| Name |
Alfred J. Kirby |
| Born |
1837 |
Spencer, Worcester County, Massachusetts  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Group |
Veteran of Civil War - Union |
- Person who served in the Civil War in the Union Forces (Grand Army of the Republlic)
|
| FamilySearch ID |
LYYB-RTG |
|
|
| FindaGrave Memorial ID |
127647508 |
|
|
| Book Article |
1907 |
| Genealogical and Biographical Sketches of Worcester County |
- Alfred J. Kirby, son of John Kirby, was born in Spencer, Massachusetts. He was educated in the public schools of Oxford, whither his parents removed when he was very young. At the age of seventeen, he began making boots and shoes.
He followed this trade until 1861, when he enlisted in Company K., 25th Massachusetts volunteers as a musician. He remained in the service for three years and participated in the battles of Roanoke, Newbern, and Little Washington, NC; of Whitehall, Cold Harbor, Fort Darling and in the six days of fighting in front of Petersburg, VA.
About a year after he was mustered out having recovered his health which had been impaired by the hardships of the service, he went to work in the woolen mills of Hill & Chapman at Providence, RI. Subsequently, he worked for Thomas Harris at Putnam, CT, and for Benjamin James at Jamesville, in Worcester. Later he was for a few years employed in setting up woolen mill machinery in New England and New York.
In 1868, Mr. Kirby bought the hotel in East Douglas, but not being satisfied with that location removed to Ware, where he was proprietor of a hotel. He moved thence to the village in Eagleville, in the town of Holden, where he kept a hotel for two years. He was next engaged for four years as a traveling salesman for a hardware concern. In 1876, he became the proprietor of Hotel Kirby in Oxford, MA.
Two years later he engaged in the wholesale produce business in Worcester in the firm of Kirby & Bristol, dealing in hay, grain, potatoes, etc, and buying for firms in the New England, Lower Cananda, New York, Michigan, and other states.
Although successful in this business, he decided to return to the hotel business and conducted the De Witt Hotel in Webster for two years. He then opened a real estate office in Tremont Row, Boston. In 1883, he bought the Hassanimisco House at Grafton, remodelled it and refurnished it. As Hotel Kirby, it had become one of the most popular hostelries in the county.
Mr. Kirby was well known among Grand Army men and is a member of Post General Charles Devens, No. 27.
Notwithstanding his busy life, Mr. Kirby has found time to become one of the most skillful and successful checker players in New England. In fact, he has made a good showing against the best players in the country. He has played in matches in New England, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, and elsewhere. He has played exhibition games in Grafton, against all comers, ten games being in progress at a time, winning twenty-four and losing but one out of thirty. He has furnished many original games for the checker columns of periodicals. The North American Checker Board said of him: "He first began to play checkers at the age of thirteen, but not scientifically until 1872. Since then he has met and played such potables as C. F. Barker, C. H. Freeman, R. E. Bowen, A. R. Bowdish, R. D. Yates, J. P. Reed, H. Z. Wright, J. Cairns, D. Dickinson, and many others. At Woonsocket, February 1893, he tied W. H. Wales and J. Cairns and had close scores with Fitzgerald and E. Mee; also at Boston, in the same year, he won the only game he played with E. A. Durgin and defeated P. Kelly, Mr. Mack and Lang; tied Bugbee and lost to Grover and Dean. it was the only sitting in which Dean ever won from Mr. Kirby. In March 1893, at Grafton, the tournament resulted: Kirby 4, W. H. Wales 1, drawn 3. In the same month, at Woonsocket, he tied both Deeley and Ed Mee." Hotel Kirby was headquarters of the Grafton Chess and Checker Club, which was organized by Mr. Kirby, and many tournaments have been played there.
|
| Book Article |
1907 |
New York, New York County, New York |
| Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County |
- From : "Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, with a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity", Volume 2, p. 226, by Ellery Bicknell Crane, The Lewis Publishing Company
(VIII) Alfred J. Kirby, son of John Kirby (7), was born in Spencer, Massachusetts. He was educated in the public schools of Oxford, whither his parents removed when he was very young. At the age of seventeen years he began making boots and shoes. He followed this trade until 1861, when he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers, as a musician. He remained in the service for three years and participated in the battles of Roanoke, Newbern and Little Washington, North Carolina; of Whitehall, Cold Harbor, Fort Darling and in the six days of fighting in front of Petersburg, Virginia.
About a year after he was mustered out, having recovered his health which had been impaired by the hardships of the service, he went to work in the woolen mills of Hill & Chapman at Providence, Rhode Island. Subsequently he worked for Thomas Harris at Putnam, Connecticut, and for Benjamin James, at Jamesville, in Worcester. Later he was for a few years employed in setting up woolen mill machinery in New England and New York.
In 1868 Mr. Kirby bought the hotel in East Douglas, but not being satisfied with that location, removed to Ware, where he was proprietor of a hotel. He moved thence to the village of Eagleville, in the town of Holden, where he kept a hotel for two years. He was next engaged for four years as a traveling salesman for a hardware concern. In 1876 he became the proprietor of Hotel Kirby in Oxford, Massachusetts.
Two years later he engaged in the wholesale produce business in Worcester in the firm of Kirby & Bristol, dealing in hay, grain, potatoes, etc., and buying for firms in New England, Lower Canada, New York, Michigan and other states. Although successful in this business he decided to return to the hotel business, and conducted the De Witt Hotel at Webster for two years. He then opened a real estate office in Tremont Row, Boston. In 1883 he bought the Hassanimisco House at Grafton, remodelled it and refurnished it. As Hotel Kirby it has become one of the most popular hostelries in the county.
Mr. Kirby is well known among Grand Army men and is a member of Post General Charles Devens, No. 27. Nothwithstanding his busy life Mr. Kirby has found time to become one of the most skillful and successful checker players in New England. In fact, he has made a good showing against the best players in the country. He has played in matches in New England, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois and elsewhere. He has played exhibition games in Grafton, against all comers, ten games being in progress at a time, winning twenty-four and losing but one out of thirty. He has furnished many original games for the checker columns of periodicals....
Hotel Kirby is headquarters of the Grafton Chess and Checker Club, which was organized by Mr. Kirby, and many tournaments have been played there.
Mr. Kirby married Mary Hall, daughter of S. Davis Hall, of Grafton. (See sketch of the Hall family for her ancestry). Their only child died in infancy.
A few years ago Mr. Kirby rebuilt his present residence, a sightly and substantial building on Worcester street, formerly the home of Mrs. Kirby's parents.
|
| Died |
29 May 1907 |
Grafton, Worcester County, Massachusetts |
| Buried |
Aft 29 May 1907 |
Riverside Cemetery, Grafton, Worcester County, Massachusetts |
| Person ID |
I6941 |
New England Hall Families Master Tree |
| Last Modified |
24 Jan 2022 |
1837 - 1907 (70 years)
