kimmels

The Kimmels

At the time of the murder and lynchings, Henry Kimmel's family consisted of himself, his wife, one married son, six unmarried sons, and around five unmarried daughters:

Henry had come to Ohio from Pennsylvania with his mother and brother in the 1840s. His brother moved on to Indiana, eventually, and his son, Andrew Jaxton Kimmel, was the partner of Alexander McLeod. Samuel had by this time married and moved away from home, but not far from home because Absalom's testimony mentions meeting Samuel "at the crossroads" in the evening after the murder. Samuel's wife came from the same family as my great-great grandmother, Lydia, so it's possible that Samuel lived on or near the Tester land to the northeast of the Kimmels' plot. My great-great grandfather was William, the second oldest; he was home in the morning but left for Van Wert by afternoon, according to one account. Mary Ellen is not mentioned in the testimony, so it is possible that she had "hired out" to a local farmer to serve as a house servant. It is probable that the three teenage boys had hired out as farm hands, which is why they returned home for the weekend on the Friday before the murder.

Henry's plot was located just to the northwest of Liberty Chapel. In fact, many of the family members attended the service and Sunday School on the day of the murder. The black square at the bottom right of the plot represents the location of the Kimmels' house, probably a one-and-a-half-story log dwelling. The lynchings took place across the road, around where the black smudge is on the map. In 1872, the area was still wooded, though much of the land had been cleared for farming. Today, the Kimmel's lot is indistinguishable from the surrounding flat farmland. I parked my car on what is now called Erastus-Durbin Road, as close as I could to where the Kimmel homestead stood. Now there is nothing but cornfields and soybean fields; in fact, I could look out over the unbroken expanse of fields and clearly see Liberty Chapel. Click here for a full view of the area surrounding the murder site.

The Kimmels don't make out too well in the official version of the story. In fact, according to Day's account, it is the Kimmel's bad reputation that directs suspicion their way: "From the first, suspicion was directed towards them and one or two of Henry Kimmel's sons, to-wit: Absalom and Jacob Kimmel. The Kimmels were disreputable people at best, and were feared and disliked for their bad practices by the whole neighborhood" (Day). Several newspaper accounts claim that Henry was told by the mob to leave the county after the lynching. However, the Kimmels stayed in the general neighborhood for all of Henry's and William's lifetimes, and Kimmels remain in their section of the county to this day. True, Henry moved north several sections, possibly to be away from the immediate vicinity of the crimes. But he was hardly hounded out of town. In fact, the October 10^th issue of the Celina Journal includes a notice that "Henry Kimmel sells farm and household goods at his residence in Liberty Township on the 17^th of this month. He may have been selling goods in preparation for his move, but he evidently had cordial enough relations with his neighbors to expect them to come to his sale. While Henry and Susan did not attend church on the morning of the murder, many of their children did, and their presence in the church does not--from the testimony given--seem to be anything unusual for them.

So where does the "disreputable people at best" idea come from? Is it completely undeserved? I wish I could say it was, but there is probably some truth in the claim, at least in Henry's case. My great-great-great grandfather, you see, has a rap sheet. Two cases of assault and battery, to be exact. Records for the 1852 case do not include a verdict, but Henry was found guilty of the 1870 charge. Does this mean Henry was a "disreputable" person? Possibly. Remember, though, this was a relatively unsophisticated time and place, and many arguments were settled with fisticuffs or worse. Still, Henry's official record hardly paints him as a gentleman farmer.

There are two interesting coincidences regarding these cases, interesting in light of the 1872 murder and lynchings that would claim the life of Henry's son, Absalom. First, the 1852 case occurred in August, just a few weeks after the birth of Absalom. Day describes Absalom as "ungainly and awkward in appearance. He was very much below the average in intelligence, and there was nothing about him or in his make-up to commend him to any one, for any good purpose whatever. He had dull, black eyes, sallow complexion and coarse yellow hair." The yellow hair is odd, since the ledger for the Mercer County jail describes as having dark hair and dark eyes, and he hardly looks blond in the engravings in Day's book.

Looking at these engravings, I can't help but wonder at the "very much below the average in intelligence" comment. Absalom's behavior during his imprisonment and trial, his confession notwithstanding, seems to support this comment. That fact, along with his appearance in these engravings, makes me wonder if he might not have suffered from some form of mental retardation. Not having actual photographs and only hearing from the prosecution, it is difficult to tell exactly, but it's a tantalizing theory that can help explain much about the case (and Day's comment about the Kimmels being disreputable.

If Absalom were mentally retarded, he and his family would certainly have suffered in the eyes of their neighbors. Rural America in the 1870s was hardly a place where difference was tolerated, and a grown child without complete control over his thoughts and actions would naturally cause some comment and concern among the neighbors. He mentions in his own testimony playing at the crossroads with the neighbor boys, so he must have been accepted to some extent, and he was certainly capable of working and interacting with others. But his difference would have marked the Kimmels, themselves, as different. His condition might also explain his father's first case of assault and battery. The incident in question occurred just after Absalom's birth. If he were retarded and the infant displayed any physical signs--as in the case of Downs Syndrome--one could imagine someone eventually commenting upon his condition in a negative light; one could also imagine the reaction of a proud farmer to such a comment. All surmise and guesswork, but possible, nonetheless.

Henry's second case also touches on the 1872 case because it was the first case handled by Sheriff Spriggs when he took office in 1871. Since Henry was convicted in a true jury trial--remember that the boys in the 1872 case were never formally tried--one can assume that he was guilty. Again, this condition marked him and his family as different, and his criminal record would draw the attention of a sheriff who wished to be re-elected in the fall. Finding and arresting suspects in a hurry was essential for the sheriff, so it would be natural for him to jump at any opportunity to do so. Much of the official commentary on the case is devoted to justifying the arrest and--at least tacitly--the lynching of the suspects. Spriggs actually bought the publishing rights to the Day booklet and distributed it himself; so the official version in a way served as campaign literature for his successful November campaign.

So we have a family that included one possibly retarded boy and a father with a criminal record. Added to that the fact that they were visited by travelling peddlers--again, outsiders--and you have a group ripe for suspicion. Notice that the two people executed were the outsider and the retarded boy. The only surprise was that Andy Kimmel managed to avoid the blame, but that's only a surprise until we remember that he testified against the others--turned them in to save his own hide, basically.

The only family member to stand trial before a regular court, Jacob Kimmel, was immediately released. The Mercer County Standard--the newspaper most closely tied to the Democratic sheriff--carries not a word about the release; the Celina Journal article of November 21 reads, "The Common Pleas Court is still in session; it will probably close up the business this week. The docket has been cleared of several cases. Jake Kimmel, who was charged with complicity in the Secaur murder, was released by order of the Court, the grand-jury failing to find a bill against him." Jacob left the county and made a life for himself elsewhere.

Recently, I have been in contact with his granddaughter, Barbara Kimmel Boggs, who sent me the picture at right, taken of Jacob around 1920. Jacob died not long before the 1926 confession of Thomas Bradwell Douglas came to light.