Alonzo Kimball was born in Jefferson County, New York, the fifth of twelve children to Ruel and Hannah Kimball. He attended Union College and Andover Theological Seminary. Kimball had intended to become a clergyman, but health problems kept him from doing so. He married the daughter of a clergyman when he married Sarah Weston (18111891), daughter of Rev. Isaiah Weston of Dalton, Massachusetts, in 1840. The couple had six children: William, Sarah, Mary, Alonzo, Charles and Mather.
