“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Various spellings of Kimball:
Kemball, Kembolde, Kembold
Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
The town common (commons) was a small, open field at the center of the town which was jointly owned. It was used as a marketplace, a place for the militia to drill, or for grazing livestock.
Richard Kimball, Jr. was born in 1623 in Rattlesden, Suffolk County, England. His parents were Richard Kimball and Ursula Scott.
He came to America with his family on the ship Elizabeth in 1634. He was a wheelwright and yeoman.
He inherited 40 schillings from his grandfather, Henry Scott, which he would receive when he turned 21. Henry died in 1623.
Both of his wives were named Mary. The first died September 2, 1672.
His children included:
John Kimball (1645),
Samuel Kimball (1651),
Thomas Kimball (1651),
Ephraim Kimball (1660),
Caleb Kimball (1665),
Christopher Kimball (1665),
Richard Kimball (1671),
an unnamed child, and
Nathaniel Kimball (1676).
In a deposition dated' September, 1658, Richard mentioned having "lived on Goodman Shatswell's farm for seven years." The family moved to Wenham between 1652 and 1656. Richard owned large amounts of land there.
On November 8, 1657, he subscribed £3 to the minister's rate, to be paid one-half in wheat and one-half in Indian corn. The next year he was chosen selectman, and continued in that office except for three years to 1674. He participated in committees to consider building a new meeting house, to perfect the line between Bass River and Wenham, and to establish rates for the cost of building a meeting house.
When his father died in 1675 he received “fforty pounds."
Richard died in Wenham on May 26, 1676.
Rattlesden is a village in Suffolk in eastern England. St. Nicholas church dates from the 13th century. The village was a center of Puritanism in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
A yeoman was a man who owned and cultivated a small farm. He belonged to the class below the gentry or land owners. A husbandman was a free tenant farmer. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman.
Indian Corn (or flint corn) is the type of maize that Native Americans taught colonists to cultivate. The kernels come in a range of colors and are less prone to spoiling.
The New England Meetinghouse was the only municipal building in a town. Both worship and civil meetings were held there. It was customary for men and women to sit separately and the town chose a committee once a year to assign seats according to what was paid, age, and dignity.
