Myron Holly Kimball (1827 – 1912) was an American photographer, real estate speculator, and collector.

Career

Photography

In 1856, Kimball was associated with George Iles in a photography studio at 347

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. File:"Rebecca, a slave girl from New Orleans" (LOC) - Flickr - The Library of Congress.jpg, "Rebecca, a slave girl from New Orleans" File:Rebecca - photographed by M. H. Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y. LCCN2010647848.jpg, Rebecca - photographed by M. H. Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y. File:Rebecca, an emancipated slave from New Orleans - photographed by Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y. LCCN2010647898.jpg, Rebecca, an emancipated slave from New Orleans File:Rosa, a slave girl from New Orleans - photographed by M. H. Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y. LCCN2010647851.jpg, Rosa, a slave girl from New Orleans File:Rebecca, an emancipated slave, from New Orleans - photographed by Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y. LCCN2010647847.jpg, Rebecca, an emancipated slave from New Orleans File:Rebecca, a slave girl from New Orleans - photographed by M.H. Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y. LCCN2016646128.jpg, Rebecca, a slave girl from New Orleans - photographed by M.H. Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y. File:Michael Dunn, Raymond, Potter Co., Penna. - Photographed by Hope, successor to M.H. Kimball, 477 Broadway, New York. LCCN2015649856.jpg, Photographed by Hope, successor to M.H. Kimball One of his photos, "Emancipated Slaves Brought From Louisiana by Col. George H. Hanks," is in a collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. It depicts a freed man, Wilson Chinn, whose forehead had been branded with the initials of his previous "owner". As part of a

fund-raising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

project in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

for the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

, he made other photographs of freed slaves as well.

Real estate

Kimball also engaged in the real estate business while in New York City and continued in that occupation, with an office on Spring Street, after he and his wife moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, near the beginning of

1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

. He became partnered with James Chapin, a "gentleman of extensive means" who had recently arrived from

Vinton, Iowa Vinton is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,938 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 5,102 in 2000. It is also part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. Vinton is the county seat of Benton County. ...

. Kimball had "an active identification" at that time with the city's trade and development, according to the ''

Los Angeles Herald The ''Los Angeles Herald'' or the ''Evening Herald'' was a newspaper published in Los Angeles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1873 by Charles A. Storke, the newspaper was acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1931. It ...

.'' He was listed as a

hotel keeper A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refr ...

in the 1879 list of Los Angeles city electors, and the succeeding listing had him as a

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. In the 1880s, Kimball was a partner with attorney B. L. Peel as a

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

operator,

insurance agent Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

and real estate

broker A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither ...

Tombstone, Arizona Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Prospecting, prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona, Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last ...

. He was said to possess "rich mines" in

Cochise County Cochise County ( ) is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache who was a key war leader during the Apache Wars. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county ...

.''Los Angeles Commercial,'' quoted in ''Sundry Items,'' ''Tombstone Weekly Epitaph,'' February 20, 1882, image 3
/ref> Kimball returned to Los Angeles in late 1881 and soon placed his home at 131 New High Street, the Kimball Mansion, on sale as:

The most elegant private boarding mansion in Southern California; contains 18 rooms, fine parlors, large dining room, complete kitchen and laundry; black walnut furniture, Brussels carpets, marble mantels , grates and gas throughout; during the past seven years has enjoyed an extensive first-class patronage.

It was not sold, however, and three years later, this ad appeared:

KIMBALL MANSION REOPENED: Mrs. M. H. Kimball, having retaken charge of the Kimball Mansion, 131 New High street, announces that the Mansion will again be run on first-class principles. Rooms en suite or single, with our without board, at reasonable rates.''The Los Angeles Times,'' June 30, 1885, image 4
/ref>

In October 1866, one of the guests committed suicide by

strychnine Strychnine (, , American English, US chiefly ) is a highly toxicity, toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, ...

Personal life

Kimball was born in

Oneida County, New York Oneida County ( ) is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of February 26, 2024, the population was 226,654. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or '' ...

, in 1827, the son of David M. and Sarah Kimball. He was married on June 25, 1857, to Eliza Robb, who, born in Ireland, was one year younger than he.New York State Census, 1865
/ref>"Silver Wedding," ''Los Angeles Daily Times,'' June 27, 1882, image 3
/ref> He registered for the

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

on July 1, 1863, in

, where he and Eliza were living in 1865. The couple celebrated their silver anniversary with a party at their home, the Kimball Mansion on New High Street on June 26, 1882. By 1888, the couple had moved to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

Volunteer work

Kimball was in charge of the art gallery of the

Los Angeles County Fair The Los Angeles County Fair is an annual county fair. It was first held on October 17, 1922, and ran for five days through October 21, 1922, in a former beet field in Pomona, California. Highlights of the fair's first year were harness racing, c ...

in 1877, and in 1880 he presented a display of

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

he had collected in Arizona from more than three hundred mines, enough to fill "a four-horse wagon.""Local Brevities," ''Los Angeles Times,'' September 4, 1880, image 3
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Myron Holly 1827 births 1912 deaths 19th-century American photographers Photographers from New York City American businesspeople in real estate