Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
KIMBEL, Richard: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
Family History: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=museum_quilts&id=I3313 | Family History: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=museum_quilts&id=I3313 | ||
[[File:KIMBELFERRY.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Richard Kimbel's Ferry. Photo courtesy: http://www.genealogywise.com/group/kimbel]]KIMBEL, Richard. (Saxony, Germany, May 20, 1840--Kimbel's Island, June 18,1910). Kimbel, at the age of seven, and his parents immigrated to America and settled in | [[File:KIMBELFERRY.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Richard Kimbel's Ferry. Photo courtesy: http://www.genealogywise.com/group/kimbel]]KIMBEL, Richard. (Saxony, Germany, May 20, 1840--Kimbel's Island, June 18,1910). Kimbel, at the age of seven, and his parents immigrated to America. They lived for a time in Galena and then settled Bellevue. (1) At a very early age, Richard started a delivery service in town using horses and wagons. (2) The 1879 '''History of Jackson County, Iowa''' listed him as a livery and feed stable operator, a proprietor of a river ferry and a dealer in fine stock. He operated the only dray in the community. Although elected constable, he did not accept the position. He was listed as a contractor of the river road and distributed the ties from Gordon's Ferry to Sabula. (3) While living in Bellevue, Kimbel owned 220 acres in Illinois. | ||
Kimbel | After moving to Dubuque, Kimbel operated the last [[HORSE FERRY]] in this part of the Mississippi using a team of two horses to turn a treadmill. Although the boat could not be operated in reverse, careful handling could slow one horse allowing the boat to be gradually turned. He later purchased the steamer "Eagle Point" and used it to transport goods and people between Dubuque and Dunleith (later East Dubuque), Illinois. For several years after the "Eagle Point" was no longer in operation, he also operated to tow boats. (5) In 1898 he petitioned the city council for $400.00 to assist him in operating the Eagle Point ferry. (6) | ||
In 1890 Kimbel purchased | In 1890 Kimbel purchased 80 acres north of the present [[EAGLE POINT PARK]] and on the Wisconsin side of the river. He named the spot [[KIMBEL'S ISLAND]]. (7) Once the owner, he began the construction of a 13-room home for his family, a large dance hall and a saloon that offered food. On Wednesday, weekends, and holidays free fish was served to bar patrons with their order. Some of the older children worked in the dance hall and tavern. Younger children as early as five-years-of-age were assigned jobs. Boys worked on the boats by day and ran the tavern at night. (8) As [[KIMBEL'S ISLAND]] developed it featured free attractions including two white diving horses, hypnotists, dance bands, a band shell and bowling alley. The park even offered a cell-like structure in which intoxicated people were placed temporarily to regain their senses. (9) Couples paid five cents per dance, the same price charged for a 20-ounce mug of beer or the fare from [[EAGLE POINT]] to the island. | ||
Married four times and outliving all but his fourth wife, Kimbel was the father of twenty-three children. He received a personal letter and gift of $100 from the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, to recognize the birth of his 23rd child. ( | Married four times and outliving all but his fourth wife, Kimbel was the father of twenty-three children. He received a personal letter and gift of $100 from the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, to recognize the birth of his 23rd child. (10) In 1902 upon the birth of his fourth grand-daughter, the ''Bellevue Leader'' reported: | ||
Adolph Kimbel is feeling more than proud | Adolph Kimbel is feeling more than proud | ||
| Line 16: | Line 16: | ||
Fengler, says he doesn't care whether the ferry | Fengler, says he doesn't care whether the ferry | ||
boat runs or not next summer. He is the grandpa | boat runs or not next summer. He is the grandpa | ||
of four girls. ( | of four girls. (11) | ||
Kimbel's body was brought to Bellevue on the steamer Potosi. Internment was in the north cemetery. ( | Kimbel's body was brought to Bellevue on the steamer Potosi. Internment was in the north cemetery. (12) | ||
Competition from Eagle Point Park, [[UNION PARK]], and the ability to travel outside of Dubuque across the [[HIGH BRIDGE]] proved too much to keep the park in operation. Soon after Kimbel's death, the park was sold at auction several times before the land was purchased by the federal government prior to the construction of the [[ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM]]. ( | Competition from Eagle Point Park, [[UNION PARK]], and the ability to travel outside of Dubuque across the [[HIGH BRIDGE]] proved too much to keep the park in operation. Soon after Kimbel's death, the park was sold at auction several times before the land was purchased by the federal government prior to the construction of the [[ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM]]. (13) | ||
See: [[KIMBEL, Albert L.|Albert L. KIMBEL]] | See: [[KIMBEL, Albert L.|Albert L. KIMBEL]] | ||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
Source: | Source: | ||
1. | 1. "Captain Kimbel, Pioneer River Man," ''Dubuque Telegraph-Herald'', June 19, 1910. Online: http://p8080-10.30.40.140.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000005/00000506 | ||
