Mr. C. A. Torrey calls my attention to the fact that Richard Kirby’s parentage and English home are definately known. Volume 35 of the Register, pp. 369-375, shows from correspondence between Francis Kirby (Richard’s uncle) and Governor Winthrop and from Hertfordshire wills that Richard was the son of John and Martha (Ward) of Little Munden, Hertfordshire, and grandson of widow Joan Kirby of the same town. Joan’s will, written 29 Oct 1640, mentions grandson, Richard Kirby, and son, Francis. Francis’ will of 24 Jul 1660 mentions deceased brother, John. John’s will of 23 Apr 1628 (proved 7 Jul 1628) mentions son, Richard, and names his brother, Francis, as executor.

B.W.C.

The name Kirby is of Danish origin and was originally Kirkby, from the word "kirke," church. It is very old in English annals, a Kirkby having come in the Norman invasion under William the Conqueror. One finds it in the names of old towns, as Kirkby Kendal, Kirkby Lonsdale, etc.¹

Richard Kirbie, aged 32, came to America on the "Assurance," sailing from Gravesend, England, on 24 July 1635, George Pewsie Master.² His wife, Jane, is not listed as among the women passengers on board; and since their son, Richard, was born in 1633³, doubtless both mother and son had been left at their English home, thought to have been in Warwickshire⁴, to come on a later boat.

Like so many others early at Sandwich, Richard Kirby seems to have been for a short time at Lynn⁵, but by 1637 was settled at Sandwich, and was one of the first eleven male members of the church there⁶. When Thomas Hampton of Sandwich wrote his will on 21 March 1637, after making other bequests, he left to Thomas Tupper, Peter Gaunt, Richard Kirby, and Thomas Shellingworth the residue of his estate, and named these four as executors of the will⁷. On 4 December 1638, Kirby was one of six Sandwich men fined for being defective in arms⁸; and in the same year, was fined for leaving his swine unringed⁹. On 16 April 1640, he was given four acres in the division of meadow land¹⁰. He is on the list of those who in 1643 were able to bear arms¹¹, and - probably on 15 January 1644 - was among those who took the oath of fidelity¹². On 20 August 1644, his wife was one of several summoned to give evidence in a case involving John Ellis and his wife¹³.

In February 1649/50, Richard’s wife, Jane, gave birth to twins, Encrease and probably Abigail. Abigail was buried 29 February (sic); the mother was buried 23 March, and Encrease 24 March of the same year¹⁴. The record is worded in a way as to make it seem that a son, Richard, was buried with the mother; but the son, Richard, was much older and lived to be an old man. Probably the inclusion of Richard’s name was meant to refer to the husband and father of the deceased ones.

The next ten years were hard and hectic ones for the Kirbys. Both Richards, father and son, were out of sympathy with the Puritan Church and showed their disapproval openly. On 7 October 1651, Richard, Sr., was one of many Sandwich people called to court for not attending the regular church services¹⁵. They were questioned about "thire deriding vild speeches of and conserning God’s word and ordinances", and had to give bonds for appearance at the next court session, at which session on 2 March 1651/52 Kirby and Ralph Allen, Sr., were fined five pounds each for their "vild speeches"¹⁶. On 4 October 1655, it was noted at court that three men, Hide, Kerbey, and Hall, had not paid their indebtedness, amounting now to 30 pounds, 2 shillings¹⁷. On 3 February 1656/57, a complaint was entered that Nicolas Upsiall and Richard Kerbey and the wife of John Newland and others did frequently meet together at the house of William Allen of Sandwich on the Lord’s Day and at other times, "att which meetings they vsed to invey against minnesters and majestrates to the dishonor of God and contempt of goument"¹⁸. A few months later, Quaker preachers from England visited Sandwich for the first time and gained many followers. Although neither Richard nor his son seems ever to have joined the group, they sympathized openly with it and were severely punished for so doing. On 14 September 1659, they two lost in fines:

8 kine, (one having a bell about her neck as the leading cow for the rest of the cattle)
2 oxen, 1 calf, 2 steers, 3 bushels of corn, another steer and calf

In all, the value was 57 pounds, 12 shillings. All this in one day¹⁹. On 11 August 1660, father and son were fined again for being at Quaker meetings²⁰, and on 2 October 1660, fined again for the same offense²¹. On 5 February 1660/61, they with eight others were summoned to answer for their tumultuous carriages against the marshall and constable who had tried to arrest visiting Quaker preachers²².

