The Brohmer family links to the Kimble family through several maternal connections: Brohmer married Mausshardt, Mausshardt married Wood, Wood married Gray, Gray married Kimble. Specifically, Wood family genealogy records handed down to me state that the Kimble line connected when Miss Frances Kimble married Clancy Duncan Gray in Holmes County, Ohio in 1888. Frances' father is reported to be Elmus Wheaton Kimble, son of Hiram Kimble, son of Walter Kimble. That is as far as the Wood family genealogy went.

Walter Kimble is perhaps the most colorful ancestor I have yet encountered. It has been fun to discover many published accounts with mention of him. In several accounts, he is recorded as a Daniel Boone type of man. In the publication History of Wyoming, In a Series of Letters...(1) author Charles Miner records that "Walter Kimble is still spoken of as having presented a singularly interesting specimen...His appearance must have been striking and imposing. He is described as having been a tall, strongly-formed, athletic man, of a dark complexion, grave, even saturine in his disposition, of great vigour of mind and force of character." He continues, stating that Walter was, "Resolute, determined, brave, he was uncompromising, obstinate and rash." Mr. Miner leaves a genealogical clue, "He died in Ohio."

The History of Wyoming...relates several stories reflecting what the life of early Pennsylvania settlers must have been like, and these portray Walter as being well-suited to the tasks required. In August, 1778, Walter and three other young men were cutting hay. In spring of 1779, Walter was part of a group of five young men who "went back to the settlement to make maple sugar." Later, Walter was one of the two young men who left the house they were in to collect "sap for coffee for breakfast" and shoot some ducks. Though the bounty of the land was plentiful and Walter up to the tasks of harvesting all that it offered, each of these accounts goes on to report attack by Indians. The settlement mentioned was a small area of land in present day Pennsylvania. Walter and his father and brothers came to this area, called the "Wallenpaupack" and also the "Minisink," as some of the first settlers. Accounts relate that the settlers initially came from Connecticut and resided for some time under the assumption that their land fell under the dominion of that state. I haven't read all details of the dispute as to the land ownership, but what was originally thought to be a Connecticut settlement is now, as mentioned, in Pennsylvania. The land dispute turned out to be a minor issue in comparison to the battle with a combined faction of "Indians and tories" which came to be called the "Wyoming Massacre" which occurred in July of 1778. Many of the settlers in the area were brutally killed. Most settlers left for a time, some returning after many of the men finished serving in the Revolutionary War. Walter and his family were some that returned.

The Wyoming Valley was a place that seemed to draw a rugged type of man, as Walter has previously been described. In searching for information about Walter, two accounts of another legendary man, Tom Quick, were found that also include mention of Walter "Kimball." A brief account of Tom Quick was found in a publication by Amelia Stickney Decker called That Ancient Trail (The Old Mine Road) First Road of Any Length Built in America. In this account, Tom Quick, his niece Maggie, and his trusty dog Jack were escaping a time of capture by some Indians. They had to evade the Indians by traveling by streams and rocks so as to leave no trace. The story brings Walter into it, "Indians, sending their canoes rapidly over the water, occasionally passed their hiding place. One day three savages attempting to land were killed by Tom and a hunter, Walter Kimball, who had been evading a band of savages for days." Another  much longer and more fanciful telling of Tom Quick's adventures called Legend of The Delaware: An Historical Sketch of Tom Quick to Which is Added The Winfield Family...(2) includes many more intriguing stories of Walter. Tom and Walter are portrayed as long, loyal friends and Walter's rugged self sufficiency is well documented as he and Tom and other companions catch trout out of the streams for dinner (or breakfast!) and hunt deer or wolves without a blink. Tom even calls our ancestor "Walt." After parting company with Tom and his niece Maggie (who later marries into the Winfield family - hence the Winfield genealogy in this account), Walter shows some other companions around the beautiful "Delaware Valley." One gets the feeling that the land was quite well known to and loved by Walter. The book also alludes rather mysteriously that Walter likely had met the woman he would later marry during his time away from the valley during the Revolutionary War. Online genealogies report that he married Elizabeth Jennings, though no marriage date or place has been marked. Birth dates for Walter's seven children vary from source to source, but the earliest birth date recorded is about 1781, so their marriage would be prior to that date. In a genealogy for the Lester family (3) Walter, his brother Able and father Jacob Kimble are listed as men who "returned to the valley after the Revolution."

