Jane Smith Knowlton (1867-1940)

Jane Smith (Jennie) Knowlton (1867-1940)

Wife of J Golden Kimball, legendary folk hero of Mormon Pioneers

Vital Stats

 * 1867-Feb-13 : Birth at Skull Valley, Tooele Co, Utah, USA
 * 1887-Sep-22 : Married to Jonathan Golden Kimball (1853-1938) in Logan Utah.
 * 1892 : Husband Called to LDS First Council of Seventy
 * 1940-Aug-25 : Died at Salt Lake City, Utah

Biography
Two years after leaving the Academy, J. Golden Kimball was called by Church President John Taylor, during conference on April 6, 1883, to fill a mission to the Southern States.

Eight days after receiving his call he was set apart by Brother Moses Thatcher. Together with twenty-four Elders he landed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was appointed by President Brigham H. Roberts to labor in Virginia, where he joined his companion as a traveling Elder and labored absolutely without purse or scrip.

After laboring one year he was appointed to act as Secretary of the Southern States Mission at Chattanooga under the direction of President Roberts.

He was very familiar with the details of the martyrdom of Elders Gibbs and Berry, as well as with the mobbing, shooting at and whipping of "Mormon" Elders during the year 1884.

During the last year of his mission his health and constitution were broken; he was troubled with malaria, which continued to afflict him for many years. In the spring of 1885 he received an honorable release, and returned to Utah via New Jersey, where he preached, and visited his mother's relatives.

J. Golden Kimball married but once, to Jeanette (Jennie) Jane Smith Knowlton on September 22, 1887 in Logan, Utah. Jennie was born on February 12, 1866 in Skull Valley, Davis County, Utah. Her parents were John Quincy Knowlton and Ellen Smith Knowlton.

J. Golden and Jennie had six children: Jonathan "Jack" Kimball; Quince "Jane" Kimball; Elizabeth Kimball; Gladys Kimball; Richard Kimball; and Max Kimball.

J. Golden Kimball, together with Newel Kimball and Elias Kimball, entered into the farm implement business under the name of "Kimball Brothers", establishing places of business at Logan, Utah and Montpelier, Idaho. They signed promissory notes for over thirty thousand dollars. They labored hard for four years, and completely lost their investment, but saved their good name and paid their debts.

They decided to exchange their Bear River Valley ranch for Cache Valley property, and used the proceeds from the sale of their cattle and horses to invest in real estate. There was a real estate boom underway, and they were not yet convinced of the danger of speculation. They bought almost every property that was for sale.

Kimball was acting as the senior President of the Seventy when he was killed in 1938, at the age of eighty-five, in a single-vehicle automobile accident in the Nevada desert 50 miles east of Reno. He was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Children of J Golden Kimball and Jane Knowlton

 * 1) Jane Quincy Kimball (1889-1968) - m. William Brown
 * 2) Jonathan Golden Kimball (1890-1939) - m. Sarah Clyde
 * 3) Elizabeth Kimball (1892-1980) - m. Colin Harris
 * 4) Gladys Kimball (1894-1987) - m. Harold Warburton
 * 5) Richard Heber Kimball (1896-1941) - m. Helen Epperson
 * 6) Max Knowlton Kimball (1901-1966) - m. Josephine Musser