Joseph Kirkland
Joseph Kirkland was an American author and lawyer, born in 1830 in Geneva, New York. He spent his early childhood in rural Michigan before returning to New York. At seventeen, he embarked on a journey across Europe as part of a transatlantic crew. After a year, he returned to New York City, where he held various jobs and began his literary career with Putnam's Monthly Magazine in 1854. In the following years, Kirkland moved to Chicago, became involved in the local coal industry, and actively participated in politics, supporting Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
After serving as a captain in the Union Army, he shifted his focus back to writing and founded a literary newspaper, Prairie Chicken. Despite facing setbacks, including the destruction of his home in the Chicago fire of 1871, Kirkland persevered, studied law, and passed the bar exam at fifty. He gained recognition for his poem "The Lady, or the Tiger, or Both?" and his western novel Zury: The Meanest Man in Spring County. Although his later works did not achieve the same acclaim, Kirkland made significant contributions to Chicago's literary landscape, leaving behind an unfinished two-volume history of the city upon his death in 1894.
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Subject Terms
Joseph Kirkland
Author
- Born: January 7, 1830
- Birthplace: Geneva, New York
- Died: April 29, 1894
- Place of death: Chicago, Illinois
Biography
Joseph Kirkland was born in Geneva, New York, in 1830. At the age of five, he moved with his family to rural Michigan, where they stayed until their return to New York in 1843. Kirkland was educated at home by his parents. At the age of seventeen, he joined the crew of a transatlantic company that took him to England, Germany, and France. He returned to New York City after a year of travel, where he worked various jobs. In 1854, Kirkland began working for Putnam’s Monthly Magazine. Three years later, Kirkland left New York City for Chicago, where he was an auditor for the Illinois Central Railroad.
In 1858, Kirkland secured a new job as the supervisor of a coal company in Tilton, Illinois. In Tilton, Kirkland became involved with the Republican party, campaigning for Abraham Lincoln. When the Civil War broke out, Kirkland was among the first to volunteer to fight and quickly rose to the rank of captain in the Union forces. Kirkland resigned his position after a scandal and returned briefly to New York City, where he married Theodosia Burr Wilkenson before resuming his life in Tilton with the coal company. It was at this time in his life that Kirkland began to write, founding Prairie Chicken, a newspaper devoted to literature.
The newspaper was only published for a year, and after it folded Kirkland decided to start his own coal company in 1865, eventually relocating to Chicago to open a branch office. After the Chicago fire of 1871 destroyed his home and business, a destitute Kirkland decided to study law and began writing again. He helped to found the Chicago Literary Club. In 1877, his play, The Married Flirt, was produced but failed to win over audiences. Kirkland passed the bar exam in 1880, becoming a lawyer at age fifty. That same year he began publishing reviews in Chicago newspapers and journals.
In 1883, Kirkland published his famous poem “The Lady, or the Tiger, or Both?” in Century magazine. Four years later, Kirkland released his western novel, Zury: The Meanest Man in Spring County, to excellent reviews. Two other novels, The McVeys (An Episode), and The Captain of Company K, followed within the next few years but fell short of the impact of Kirkland’s first effort. Kirkland also wrote a two-volume history of Chicago, which was unfinished when he died in 1894. His daughter completed the second volume, and the set was released posthumously.