The following is an excerpt taken from the,"Clarke County Historical Society Quarterly" Vol 6, No.3 - Winter 1982 THE CASE OF THE MISSING KIMBELL CHILD REVISITED "Every Clarke County, AL history buff knows the story of the Kimbell-James Massacre and of the loss of the young Kimbell child. The name of the young boy and what happened to him on that fateful day in 1813 has always been a mystery. The following letter to President Louis Finlay, quoted in part, concerns the case.......... ......."My Great-great grandfather was JOHN CALHOUN KIMBERL. He was married in Monroe County in 1848 to Sarah Jane Nettles. He was supposedly 37 at the time. The story handed down thru our family was that he was one of two survivors of the 1813 massacre and was about 2 years old at the time. He was raised by a family we do not know, but this accounted for the spelling of the name. My grandmother died when I was rather young, but her older sister remembered well his telling of how he had been told of his survival. I have just started research on our family tree and have come across Isham Kimbell and his recollections of the massacre. He does not mention a younger brother, but the history, "The Kimbell-Rivers-Woodson House" tells of his carrying his baby brother thru the woods and falling down near the creek and not being able to locate him. Would you venture an opinion if this could have, in fact, been my grandfather and would you know of any way I could corroborate this story? Mrs. Jeanett Hurst Mr. Finlay replied to Mrs Hurst that Mrs. E.R. McDonald had talked with Mr. Clifton James of Whatley, a descendant of Abner James, who said James and his family moved to Monroe County, AL after the massacre. They ventured that the Kimbell child could have been found and moved with the James family." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------- Now to the present....Anyone who might could shed some light on this interesting problem is urged to contact me...it would be something if the mystery could be solved after 185 years... Thank you, Mary Ann Bell [email protected]