At this point, the Kirbys and Richard’s son-in-law, Matthew Allen, who had suffered equal indignities and for the same reason, decided to leave Sandwich. On 5 December 1662, "Richard Kerbey senr of the Towne of Sandwich... Planter" for 25 pounds bought of Nathaniel Warren of Plymouth a half share of land in Acushnet in Dartmouth²³. The next decade seems to have been one of great quietness, with little or nothing in the public records about Richard, Sr. We do not know just when he left Dartmouth, nor why. His son, Richard, and other of his children remained there; but by 1672, and possibly before that year, the father was living on Long Island. Elisha Leonard, Dartmouth genealogist, says²⁴ Kirby went to Long Island with others about 1668 and helped found a settlement on the east side of Hempstead Harbor. Perhaps Leonard was under the impression that Richard was in the party headed by Joseph Carpenter of Providence, who on 24 May 1668 were granted a tract of land at Musketo Cove, east of Hempstead Harbor²⁵; but the evidence is rather strong that this could not have been the case, as will appear from the details that follow.

The first positively known of Richard Kirby’s being on Long Island is that on 3 June 1672, he and William Thornycraft bought of Thomas Townsend of Oyster Bay jointly 26 acres of land²⁶. Now, one notes that William Thornycraft had been, like Richard Kirby, early at Lynn, and then at Sandwich at the time Kirby was there²⁷, and that a good many other men from Sandwich had been settling in the new towns of western Long Island when Richard came. William Thornycraft had left Sandwich to help found Flushing in 1640²⁸; John Carman of Lynn, Sandwich, Wallingford, and Stamford in 1644 one of the first settlers of Hempstead²⁹; Thomas Armitage of Lynn and Sandwich was at Oyster Bay by 1647³⁰; and Henry Feake of Lynn and Sandwich was at Newtown, Long Island, about 1656³¹. In 1653, William Leverich, minister of the Sandwich church, was granted land at Oyster Bay for a band of ten householders, mainly from Sandwich, a number that within a decade had swelled to fifty³². Nearly all these Sandwich people left for Long Island while Richard Kirby was still of Sandwich, and this doubtless had much to do with his own later removal to that island. The land that Kirby and Thornycraft bought in 1672 was doubtless in some part of Oyster Bay, though this is not so stated in the deed; perhaps in Musketo Cove. In 1673, both were of Oyster Bay when they took the oath of allegiance, Kirby signing by his mark, Thornycraft signing as William Krafft, and their two names standing side by side³³. The Thornycraft name is sometimes Thorncraft, sometimes Thorne, and sometimes Kraft. Some of William’s descendants still on Long Island are Thornes, and some are Krafts. From the very beginning of their life on Long Island to the very end, William Thornycraft and Richard Kirby were closely associated. On 21 November 1675, Kirby and Thornycraft sold to John Frost "for a bill of debt" the land they had bought in 1672, both being then of Musketo Cove³⁴.

It was probably after this, though the date has not been preserved, that Richard Kirby joined with Jacob Broking, George Downing and Robert Godfrey in buying a tract of land directly from the Indians. It was a purchase that led to a great deal of trouble and required months of conferring, compromising and delicate diplomacy before the matter was finally settled; for the land the Indians sold to these four men was part of the large tract that had in 1668 been sold to Joseph Carpenter and his group³⁵; but by 25 October 1677, the matter had been settled and Richard and the other men were in possession of their land, called Littleworth Plantation, and the Carpenter grant was described as extending to the rear of, but not including, the lots of Kirby, Brocking, Downing and Godfrey³⁶. At a later date in confirming the ownership of Littleworth its boundaries are given as: North Muskeeto Cove (the Carpenter grant), East Muskeeto Cove, South Issac Doughty’s land, West Hempstead Harbour³⁷.

