Edgar A. Kimmel

Edgar A. Kimmel was son of George Kimmel, III and Ethalina Woods, and was born in Berrien County, Michigan in 1844. The Kimmels were among the early pioneers in Berrien County. They owned a great deal of land around Berrien Springs. The family was influential enough to have one of the main streets there named Kimmel Street.

He enlisted as a recruit in the 24th Michigan in the Fall of 1864. At the time he was living in Niles, so perhaps there is some connection to Colonel Morrow's wife or her family. He was 20 years old. Unlike most of the 24th's recruits, he did not enter as a private. He was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company K on October 6, 1864 to rank from September 27, 1864, despite the fact the the much depleted company had no real need for another officer. (See Ira Fletcher's biography for more information). Undoubtedly the family's influence had something to do with Edgar's rank. It probably helped that his family had a strong military tradition. His father George, his brother Henry and his cousins Edwin, George and Samuel all served in the military and attained rank.

Edgar did not remain in company K for long, However. He placed in temporary command of company I from October 15 to December 15, the company officer being absent. He was officially transferred to Company I on February 1, 1865, and remained in command of the company until Captain George Gordon returned to duty on May 1, 1865. (Gordon had been captured at Gettysburg and was finally able to escape on February 14, 1865.)

Edgar Kimmel Mustered out with the 24th Michigan at Detroit on June 30, 1865.

After the war, Edgar became a civil engineer, probably in connection to the railroad boom. He married Jessie A. Hawkins in Union County, Illinois in 1875. The young couple would have 6 children, only three of whom would live to adulthood. Of the three who survived the first, Warren C., was born in 1878 in Illinois. The couple returned to Niles, Michigan where Jessie gave birth Margaret K. (born in 1881) and Edgar A. Kimmel Junior (born in 1883).

According to the 1900 census, the Kimmels lived in Selma, Alabama. Jessie had been born in Alabama, so perhaps they went there for family reasons. By 1910 they had moved again, and were living in Kirkwood, Georgia.

By the 1920 census, his wife listed in Kirkwood as a widow. It appears that Edgar died in Kirkwood, Georgia sometime between 1910 and 1920. If so he was one of the last members of the 24th Michigan to find a grave in southern soil.

Edgar Kimmel was at the battles of Hatcher's Run and Dabney's Mill, and was also present on the Raid to the Meherrin River. He was with Company I during President Lincoln's Funeral procession.

Some of the information on this page is courtesy Tim Kimmel, kimmel@gte.net, Kimmel Family Researcher

Signed Kimmel CDV courtesy of David Finney. Clarity of the image is the responsibility of the author. Used with permission.