David Patten Kimball (1839-1883)

LDS Arizona Pioneer - 1856 Martin Handcart Rescuer

Contents 1 Vital Stats 2 Biography 3 Handcard Monument Tribute 4 Children of David Kimball and Caroline Williams 5 1870 US CENSUS 6 References

Vital Stats Edit

• Son of LDS Pioneer, Heber Chase Kimball (1801-1868) and Vilate Murray (1806-1867)
• 1839-Aug-23 : Birth in Nauvoo, Hancock Co, Illinois, USA
• 1857-Apr-13 : Marriage to Caroline Marian Williams (1843-1916) at Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
• 1883-Nov-21 : Died in Saint David, Cochise Co, Arizona Territory, USA

Biography Edit

David Patten Kimball married Caroline Marion Williams at the age of 17 and 13 on Monday, 13 April 1857 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.

David Patten Kimball was sealed to Caroline Marion Williams on 7 February 1867 in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.

David Patten Kimball married Juliet Merrill at the age of 30 and 18 on Tuesday, 12 October 1869 in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. No Children listed.

David Patten Kimball and Caroline Marion Williams lived in Utahville, Maricopa, Arizona on 1 June 1880.

David Patten Kimball died on Tuesday, 22 November 1881 at the age of 42 years, 2 months and 30 days.

In the winter of 1856, Kimball helped a company of handcart pioneers stranded near the Sweetwater River, in response to a request from Brigham Young. Several accounts of the event imply that Young promised Kimball and others a guaranteed place in heaven for their efforts, although no direct evidence attributing this statement to Young exist.

David P Kimball was appointed to serve as president of the newly formed Bear Lake Stake on June 20, 1869 (per journal of W Woodruff). Additionally he was vice-president of the local branch of the School of the Prophets, serving under the resident General Authority, Charles C Rich. He continued these callings before moving to Arizona in 1877. He was a teamster, and when he died he was first counselor in the St. Johns Arizona stake.

In November 1881, Kimball was making a freight run between Maricopa railroad station and Prescott when he was caught in a snowstorm near Prescott and contracted pneumonia. On the return trip, he became separated from his traveling companion and wagon and got lost in the Salt River valley south of Wickenburg. He spent four days in the desert with no food or water. During this time, he reported seeing a vision in which his deceased father warned him to get his life in order, and that he had only two years to live. Kimball had doubted Mormonism for over a decade. His traveling companion assembled a search party, and they found Kimball near present-day Surprise. (I find this story conflicting - how could he be in the LDS stake presidency, practicing polygamy and doubting Mormonism?)

Kimball died at the age of 44 on November 21, 1883, in St. David, Arizona.

Handcard Monument Tribute Edit

A story in the LDS Improvement Era identifies David P Kimball as one of the rescuers but incorrectly reports his early demise.

He (Pres Hinckley) then continued the story from the Improvement Era: " `Three 18-year-old boys belonging to the relief party came to the rescue, and to the astonishment of all who saw, carried nearly every member of that ill-fated handcart company across the snowbound stream. The strain was so terrible and the exposure so great, that in later years all the boys died from the effects of it. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic act, he wept like a child, and later declared publicly, `that act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.' "

President Hinckley then spoke of having dedicated a monument at the place where members of the Willie Company, moving ahead of the Martin Company, were rescued from certain death by those sent from the Salt Lake Valley by Brigham Young.

"We then dedicated a monument at the summit of Rocky Ridge, where the trail winds steeply to the summit marking the Continental Divide," he continued. "It is a difficult climb even today in good weather. At that time, with snow and bitter cold, it was a trail of tears and death."

Children of David Kimball and Caroline Williams Edit

1. David Patten Kimball (1860-1918) -
2. Thomas Stephen Kimball (1862-1939) - m. Francis Williams
3. Quince Knowlton Kimball (1867-1949) - m. Mary Merrill
4. Effie Isabelle Kimball (1869-1945) - m. Orrin Merrill
5. Viroque Kimball (1870-1877) - died young - age 7 - named for a relative living with the family on the 1870 US Census.
6. Lola Gay Kimball (1870-1944) - m. Daniel Eldredge
7. Heber Chase Kimball (1872-1959) - m. Sarah Trejo
8. Charles Colton Kimball (1874-1944) - m. Clara Hinck
9. Crozier Kimball (1879-1966) - m. Mary Roberts
10. Vilate Kimball (1881-1962) - m. Edwin Blaney
11. Thatcher Kimball (1883-1956) - m. Marnie Melton

1870 US CENSUS Edit

Taken at Paris, Rich Co, Utah - June 1870. Brother Solomon F Kimball is living next door with the Mary Williams family. Top of Page 1.

• Kimball, David P (M-30) / Farmer
• Kimball, Caroline W (F-27)
• Kimball, David P Jr (M-10)
• Kimball, Thomas (M-8)
• Kimball, Quincy (M-3)
• Kimball, E Isabella (F-1)
• Kimball, Viroque (F-18)

References Edit

• Spencer Kimball Family Ancestry
• David P Kimball - Wikipedia History
• Tribute to Utah Pioneers - LDS Church News July 1995.
• Life Sketch of David P Kimball by Solomon F Kimball - Archive Books - PDF Download webpage