And following the Revolution, the next record of Walter, his father, brothers Able and Ephraim and their sons Jacob "Jake" and Daniel, is on an 1801 Pike County Tax Roll.(4) These men are all listed under the location heading "Palmyra."

An odd record that mentions Walter during this post-war era is a diary of Sylvanus Seely who must have been a neighbor with whom Walter and family had contention.(5) The first entry mentioning Walter is for 27 Jun 1812 and mentions a trial between Walter and (presumably his son) Charles Kimble "to be held at" nearby Milford. In the same year, on November 14, Sylvanus reports that he found Walter Kimble pulling down the house that they (Sylvanus and kin) were at work on, "throwing down the plate and logs" with his son Charles forewarning him from the building and ordering him to take away the building materials. It seems that the dispute may have been over boundary lines. In 1816 he refers to his "trial with the Kimbles" and later to "Sheriff Solomon Moore serving notes" to "W. and Charles Kimble" to attend in Philadelphia ...  In January of 1819, the diary indicates that Sheriff Moore had agreed with Kimbles and "Barsley"  that they would "confess a judgement on my ejectments against them and they are to have the privelege of removing the barn until the first of June next." On Dec. 26, 1820 Mr. Seely mentions "my trial with Able Kimble," who is Walter's brother. It is not known whether Mr. Seely speaks literally of a court "trial" or simply trials and tribulations he is having with neighbors!

Mr. Seely's account above mentions "Barsley." A couple of online sources(6)(7) have shared informtion about Walter and family which are published in a book called  History of Wayne County by Phineas Goodrich which was originally published in 1880. Reprinted copies are available, check online. Both sources quote from pages 343-344,"[Texas Township] 'The next place on the river is where Walter Kimble located after the Indian wars on the Paupack. He was the father of Charles and Stephen, and was one of the most enterprising lumbermen on the Lackawaxen. He sold out all his possessions to Buckley [sic] Beardslee and removed to the West.'" The account says further that Mr. Beardslee, "married a daughter of Walter Kimble." The source from GenCircles.com  goes on to report some genealogical data, perhaps gleaned from their own research, stating that, "Walter Kimble, son of Jacob Kimble Sr. married Betsy Jennings, they settled about three miles below Honesdale on the Lackawaxen at Indian Orchard. He left Wayne County, Pa. about 1820 and removed with two of his sons and one daughter to the state of Ohio, settling in Holmes County." On a more newsy note, this account went on, "In a letter written by Moses Chapman from Ohio dated October 28th, 1827 to Erastus Kimble, he speaks of Walter Kimble as being in general health but nearly blind." It relates some more general data about the family, "We ...have assumed that he was younger than his brother Able Kimble, can not say as to the death of his wife, whether she died before he went to the state of Ohio but think she did. They had four sons, Charles Kimble, Hiram Kimble, George Kimble and Stephen Kimble, and three daughters, Phebe, Lucretia, and Lucinda."


The Beardslee/Kimble connections are confirmed in a record of Pennsylvania genealogies and family histories (7) in a biography of Howkin Bulkeley Beardslee. This narrative reports that Howkin's father Bulkeley Beardslee "was a native of Fairfield, Connecticut, whence he removed at an early day..." "He was a householder in Mount Pleasant township, Pennsylvania, as early as 1818, and became a man of prominence..." "His wife was a daughter of Walter Kimble, who was a son of Jacob Kimble, one of the pioneers in the Paupack region. He (Jacob) was among those who were driven away about the time of the Wyomiong massacre, and who returned after the Revolution..." One of the internet sources mentioned above (7) added this excerpt from the History of Wayne County book:  "Pg 204 - Buckley Beardlsee's name appears in the assessment for Mount Pleasant for the year 1818,....He afterward removed to Indian Orchard and bought the farm of Walter Kimble."

Work of other family researchers include a GenCircles.com listing(8) reporting that, "Walter was in the Revolutionary War, assisting in establishing American Independence while acting in the capacity of Indian Spy. He enlisted as a private from Pennsylvania in 1776." No sources are given for this data. Another record found, which could not be located again on further search, stated that Walter's wife, Elizabeth (Betsy) Jennings was a "Native American"! No source documentation was given.