A list of the freeholders of Oyster Bay with rights in Unkawaye Neck, dated 10 March 1678, includes the names of Richard Cirby, William Thurnycraft, Robartt Gofree, Jacob Brokins and georg downing - the latter four the ones with whom Kirby was most frequently associated³⁸. On 21 January 1679/80, he and Brokins and Downing sold these rights, and in 1681 Godfrey sold his, in each case to Thomas Townsend³⁹.

Although the governor’s patent to Joseph Carpenter and the other proprietors of Musketo Cove had recognized the ownership of the four proprietors of Littleworth to their plantation, it would seem that it was not until 14 January 1681 that the Musketo Cove group did so. Their confirmation of that date reads: "Whereas Richard Cirby, Jacob Brookins, georg downing and Robart godffree are seated upon a sartin tract of lands within oure first purchase ffrom ye Indians as by there pattent will make apeare undar ye hand and seale of governar Andross Bareing date ye 29th daye of September 1677 wee ye propriators of muschetocove as above inserted doe - for ever confirme to ye above saide Richard Cirby, Jacob Brokins, georg downeing and Robart godfree ye abovesaide lands included within there pattent." Those signing were: Joseph Carpenter, Nicholas Simkins, Daniel Coles, Robert Coles, Nathaniel Coles⁴⁰.

On 18 December 1680, Jacob Brooking sold his lot at Littleworth to John Wright to cover a ten pound debt⁴¹, so that the four proprietors of Littleworth thereafter (until 16 January 1688, when Wright sold to John Davis⁴²) were: Kirby, Downing, Godfrey and Wright. In either December 1680 or January 1681, these four sent a petition as follows:

"To tthe Constablle and oversears,
Wee desiar tto know whetther the magior partt off us maye nott order oure owne hyghwayes tto oure owne convenianc, Allso we desiar tto have tthe previlidge of the Law for the cutting of brush and cleareing of hyghwayes, And iff you please tto alowe itt wee desiar tto have one man apoynted by you tto cee itt done and performed,
The umblle petition of Richard Cirby, george downing, Robartt downing, Robartt godffree, John wrightt."

The reply came quickly:

"The Constablle and oversears dotth grantt tthe above requestt and doe apoyntt Richard Cirby tto be tthe man tto cee whatt is abovesaide requested performed acording tto law by order of ye towne courtt febre: ye 7th 1680/81.
per Tho: weebb Clark.⁴³"

On 24 September 1681, twenty-eight men of Oyster Bay joined with men of Huntington and Hempstead in protesting the infringement of certain of their privileges. Among the twenty-eight was Richard Kirby⁴⁴.

That the owners of Littleworth Plantation did not get their ownership recognized without payment of money is evidenced by a receipt signed by Nicholas Simpkin on 31 January 1683, stating that he had "Reseaved of Richard Cirby ye full sum of ten pounds marchants payee, being ye sayd Richards full proportion of payement for his lands bought of us ye five proprietors of muscheda cove, which lands is now called by ye name of litellworth.⁴⁵"

Richard Kirby prospered in his Plantation home. When the tax list was made out for Oyster Bay in September of 1683, there were seventy-nine taxable estates. Of those taxed, twelve had a higher evaluation than Kirby; sixty-one a lower valuation; and five, one just equal to his. The highest rating was 220 pounds; the lowest, 18 pounds; Kirby’s was 90 pounds⁴⁶. And though he was now a man of eighty years, he kept on acquiring land. On 1 July 1684, the Indians for 6 pounds sold meadow land on Hempstead Harbor to Robert Coles of Musckedacove; and on 7 March 1684/85, Coles deeded the same to Georg downing and Richard Cerby⁴⁷. And on 9 January 1685/86, he joined with a group in purchasing more land of the Indians. In the list of buyers, the name Richard Kirbie stands between Robert Coles and William Thornecraft⁴⁸.

