When William Sumner Kirby was born on 28 January 1843, in Macon, Tennessee, United States, his father, Henry Laurence PROVE Kirby, was 34 and his mother, Temperance H PROVE Ross, was 33. He married Lucinda Jane Davis in 1866, in Randolph, Arkansas, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Oak Grove Township, Oregon, Missouri, United States in 1860 and Lynn Township, Oregon, Missouri, United States in 1880. He died on 26 February 1928, in Denver, Colorado, United States, at the age of 85, and was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Wheat Ridge, Jefferson, Colorado, United States.