USA > New Hampshire > 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, Vol. I > Part 3
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Benjamin Allineball
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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 Ben- jamin 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 Hamp- shire, and in 1850 was made master mechanic, a position he held for eight years. He became ac- tively identified with various important interests, and has been for many years treasurer of the Mer- rimack County Savings Bank, and a director of the Mechanics' National Bank at Concord; presi- dent and treasurer of the Concord Gas Light Com- pany, to which he was elected in ISSo; and is a director in the Concord Republican Press Associa- tion. He has ever been deeply interested in chari- table 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 Hamp- shire Orphans' Home and the New Hampshire Bible Society, of both of which he is treasurer. He be- came 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 hc 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 coun- cil 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 successfuly completed under his immediate direc- tion as president of the board of water commis- sioners. 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 treas- urer of the United States the sum of nearly seven millions of dollars, and keeping so accurately the com- plicated accounts indispensable to this immense busi- ness 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 de- liberations 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 suprenie court of the state one of the three trustees of the
Manchester & Kcene 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 stead- fast 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 to- ward historical and genealogical research, and his attainments found recognition at the hands of Dart- mouth College, which in 1882 conferred upon him the degree of Mastor of Arts. Entirely regular habits of life and total abstinence from stimulating beverages and drugs (through conviction of con- science 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 ad- dition 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 Ru- pert, 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, 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 Con- cord, 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 II, 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; Ben- jamin Kimball Ayers, born March 28, 1888.
(VIII) Benjamin Ames, youngest son of Ben- jamin and Ruth ( Ames) Kimball, was born in Bos- cawen, .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 Scien- tific 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 mechan- ical department, where his industry and ability won for him an carly promotion, for two years later, in a generous expression of confidence and approval on
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the part of the corporation, he was appointed super- intendent 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 cul- ture and experience of manhood. The well-remem- bered locomotive "Tahanto" and others were con- structed 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 sketeh, 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 110 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 employ- ment in the mechanical department in rail- road work, his future was clearly outlined and fore- told. The story of his ready comprehension of and of his firmi grasp in railway affairs in later years, was the natural sequence of his first employment and of his lively and constant ambition and his suc- cess 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 man- hood. 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 rail- road. succeeding ex-Governor Onslow Stearns, who died in December, 1878. He has since been elected annually to the board of the Concord, and its suc- cessor. the Concord & Montreal railroad, to the present time, and he has been president of the corporation since 1895. He is a director and presi- dent of nearly all the leased roads connected with the Concord & Montreal railroad system, which is now leased to the Boston & Maine railroad, includ- ing its electric branches.
In the progressive and liberal policy of the Con- cord, and later the Concord & Montreal railroad, in the construction and control of contributory roads, in the substantial character and attractive architee- ture of the depots and the equipment of the systeni, in the memorable controversies with rival corpora- tions, 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 construc- tion and management of the conneeting and sub- sidiary roads. To him the people of the state and the summer tourists are forever indebted for his foresight and loyal attitude in the vexations and pro- longed 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 elearly 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 con-
solidation of the connecting systems. In advance of many of his associates and until other events ren- dered 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 en- largement of an original plan, and was firmly sup- ported by Mr. Kimball. In the consummation of the lease he labored successfully to preserve the in- tegrity 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 inercased revenue, and the public en- joys 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 ear 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 Cush- man Electric Company, and is a direetor or president of several other successful manufacturing corpora- tions.
In the monetary institutions of Concord his abil- ity 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 Mechanicks National Bank he was elected a director and vice-president, and he has been president of this institution sinee 1884, sueeeeding the Hon. Josiah Minot. In the securing of a new city library build- ing 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 lo- cation and spacious surroundings of the postoffice and state library buildings, Mr. Kimball has ren- dered enduring and valuable service to the city of Coneord. 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 solieitude. 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 in- corporators 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 com- prehensive plans of Mr. Kimball and his associates will merit attention and commendation.
