A History of Star Valley 1800-1900

For those of you who asked about the Star Valley Book, my mother said she shipped the last of them to Hastings Gift Store P.O. Box 1710 Afton, Wyo 83110 (307 -886- 3503).

We wrote it in 1989 and now the 3rd printing is sold out. I think there are about 3,000 books floating around. The first edition had a gray cover with red printing. On the second, we changed to the buff and brown cover. The last edition has a real nice shiny finish on the cover.

When you're looking at boxes of inventory sitting in the closet, you wonder if it will ever sell or if you will end up papering the walls with it. We are very grateful that people took an interest and seem to enjoy it.

Writing the book took a couple of years. Dad always maintained that it was important to commit the stories and events to paper while first hand accounts were available. It wasn't an easy task. He had the idea, expertise, really valued history and loved the Valley. He knew the "nuts and bolts" side of farming and ranching, machinery, geology, archaeology, etc. I did a little writing and drawing, so I said sure, I'd help. The first draft, (I thought it was the finished product) amounted to a glossary of place names and a detailed time line dealing with about 100 years of Star Valley's history and the various accounts available in other books, etc. I showed it to our cousin Ron who is now a rather famous historian. He read through and said, "It's a great outline, but where is the story?" I sighed and went back to the drawing board.

We must thank Mom who always supported us in the project. She has been the accountant for the past 20 years. Dad and I were lucky she kept such accurate records.

By the way, the high school taught Star Valley history from our book a few years back. The instructor told me that more copies of the book seemed to get "lost" at the end of the semester than any book she'd ever seen. I take that as a compliment.

Joseph/Josiah Kimber, the Mystery Man

Hunted up the Joseph Kimber file, (the step father of Annie Rebecca Seward). Unfortunately the program it was written in is now just code on my Macbook - I know I could do the tech updates - but.... here is the old 1997 research in all it's glory - including cutting off Joseph Kimber's name on the title page - sorry-

Several important things to remember about this man: First, he married Esther Frewin and became Annie's step father fairly early in her life, maybe she was as young as 10 when her mother married. So apart from her Grandfather Frewin, Joseph Kimber may have had more influence on Annie than any other father figure. It's a bit of a mystery why he wasn't mentioned more, but we need to remember that he died shortly after Annie's marriage, so grandkids would only remember the Esther's 3rd husband, Henry Hancock.

Second, Joseph appears to have been serious about his testimony. He took an active part in the early church affairs in his area and was a Presiding Elder. He bore testimony of the gospel to a young man who worked on the same farm, named Henry Ballard. Ballard became one of the early settlers in Logan and a driving force for the gospel. Ballard has several well documented spiritual experiences and kept a journal (lucky for us). The book, Henry Ballard: The Story of a Courageous Pioneer, by Douglas Crookston (ISBN 0-87579-889-6) has several Kimber/Frewin connections.

Third, Joseph, Esther and Annie, emigrated together as shown on the Amazon's ship log from the Mormon Immigration Index (see 2nd document). Why he doesn't show up with them on the trail over is a bit of a mystery, but he may have been driving cattle, etc. That's an area which needs more research.

Fourth and most important, he's a bit of a mystery man in the family department. He shows up as married to Ann Frewin, Esther's sister, on the early F.G. Sheets. Anyone explanation? She was born in 1816 and appears to have died in 1836. Next we find him married to a Mary Ann Owen in 1844. They have one son, Joseph Hirum, on the 1851 census. But there may be more children. The Cold Ash Parish Burial Record has three unaccounted Kimber children buried during this time: Edwin, infant buried 14 Aug. 1844; Ann, infant, buried 9 Oct 1848 and Elizabeth, 6, buried 3 July 1851. Even if their parents were Mormons, the children still might be registered and buried in the church yard. Since more information is now available, it would be good to search out the rest of his family. He and Esther were married in 1852. So they lived another 10 years or so in the area before leaving for America. They spent more time together than with either of their other spouses.

The email came from a relative, Betty, whose Frewin ancestors landed in New Zealand. Our side of the family had to suffer cold winters for religion:)

Again, I apologize for the roughness of the scanned text, but it's just a draft and can certainly be improved upon.

If anyone has info they'd like to share on this, please leave a comment or send it to my email at kkhamblin@gmail.com.

Annie Rebecca- Schoolteacher

Going through an old scrapbook or mine, I found this 1960's article about Annie Rebecca being the first woman school teacher in Star Valley. (She is William Henry Kennington's Wife)

Several facts I had forgotten about. It looks like the log school house was located on the same block where the current elementary is in Afton. Anyone know any different?

I see that the error of her coming with only her widowed mother is perpetuated here. Actually Josiah/Joseph Kimber was her stepfather at that time. It's time we had his history. I'll publish it next time.

Also interesting about Charles Dickens and Nick Wilson. The facts do check out - Dickens lived on the same street where she worked for a pawn broker. He even visited the ship she emigrated on and wrote an article about the Mormons. He had daughters about her age. Wonder if she was just a curiosity or if he actually knew her enough to have conversations, etc. Nick Wilson was an adult with a family when they and the Kenningtons all lived in Ovid. They're on the census records. If you haven't read the Little White Indian Boy by Nick Wilson and E.N. Driggs, you'd enjoy it.

Why is history always more colorful and mysterious after 100 years?

Weber Reunion

The reunion was great! Lots of information shared, a great copy of the portrait of Samuel and Verena was available - I'd never seen it in color - so that's a treat.

They compiled a history in the first person about each of the original family and had a descendant present it while photos were being shown. All that material and more is on a CD or DVD. They may have more. Contact Judy: judy@legacyfundingusa.com for details.

The Webers went to a lot of work and really made a nice day for the rest of us. Thanks Gerry and Judy!

Talk turned to Schmiedrued and the subject snowballed into a trip in 2013 if anyone is interested. Don't know details or have things organized yet, but ideas are hatching. There are a few photos farther back showing the area- it'd be a fantastic trip - especially with cousins.