James Freeman Kimball (1832 - 1893)

Born 18 Dec 1832 in Hollis, York, Maine, United States

Descendants

Died 3 May 1893 at age 60 in Cathlamet, Wahkiakum, Washington, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Pierce [send private message]

Biography

James, born in Hollis, Maine, was a timberman who "spoke French like a native" and a Civil War veteran who served with the 18th New Hampshire Volunteers.

He was married twice. His first wife was Alice A. Dearborn, whom he married 21 April 1855 in Woodstock, New Hamphire.^[1] They were the parents of three children: Nellie, Russell and Lydia. He married Julia Ann Blood 28 July 1873 in Woodstock, Grafton, New Hampshire.^[2] They were the parents of one child, Maude Eliza.

"James, searching for "bigger and better timber," immigrated to Washington Territory with Julia Ann in 1877 (J. B. Hansen to B. Leroy). With a party of relatives and friends, they crossed the continent by train to San Francisco and traveled by steamer to Astoria, Oregon, and then by riverboat, stagecoach, and finally, open wagon to a logging camp at Mud Bay, near Olympia. Julia Ann, a proper New Englander, didn't like the primitive frontier life, but she adapted. She and James opened a restaurant in Olympia in 1879, and Julia Ann would have been happy to remain there. Six months after Maude was born, James moved the family to White Salmon, a port about 70 miles upriver from Vancouver, "before the ice closed in" (J. B. Hansen to B. Leroy)."^[3]

"The Kimballs finally settled in the Cathlamet area in 1886. James managed two logging camps in the nearby Elochoman Valley, while Julia Ann kept the books, a rarity for a woman in those days. They bought a house in Cathlamet and took in boarders to supplement their income. Julia Ann "was an enterprising woman," and she became an avowed temperance advocate because James "liked the bottle and in the 1880s would go to Portland on a binge" (Chesley)."^[4]

James died 3 May 1893 in Cathlamet, Washington at the age of 60 due to locomotor ataxia, an inability to control the movement of his body. The death certificate listed his place of birth as Hollis, Maine, and the name of his parents as James Kimball and Mehitable Gooding. ^[5][6]

Sources

1. ↑ "New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637-1947," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FL6C-BN5 : 2 April 2020), James F. Kimball and Alice A. Dearborn, 21 Apr 1855; citing Woodstock, , New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,274.
2. ↑ "New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637-1947," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FL6C-BJT : 2 April 2020), James F. Kimball and Julia A. Blood, 28 Jul 1873; citing Woodstock, , New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,274.
3. ↑ Maude Eliza Kimball Butler Biography on HistoryLink.org, by Frank Chesley, posted 8/19/2008; HistoryLink Essay 8711.
4. ↑ Maude Eliza Kimball Butler Biography on HistoryLink.org, by Frank Chesley, posted 8/19/2008; HistoryLink Essay 8711.
5. ↑ "Washington, County Deaths, 1891-1907," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRQG-NP4 : 4 December 2014), James F Kimball, 03 May 1893; citing certificate number , Cathlamet, Wahkiakum, Washington, United States, State Archives, Olympia.
6. ↑ Find a Grave Memorial for James Kimball.