There is a great deal of mystery and uncertainty about Richard Kirby’s late marriage or marriages. The first reference to any such marriage is found in an exchange of letters between Richard Kirby and William and Thomas Hopkins of Providence in the Fall of 1684. The letters are recorded in Oyster Bay town records⁴⁹, and are well summarized in Austin’s Genealogical Dictionary⁵⁰. In a letter addressed to the Selectmen or Authoryty of ye plantation called Littleworth and dated 17 November 1684, the brothers stated that on the 10th instant they received a letter from Richard Curbie advising them that their father had died intestate and inclosing an inventory which seemed not complete. They ask that William Thornycraft and Ephraim Carpenter be appointed to look after the matters of the estate, "For we do conclude them to be men knowing as to our father’s affairs." Administration of the estate was given to William Hopkins, oldest son; and on 29 October 1685, he wrote to the authorities of Oyster Bay, stating that with the consent of his younger brother, Thomas, he desired the estate movable of his father divided as follows: To our sister, Elizabeth Kirby, wife of Richard Kirby, 10 shillings; and to each of her children by him 5 shillings; and all the rest of the estate not before disposed of to the two children, Anne and Ichabod, of our said sister, Elizabeth, which she had before she married Richard Kirby. The administrator appointed as overseers Ephraim Carpenter and William Thornicraft of Musketo Cove, and Richard Kirby of Littleworth, to look after the interests of the two children. The witnesses were Benjamin Smith and Joseph Williams.

The elder Hopkins, who died in 1684 at the home of his son-in-law, Richard Kirby, was first of the Hopkins line of Providence, Thomas by name. He was quite probably one of the many Rhode Island people who at the time of King Philip’s War in 1676 fled to Long Island for refuge but may have gone there a little earlier with a son - not known by name, but thought to have been Joseph and the husband of the Elizabeth who later married Richard Kirby. Savage says - but with some ambiguous language - that Thomas⁵¹ Hopkins had sons, William and Thomas, and adds: "I suppose he had Joseph and perhaps other children, certainly William." This Joseph may have been the ---- Hopkins listed as one of the one hundred freeholders at Hempstead in 1673⁵¹. Another one in the same list was William Thorne, who seems from the letter exchange we have quoted to have been known to the Hopkins family of Providence. It has been said that Joseph died in 1674⁵², but we have been unable to find any basis for the statement. It was probably, then, after 1674, and surely after 1669, in which year she had a Hopkins child born, that Elizabeth married Richard Kirby, and before, let us say 1680, since by 1684 her "children" by Richard Kirby are mentioned in the settlement of her father-in-law’s estate. A very complicating circumstance is the fact that Thomas Kirby, son of Richard, married Anne Hopkins, daughter of Elizabeth⁵³. We know the name of Richard’s children by his first wife, Jane; and Thomas was not one of them. It hardly seems possible that he could have been a child of Elizabeth, since he married a daughter of Elizabeth, aside from the fact that any child of Richard and Elizabeth would be much younger than Anne, born probably about 1667. One wonders if Richard may not have had a wife whose name has not come down to us. His wife Jane died in 1650; he could not have married Elizabeth until after 1669, probably not till after 1674. And those years, some twenty in all, were many of them spent in unorganized communities where records were very poorly kept. He may have had and lost a wife who was the mother of Thomas. It seems most unlikely that such wife was the Abigail Howland, widow of Zoeth, who, on 2 November 1678, married at Dartmouth Richard Keerby, whom Dartmouth genealogists have given as Richard Jr.⁵⁴

Perhaps it was the death of Thomas Hopkins at his home that made Richard Kirby think that he should put his own house in order. He had left land in Dartmouth undisposed of, and seems to have made two trips to that town, one in 1684, the other in 1686, to attend to the matter. The agreement made by his children there in 1707 gives us our knowledge of this and will be quoted later. He was in Dartmouth long enough on each trip so that he took the oath of allegiance there; once on 10 December 1684, when fifteen men took the oath and the name of Richard Kerby, Sr., is the twelfth name, standing between the names of John Smith, his son-in-law, and Jonathan Delano⁵⁵; and once in May 1686, when 44 others took the oath and the 34th name is that of Richard Kerby Senior⁵⁵. We judge that he did not give formal deeds to his sons, but merely indicated which one was to have what; for as late as 1694, several years after his death, his name still stood as one of the proprietors of Dartmouth, entered as Richard Kerby, Sr.⁵⁶

Richard Kirby wrote his will at Oyster Bay, 27 October 1688, and it was proved 10 January 1688/89; so that he must have died between those two dates⁵⁷.

