, mention of whom follows.
(VI) Betsey Kimball, eighth child and youngest daughter of Phineas and Lucy (Pearl) Kimball, was born in East Concord, July 12, 1787, and died in Concord, January 23, 1870. She married March 6, 1808, Colonel Joshua (2) Abbot, of Concord (see Abbot, V).
(IV) Oliver Kimball, eighth child and fourth son of Robert and Susanna (Atwood) Kimball, was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, May 24, 1724, and died in Salem, New Hampshire, June 23, 1806. He resided first in Bradford, and later removed to Salem, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a man of some means and, like the other settlers, allowed his young stock to run loose in the woods in the summer. The registry of his mark in the old town record of Salem is as follows: “July 22, 1747. The mark of Oliver Kimballs cattel and other creachers is a swallows tail of ye right ear, and is an a halfenny ye upr sid of ye left ear.” He married, March, 1745, Mary Ober, who was born May 23, 1725, and died June 23, 1806. Their children, all born in Salem, were: Oliver, Hilary, Susanna (died young), Elizabeth, Susie, Mehitable, Abigail, John and Sarah.
(V) Oliver Kimball (2), eldest child of Oliver (1) and Mary (Ober) Kimball, was born in Salem, December 8, 1745, and died there April 20, 1821. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and served at Bunker Hill, August 1, 1775. Salem town meeting adjourned to August 22, at which time Oliver Kimball, Jr., was chosen ensign. October 16, 1775, he was in Captain Woodbury’s company, and he was in the same company in 1776. He was selectman in Salem in 1793, where he resided all his life. His tombstone in Salem bears the following inscription: “Death’s sudden stroke dissolved my feeble frame, Reader, prepare, your fate may be the same.” He married Mary Allen, of Salem. She was born March 17, 1751, and died February 6, 1846, aged ninety-five. Their children were: Susannah, Molly (died young), Joseph and Molly.
(VI) Joseph Kimball, third child and only son of Oliver (2) and Mary (Allen) Kimball, was born in Salem, December 25, 1786, and died April 28, 1867, aged eighty years, four months and three days. He succeeded his father on the homestead, and was a cultivator of the soil. He married, February 2, 1815, Rebecca Hazeltine, born August 5, 1792, died January 29, 1854, daughter of Asa Hazeltine, of Auburn. Their children were: Harriet, Rebecca, Charles, Washington and Joseph Allen.
(VII) Charles, third child and eldest son to grow up of Joseph and Rebecca (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born in Salem, April 18, 1822. He grew up on the homestead and was educated in the public schools. After he started in life on his own account he worked principally at farming, gardening and lumbering. For four years, however, he was engaged in mercantile business at Salem depot. For two years he has been out of active business. He is a Democrat, and was a leader of his party in local affairs. He was selectman three years and was chairman of the board all this time, and served two terms as town treasurer, and represented the town in the legislature one term. He married, August 1, 1844, Celenda Jane Hazeltine, who was born in Salem, July 31, 1825, daughter of Silas and Lydia (Hall) Hazeltine. Her father was born in Manchester, and her mother in Salem. Mr. and Mrs. Kimball are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Six children were born of this union; three grew up: Caroline Francena, Charles Franklin, and Nellie E. Caroline F. married Walter G. Woodbury, of Salem. Charles F. is mentioned below. Nellie E. resides in Salem.
(VIII) Charles Franklin Kimball, second child and only son of Charles and Celenda J. (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born in Salem, March 15, 1853. He received his education in the common schools and at Tilton Seminary and Pinkerton Academy. From 1870 to 1873 he worked on the farm. In 1874 his father bought a store at Salem depot and there Charles acted as clerk and assistant postmaster until 1878. He then returned to the farm and for a number of years made a specialty of supplying Manchester market with vegetables. He put his farm under a high state of cultivation, and from fifty acres of land he cut annually one hundred tons of hay. His first crop of corn was thirteen hundred bushels, which was ground on the place by a wind mill erected for the purpose. In 1903 he built a large barn and storehouse, and in 1904 he began the construction of an elevator with a capacity of twelve thousand bushels, and engaged in the grain business on a large scale. In 1905 he occupied the elevator, and accepted his son as a partner, forming the firm of C. F. Kimball & Son. June 10, 1905, he sold for $30,000 the ancient Kimball farm upon which five generations of the family had resided, and it became later part of the Salem Race Track upon which six hundred thousand dollars were expended.
