Kirby, Sr., Robert P.

Born: 1812-XX-XX Ohio

Born in Warren County, Ohio, Robert P. Kirby, Sr. was a farmer, merchant, and horse trader. In January 1833, he married Phebe Graham. The couple eventually had at least six children together. Between 1849 and 1852, Kirby acquired 360 acres of land in DeWitt County, Illinois. By 1850, he lived in DeWitt County and owned $3,000 of real estate. While living and farming in DeWitt County, he also worked as a merchant in Clinton, Illinois for a time. In 1858, he moved to Osawatomie in the Kansas Territory and began raising thoroughbred horses. Just prior to the Civil War, he left for Texas with some of his horse stock, intending to purchase a ranch. His family never heard from him again and suspected that he was murdered by border ruffians.

Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, 24 January 1833, Warren County (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2016); Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, DeWitt County, 229:23, 231:38, 677:198, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), DeWitt County, IL, 407; Portrait and Biographical Record of Oklahoma (Chicago: Chapman, 1901), 1:113-14.