B. about Aug 1615 in Rattlesden, England
M. (1) 1640 in Massachusetts
Wife: Mary Riddlesdale
M. (2) before 1675
Wife: Elizabeth Black
D. 3 May 1676 in Wenham, Massachusetts
Henry Kimball survives in the records of a couple of court cases in colonial New England. He was born in 1615 in the village of Rattlesden, England to Richard Kimball and Ursula Scott, the oldest of their 13 children. His father was a wheelwright; many men in the family worked as craftsmen, but Henry isn’t known to have been one of them.
When Henry was 18-years-old, he joined his family as part of the Puritan migration to America, landing at Boston in June 1634 on the ship Elizabeth. The Kimballs first settled in Watertown, but within a couple of years, Henry’s parents and siblings moved up the coast to Ipswich, leaving him on his own. In about 1640, he married a woman named Mary Riddlesdale, probably in Watertown. They had three children before relocating to Ipswich in about 1646; the family eventually grew to have 13 children.
In about 1655, Henry moved to Wenham, a small settlement established a decade earlier. Along with operating a farm, he ran a tavern from his home for at least a couple of years; his license issued in 1656 allowed him to serve “wine and strong water.” In 1669, Henry was appointed to be a constable; typically that office meant he kept order in the town, and sometimes arrested those who broke the law.
Henry was involved in a court dispute in March 1656 when one of his neighbors’ cows got into his cornfield and trampled his crop. The trouble was caused by some broken fences, but it wasn’t explained in the court transcripts how they had been damaged; another man named Nathaniel Stow also lost 25 bushels of his corn due to the same problem.
Later that year in September, Henry was sued by a man named Richard Shatswell for “striking his maid.” The servant, Mary Parker, was about 14 or 15 when Henry supposedly hit her; it isn’t mentioned what prompted the act, or even if he was actually guilty.
Henry’s wife Mary died at an unknown date between 1668 and 1675, and he remarried to a widow named Elizabeth Raynor, who helped care for his younger children. In 1675, King Philip’s War affected most of Massachusetts, and son Caleb served in the militia; sadly, he was killed in a battle the western part of the colony.
On May 3, 1676, Henry died at Wenham and was survived by his wife Elizabeth. Henry was the ancestor of John and Charles Pillsbury, founders of Pillsbury Co.
Children:
1. Mary Kimball — B. 29 Nov 1641, Watertown, Massachusetts
2. Richard Kimball — B. 13 Oct 1643, Watertown, Massachusetts; D. 30 Jul 1715, Wenham, Massachusetts; M. Rebecca Abbe (~1647-1704), 13 May 1667, Wenham, Massachusetts
3. John Kimball — B. 25 Dec 1645, Watertown, Massachusetts; D. about May 1726, Amesbury, Massachusetts
4. Caleb Kimball — B. about 1647, Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. 18 Sep 1675, South Deerfield, Massachusetts
5. Dorcas Kimball — B. about 1649, Ipswich, Massachusetts; M. Thomas Dow (1640-1676), 17 Dec 1668, Haverhill, Massachusetts
6. Abigail Kimball — B. about 1652, Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. 14 May 1693, Rowley, Massachusetts; M. John Wicom (~1647-1715), 17 May 1673, Rowley, Massachusetts
7. Sarah Kimball — B. about 1654, Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. 16 Sep 1692, Bradford, Massachusetts; M. Daniel Gage (1639-1705), 3 May 1675, Bradford, Massachusetts
8. Henry Kimball — B. about 1655, Ipswich, Massachusetts; D. 14 Dec 1697, Haverhill, Massachusetts; M. Hannah Marsh (1657-1697), 14 Dec 1677, Haverhill, Massachusetts
9. Mehitable Kimball — B. about 1658, Wenham, Massachusetts; D. 7 Dec 1689, Bradford, Massachusetts; M. Thomas Stickney (1646-1714)
10. Benjamin Kimball — B. 12 Dec 1659, Wenham, Massachusetts
11. Joseph Kimball — B. 20 Jan 1661, Wenham, Massachusetts; D. about Apr 1713, Boston, Massachusetts
12. Martha Kimball — B. 18 Aug 1664, Wenham, Massachusetts; D. 27 Dec 1728, Salisbury, Massachusetts; M. (1) Daniel Chase (1661-1707), 25 Aug 1683, Newbury, Massachusetts; (2) Josiah Heath (1651-?), 1713, Essex County, Massachusetts
13. Deborah Kimball — B. about 1668, Wenham, Massachusetts
Sources:
History of the Kimball Family in America From 1634 to 1897, Leonard Allison Morrison and Stephen Paschall Sharples, 1897
Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Volume II, edited by George Francis Drew, 1913
Great Migration: Passengers of the Elizabeth, 1634 & 1635 (website)
Essex County (Massachusetts) Registry of Probate
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