In politics Mr. Kimball is a Democrat. His interest in public affairs has always been a lively one, and he has been called to fill various offices. He was tax collector in 1874, a member of the school board several years, and a member of the committee which built the present school house. He was chairman of the committee to purchase the Salem town waterworks, a member of the water board one year, during which time he was chairman of the committee to dispose of the town farm. He has served as road commissioner, and 1896-97 represented Salem in the legislature. He is a staunch member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and since 1877 has been superintendent of its Sunday school and for many years treasurer of the Pleasant Street Church. He is one of the stewards and a member of the board of trustees of the Royal Arcanum, and a member of Enterprise Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. He married, September 3, 1874, Martha Ella Copp, who was born September 3, 1855, in Windham, daughter of Millett G. and Rowena (Wentworth) Copp. The only child of this union is Charles A., whose sketch follows.
(IX) Charles Allen Kimball, only child of Charles F. and Martha Ella (Copp) Kimball, was born on the old homestead July 17, 1876. He obtained his education in the public schools and at Tilton Seminary. After leaving school he was engaged in agriculture with his father until 1898, when he became junior partner of the firm of C. F. Kimball & Son, grain and lumber dealers, and has since devoted his attention principally to that enterprise. He has been very successful in business, and has one of the finest and best finished country residences in New Hampshire. He is a Democrat, and is chairman of the board of selectmen. He is a member of Enterprise Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and of the United Order of Pilgrim Fathers. He is a member of the Pleasant Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of its stewards. He married, November 16, 1898, Lena Mabel Hall, who was born October 30, 1874, daughter of Oscar O. and Henrietta (Cross) Hall, granddaughter of Oliver, and great-granddaughter of Jonathan Hall, the first settler of Salem. They have three children: Gertrude Hall, Charles Lester and Ruth Ella.
(III) Samuel Kimball, ninth child and sixth son of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, March 28, 1680, and died in 1739, aged fifty-nine years. He married Eunice Chadwick. His will was made June 30, 1739, and proved August 27, 1739. His son James was to have his right in Penny Cook alias Rumford (now Concord, New Hampshire). His son Andrew was to have his father’s property in Chester, New Hampshire. Samuel bought of Moses Day all that land and right in the saw mill which had been set off to “Abigail, formerly Kimball, now my wife, out of her father Benjamin’s Estate.” The children of this marriage were: Mercy, Samuel, Edmund, William, Mary, Timothy, James, Andrew, Joshua and Ann. (Mention of Edmund and descendants appears in this article.)
(IV) Samuel Kimball (2), eldest son and second child of Samuel (1) and Eunice (Chadwick) Kimball, was born in Bradford, August 17, 1714, and died in Plaistow, New Hampshire, in 1789, aged seventy-five. He was a farmer, and lived in that part of Haverhill which after the survey of the line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire became Plaistow, New Hampshire. He seems to have lived on the border line between Plaistow and Atkinson, for February 17, 1768, he petitioned that his property, both real and personal, might be transferred from Atkinson to Plaistow, which was done. Samuel Kimball, of Plaistow, was guardian of the children of Jonathan Dow, of Plaistow, February 27, 1768. In his father’s will he is called of Haverhill, and received the portion of his father’s estate situated in that town. He represented Atkinson and Plaistow in the provincial congress at Exeter, December 21, 1775, and was a member of the same body in 1776. Administration of his estate was granted to his son, Joseph, then of Plainfield, New Hampshire, August 28, 1789. He married, December 12, 1736, Hannah Abbott, of Andover, Massachusetts. They had seven children: William, John, Hannah, Samuel, Joshua, Joseph and Asa.
(V) Samuel Kimball (3), fourth child and third son of Samuel (2) and Hannah (Abbott) Kimball, was born in Plaistow, June 5, 1745, and died December 6, 1802, aged sixty-seven years. He resided in Plaistow and Henniker, New Hampshire. His brothers William and Joseph were charged with being Tories, and some of the family of Samuel went to New York state and others to Canada. Samuel Kimball, of Henniker, was coroner in 1776. Samuel, of Henniker, was also captain in Aaron Adam’s company in 1776. He married, January 21, 1769, Abigail Eastman, who was born January 30, 1748, and died March 3, 1819, aged seventy-one. Their children were: William, John, Samuel, Hannah, Abigail, Joseph, James, Molly, Fanny, William and Sophia.
(VI) Samuel Kimball (4), third son and child of Samuel (3) and Abigail (Eastman) Kimball, was born January 22, 1770, and died February 3, 1852, aged eighty-two. He resided in Henniker. He married (first), November 17, 1797, Betsey Sargent, who died March 2, 1813, and (second), February 10, 1818, Jennie Mannehan. Their children were: Mary, Betsey, Abigail E., Lucy, Joseph, Fannie, Catherine and James.
