Heber Chase Kimball (June 14, 1801 – June 22, 1868) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Church of the Latter Day Saints, and as first counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more than two decades, from 1847 until his death. Agreeing to take on plural marriage, then practiced by the church, Kimball eventually married 43 women, but some relationships were for caretaking. He had a total of 66 children by 17 of his wives. Early life Heber Chase Kimball was born in Sheldon, Franklin County, Vermont on June 14, 1801. He was a descendant of the Kimball immigrants to Massachusetts from England in 1634. He was named after judge Heber Chase, who had helped the family in their efforts to settle in the area. His father, Solomon F. Kimball, worked as a blacksmith and maintained a farm. Due to the embargo on trade with Britain preceding the War of 1812, his father lost his investments and the family moved into western New York. They settled in West Bloomfield, New York, Ontario County, around 1811. Education and training Kimball left school at age 14, trained as a blacksmith and potter, and moved with his brother in about 1820 to Mendon, Monroe County, New York. There, he married his first wife, Vilate Murray, in November of 1822. After purchasing his brother's pottery business, for the next 10 years he carried out his trades. He acquired five and a half acres (22,000 m²) of land, built a house and a barn, and planted an orchard. Masonry In 1823, Kimball received the three craft degrees of Freemasonry in the lodge at Victor Flats, Ontario County, New York. In 1824, he sent a petition to the chapter at Canandaigua, New York, to receive the York Rite degrees of Royal Arch Masonry. His petition was accepted, although, as he reported, Anti-Masons had burned down the chapter building in Canandaigua. Many years later, Kimball reminisced of his New York masonic experiences and stated: "I wish that all men were masons and would live up to their profession, then the world would be in a much better state than it is now." When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established itself in Nauvoo, Illinois, Kimball was