My Genealogy Hound

D. H. Kirk. Among the industries of Newton County deserving of mention is the wagon manufactory of D. H. Kirk. The plant is one of the most complete in the Southwest, and has grown from a very small beginning. The main building is two stories in height, and is 136 feet long. It has a capacity for building 2,500 wagons per year, and has a storage capacity for the lumber of twenty cars. The paint shop is 110x25, and the other departments are proportional in size. He has a ready sale for his wagons in Missouri, Kansas and the Indian Territory. He was born in England, at Dunington Northorp, ten miles from Boston, January 80, 1841, and is a son of John A. and Elizabeth Kirk, the twelfth of their thirteen children, and a nephew of John and Thomas Leatherland, of Boston, England. He came with his parents to the United States, and located in Lake County, Ill., in 1850, where his early days were spent on a farm and in learning the black-smith’s trade. In 1859 he went to California, and lived on the Pacific coast until 1866, and was engaged in mining, and also ran a pack train of mules from Columbia River to Bannock City. His experiences in that State were thrilling and eventful, and he carries the scars of three wounds, which he received in fights with Indians. At one time he lost forty-two mules, which were stolen by the Snake River Indians, and he was compelled to walk 165 miles. He returned to Illinois in 1866, and attended Eastman’s Commercial College in Chicago, receiving a diploma from that institution. He then went to Andrew County, Mo., where he carried on farming, and in 1868 came to Newton County, and opened the wagon shop that has grown to its present proportions. At the latter date he married Elizabeth Imeson, of McHenry County, Ill., a daughter of the oldest settler of that county. Twin Lakes, Wis., was named in honor of Mrs. Kirk and her twin sister, Mrs. W. M. S. Stewart of Newton County. Mr. and Mrs. Kirk have four children: Charles J., Alfred W., Dalton H. and Della. Mr. Kirk is a Royal Arch Mason.