Joseph was the first child and son of Francis [Fanny] (Johnson) Kimberling and Joseph Kimberling. On June 14, 1836 he married Mariam Craig in Mason County, West Virginia. Mariam was the daughter of John Craig and Rachel Harrison. Joseph was a farmer all his life and resided in Mason County his entire life.
In 1887 he divided up his 600 arce farm among his three sons. He was a hard working man, possessed good business judgment and was very successful during his long and useful life. He never aspired to public office, preferring to attend closely to his farming duties, and is recognized as a substantial and vary worthy citizen in every respect. He was one of the first to cultivate land in the Union
District and always worked hard. He had a comfortable living and dealth justly to all men.
One of the storys told of Joseph Nathaniel, was about a "Rift" in the family. It was between two sons of Joseph and Fanny (Johnson) Kimberling. Their two sons William and Joseph Nathaniel, were fighting over something and for that, their Father Joseph, beat them both with a "withe" which was a long narrow branch of, say a poplar tree. Well the two boys felt that they were too old to be whipped and such, so they never spoke to one another again. William was reported to have picked up and moved to Wisconsin, never to be heard from again. Joseph Nathaniel stayed in West Virginia.
The above story, and the letter from Lewis Kimberling, dated May 21, 1897, in which it is clear that Rachel had not communicated with her family for sometime shows that family fudding is nothing new to our generation. Lewis starts his letter by saying "Now Rach I am not mad, nor have not been"
Joseph deid August 25, 1896 from kidney and bladder trouble. Joseph and Francis had twelve children: Malinda, William, Sarah, Eliza, Hanna, Rachel, Harret, Nancy, Lewis, Joannah, Joseph, and Christina.

Visit West Virginia Cemetery Preservation Association, Inc.