Kenneth Ault was born in Lone Mountain, but moved to nearby New Tazewell with his family when he was still a child. He graduated from Claiborne County High School and attended Carson Newman College before returning home to work for Southern Bell. He subsequently became employed by the US Postal service as a Rural Mail Carrier.
Kenneth enlisted in the Army Air Force during WWII. While he was in the service his mother, Irene Ault, carried the mail in his place.
In 1952 he married Imogene Riley, who, at this writing (2011), is the only living member of the B.M. Payne family still residing in Claiborne County. According to Imogene, she and a friend invited Kenneth and his nephew, Roger Payne, to a faculty dinner. That was their “first date” she said, although they had been acquainted for years. They married in 1952.
Imogene graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1948, and received her Masters Degree from Union College in Barboursville, KY. She taught Second grade for four years while she was going to college. She then taught Home Economics at Claiborne County High School for 28 years, and worked for the Claiborne County Department of Education in Food Services for 28 years after that.
In 1964 Kenneth was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Despite becoming increasingly disabled, Kenneth faithfully attended family gatherings at the Lone Mountain House when family was visiting there. He was always assisted by his wife, Imogene, who lovingly cared for him at home until his death in 1999.