From early manhood Mr. Kimball las heen allied with the Republican party, and he has heen an in- Auential factor in the conventions and councils of the organization. He has never sought political preferment. If he has had any ambition to partici- pate in governmental affairs, it has been restrained by the aeeumulating 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
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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 statute 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, Decem- ber 2, 1886. At this time the commissioners outlined and subsequently conducted the historic and mem- orable ceremonies of the commemoration of the one hundreth anniversary of the promulgation of the constitution of the United States. In accordance with the arrangements determined at the first meet- ing of the commissioners, the demonstration oc- curred at Philadelphia on September 15, 16 and 17, I887.
In 1889 he was appointed one of a commission of five to mature plans accompanied with recommenda- tions 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 endur- ing 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 hoard 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 af- fairs 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 im- portance of its complete consolidation with the col- lege-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 com- mittee of the board of trustees of Dartmouth Col- lege a position in which his well-known ability and love of his alma mater find a useful field. Since 1800 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 1895-1807. At the pres- ent 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, 1007, Beniamin A. Kimball, Samuel C. Eastman and Henry W. Stevens, of Con- cord : Frank N. Parsons, of Franklin, and Frank W. Hackett, of Portsmouth. New Hampshire, were ap- pointed a building committee with full authority to
procure a suitable lot and erect a new building for the Society.
Mr. Kimbail, chairman of the committee, has from time to time during the past three years, con- ferred with prominent members of the society rela- tive to the growth and needs of the Society, and the absolute necessity of a new and commodious fire- proof building for its
115e. They believe that it should be of classical Greck 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 con- scientions in the discharge of his duties, and is gen- erous 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 con- nected. 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 af- fairs. 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 rail- road 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 in- tegrity. Possessing a vigorous mind, disciplined by a liberal education and strengthened by a ripe ex- perience, he has ever been an active and an able promoter of the best interests of the city of Con- cord 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 se- lected and very valuable private library and a choice collection of costly paintings and statuary. His at- tractively 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 Congre- gational Society of Concord.
Mr. Kimball was married, at Canterbury, Jan- uary 9, 1861, to Miss Myra Tilton Elliott, a daughter of Ira Ellictt, of Northfield. In his domestic rela- tions 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, Octo- ber 19, 1864. He was a delicate hoy, and was not sent to the public schools. ITis carly education, under the direction of a tutor, was secured in the light and love of home. Later he pursued a prepara- tory course of study at Phillips Andover Academy, then under the direction of Rev. Cecil F. P. Ban- croft, LL. D. Relinquishing a collegiate education,
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he renewed his study under the instruction of an accomplished tutor with whom he studied and trav- eled in Europe, visiting many places of historic in- terest 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 Jose- phine Bonaparte (Atkinson) Goodale. She is a graduate of the Nashua high school and of Welles- ley College, class of 1898. Mr. Gocdale, lier father, was secretary of state, and was prominent and esteemed in the literary and political circles of his time.
(IV) Abraham. 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 Jan- uary 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, Ben- jamin, Abigail, Hannahı, Henry and Anna.
(V) Benjamin, seventh child and third son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Houlton) Kimball, was born in Wenham, January 5, 1745, and died in Hills- boro. New Hampshire, June 4, 1813. He resided in WVenham and Topsfield, Massachusetts, and went to Hillsborough New Hampshire, in 1776. He mar- ried at Topsfield, Massachusetts, July 7, 1768. Han- nah Parker, who was born in Bradford, Massachu- setts, 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. 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, tenth child and fifth son of Richard Kimball, born in 1637, about the time his father moved from Watertown to Ipswich, Mass- achusetts, died June II, 1695. He was probably a resident of Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1659, a car- penter by trade. He removed to Salisbury, Mass- achusetts, 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 Feb- ruary 20, 1668, at the first town meeting in Merri- mack, 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 house troops and was known as "Cornet Kimball." He and his brother Richard Kimball were soldiers
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