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William Kimbell, Sheriff of Newaygo County, resident at Newaygo County, resident at Newaygo, was born in Bedford, Cuyahoga co., O., April 8, 1837. He was a son of William and Amanda (Westbrook) Kimbell, and was reared on a farm, obtaining his education at winter terms of school. From the age of 15 years he was variously engaged until he settled in Newaygo in 1853.
In 1843 his parents transferred their family to Kalamazoo Co., Mich., where his father was a farmer. On coming to Newaygo, Mr. Kimbell interested himself in the pursuit which in some of its varied branches was that of nearly all men in active life in this portion of Michigan, namely, lumbering. Soon afterward he began taking contracts; engaging first with the Newaygo Lumber Company was successively with Kelly, Wood & Co., of Chicago, and Lyman T. Kinney, of Grand Rapids. He commonly employed a working force of about 50 men.
In 1864 Mr. Kimbell was drafted and assigned to Co. A, 13th Reg't. Mich. Vol. Inf. He served nine months and participated in the battle of Bentonville, besides doing duty in a number of skirmishes. On receiving his discharge he returned to Newaygo and resumed lumbering. He continued his operations in that pursuit until February, 1881, when he rented the White Cloud House at White Cloud. The hotel was under his management until December 1881, when he was elected to his present official position and transferred his residence in Newaygo.
Mr. Kimbell was married in Newaygo, Sept. 3, 1856, to Sarah b., daughter of John and Matilda Hathley, a native of Canada, born April 12, 1839. They had eight children born to them: Ida J., Alice M., Ruey, Sarah, Jessie, and Eddie. Martha A., eldest daughter, and Edward died young.
Mr. Kimbell came to Newaygo in its pioneer days and has been a witness to its varied steps of progress. Two or three shanties constituted its municipality and the adjacent woods were the delight of hunters and trappers. Mr. Kimbell was one to whom the abundance of wild game was a great source of satisfaction, and his exploits as one of the Nimrods of this region are full of interest. Deer and bears abounded, and one of Mr. K's accounts records the slaughter, on one occasion, of four of the latter in the evening after supper.
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