The decade of 1860 to 1870...

The decade between 1860 and 1870 was very hard on this Smith Family. In 1861 Kisiah, the 19 year old daughter of James and Susannah died. In the 1860 Pickway County census shows, Mary Ann and her husband Jonathan have 4 children. In 1863, Mary Ann and her daughter, Susanna die and are buried in the Nine Mile Cemetery. By the 1870 Census, Jonathan and their son James W, are the only surviving members of the Kimble Family. What happened to the other children? Their names were Jacob and Mary Ann Kimble. Jacob was the oldest son born in 1854 and Mary Ann was born in 1859. They are not buried with Mary Ann and Susannah Kimble in the Nine Mile Cemetery according to the cemetery records. I assume that they must have died in Ohio prior to Mary Ann but I can find no evidence of it so far. If they had died in Indiana, then they would have been buried in Nine Mile with the rest of the family members. I have not been able to find them anywhere.

Again in 1863, James and Susanna would lose one of their children. This time it is Charles Smith. The month is not listed on the tomb stone but he is buried at the Nine Mile Cemetery. I have not found a death record but a Charles Smith from the Fort Wayne area died in 1863 in the Civil War. I suspect that it maybe our Charles. James W Smith and Joseph J Smith both enlist in the Indiana 142nd Infantry in 1864 and serve in the Civil War until they both muster out in 1865 with no reported injuries. James Smith, father and patriarch of this family would die in March of 1868. He is buried with his children in the Nine Mile Cemetery.

 It is after this very difficult decade that I search in earnest for Susannah wondering where she has gone. After looking for her with her daughters and not finding her, I started to look closer for her with her son’s and their families. Joseph was one of the easier boys to locate. When I located him, I found her too in the 1870 Census. Joseph, his new wife, Mary Catherine and one year old twin sons are living with Susannah, John, and Martha in Lafayette Township, Allen County. Near by James W. and Oella are living with their new son, William F. and a teenage Henry C Smith who now seems to be called Charles Smith. Has he taken his brothers name to honor Charles after his untimely death in 1863? I suspect that Henry's middle initial "C" stands for Charles.

In 1870, John F Smith is of age, 21 years old and working on a farm. Is he working the Smith Farm or someone else’s, I wonder?  Martha is as 13 years old and Henry C is 17 years old… though the census worker listed him as 7 years. Neither Charles nor Martha is listed as being in school either. When did "young men and young women" finish their schooling? I would guess around 12 or 13 years of age. Martha will be married four short years later when she is 17 years old. At the time of this census, Susannah Smith still has two children who are not of age yet. Next door in 1870 is Jonathan Kimble and James, Susannah’s son-in-law, husband to the deceased MaryAnn and her Grandson.

James Kimble is 11 in the 1870 census.  Jonathan has remarried and his new wife is also listed in the census but is listed above the Jonathan Kimble household almost as if she was a member of the household before Jonathan’s. I had over looked her several times in the early days of my research.

I spent quite a bit of time this week trying to untangle the Kimble Family. Wish I knew who Jonathan’s parents were or where he is buried. There are many Kimble families in Ohio in the 1850's and 1860. After the 1870 Census, I lose track of Jonathan and James again. Don’t know if they go back to Ohio or if they move further west. I keep looking for more needles in my haystack.