(VII) Betsey Kimball, second daughter and child of Samuel (4) and Betsey (Sargent) Kimball, was born January, 1800, and married, March 15, 1821, Nathaniel Patch (see Patch, VI).
(IV) Edmund Kimball, third child and second son of Samuel and Eunice Chadwick Kimball, was born in Bradford, April 6, 1716, and died there November 10, 1798. He was a farmer, and had a large landed estate after he gave each of his sons a handsome inheritance. His residence was in the center of the village, and he was succeeded here by his son William. He loaned the town of Bradford, May 5, 1778, one hundred and thirty dollars for the purpose of raising men for militia service. He was a man of great influence. He married, January 25, 1742, Dorothy, daughter of Ephraim and Ann (Tenny) Kimball. She was born June 30, 1724, and died April 30, 1797. Their children, seven in number, were: Timothy, born April 27, 1743. Michael, born April 21, 1745. Ann, born April 14, 1747. David, born June 15, 1749. Edmund, born May 2, 1751. Eunice, born December 11, 1753. William, born December 19, 1757.
(V) Michael Kimball, the second child of Edmund and Dorothy (Kimball) Kimball, was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, April 21, 1745, and resided most of his life in Pembroke, New Hampshire. In 1777 he petitioned to be annexed to Colonel Stickney’s regiment. He belonged to the first militia company of Pembroke. His will was made January 4, 1802, and proved December 21, 1803. He married (first), in 1763, Bettie Runnels, born July 1, 1748; and (second) Anna ——. His children were: 1. Hannah, born August 16, 1764. 2. Daniel, October 7, 1767. 3. David, January 12, 1769. 4. Polly, May 16, 1772. 5. Betty, January 19, 1774. 6. Sarah, June 27, 1776. 7. David (2), March 7, 1782.
(VI) David Kimball, second son and third child of Michael Kimball, was born in Pembroke, November 7, 1782, where he lived and died. He married (first) Abigail Perkins, and (second) Betsey Perkins, and had nine children: Betsy Perkins, Asa, born March 8, 1808. Perkins, March 7, 1810. John Shackford, April 28, 1812. Abigail Perkins, October 15, 1816. Sarah Towie, May 5, 1819. Joseph Lewis. Mary Lewis, October, 1821. Harriet Robinson.
(VII) John Shackford Kimball, fourth child of David and Abigail (Perkins) Kimball, was born in Pembroke, April 28, 1812. He was educated in the common schools and at New Hampton Academy. While a student at the latter place he was one of the students who founded the “Social Fraternity Library.” After leaving the academy he was employed for some time in a bakery in Concord. He left that place to enter the printing office of Hill & Sherburn at Concord, where he learned book and job work, and was later in the office of Hill & Barton, where he became well known as a card printer, and introduced enameled work. After some time spent in the Franklin book store he went to Portland, Maine, where he served three years in the post office.
While in that city he began the study of law with Mr. Haynes, then district attorney for Cumberland county. He continued his studies in Harvard Law School, and finished his preparatory course in the office of Robert Rantoul, Esq., a distinguished lawyer of Boston. After his admission to the bar he was a partner with his preceptor for six years. Failing health compelled him to abandon the law, and about 1838 he became a partner in the firm of Kimball & Chase, of Burlington, Iowa, succeeding to the interests of his brother, Joseph L. Kimball. About 1840 Mr. Chase died and Samuel B. Wright, who married Mr. Kimball’s sister, Mary Lewis Kimball, entered the firm, the name of which was changed to J. S. Kimball & Company. This firm became noted as a wholesale dealer in dry goods and groceries, both in the east and west, doing the largest business of any concern of its class in its section of the country. Mr. Kimball became known as one of the most skilled buyers in the trade. In 1865 he retired from active business, disposing of his interest to William Bell, of Salt Lake City, Utah. He resided in Boston, Massachusetts. About 1854 he purchased an estate in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, when he became a permanent resident. In politics he was a Republican and represented the town of Hopkinton in the legislature in 1866 and 1867. Governor Walter Harriman appointed him colonel on his staff and he filled that place during the governor’s term of office.
He married, October 15, 1843, Mary Eldredge Stevens, born January 16, 1818. Mr. Kimball died in Boston, Massachusetts, April 19, 1888. Their children were: John Stevens, born in Boston, Massachusetts, July 31, 1845, resides in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Robert Rantoul, born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 17, 1849, was a resident of Hopkinton. Mary Grace, born in Boston, October 9, 1853. Kate Pearl, born in Boston, January 3, 1856. George Alexander Stevens, born in Boston, November 26, 1859.
