Kimball, John F.

KIMBALL

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/22/2019 at 14:01:50

John Frederick Kimball

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.416)
JOHN FREDERICK KIMBALL, of the banking firm of Kimball & Champ, was born at Muscatine, Iowa, December 13, 1856, a son of Alvin and Susan A. (PATRICK) KIMBALL, and the youngest of their four children, the others being George A., Emma J. and J. Frank. His father was born in 1813, near Windsor, Vermont. In 1840 he emigrated to Ohio with his family, and engaged in the wholesale grocery trade at Cleveland. In 1853 he moved to Muscatine, Iowa, and engaged in the grain business, erecting an elevator and having a large trade; but the financial crisis of 1857 caused him great loss. He persevered in his business, however, and did well, to the time of his death, April 17, 1865. Politically he was a prominent Abolitionist, devoting both time and money to the relief of oppressed and fugitive slaves. He took an active interest in all that pertained to the moral welfare and material development of the community, and was respected by all parties. The mother of the subject of this sketch was born at Brownsville, Jefferson County, New York, in 1822. She was a devoted wife and mother, is a useful member of the Baptist Church and of good society generally, now living in Minneapolis.

Mr. KIMBALL, our present subject, was but eight years of age when his father died, and he was trained by his mother, who gave him all the advantages at her command, which however, were limited. He completed his school education in Brown's Academy. In 1879, while on a tour through the West looking for a business location, he became acquainted with his present partner, George H. CHAMP, and in company with him bought out the abstract business of J. P. and J. N. CASADY. To this they afterward added the business of money-lending, which, under their equitable, conservative and skillful management, at length grew to large proportions, and in 1888 they added banking, and in this line too their operations have become extensive. Their bank has taken rank among the leading financial institutions of the city, and even of western Iowa, eastern Nebraska, etc. Mr. Kimball is also a member of the firm of Kimball, Champ & Ryan, bond brokers in Omaha, and he owns a half interest in the Bank of Minden, at Minden, Iowa. He also owns considerable land in Council Bluffs and elsewhere in the State.

Politically he is a Republican, but has no aspirations for official position, preferring the seclusion of private life to public honor. He is a gentleman of modest and retiring manner, a shrewd business man and financier, being deservedly a favorite among all classes. He is public-spirited and genial in disposition. The people of the city point with pride to the elegant structures erected by Messrs. Kimball & Champ. One of these, the Grand Central Hotel, is acknowledged to be the finest building of the kind in the State.

November 30, 1884, he married Miss Louise GREENE, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a daughter of William and Louisa (HIGLEY) GREENE. She was educated at Faribault, Minnesota, in a ladies' seminary under the auspices of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and also at St. Mary's Seminary, another Episcopal institution.