The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1948-10-07

From the mountains OF western
Maryland have come many an indi-
vidual whose success in business, in
the professions, in craftsmanship or
whose bearing as a true American
citizen is owed to his good fortune of
having been reared in an area where
traditions of good health, the spirit
of the pioneer and the respect for
God and American institutions are
common characteristics.
But as family units, there are few
groups having roots in the area that
have combined a better record of
longevity and all-around success in
private and public life than the family
of the late Chauncey Forward KIM
nell of Garrett County
The Kimmel family was a large
one-fourteen children-but families
of this size were not unusual a gener-
alton ago What is unusual, however
is that of those fourteen children 10
are still living. all of them are past
81 years of age and in the group
there has not been a single death in
the last 81 years.
Three of the group are residents of
Garrett County-two Of them, Mrs.
Patrick II. Hamill (Idella) and Mrs.
Henry C. Meyers (Susan) both Of
Oakland, who have spent their entire
lives in this area and Totten Andrew
Kimmell, of Mt. Lake Park, who re-
turned to this section after retiring
several years ago. Two others live in
West Virginia, three in Ohio, one in
New York and another in Indiana.
Because Of the distances involved,
full reunions of the Kimmells have
been infrequent during recent years,
but gatherings of six or seven Of the
clan at one time have not been I'M
usual. While the 10 Kimmells have
been spared any loss in those 81
years, a more amazing fact is that
during all these long periods, serious
illnesses of any member of the group
have been infrequent and practically
all of the group enjoy fairly good
health today.
A long healthy, happy life seems
to be characteristic of the Kimmells,
a check of past history reveals. The
Western Maryland branch of the fam
lily is descended from John Phillip
Kimmell, son Of another Phillip Kim
mel incidentally, the name was
spelled originally with one 'I' and is
still used by many branches of the
family who brought his six sons
from Germany and landed at AleXan-
dria, Virginia, in the Spring of 1774
about the time General Edward Brad
dock and Colonel George Washington
were building their army preparatory
to campaign to drive the French out
of Fort Duquesne. The Kimmels fol-
lowed this army for convenience and
safety so far as what is now Fred
erick, Maryland, and from there went
North to where father Philips broth
er, Valentine, lived in York County,
Pennsylvania. There they settled and
later bought Valentines farm where
they resided until all the sons married.
The Kimmels were an ancient Ger
man family residing at Frankfort-on
the-Main where they were members
of the Guild. One member of the fam
lily sat in the German Parliament
about 1901. Available records go back
to about 1925 when the earliest known
Kimmels were students at Erfurt and
lived at Neukirchen. The father" of
johann (John) Michael Kimmell
(1662-173N father of the original
John Philip previously mentioned.
From York county, the Kimmels
moved to Somerset County, Pennsyl-
vania and later into what is now Gar
rett County. The father of Chauncey
Forward Jacob Rodcrick Kimmell-
1S03-1881) is buried at Thayerville, 8
miles North of Oakland.
One of the earliest Kimmels was
reported to have been well over six
feet tall and this traditional charac-
teristic plus that of sturdiness and
longevity has been prevalent through
later generations. Chauncey Forward
lived to the age of II, his wife to the
age of 81. Many family member
lived to be past 70 years of age and
in those days when the life hazards
were far greater and the average life
span was well over a decade shorter
than today, such ages we're indeed ex-
ceptions in the average family.
Chauncey Forward was one Of 10 chill
dren and of those of which we have
records, not one died at less than 60
and one lived to be n.
Of Chauncey Forwards IA children,
Charles, the first born died when 26,