Charles Frederick Kimball was born in Monmouth, Maine on October 31, 1831, the youngest of thirteen children to a family of Portland architects and builders.

Kimball grew up in Portland and studied as a youth with local artist Charles O. Cole. In his 20s he developed a close friendship with landscape painter John Bradley Hudson. The two would often go on sketching trips together and paint and draw directly from nature.

While studying with John Greenleaf Cloudman, a Portland portrait and landscape artist, Kimball met the artist's daughter, Annie, whom he married in 1863.

After the marriage, Kimball went to work with his brother, a local builder, as an expert stair builder and cabinetmaker. Ki...