How often we wish that we had asked our parents and grandparents about their families,when we were young children.
In my case,my grandfather,Frank H.Kimmerly had died in 1917,before I was born.Over the years,I learned that his father,Alexander was from Germany, possibly from Baden or Baden,Baden.
I learned that he was in politics in Jersey City,but didn't know in what capacity he had served.I remember being told that he owned a tavern and/or a hotel in or around Jersey City,possibly in Bayonne.
My dad George's favorite story was the one in which he recalled providing the sound effects for some of the silent films that his father Frank would show in his darkened tavern.In particular,he told of striking a table with a leather belt to simulate the sound of a gunshot.
I don't remember ever seeing any photos of my grandfather,nor did I ever expect to.However, below there is such a photo,along with a description of the genealogical trail that led to it.
 
 

The search started with the purchase of the Family Tree Maker's CD,"The N.J. Biographical Index, 1800s".To view this CD, it was necessary to download "the Family Viewer",from the FTM's webpage.
We bought this CD,because there was a possibility that at least two of our ancestors could be on it,Frank Kimmerly and Sylvester Utter. Luckily,both were there.
Frank was cited in:      History of the Police Dept.of Jersey City,1891-Costello
                                  pg.269,with a photo on pg.368
                                 History of Jersey City,1895-McLean-Photo on pg.412
                                 Gen.History of Hudson and Bergen Cos.,1900-Harvey
Where do we find these books?Jersey City is a long way from Florida.We searched Yahoo for a Jersey City webpage and found one with a link to the library and then another to their New Jersey Room!        The address is as follows:

         Below is a copy of an article from "The Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Cos."by Cornelius Harvey,written in 1900.

Frank Henry Kimmerly,a popular citizen of Bayonne,N.J., and formerly Police Justice of Jersey City,is the son of Alexander H. Kimmerly and Mary Stocker,and was born in New York city on the 23rd of March,1856.His parents were both natives of Germany.They came to the United States when young,were married in N.Y.C.,removed to Jersey City,N.J.,in 1858 and in 1897
settled in Bayonne.
Mr.Kimmerly was two years old when the family removed to Hudson Co.and since then has lived and labored within the county's limits. He was in the hotel business for several years,after which he
engaged in the wholesale liquor business.He is now proprietor of a hotel in Bayonne and one of the popular and best known citizens of Hudson Co.
In politics and in business,Mr. Kimmerly has achieved marked success and  a high reputation. Identifying himself in early life with the Democratic party,he has long been one of its acknowledged leaders and able advisers,and in1887 was elected a member of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Hudson Co,serving two terms of five years each.From 1890 to 1893, he was also Police Justice of Jersey City.He is a prominent member of the Bayonne Democratic Club,of the Robert Davis Association of J.C.,of the Greenville Turners of N.J.,of Bayonne Lodge.No.434,B.P.O.E..,of Grant Lodge,No.89,K.of P.of J.C.and of Steuben Lodge,Chosen Friends of N.Y.C.His duties and obligations,both private and public,have been discharged with ability and with that integrity of character which stamp the successful man.
On the 28th of November,1894,Mr. Kimmerly married Elizabeth Fick, daughter of George and Mary Fick of J.C. They have one son,George.
 
 

FIRST GENERATION

1.  Francis Henry Kimmerly was born on 23 Mar 1856 in New York City,N. Y..  He died on 24 Jun 1918 in Jersey City,N.J.. He married his first wife Ellen Egan on 21 June 1883 in St.Peter's Catholic Church.Nothing is known, at this time, about their life together.We do know that he married Elizabeth Fick on 28 Nov 1894 in St.Patrick's Catholic Church ,Jersey City, N. J.He was 38 years of age,while she was 18.
2.  Elizabeth Fick was born on 6 Aug 1876 in Jersey City, N. J..  She died on 6 Feb 1944 in Jersey City, N. J..  Francis Henry Kimmerly and Elizabeth Fick had
the following children:

  i. George Alexander Kimmerly was born on 24 Aug 1897 in J.C. His father was 41 years of age at the time of his birth.George married Gertrude Dunn,23 Dec 1917 in Sag Harbor, N.Y.,and they had the following four children: George, Robert,Gertrude and Bertha.He died on 14 Feb 1958 from a heart attack.