The will reads:

In the name of God and country, in the fourth year of his Maj, reigns James the second by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the faith and country. I, Richard Curby, being weake of body but of sound and perfect memory, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following: First, I bequeath my body to the earth out of which it was taken, and my soul into the hands of God that gave it to my two sons, Thomas and William, all my lands and meadows with housing and fruit trees to be equally divided between them which lands above mentioned I give to my two sons and their heirs for ever and it is my will that if any one of my sons dye without issue that then his surviving brother. Also, my will is that my wife, Elizabeth Curby, shall possess and enjoy this place and homestead on which I live with the housing and fruit trees. Also, it is my will that my wife shall have my swamp or meadow which lyes by the street with a piece of meadow and upland lying on the east side of the creek before my door and also ten acres of land in the next division during her widowhood.

Item I give to my two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, all my movables which shall be equally devided between them only I give to my wife’s son, Ichabod, my mare and one yearling heifer which is of brendled colour.

Item I give to my wifes daughter, Anne, on yearling heifer.

Item I also do constitute and appoint my loving wife, Elizabeth Curby, to be my executrix and she shall first pay all my debts out of my movable estate and then the remainder shall be devided as before is expressed but if either of my two daughters do happen to dye without issue it is my will that the surviving sister shall have her part of the movables to as a testimony that it is my last will I sett to my hand and seal the twenty-seventh day of October 1688.

Item I do appoint James Townsend and Job Wright as overseers to see this my will performed.

In the presence of us "R" Richard Curby (His Mark)
George Deane (His Mark), John Davis, Job Wright, James Townsend

Bee it know by these presents that I, Richard Curby, of Littleworth mentioned on the other side of this my will do upon further consideration give to my wifes son, Ichabod, in lieu of the yearling heifer which by me was given to him as by my will on the other side may appear two cows which two cows shall be delivered unto him when he, the said Ichabod, shall or doth attain the age of twenty-one years old he being or remaining with his mother and performing the duty of a child to his mother by managing her affairs until he doth attain the age above mentioned and in testimony that this is my act and deed. I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of October 1688.

"R" Richard Curby (His Mark)

On 10 January 1688/89, James Townsend, Job Wright, and George Deane swore that they had witnessed the signing of the will and the widow gave bond and was instructed to render a true inventory to the court at its next meeting.

Richard Kirby always signed by his mark, which in the earlier years was the customary cross; but in signing his will, he made a capital "R" so beautifully shaped as almost to be called artistic.

Probably, Richard kept his two families, the Dartmouth one and the Littleworth one, quite out of contact with each other, although it would seem each must have known about the other. His will makes no mention of his first wife’s children, and they evidently did not even know he left a will, since they speak of their father’s having died intestate. But he seems, in his own way, to have provided well for the children of Jane, as is apparent from a document signed by them in 1707, nineteen years after his death, which on 9 October 1722, thirty-four years after his death, they asked to have entered in the public records⁵⁸. It reads:

