James was born about 1816. He passed away in 1935.
James is proving to be a tough nut to crack. I have found only one record that may be for him: "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4LC-MD6 : 22 December 2020), James Gambol, DeSoto, Mississippi, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
This is the only record I was able to find that appeared to be this family. It matches the names of his wife and the child given for him in the 1850 census. However, searching the 1920 Census I was unable to find a John Gambel, his father's name. I did find a Mary Gambel, however and there was a male child that would match James' age in 1820. She lived in Covington, Campbell, Kentucky, and was a fairly young woman. For her son to end up in DeSoto Mississippi might make sense, as Covington is the city across from Cincinnatti, Ohio, and a major Ohio River port. In the 1830's, the United States opend up over 400,000 acres to purchase in Mississippi, in 4 counties in the Northwest corner of the state, inclding DeSoto County. This was land purchased (forcibly) from the Chocktaw Indians, and sold at an average of 75 cents an acre. (See the Wikipedia article DeSoto County, Missippi. Their likely arrival may be slightly too late for this to be the same possible as James, wife and 2 children, whose mother lived in Covington-I'm not sure. Since travel from Covington to DeSoto County would be easy by riverboat, this is a possibility that might be worth following further.
Unfortunately, I've been unable to locate the family after the 1850 Census, and certainly there are no Gambels still living in the DeSoto area, even in 1860.
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