My grandmother and I had always wondered about her great-uncle James Kirker McCartney. In the family Bible, his name is written simply as “Kirkir.”
I’ve only found him listed in one US Federal Census, the 1870, and in that document he’s called James.
Because we had a studio portrait of Kirker, passed down from his sister, we knew that he’d gone to California from Indiana as a young man, but after that, no one seemed to know what had happened to him. I discovered that the photographer who took the photo was active in San Bernardino during the 1890s. His name was listed on the page for deaths in the family Bible, between the entries for his sisters Sarah (1887) and Martha (1938) but there was no date listed for him.
I’ve looked through online records for many years, and finally, about forty years after I started looking, I found a record that I believe tells me what happened to Kirker.
I found listings for James Kirk McCartney in several voter’s registrations listings in Los Angeles County, California and a directory listing for him in Covina. They state he was born in Indiana around 1864, which tallies with his birth record in the Bible. He may have used that short version of his name as an adult. The burial record says he was born in Indiana and that he died of tuberculosis in the city of Covina. His father died of this disease, and it may explain why Kirker left for California. The climate of California was thought to be healthy and curative for tuberculosis.
Rest in peace, Uncle Kirker.