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.