Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Kirkham, John 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com September 7, 2007, 8:14 pm

Author: Genealogical & Biographical Record

JOHN KIRKHAM, the owner of a good farm in Lockport Township, was born in 
Nottinghamshire, England, August 12, 1832, a member of an old and honored 
family of that shire.  When he was twelve years of age he went to a hotel as 
first turn boy.  He attended night school, but is practically a self-educated 
man. He was fond of music, and, under the guidance of a competent instructor, 
he soon acquired a thorough knowledge of the violin, which he still plays and 
enjoys.  At fifteen years of age he began to learn engine-building and was 
apprenticed for six years to Clayton & Shuttleworth, of Lincoln, under whom he 
gained familiarity with the business.  

It was his desire to seek a home and fortune in the new world, but his parents 
strongly opposed him in his wish.  However, he determined to cross the ocean 
in spite of their protests, and so he told his father to give his share in the 
family estate to an invalid sister.  From that day he never asked his father 
for any aid, but was able to make his way in the world for himself. With a 
good letter of recommendation from the firm he had been with several years and 
with just enough money to pay his way to America, he set sail from Liverpool 
August 12, 1856.  After a voyage of six weeks and two days he landed in New 
York September 24 and debarked from the four-masted sailing vessel "City of 
Mobile," in which he had made the voyage.  From New York he went to Dunkirk, 
in the same state, and there was ill for several weeks.  As soon as he was 
able to travel he started for the west.  November 7, of the same year, he 
landed in Lockport, with only three cents in his pockets.  He accepted the 
first work he could get, for which he was paid $10 a month.  In the spring he 
secured employment which paid him $200 a year, without board.  His next work 
was the building of six hundred rods of fence, and he also engaged in haying 
during the season.  Later he went into the woods and cut cord wood, for which 
he was paid fifty cents a cord.  Going from Will to Grundy County, he worked 
for $14 a month, continuing there for two years.  From 1861 to 1862 he was 
foreman of a farm of twelve hundred acres.  He then bought a team and rented a 
farm in Dupage Township, Will County.  After a year he removed to another 
farm, which he rented for three years, later buying it for $40 an acre.  The 
place comprised eighty-five acres and was fairly well improved.  After six 
years he rented the land and moved to Lockport, in order that his children 
might attend the school there. Meantime, for three years he ran an engine in 
the Romeo warehouse.  On selling his farm he bought one hundred and twenty 
acres, which he has since owned and cultivated, and which is said to be one of 
the best farms in Lockport Township.

Before leaving England Mr. Kirkham was married, in May, 1856, to Miss Mary 
Naylor, an estimable lady and a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church.  She died April 3, 1898, leaving two children, namely: William Henry, 
a farmer in this county; and Allie Louisa, wife of Edson E. Harder, who rents 
his father-in-law's farm.

In political views Mr. Kirkham is liberal and independent, voting for the man 
rather than the party.  Interested in good roads and in good schools, he has 
done excellent service for the district while filling the offices of 
pathmaster and school director.  A believer in Christianity and in sympathy 
with Christian work, he has assisted religious enterprises as he has been 
able.  Although he started in this county wholly without means, he has worked 
his way to a position of independence which will permit him to spend his 
declining years in retirement from active cares, enjoying the rest he has so 
truly earned and richly deserved.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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