"To all people to whom these presents shall come, greetings:- Whereas Richard Kerby, formerly of Dartmouth in the County of Bristoll in the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, sometime more than nineteen years since he died intestate and left some personal estate undisposed of, he having before his death given and disposed of his lands unto his two sons, viz., to his son, Richard Kerby, now of Dartmouth, one quarter of a share of lands throughout the said town of Dartmouth, both divided and undivided, and one other quarter of a share unto his other son, Recompense Kerby, then of Dartmouth aforesaid, and which was enjoyed and possessed by his said sons sometime before and at the time of his death of the said Richard Kerby, their deceased father. Now know ye therefore that we, Richard Kerby, the son of said deceased, and Sarah Allen and Ruhamah Smith, both of Dartmouth, widows, and both daughters of said deceased, together with the said Recompense Kerby, our brother, then of said Dartmouth, and Jane Lounders, our sister, then of Sandwich in the county of Barnstable now deceased, did all mutually agree unto and divided the personal estate of our said deceased father after his death and amongst ourselves, agreeing and concluding that the said Richard Kerby and Recompense, our two brothers, aforesaid should have and enjoy the lands aforesaid to them their heirs and assignes forever, which said agreement and settlement of the said estate of our said deceased father, we the said Richard Kerby, the son, and Sarah Allen and Ruhamah Smith, the daughters, now surviving of the said Richard Kerby, do hereby ratify and confirm for us and every of us by these presents, and for our heirs, and executors and administrators and every of them forever. In testimony whereof we the said Richard Kerby, the son, and Sarah Allen and Ruhamah Smith the daughters, of said deceased, hereunto set our hands and seals this twenty one day of July in the sixth year of His Majesty’s Reign, Anno Domini 1707."

In the presence of Henery Howland, Samuel Marehu (His Mark), Richard Kerbey, Sarah Allen

1. Dwight: Kirbys of N. Eng., pp.3-4
2. Hotten: Original Lists, p.112
3. Dartmouth Death Records
4. Crapo: Cert. Comeoverers, p.325
5. Register 55:303 (1901)
6. Freeman: Cape Cod 2:37
7. Mayflower Descendant 3:74-75
8. Plymouth Col. Rec., 1:107
9. Dwight, op. cit., p.229
10. Plymouth Col. Rec., 1:149
11. Ibid., 8:192
12. Ibid., 8:184
13. Ibid., 2:75
14. Ibid., 8:237
15. Ibid., 2:172-173
16. Ibid., 3:4
17. Ibid., 3:93
18. Ibid., 3:111
19. Bishop: N. England Judged, p.146
20. Plymouth Col. Rec., 8:103
21. Ibid., 3:200
22. Ibid., 3:204
23. Plymouth Col. Deeds, 3:16
24. Leonard MS. Col. at New Bedford Public Library
25. Munsell: Queens Co. Hist. (1882), p.314
26. Oyster Bay Town Records, 1:70
27. Bunker: L. I. Gens. (1895), p.105
28. Thorne Gen. (1915), p.11
29. Werner: Gens. of L. I. (1919), p.49
30. Thompson: Hist. of L. I. (1843), 2:13
31. Savage
32. Prime: Hist. of L. I. (1845), p.264
33. Oyster Bay Town Records, 2:697
34. Ibid., 1:93
35. Ibid., 1:629-630
36. Ibid., 1:309
37. Ibid., 2:11-12
38. Ibid., 1:129-130
39. Ibid., 1:131
40. Ibid., 1:636
41. Ibid., 1:301-302
42. Ibid., 1:466-467
43. Ibid., 1:238-239
44. Ibid., 1:246
45. Ibid., 1:269
46. Fernow: Doc. Hist. of N. Y., 2:306
47. Oyster Bay Town Records, 1:282
48. Ibid., 1:333
49. Ibid., 1:289 & 305-306
50. Austin: Gen. Dictionary, p.324
51. Ross: Hist. of L. I., 1:882
52. Seaman Gen. (1927), p.98
53. Bunker: L. I. Genealogies, p.229
54. Emery: Howland Heirs (1919), p.5
55. Dartmouth Town Meeting Book, 1:5
56. Bowen: Rehoboth, 1:5
57. Liber A, p.35 in Town Clerk’s Office, Jamaica, L. I.
58. Bristol Co. Prob. Rec., 4:119

[Bertha W. Clark, "Richard Kirby of Sandwich, Dartmouth and Oyster Bay," 1955 (LDS Microfilm item #15 - Beginning #0962260)]

B.W.CLARK: "Richard KIRBY of Sandwich, Dartmouth and Oyster Bay"; typescript; 1955 [@ RIHS]. (Info. on cover & p 1.) [Crandall homepage]

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