(VIII) George Alexander Stevens Kimball, fifth and youngest child of John Shackford and Mary Eldridge (Stevens) Kimball, was born November 26, 1859. He was educated in the Boston public schools, and at sixteen years of age entered the employ of Charles B. Lancaster, shoe manufacturer, Boston. Later he was in their employ at Pittsfield, New Hampshire. In 1881 he removed to Hopkinton, New Hampshire, where for twenty-two years he has kept a general store. In 1898 he was appointed postmaster, and has since held that office. He was appointed deputy sheriff in 1897, and in 1904 was elected high sheriff, as a Republican, of which party he has been an ardent member since he attained his majority. He is an Odd Fellow, member of Kearsarge Lodge, No. 23, of Contoocook, New Hampshire, and Eureka Lodge, No. 70, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Trinity Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Horace Chase Council, Royal and Select Masters; Mount Horeb Commandery, Knights Templar; Bektash Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, all of Concord, and of the Wonalancet Club of Concord. Mr. Kimball has been long recognized as a counselor as well as a worker in party matters. In business he has been a very successful man like his father before him. He married, March 3, 1880, Theresa Green, daughter of Cotton Green, of Pittsfield, New Hampshire, born January 21, 1862. They have one son, Robert Warren, born February 3, 1881.
(III) Ebenezer Kimball, tenth child and seventh son of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, June 20, 1684, and died January 23, 1715. He lived in Haverhill and Bradford, and owned land in Methuen. His wife was Ruth Eaton, who married after his death Aaron Johnson, of Ipswich, and had children: Lydia, Sarah and Richard Johnson, and died April 6, 1750. The children of Ebenezer and Ruth (Eaton) Kimball were: Jemima, Abner and Abraham.
(IV) Abraham Kimball, third and youngest child of Ebenezer and Ruth (Eaton) Kimball, was born January 3, 1714, and resided in Bradford and Haverhill, Massachusetts. He married, first, December 13, 1739, Hannah Hazeltine, who died January 9, 1747, and second, April 16, 1747, Mary Pike. His eight children were: Timothy, David, Abraham, Hannah, John, Amos, Abigail and Abner.
(V) Abner Kimball, eighth child and sixth son of Abraham and Mary (Pike) Kimball, was born at Haverhill, April 10, 1755, and died March 11, 1818. He was a private in Captain Ebenezer Colby’s company, April 19, 1775. August 15, 1777, he enlisted in Captain Carr’s company for three years, and was discharged February 12, 1780. August 12, 1781, he enlisted as sergeant in James Mallon’s company, Putnam’s regiment, and was in the same company September 5, 1782. He removed from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Sanbornton, New Hampshire. He married, first, December 18, 1781, Abigail Gage, of Bradford, Massachusetts, born 1761, died May 24, 1803; and second, July 10, 1803, Mrs. Mercy Judkins Colby, widow of Anthony Colby, who died January 28, 1805, in her ninety-ninth year. His children were: Rebecca, Hannah, Moses, Abigail and Abner.
(VI) Moses Kimball, third child and eldest son of Abner and Abigail (Gage) Kimball, was born in Sanbornton, February 27, 1787, where he lived and farmed many years and then moved to Pembroke where he died September 20, 1848. He married, first, March 15, 1808, Polly Shaw, born March 7, 1787, died March 24, 1809, daughter of Josiah Shaw; second, August 11, 1811, Dolly Shaw, sister of his first wife, born December 8, 1793, died March 4, 1817; and third, April 1, 1818, Sally Eastman, daughter of Thomas Eastman, born March 17, 1791, died December 16, 1858. His children were: Syrena, Asa, Everett and Sally, twins; Polly, John E. and Mary.
(VII) John E. Kimball, sixth child and third son of Moses and Sally (Eastman) Kimball, was born in Pembroke, April 20, 1819, and died in Saco, Maine, January 7, 1892. He was graduated from the Vermont Medical College in 1847, served as surgeon of the Twenty-seventh Maine Regiment during the war, and was one of the most eminent physicians in Maine. He was a Democrat, and a member of the Congregational Church. He married, January 16, 1880, Emma Staniels, died June 17, 1881. They had one child: Sarah Eunice, born June 3, 1881, in Pembroke, who, in December, 1902, married George T. Hillman, of Pembroke (see Hillman).
Source
Stearns, Ezra S., Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, New York : Lewis Publishing Co., 1908.