52 Ancestors: #48 Samuel Kimmel and the Stark County Infirmary

I don't know much about my 5th great grandfather, Samuel Kimmel, but I do know how he died... and it is a sad story.

Samuel was born in 1787 in Pennsylvania to Joseph Kimmel and Nancy Anna Stoner.  He married Catherine Mory, a Maryland native. They had six children, including my 4th great grandfather, Jacob Kimmel. Samuel moved with his family to Stark County, Ohio sometime before 1820 and lived there for the rest of his life.

Stark County Infirmary, Canton, Ohio

On September 15, 1869, Samuel and Catherine were admitted as paupers to the Stark County Infirmary, formerly called the county poorhouse.

Those eligible to live at the county home are homeless persons who are unable to care for themselves.  They may be recipients of old age pensions, if the amounts so received are not sufficient for them to take care of themselves. Likewise if relatives are unable or unwilling to care for a needy person, the latter is eligible.  Many patients have no friends. City residents who are unemployed single men are likewise eligible. Relatives will take care of women before they will men.  (Stark County Story, The Suburban Era in Stark County Ohio 1917-1958 Vol. 4)

The infirmary register listed both their ages as 81 and their former residence as Osnaburg, Stark County, Ohio.  Four of the Kimmel children had left Ohio and were scattered across several states by this time. One son, William Kimmel, died in 1865 from the black measles, along with much of his household.   However, Samuel and Catherine's youngest child, Margaret, still lived in Osnaburg with her own family in 1869.  I wonder why Margaret was unable to care for her elderly parents.  Did the other siblings even know that their parents were destitute and living in a poorhouse?

Samuel Kimmel died in the infirmary on March 18, 1871, at the age of 84.  He was not buried in a cemetery; I assume this was because no one could pay for his burial expenses.  Following his death, Catherine Kimmel was discharged.  I don't know why she had to leave or what happened to her afterwards.

52 Ancestors: #41 Jacob Kimmel, Oldest Voter in Kearney, Nebraska

Jacob Kimmel, left, with his daughter Catherine and her family.

Jacob Kimmel of Fourth Ward Votes at 86 Years of Age.

The statement in the Hub Tuesday that Rev. C.R. Ford was probably the oldest voter in the city has brought out the fact that there is at least one voter, who cast his vote on election day, who could boast more years than Mr. Ford.  This is Jacob Kimmel.  Mr. Kimmel is 86 years of age.  He is a carpenter and mill wright by trade and is still able to do some work every day.  The fact that there was a voter 86 years of age in the city was kindly brought to the attention of the Hub by S.M. Forney, and it is probable that there may be some other voters who are as old or older. (The Kearney Daily Hub, published November 8, 1906.)  

My 4th great grandfather, Jacob Kimmel, was born on May 27, 1821 in Canton, Stark County, Ohio. His parents were Samuel Kimmel and Catherine Mory.  On October 9, 1842, Jacob married Nancy Tombaugh. Sometime before 1850, Jacob and Nancy migrated to Richland, Illinois, along with Jacob's brother William and his sister Elizabeth and their families.  Together Jacob and Nancy had at least seven children.  Jacob's wife Nancy and his sister, Elizabeth Shook, were midwives in the area. Nancy died in 1879.  

In 1880, Jacob lived with his newly-married daughter Mary and her husband Noah Michaels. Sometime before 1885, Jacob, his son Lewis, and the Michaels family decided to leave Illinois and and travel over 500 miles to live in Hutchinson, Kansas.  Jacob, Lewis, and Noah were all carpenters and probably worked together.

The Wood River Mission Church in Kearney, Nebraska.

In 1896, Jacob Kimmel moved one more time to Kearney Nebraska to join his daughter, Catherine Forney, and her family.  Jacob opened a carpenter shop at the back of Catherine's house.  

Catherine's husband, Samuel Michael Forney, was the minister of the Wood River Mission Church in Kearney, Nebraska, which was affiliated with the Dunkard Brethren.  During a special council on the afternoon of June 26, 1897, the Wood River Church reinstated "Brother Jacob Kimmel."  (I wonder why he had to be reinstated.)  By December 31, 1898, the church had 40 members.

Jacob died in Kearney on March 10,1910  at the age of 88 from cardiac failure. According to his obituary, he had made his own coffin before he died.

Jacob Kimmel with four generations of descendants, c. 1908.

52 Ancestors: #38 Nancy Tombaugh, Midwife of Richland County

The Illinois Medical Practice Act of 1877 included the creation of the Illinois Board of Health, which was charged with the responsibility of regulating physicians and midwives. Midwives would now be required to register with and be approved by the Illinois Board of Health.

