In 1872, Mr. Kimball was elected mayor of Concord, and was re-elected to
this honorable and responsible office in 1873, 1874, and 1875.
Immediately after Mr. Kimball assumed the duties of this office a severe
freshet either carried away or rendered impassable five of the seven
bridges spanning the Merrimack and Contoocook rivers. The work of
rebuilding these structures devolved immediately upon him, as
superintendent of roads and bridges. The Federal bridge and the bridge
at Fisherville, both of iron, are monuments of his progressive ideas.
During his administration the system of water supply from Long pond was
carried on to successful completion, and the purest of water has since
been at the command of every citizen. This work required a large sum of
money, which was so carefully expended that no one has felt the burden
save as a blessing. The fire department was invested with new dignity by
the city government during those years. The firemen had their demands
for appropriate buildings fully satisfied, and are proud, as is the
whole city, of the beautiful central fire station and other buildings of
the department, which compare favorably with any in the country.
Aside from his mechanical skill, Mr. Kimball long since won the enviable
reputation of an able and successful financier. In 1870, upon the
organization of the Merrimack County Savings Bank, he was elected its
treasurer, and has held the office ever since. To him, for many years,
have been intrusted the settlement of estates, the management of trust
funds, and the care of the property of widows and orphans. As treasurer
of the New Hampshire Bible Society and Orphans' Home, he has given to
those institutions the benefit of his financial experience.
For the benefit of the city of Concord, the mechanical skill and
financial ability of Mr. Kimball were fully exercised. During his term
of office as mayor he was one of the water commissioners, _ex officio_,
and president of the board in 1875. He was subsequently appointed a
water commissioner, in 1877, for a term of three years; re-appointed in
1880, and has been president of the board since his first appointment.
Upon the death of Hon. Nathaniel White, Mr. Kimball was elected
president of the Concord Gas-Light Company, having held the office of
director for several years. What little credit is due a member of the
constitutional convention of 1876 is his. He represented the fifth ward
in Concord, and served the convention acceptably as chairman of its
finance committee.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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