Finding Your Folks

By JUDY FOWLER KILGORE
jkilgore@thecitizennews.

I love it when seemingly sad stories come to a happy ending. And last week’s story certainly seems to have ended on a pleasing, final note.

Although there are no descendants of Joseph Tolleson Kirby and his wives to carry on his particular line of the Kirby family (the sad part), the Kirby Bible mentioned in last week’s column has been rescued by a cousin and will soon make its way into a historical collection (the happy ending).

Just a few days ago, I received an e-mail from Cecil Shipley of Peachtree City who read the column last week and purchased the Kirby Bible from the Newnan Antique Market. Cecil’s wife is related to Lillian Dent Kirby, second wife of Joseph Tolleson Kirby, through the Orr family. Cecil said he intends to make photocopies of the personal information and then donate the Bible to a historic organization, possibly the Georgia Archives in Morrow. I think that is wonderful. My hat’s off to Cecil for saving this precious family treasure.

Another thing I wanted to mention was that I found the death notice for Joseph Tolleson Kirby Jr. in the Jan. 4, 1924 issue of the Newnan Herald. I am always curious when a person dies at a young age and wanted to know what happened to this young man. It, also, is a sad story.

According to the death notice, Tolleson was a promising young man who had just completed his education and had recently been hired by a bank in Newnan. The notice reads:

“Death of a Promising Young Man.

“One of the saddest deaths that has occurred in Newnan in many years was that of Mr. Joseph Tolleson Kirby, Jr., which took place Sunday morning at the Newnan Sanitarium, following an operation for appendicitis. He was stricken early in the week, but at first the nature of the attack was not clearly defined. Later he was carried to the sanitarium for a more thorough examination. This disclosed that he was suffering from acute appendicitis, and an operation was decided upon. The operation was performed Friday, but the young man never rallied from the shock, passing away about 11 o'clock Sunday morning.

“Mr. Kirby was 22 years of age, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jos. T. Kirby, and a young man of unusual promise, whose fine qualities of heart and mind were recognized and appreciated by everyone brought into contact with him. After graduating from Newnan High School he entered the State University, where he made an excellent record. In the Fall of 1922, he matriculated at Columbia University, New York, for a special course in commercial law and banking, and upon his return home a few months ago he was offered a position in the First National Bank, which he accepted. He made good here, as was to be expected, and was highly esteemed by his business associates. He was an only child upon whom all the hopes and ambitions of the now broken hearted parents were centered, and as they sit in the great shadow of their sorrow the hearts of countless friends go out to them in tenderest sympathy.

“Funeral services were held at the residence Monday afternoon conducted by Dr. E.W. Stone, who was assisted by Rev. John P. Erwin and Rev. J.E. Hannah. The pallbearers were Messrs. Dick Desportes of Columbus, Dan Post of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Jack Sharp of Atlanta, Robin Wheaton of Griffin, J.S. Hardaway, Jr., L.H. Hill, Jr., Goodrum Norris and Hamilton Arnall. The body was laid to rest in Oak Hill cemetery.”

And so ends the story of the Kirby family of Newnan. The mention above that Tolleson was an only child, puts to rest the question of the Kirby family in Alabama found in the 1920 census. After purchasing a copy of the transcribed census from the Coweta County Genealogy Society last week, I found Joseph, Lillian and Tolleson in Newnan, just where they were supposed to be. Ancestry.com’s census index, for whatever reason, missed them.

Another thing I wanted to tell you about this week was a notice we received about a marker dedication for Private Zachariah Kitchens, Revolutionary Soldier. The search for his descendants is being conducted by the Marquis de LaFayette Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.)

According to the notice we received, Private Kitchens was born Dec. 23, 1754, in Camden Dist., SC, the son of Charles and Jane Summerford Kitchens. He served in the South Carolina Militia from 1776 until the close of the war. Afterward, he lived in Chester Co., S.C., and Asheville, N.C., before settling in Georgia. Here he lived in Jasper, DeKalb, Henry and Carroll counties, and died in 1848, “... leaving hundreds of descendants in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and other parts of the South.”

The S.A.R. would like to have as many of his descendants as possible present on April 17, 2004, at 11 a.m. at The Sardis Baptist Church on Key’s Ferry Road on the Henry-Butts County line, where Kitchens was buried upon his death in 1848.

A formal dedication of his burial marker will be held and full military honors rendered by members of the Sons of the American Revolution. Members of the S.A.R., D.A.R. and C.A.R., as well as other groups, will lay wreaths in his honor.

If you are descended from Zachariah Kitchens, contact Joe Hixon, graves chairman, at 770-719-2031 (jhixon@bellsouth.net) or Lewie Dunn at MDLSAR@wmconnect.com.

I welcome your letters about genealogy and info on south metro Atlanta families. Send them to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others.)

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