David Patten Kimball (1839-1883)

David Patten Kimball (1839-1883)

LDS Arizona Pioneer - 1856 Martin Handcart Rescuer

Vital Stats

 * 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
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.

Kimball served as president of the Bear Lake stake in Utah 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.

Children of David Kimball and Caroline Williams

 * 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
 * 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