An internet excerpt of Ohio Land Patents(9) shows three sections of land patented to Walter Kimble in Holmes County, Ohio on August 23, 1823. The online record reflects the term "U.S. Military Survey." Definition of this "survey"states that lands were made available "to satisfy Congressional resolutions to grant bounty lands to Continental officers and soldiers." An attempt will be made to secure a copy of the contents of the patent file and report made at a later date. The last record found of Walter Kimble is of a disposition of some of his land, with an online record of a sale of 5 3/4 acres to Orsamus Holmes on August 19, 1834.(10) The Holmes Family History website has a copy of the deed and includes a map of where the land is located.

No record has been found confirming the exact date of Walter's death, nor where he is buried. While there are many details left unknown, as mentioned at the start of this summary of Walter's life, it has been great fun learning about him!

Sources:
(1)  Miner, Charles. History of Wyoming, In a Series of Letters, from Charles Miner, to His Son William Penn Miner, Esq.,. Philadelphia: Published by J. Crissy, 1845.
(2) Bross, William, A. M. Legend of the Delaware: An Historical Sketch of Tom Quick. To Which is Added The Winfield Family; Also Miscellaneous Papers and Articles. Chicago.
(3) The Lesters: A Brief History and Genealogy of the Lesters of the Massachusetts and Connecticut Colonies, with Biographical Sketches..., (Chapter IV, Military Service)
(4) http://lilykin0.tripod.com/piketax
(5) http://www.popenoe.com/Diary/SeelyDiary7.htm
(6) http://www.gencircles.com/users/ztrent/3/data/2823#source2
(7) http://www.archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/KIMBALL/1997-03/0858302150
(8) http://www.gencircles.com/users/kevinmichl/1/data/46300
(9) http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/oh/holmes/land/holm-j-k.txt

Hiram Kimble, son of Walter Kimble:
Hiram Kimble was said to be born in about 1800 in Pennsylvania, residing later in his life in Killbuck, Ohio. Census records verify a Hiram Kimble houshold in 1840 in Killbuck, Ohio (Head of household only named.) There are only three people in the household, which would support Hiram and children Mary and Wheaton. The 1850 census now lists all family members and once again, in Killbuck, Ohio, the Hiram Kimble household includes Hiram, Mary and Wheaton. The last name is spelled Kimball. Both children are reported to have been born in Ohio. In 1860, in Killbuck, Ohio, we now see two households, one with Hiram as head and Mary, now 29, and the household of Wheaton, wife Almira and children Alice J and Louis. Both households are recorded with the last name spelled "Kimball." No death record has been located for Hiram, though he is no longer listed on the 1870 census. Wood family group sheets report Hiram's wife and Mary and Wheaton's mother as Grace Wicuf. The spelling Wycuf has also been seen in internet perusing. No record can be found of Grace or Hiram and Grace's marriage.

Some supporting notes: Mary Kimble is reported on Wood family group sheets as being married to Boyd Patterson in 1863. While the marriage date is unconfirmed by other sources, the 1870 census listing for the household of Boyd Patterson shows many children older than seven years. In checking the 1860 census, "Margaret" is listed as the woman assumed to be Boyd's wife. Presumably, Boyd married Mary following Margaret's death. The 1870 census lists Mary as "Insane." On the 1880 census, it is noted that she cannot read or write. She must have been capable of taking care of the household, though. When Mary and Boyd are listed together on the 1870 census, one "Jerusha Kimbel" is listed as a domestic servant. She is a 15 year old white girl. Wood family group sheets don't report Jerusha as a Wheaton Kimble daughter, so it is not clear what Kimble family she comes from.

"Elmus" Wheaton Kimble:
"Elmus" Wheaton Kimble is the name on the Wood family group sheets, though all the census records report him as simply Wheaton. Reportedly, "Wheaton" Kimble and Mary Kimble were the only two children of Hiram Kimble.


Frances Kimble:
Frances and "Duncan" Gray can be found on censuses together, moving from Ohio to Oregon. Frances can be found listed in the "Wheaton" Kimble household in 1870 and 1880 in Killbuck, Holmes County, Ohio.