W. B. Kimbrough
During forty-five years the Kimbrough family have been factors in the economic and civic life of Grant County. It is a substantial family, and its men and women have been useful and respected in their communities. Several of the family reside in the county, while others have gone to other counties and states, some in the far west.
Mr. W. B. Kimbrough after a business and agricultural career, in which success has been fairly consistent, is now living practically retired in a comfortable home at Marion. He was born August 16, 1851, in Clinton County, Ohio, a son of Eli and Margaret (Townsend) Kimbrough. The father was born and reared in Clinton County, Ohio, and the mother in Darke County, near Greenville. The Kimbrough family is of English descent, though some genealogists claim the name is German. Grandfather Jeremiah Kimbrough was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, and with a family of six children he made the journey to Clinton County, Ohio, in 1809 in a one-horse rig, and he died there in 185. He married Sarah Mendenhall, who was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, and was of Quaker faith. In 1798 the family moved into the Northwest Territory on account of their views on slavery. The grandparents reared eleven children of their own and two orphan children after their own flock were old enough no longer to required their care.
Eli Kimbrough, the father, when a youth learned from his father the trade of blacksmith and wagon maker, but did not work at it regularly. Farming and carpentering were his chief vocations. In December, 1868, he moved to Grant County, locating in Liberty Township on a farm where he remained until his death in 1904 at the age of eighty-two years. He served in the office of Justice of the Peace, was a Republican, and a man of high principles and very much esteemed in his community. The mother passed away in 1876. the family is of hardy constitution, as is evidenced by the fact that the eleven children are all living, at or past the meridian of their lives. The children are: John T. Kimbrough, a farmer in Mill Township, Grant county; Owen C., a farmer in Liberty Township; Mary E., wife of Samuel W. Stewart, of Fairmount, in Grant county; Amos H., whose regular home is in Liberty Township, but how is now in government service in Oregon, in Indian agency work; Zachary T., who is unmarried and lives with his brother, W. B.; Thomas J., at Bogue, Kansas; Martha J., wife of James E. Stewart at Fairmount; Sarah E., wife of William J. Howell, of Wells County, Indiana; Lydia A., of Fairmount, and Clark H., whose home is in the State of Oregon.
W. B. Kimbrough was born and reared on a farm. His education was attained in the common schools of Clinton County, Ohio, and in Grant County, Indiana. At the age of seventeen his parents moved to Grant County, an following some of his earlier experiences he got into the business of sawmilling and lumbering, which he followed for many years, although he may properly be classed as an agriculturist at the present time. He did a large milling business in Grant county, but chiefly in the State of Arkansas. He moved to the latter State in 1904, and lived there until 1911, operating a sawmill. At the present time he looks after the management of a farm in Pulaski County, Indiana, and is practically retired.
On July 5, 1888, Mr. W. B. Kimbrough married Miss Altha Carey, who was born in Clinton County, Ohio, but was reared in Hamilton County, Indiana. Her father was Dr. Daniel Carey, whose wife was Hannah (Green) Carey. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Kimbrough were: Thomas, who died at the age of two and a half months; Bernice H., Hannah M., who died at the age of thirteen, and Clark C., aged thirteen years and living at home. In 1880 and 1881 Mr. Kimbrough served as Assessor of Liberty Township, but though a loyal Republican in politics, he has not been otherwise prominent in political affairs. He was reared in the Quaker Church, as was also his wife. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men, and has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for twenty-six years.
Source: Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914, page 1201-1202.