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 4

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 858

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 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

in 1683 and 1684. under Captain Appleton. His in- ventory 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 as- sets was a quarter interest in a saw mill in Haver- hill, near the Amesbury line, which he bought of Matthew Harriman. This interest was handed down in the family for several generations. The grave- stones of Benjamin and Mercy Kimball may still be seen in the cemetery at Bradford. Benjamin Kim- ball married, April, 1661, in Salisbury, Mercy, daugh- ter of Robert and Ann Hazeltine. born "16, S 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 Benja- min 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, oldest son and third child of Benjamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, born December 30, 1665, died January 10, 17II, 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, Sep- tember 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 chil- dren of Richard and Mehitable were: Sarah, Ben- jamin, Abraham, Abigail. Job, Stephen and Richard.

(IV) Benjamin (2), oldest son and second child of Richard and Mehitable (Day) Kimball, was born in Bradford, July II, 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 Rawley as early as 1648. Her mother was Hannah, daughter of Robert Andrews, the emigrant ancestor of Governor Andrews, of Massachusetts. She mar- ried 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 chil- dren of Benjamin and Priscilla (Hazen) Kimball were 'eleven in number, as follows: Mehitable. Mary, Abigail, Obadiah, Sarah, Richard, Priscilla, Benjamin, Jolın, Bettie and Dudley.

(V) John fourth son and ninth child of Ben- jamin 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 con- victions, 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, 1780 to 1817, he was an officer in the church, and was noted for the fidelity and promptness with which he per- formed his public and private duties. Mr. Kimball was one of the signers in the church at Concord,

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

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, third daughter and sixth child of John and Anna (Ayer) Kimball, was born in Con- cord, June 24, 1777, and died in Concord, November 16, 1846. She married, March 2, 1802, Rev. Syl- vester Dana. (See Dana, V).

(III) David, second son and fifth child of Ben- jamin and Mercy (Hazeltine) Kimball, was born July 26, 1671, in Rawley, 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, Eliza- beth 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, 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, 1732, 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 mar- ried, 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, third son and fifth child of Jere- miah and Elizabeth ( Head) Kimball, was born April 17, 1738, in Bradford, and died May 2, ISII, in War- ner, New Hampshire. He lived for a time in Hop- kinton, and settled in Warner in 1762. He accom- panied his father-in-law to that town and they were among its carliest 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 War- ner. Ilis tombstone stands near the wall in the south east part of the cemetery in Warner, and bears the inscription "In memory of Mr. Reuben Kimball

who died May 2, 18II, 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 Han- nah, daughter of Daniel Annis, of Hopkinton, and after her death he married Elizabeth (surname un- known). His children, all born of the first wife, were: Daniel, Jeremiah, Richard, Johnson Guill, Jane Betsey and Persis.

(VI) Jeremiah (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 un- eventful 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, youngest son and child of Jeremiah and Molly (Foote) Kimball, was born in Warner, April 29, 1803, and died in North Conway, November 19, 1871, aged sixty-eight years. The father being .. farmer, Reuben was taught to culti- vate 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 upor 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 oppor- tunities 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 him- self. 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 of two be- fore his marriage he had become the subject of re- newing 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 edu- cation. 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 university, 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 hene- fits. He visited the seminary and conferred with its professor, who encouraged him in his desires, pro- vided he could make it compatible with his duty to his parents. They had lately been converted and

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

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 As- sociation license to preach.

Mr. Kimball's first field of labor was at Kittery Point, Maine, where he was ordained January 27, I841. He remained here nine years, until his dis- missal, 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 De- cember, 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 sometime at the corner, but later at North Conway, preaching every Sabbath in both places. The population at the North was much in- creased during his ministry through the summer months especially, owing to the large number from the cities who resort to this locality at that sea- son for health and recreation. This peculiar fea- ture of his parochial charge in Conway rendered his post one of much responsibility, and, to a some- what 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 ex- cellence 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 Ameri- can 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 com- mission at large from the New Hampshire Mis- sionary 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 em- barked with characteristic efficiency while at Con- way, 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 ad- mirably 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 faith- ful 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 perform- ances. 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 dog- matic in nis 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 ex- ample 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 when 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 ecstacies 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 inan, 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 sur- vived him, having advoiced 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 Mehitabel, Moses Colby.

(VIII) Edward Payson, 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 cominon schools of Kittery, Maine, and Hampton and Andover Academies. From 1855 to 1857 he was engaged in mercantile

The Lewis Publishing.

Eduardo @ Kimball

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

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 be- came 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 Republi- can 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 Ports- mouth Seaman's Friend Society, and is president of the Howard Benevolent Society, and the Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. Kimball was in- strumental 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 Coiby, born January 27, 1866, died March 7, 1880. Martha Smith, February 28, 1870, who graduated from Smith College in the class of 1892. Edward Thomp- son Kimball, September 29, 1873, a graduate of Amherst College, in the class of 1896.

(III) Jonathan, third son and sixth child of Benjamin and Mercy (Haseltine) 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, 1739, 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 prob- ably compromised. as her receipt is on record for the sum of fifty pounds. Jonathan Kimball's chil-

dren, born in Bradford, Massachusetts, of his first wife, were: Benjamin, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Lydia, Moses, Isaac, Rebecca, Ruth, Abraham, Mehitable and Hannah.

(IV) Benjamin (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 Novem- ber, 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 farin, 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 (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 Hamp- shire. 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 Janu- ary 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 : Benja- min, Jonathan, Daniel (died young), Nathaniel, Daniel, Elizabeth, True, Martha and Joseph.

(VI) Benjamin (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 pay- master in the First New Hampshire regiment in the Continental service, and remained in that connection until his death. He was shot throuth 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. Ilis 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 mar-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 4

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 858

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 858