Max was assigned to do a report on someone in his family. He chose David P. Kimball. David was one of the pioneers who carried the Martin hand cart company across the Wyoming Sweet Water River. Max did a little interview (which will not upload for some reason) and this is him dressed as David Kimball.
Also included below is a copy of his report.
I have chosen to do my Ancestor Report on David Patten
Kimball, My 4th great Grandfather. David was born on August 23,
1839, in Nauvoo Illinois. He was named
after David W. Patten, who had just been killed by a violent mob. David W. Patten was a member of the Quorum of
the 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. David’s
parents, Heber C Kimball, and Vilate Murray Kimball admired Mr. David Patten
and thought it would be a suiting name.
Vilate was the first of Heber’s 43 wives. There was a command given in the church, by
the Lord, which enforced plural marriage. Due to this commandment David had 64
brothers and sisters. From his direct
mother, he only had 2 sisters and 7 brothers.
Even at a young age, David’s Mother thought he was a smart boy, and wrote this poem about him:
LITTLE DAVID
Our
darling little David P.
Is
just as sweet as he can be;
He
surely is the finest lad
That
you and I have ever had.
His
eyes are black, his skin is fair,
His
features good, and brown his hair;
He's
just as fat as butter, too,
We
therefore think that he will do.
David was born in Nauvoo
Illinois. When David was just 7 years old his family made the choice to follow
Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in
migrating to the Salt Lake valley. Before leaving on this long and treacherous
journey, David’s dad gave him a black mare, which David rode as they crossed
the plains. What an awesome gift.
One story I found very
interesting is one about when the Martin handcart company came to the Sweet
Water River. As David and his family had
done earlier, another group of saints started their trek to Salt Lake later in
the year. They traveled along in the
cold, and came to a halt when they found they would have to cross the great
Sweet Water River in Wyoming. With snow 18 inches deep, and ice flowing in the
freezing cold water, the pioneers had no choice. Either to suffer death from
the freezing cold, or go through the water. When the pioneers were almost out
of hope, a group of heroes came to their rescue. After President Brigham Young heard of the
difficulties the Martin Company was having he sent out a rescue party. The
rescue party came at just the right time. It has been told that 3 young men in
particular assisted in carrying over 1,000 of the freezing and hopeless
pioneers across that river. Their names
were C. Allen Huntington, Geo W. Grant, and last my great grandfather, David P.
Kimball. I think these boys were true heroes. I am proud to have such an amazing ancestor.
Shortly after his return from
the rescue, David was married to Caroline Marion Williams, who was just 13
years old, he himself being just 17. These two had eleven children in all. David P. Kimball worked hard to build rail
road track. He brought mule teams that
hauled heavy machinery under any circumstance.
It sounds from the story that he was the best at doing it. Some people say he was crazy, and that he
couldn’t do it, yet he always did. This
is how he made a living. He also was a big part in making tracks for the Union
Pacific.
I think this person is
interesting in many ways. Another story
that was kind of cool was about when he was traveling home from working, in a
neighboring city. He was with his son Patten, and became very ill. The interesting part was that David had a
vision from his father. His father told
him that he could stay on Earth 2 more years, and make right all of his
wrongs. David was still very ill, and
also saw evil spirits as he and his son continued to travel home. One night David was driven insane from a few
of these evil spirits he was seeing. He
tried to escape them by running off into the desert. He was stranded in a
desert for 4 days without food or water. One night when his mind was restored,
and his fever gone, he wished he could die.
His body was full of cactus from head to toe; he had no energy, and
could not see any sign of rescue. I’m going to include an excerpt from a letter
he wrote about the incident:
"On the night of the 21st, I could see a
fire about twenty-five miles to the south, and felt satisfied that it was my
friends coming after me. I knew the country where I was; I was about eight miles
from houses where I could have got plenty of water and something to eat, but my
strength was gone and my feet were so sore I could not stand up. Another long
and dreary day passed, but I could see nothing but wolves and ravens and a
barren desert covered with cactus, and had about made up my mind that the
promise of two years' life, made by my father, was not to be realized. While in
this terrible plight, and when I had just about given up all hope, my father
and mother appeared to me and gave me a drink of water and comforted me,
telling me I would be found by my friends who were out searching for me, and
that I should live two years longer as I had been promised. When night came I
saw another fire a few hundred yards from me and could see my friends around
it, but I was so hoarse I could not make them hear. By this time my body was
almost lifeless and I could hardly move, but my mind was in a perfect condition
and I could realize everything that happened around me. On the morning of the
23rd, at daylight, here they came, about twenty in all, two of my own sons.”
David P Kimball tried to
straighten out his life the best I could tell. David eventually died on
November 22, 1883, 2 years from the time of his vision, just as his father told
him.
David P. Kimball, as I
mentioned, is my 4th great grandfather. This is the line starting
with David’s parents. Heber Chase Kimball was married to Vilate Murray, they
had a son by the name of David Patten Kimball, David married Caroline Williams,
and they had a child by the name of Lola Gay Kimball. Lola married Daniel Eldredge and they had a boy
by the name of Earl Eldredge. Earl
married Josephine Pipkins, and Earl and Josephine had a daughter by the name of
Grace Eldredge, Grace married Joe Blackwell Sr., and they had a little boy by
the name of Joseph David Blackwell.
Joseph Blackwell (my grandfather) married my grandmother, Geraldine
Montoya. My grandmother and grandfather
had a little boy by the name of David Maurice Blackwell. David “Reece” Blackwell and Jessica Wise
married and have three children, one of which is me, Maximus Blackwell.
