Adam Kilmer, M.D., homoepathic physician at Clarksburg, was born in Essex County, N.Y., 1847. The father, Daniel Kilmer, was of Dutch ancestry, and was born about 1825. He married Cornelia Ray, and afterward settled in Essex County, N.Y., where at the early age of twenty-seven he was killed, by the accidental breaking of a large wheel belonging to some machinery. Mrs. Kilmer, a native of Essex County, N.Y., was married the second time about 1877, and is now living in Saratoga N.Y.
Our subject found parental care and protection with his aunt, who was living in Bouquet, N.Y., with whom he remained until he was twelve years of age, when his aunt died and he was again left without a home. He was soon apprenticed to learn the wagon and carriage trade, which he followed for several years. His educational interests had been very much neglected, and he soon saw the benefits an education would bring him, and began to occupy his spare time in the improvement of his mind. He attended school in winter and worked during vacation until he acquired sufficient knowledge to enter the ministerial profession, under the Methodist Episcopal doctrine.
About 1860 he began the study of medicine in connection with his duties as minister. In 1866 he took a practical course in his medical studies at Philadelphia, and the rest of his study was at St. Louis, Mo. In April, 1877, he married Miss Gertrude, daughter of Minor Felt, of New York, and by this union became the father of several children, only one of whom is living, Mabel. In 1878 he removed to Savannah, Tenn., where he spent a portion of his time practicing. Our subject is now living in Clarksburg, where he has made his profession a complete success, having secured an extensive and lucrative practice. Mr. Kilmer and wife are both prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Transcribed by David Donahue
Source: History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Carroll, Henry and Benton Counties, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Original Observations, Reminiscences, Etc., Etc. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978.