"Midwives To Whom Certificates Have Been Issued" from the Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Illinois 

On December 15, 1877, Nancy Kimmel registered for a midwife certificate.  She was 54 years old and had practiced as a midwife for 15 years in Richland County, Illinois.  Her certificate was issued on October 19, 1878.

Nancy was born on May 8. 1821 in Akron, Ohio to Solomon Tombaugh and Catherine Myers. At the age of 21, Nancy Tombaugh married Jacob Kimmel on October 9, 1842 in Stark County, Ohio. Jacob's sister, Elizabeth Kimmel Shook, was also a midwife in Richland County.  Nancy and Jacob had seven known children. Their youngest child, Susanna, born in 1860, was my third great-grandmother.

On March 14, 1862, their 13-year-old daughter Sarah died of "winter fever" (an archaic term for pneumonia that was used only in Southern Illinois.)  Soon after Sarah's death, Nancy began her occupation as a midwife.  (Perhaps to keep her mind off of her loss?)

Nancy Kimmel died on May 9, 1879, less than a year after she received her midwife certificate.

52 Ancestors: #23 Susanna "Anna" Kimmel, Grandmother of Red Skelton

Susanna "Anna" Kimmel was born around 1860 in Olney, Richland County, Illinois.  She was the tenth and last child of Jacob Kimmel and Nancy Tombaugh.  At the age of seventeen she became the wife of Asa M. Fields.  Their marriage took place on December 23, 1877 at the home of the bride's father.  Anna's brother-in-law, Samuel Forney, performed the marriage ceremony.  Their first daughter, Stella, was born in 1880.  Around 1881-1882, the family relocated to Nebraska, where four more Fields children were born: Mary Kathryn (born in 1882), Ida Mae (1884), and twins Eddie and Freddie (1888).  Ida Mae was the mother of Richard "Red" Skelton.

The Fields were affiliated with a German Baptist church in Kearney, Nebraska. The Wood River Church was organized May 28th, 1881 at the residence of Moses Snavely. At the first meeting, there were just 13 members present, among them: Minister Samuel Forney and Asa and Susanna Fields. However, on February 11, 1882, Asa and Anna left the congregation, as recorded in the minute books from the church. 

Vincennes Sun Commercial, February 20, 1939

Around 1890, Asa and Anna moved their family again, this time to Vincennes, Indiana.  My great-great grandmother, Carrie, was born there in 1891, and the last of Asa and Anna's children, Robert Hergel, was born in 1899. 

 I am unable to find an obituary or death certificate for Asa, but I think he died sometime around 1900.  In a letter to her brother, Lewis Kimmel, dated May 5, 1938, Anna wrote that she had been a widow for 38 years.  She said she had two sons and three daughters living out of 14 children, 25 grand children and 13 great grand children. Her pension was $11.00 a month. She was living in one room all alone. Her youngest son (Robert) was married and lived on the same lot with her. Her address was shown as 702 Upper 11th, Vincennes. 

In 1939, Anna (called Susan in the newspaper) attended a luncheon honoring her famous grandson, Red Skelton.

Anna Fields died March 17, 1945 and is buried at Fairview Cemetery in Vincennes. 

Indianapolis Star, March 20, 1945

52 Ancestors: #4 Carrie C. Fields, Red Skelton's Aunt

Carrie with her first child, Agnes, in 1913

My great-great grandmother, Carrie Fields, was born March 30, 1891 in Vincennes, Indiana to Asa Fields and Susanna Kimmel.  She was the sixth of seven children.  Her older sister, Ida Mae, was the mother of comedian Red Skelton.

Ida Mae with a young Red Skelton, c. 1914

Carrie married Charles Carl Lange Jr., a street car conductor, on May 16, 1911.  Together they had seven children: Agnes (my great grandmother), Louise, Carl, Florence and Helen (twins), Robert, and Paul.  The couple separated in 1920.   According to a newpaper article in The Vincennes Morning Commercial, Carrie filed for divorce on account of her husband's alleged abusive behavior.  It seems that they reconciled, because four of their children were born after 1920. 

Only a year after her seventh child was born, Carrie died on August 23, 1927.  Her death certificate says she died from erysipelas, a severe skin infection.  She was 36.

She was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Vincennes.  "Aside from church her chief interest in life was centered in her home, husband, and children.  Whatever suffering was her lot she bore with fortitude and was ever a patient and loving wife and mother whose place in the family circle will always remain vacant." (From Carrie's obituary in the Vincennes Morning Commercial on August 24, 1927.)