The Kirks were a well-established Pennsylvania Quaker family, decended from John Kirk (1660-1705) who immigrated to Darby, Pa., in 1687. Joshua Paul Kirk (1841-1914), was the fourth son of Elias Kirk (1808-1889) and Rachel Paul Kirk. In August 1861, J.P. Kirk enlisted in Co. A. of the 1st Regiment of New Jersey Cavalry, and fought in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; he was mustered out in July 1865. In 1868, J.P. Kirk married Marietta (Mame) Ridgway (1848-1884) and they had three children: Marietta Kirk (1871-1940), George Ridgway Kirk, and Morris Paul Kirk (1874-1953). Marietta, a graduate of Swarthmore College (Class of 1888), married Henry Wisdom Ragland in 1902; they had one child, Morris Kirk Ragland (b. 1904).
The Ridgways were related to Ephraim Inskeep (1795-1881), a successful New Jersey-born miller, and his wife Mary Olden Inskeep (1795-1875). Inskeep's stepdaughter Margaretta married William Ridgway (ca. 1805-1849) in 1830 and they had four children: William Olden Ridgway (1834-1925), Ephraim Inskeep Ridgway (1835-1913), George K. Ridgway (b. ca. 1844) and Mary Ridgway. After both Margaretta and William Ridgway succumbed to cholera in 1849, the children went to live with their Inskeep grandparents. William O. and George Ridgway also served in the Civil War before moving West, along with their sister Mary.
From the description of Papers of Kirk Family, 1817-1913. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 681974225