  ii. Bertha Washington Kimmerly was born on 22 Feb 1904 in Jersey City,N.J. She married Sam Cook under very unusual circumstances.At that time,she worked for a well known Insurance Co.,which had a policy that banned married women from its  work force. When she fell in love with Sam, they married,but kept it a  secret for many years until the company changed its rules.They staged a public wedding  when they were in their forties.
I include this story as a historical moment to reflect upon how times have changed.
They had no children,so they virtually adopted George,Robert,Gertrude and Bertha Kimmerly as their own.They never missed an event that any of the above was involved in. Birdie taught my sister and me how to knit and crochet and lots of other things,too. Holidays were not complete until they arrived.They travelled by train from Jersey City to Hawthorne until the early forties,when they bought a car.Grandma Kimmerly  always accompanied them.
Aunt Birdie and Uncle Sam were very special people in our lives.
  Birdie died on 5 Sep 1976 in Ormond Beach,Florida, a few years after the death of Uncle Sam.
 
 

SECOND GENERATION

3.  Alexander Kimmerly,who was born in 1828 in Germany,immigrated to the United States at an early age and married Mary Stocker in N.Y.C. about 1850.He died on 26 Oct 1868 in Jersey City, N.J.
4.  Mary Stocker was born in 1829 in Germany.  She died on 29 Oct 1868 in Jersey City, N. J.
Note the dates of death of Alexander and Mary: 26 Oct 1868 and 29 Oct 1868, respectively.
They both succumbed to typhoid fever during an epidemic.
They had the following children:

  i.  Francis (Frank) Henry Kimmerly-1856
  ii. Henry Kimmerly was born about 1861.
  iii. John Kimmerly.
 

5.  George H. Fick was born on 6 Mar 1854 in New York City,N.Y.. He retired from the fire department in Jersey City and moved to Sag Harbor in the early 1900s.He and his son Frank sold produce from a horse drawn wagon in the town.They travelled to and from J.C.,where they bought their fruit and vegetables and would stay overnight at his daughter Elizabeth's brownstone.It was a long trip in those days.After his wife  Mary died in 1915, he married the nurse who had cared for her for many years, Elizabeth Naul. He died on 27 Feb 1929 in Southampton,N.Y..
6.  Mary Kinder was born on 26 Feb 1856 in N.Y.C..  She died on 10 May 1915 in Jersey City,N.J..She had been transported to the hospital there from Sag Harbor. George H. Fick and Mary Kinder had the following children:

  i. George Henry Fick.(died in a dentist's chair from a heart attack )
  ii. Elizabeth Fick.(1876-1944)
  iii. Lydie Fick was born about 1883 in Jersey City, N. J..
  iv. Frank Fick was born about 1888 in Jersey City, N. J..

THIRD GENERATION

7.  Francis Kimmerly was born in Germany,about 1808. He and his wife had the   following child:    There were probably others.

  i. Alexander Kimmerly,who was Frank Henry's father, was born about 1828 in Germany.He married Mary Stocker in New York City around 1850.

8.  Andrew Stocker was born in Germany,about 1810. He was the father of:
  i. Mary Stocker,who was born in Germany about 1829.

9.  Jacob Fick died on Jan.11,1879 in Jersey City, N. J..  He was born in Germany about 1830.  He  married Elizabeth Christmann in 1850 in N.Y.C.
10.  Elizabeth Christmann was born in  1837 in Germany.She had a horse and buggy business in Jersey City.  She died in Feb. 1904 in Jersey City, N. J..  Jacob Fick and Elizabeth Christmann were the parents of:

i. George H. Fick,born in N.Y.C.,shortly after 1850,married,Mary Kinder,about 1870.

11.  Richard Kinder was born in England,about 1830.

12.  Elizabeth Adam was born in England.  Richard Kinder and Elizabeth Adam had the following children:
 i .Mary Kinder,born about 1856.
 
 

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