2. "Captain Kimbel | 2. Jungblut, Lyn Klavitter. "Captain Richard Adam Kimbel," Unpublished family history | ||
3. | 3. '''The History of Jackson County, Iowa,''' Chicago, Western Historical Company, 1879, p. 667 | ||
4. " | 4. "Captain Kimbel, Pioneer River Man" | ||
5. " | 5. Tigges, John. "Richard Kimbel's Park Big Draw in Late 1890s," ''Telegraph Herald'', July 19, 2005, p. 1C | ||
6 | 6. "City Council," ''Dubuque Daily Herald'', April 13, 1898, p. 2 | ||
7. | 7. Jungblut | ||
8. | 8. Ibid. | ||
9. Dahlinger | 9. "Action Line," ''Telegraph Herald'', March 21, 1977 | ||
10. Dahlinger, Mark. "Shoot-Em-Up Shell Games in the Mid-Mississippi," ''Telegraph Herald'', | |||
11. Tigges | |||
12. "Adolph Kimbel Proud Father," ''Bellevue Leader'', February 27, 1902 Online: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=museum_quilts&id=I3902 | |||
13. Dahlinger | |||
Revision as of 19:11, 24 May 2017
Family History: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=museum_quilts&id=I3313
KIMBEL, Richard. (Saxony, Germany, May 20, 1840--Kimbel's Island, June 18,1910). Kimbel, at the age of seven, and his parents immigrated to America. They lived for a time in Galena and then settled Bellevue. (1) At a very early age, Richard started a delivery service in town using horses and wagons. (2) The 1879 History of Jackson County, Iowa listed him as a livery and feed stable operator, a proprietor of a river ferry and a dealer in fine stock. He operated the only dray in the community. Although elected constable, he did not accept the position. He was listed as a contractor of the river road and distributed the ties from Gordon's Ferry to Sabula. (3) While living in Bellevue, Kimbel owned 220 acres in Illinois.
After moving to Dubuque, Kimbel operated the last HORSE FERRY in this part of the Mississippi using a team of two horses to turn a treadmill. Although the boat could not be operated in reverse, careful handling could slow one horse allowing the boat to be gradually turned. He later purchased the steamer "Eagle Point" and used it to transport goods and people between Dubuque and Dunleith (later East Dubuque), Illinois. For several years after the "Eagle Point" was no longer in operation, he also operated to tow boats. (5) In 1898 he petitioned the city council for $400.00 to assist him in operating the Eagle Point ferry. (6)
In 1890 Kimbel purchased 80 acres north of the present EAGLE POINT PARK and on the Wisconsin side of the river. He named the spot KIMBEL'S ISLAND. (7) Once the owner, he began the construction of a 13-room home for his family, a large dance hall and a saloon that offered food. On Wednesday, weekends, and holidays free fish was served to bar patrons with their order. Some of the older children worked in the dance hall and tavern. Younger children as early as five-years-of-age were assigned jobs. Boys worked on the boats by day and ran the tavern at night. (8) As KIMBEL'S ISLAND developed it featured free attractions including two white diving horses, hypnotists, dance bands, a band shell and bowling alley. The park even offered a cell-like structure in which intoxicated people were placed temporarily to regain their senses. (9) Couples paid five cents per dance, the same price charged for a 20-ounce mug of beer or the fare from EAGLE POINT to the island.
Married four times and outliving all but his fourth wife, Kimbel was the father of twenty-three children. He received a personal letter and gift of $100 from the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, to recognize the birth of his 23rd child. (10) In 1902 upon the birth of his fourth grand-daughter, the Bellevue Leader reported:
Adolph Kimbel is feeling more than proud
today. He is the father of twin girl babies.
A day or two later Mrs. George Fengler presented
her husband with twin girl babies also; and now
Capt. Kimbel, who is father of Adolph and Mrs.
Fengler, says he doesn't care whether the ferry
boat runs or not next summer. He is the grandpa
of four girls. (11)
Kimbel's body was brought to Bellevue on the steamer Potosi. Internment was in the north cemetery. (12)
Competition from Eagle Point Park, UNION PARK, and the ability to travel outside of Dubuque across the HIGH BRIDGE proved too much to keep the park in operation. Soon after Kimbel's death, the park was sold at auction several times before the land was purchased by the federal government prior to the construction of the ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM. (13)
See: Albert L. KIMBEL
---
Source:
1. "Captain Kimbel, Pioneer River Man," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, June 19, 1910. Online: http://p8080-10.30.40.140.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000005/00000506
2. Jungblut, Lyn Klavitter. "Captain Richard Adam Kimbel," Unpublished family history
3. The History of Jackson County, Iowa, Chicago, Western Historical Company, 1879, p. 667
4. "Captain Kimbel, Pioneer River Man"
5. Tigges, John. "Richard Kimbel's Park Big Draw in Late 1890s," Telegraph Herald, July 19, 2005, p. 1C
6. "City Council," Dubuque Daily Herald, April 13, 1898, p. 2
7. Jungblut
8. Ibid.
9. "Action Line," Telegraph Herald, March 21, 1977
10. Dahlinger, Mark. "Shoot-Em-Up Shell Games in the Mid-Mississippi," Telegraph Herald,
11. Tigges
12. "Adolph Kimbel Proud Father," Bellevue Leader, February 27, 1902 Online: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=museum_quilts&id=I3902
13. Dahlinger