Archives West Finding Aid

Jackson F. Kimball was probably born about 1874 in Maine, the state in which he grew up. He studied medicine and law in college, but left to become a timber cruiser. He ultimately moved west, staying briefly in Roseburg, Oregon, and then moving to Klamath Falls. In 1905 Kimball began working for the Weyerhauser Timber Company. He devised the company's policy pertaining to the leasing of its holdings for grazing purposes. Kimball worked for Weyerhauser until his death in 1944. In 1908 Kimball became associated with the Klamath/Lake Counties Forest Fire Association, later the Klamath Forest Protective Association. He was also interested in control of the Western Pine Beetle, a major pest in the forests of the Klamath region.

Kimball's timber work was not limited to Weyerhauser. He acted as agent/broker for the Day Brothers Lumber Company, the C.C. Yawkey Lumber Company (Yawkey was the owner of the Boston Red Sox), the Alexander-Yawkey Lumber Company (for whom he was an officer), several smaller timber/lumber and real estate interests, and individuals. Kimball was a shareholder and trustee of the American National Bank of Klamath Falls. From 1930-1940 he was the Klamath County chair for the Citizens' Military Training Camp. He spent considerable time in Salem lobbying the Oregon Legislature for timber and lumber industry-related legislation. Kimball died at his home in Klamath Falls on May 21, 1944. (Most of the above information is from Harry J. Drew's Weyerhauser Company: A History of People, Land and Growth, 1979.)