RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: Jang on Saturday 15 August 20 07:15 BST (UK)
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According to the Iowa Armed Forces Grave Registrations on Family Search, Joseph Kirby was born on 14 Feb 1836 in Ireland and died on 24 April 1896 in Utica, Van Buren, Iowa.
Many Ancestry trees have his baptism date as 13 Jan 1836 in Hospital, Limerick, Ireland, the son of John Kirby and Hanora Riordan.
Obviously these birth dates don't match. Are they the same person or were there two Joseph Kirbys?
Jan
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you can see his baptism registration here for yourself, assuming the trees found the right one:
https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632730#page/173/mode/1up
I wouldn't worry about the discrepancy in dates. You don't know what the source was for the gravesite information. If it was he himself, he might have just picked a date at some point and stuck with it. Many people didn't know or remember exactly when they were born.
Based on the other Irish in America I've seen, I'm surprised he came that close.
There are no civil registrations for Catholic births in Ireland until 1864, and I don't think the Protestant records started much earlier.
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p.s.
And based on the usual reliability of trees on ancestry, I'd like to see more confirmation that he was from Limerick, at least, and, even better, from that area*. Or find his parents' names on an American record. Some tree owner might have grabbed the record for the Joseph Kirby baptized nearest to the date on his gravesite and "ran" with the information.
There are lots of areas of Ireland where baptism records don't exist for that period, and he could have been from any of those areas.
Sometimes a county biographical history of where he settled will have that info, if he was relatively prominent and/or paid the publisher to include his biography :).
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Thanks for the feedback, oldohiohome. I'd like to find some confirmation too that he was from Hospital, Limerick or his parents' names but I don't have access to US records. I do have a Joseph Kirby from Limerick who died in Victoria, Australia in 1907, born about 1835, who could be the son of John Kirby and Honora Rioardan, so I was hoping to be able to eliminate the one who died in Iowa!
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Perhaps 13 January 1836 Hospital Limerick was the only link ancestry gave in Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers - people pluck at any information without checking it out.
This must be the record you referred to :-
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QV-L61H
Not sure any of those records give a birth date ???
Sandra
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Cemetery Burial records
http://iagenweb.org/chickasaw/cemetery/shcemetery.html
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Did Joseph have a brother Patrick who also immigrated to Iowa?
New Hampton Courier
Thursday, April 30th, 1896
EDITED- Wrong link before
Clip: https://www.rootschat.com/links/01ptr/
Saturday Gazette
Saturday, May 2nd, 1896
Clip: https://www.rootschat.com/links/01ptm/
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Obits for Joseph Kirby
New Hampton Courier
Thursday, April 30th, 1896
Obit: https://www.rootschat.com/links/01ptn/
New Hampton Tribune
Tuesday, April 28th, 1896
Obit: https://www.rootschat.com/links/01pto/
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This appears to be the brother Patrick Kirby mentioned in the clippings, living in Chickasaw County from 1860-1880.
1860 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M82X-5TV
1870 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDJG-N5B
1880 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD2M-12L
According to a FS Tree attached to one of these records. Patrick died in 1899. His parents were John Kirby & Hanora Riordan
FS Tree: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LBPV-76J
Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52948020
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Patrick's obit in 1899 mentions another brother D.R. Kirby of Souix City, formerly of Lawler (Chickasaw County).
New Hampton Gazette
Thursday, February 23rd, 1899
Obit: https://www.rootschat.com/links/01ptp/
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This appears to be him , Daniel R Kirby.
1870 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDJP-GMD
1880 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD29-3MH
1900 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9G9-7BF
1910 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MG9T-7CM
A tree at FS has his full name as Daniel Riordan Kerby
FS Tree: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L5Y7-6K9
Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144673681
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It looks like Daniel & his brother Patrick(Patt) immigrated in 1850. They departed from the port Limerick.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDX5-6HV
Passenger Lists: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27PD-KFR
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one of the familysearch trees mentioned above in reply #6 says Patrick was born 1 February 1825, in Hospital, Limerick
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LBPV-76J
here is his baptism:
Hospital Parish, Limerick, Baptisms
20 February 1825, Patrick son of John Kirby and Hanora Riordan, sponsors: James Kirby and Anne Riordan
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the same tree says that John & Hanora had a son named Simon born April 1831. Simon is an unusual name. Joseph named one of his sons Simon, according to (maybe) a different tree.
Simon's baptism:
19 April 1831, Simon, son of John Kirby and Hanora Riordan. sponsors: Daniel Riordan and Anastasia McNamara
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from Reply #7, on the 1900 Census Daniel Riordan Kirby says he was born in May 1826
here is his baptism:
28 May 1826, Daniel, son of John Kirby and Hanora Riordan, sponsors: Patrick Riordan and Catherine Gibbons
all the baptisms are found at https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0268
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So you have 3 brothers from Limerick in the same county in the US. The evidence is pretty strong for Joseph Kirby of Utica Township, Iowa, being the one baptized 13 Jan 1836 in Hospital, Limerick, not the man who died in Victoria, Australia, in 1907. At the very least, you definitely can't rule him out.
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By the way, for county histories, I only found:
only an Agnes Kirby mentioned in HISTORY OF Chickasaw and Howard Counties IOWA.
BY W. E. ALEXANDER.
DECORAH, IOWA. WESTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1883.
at
http://iagenweb.org/howard/history/1883%20Howard%20Co%20Biographical%20Sketches.htm
and a Dan Kirby is mentioned in HISTORICAL AND REMINISCENCES OF CHICKASAW COUNTY,IOWA.
BY J. H. POWERS
DES MOINES: IOWA PRINTING COMPANY, 1894.
at http://iagenweb.org/chickasaw/history/historypowers1894.htm
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Thank you all for the great detective work - much appreciated :-)
I think you've shown that the Joseph Kirby who died in 1896 is the son of John Kirby and Honor Riordan, in spite of the difference in birthdates, so I can eliminate him from my search for the Joseph Kirby who died in Australia in 1907. Back to the drawing board!