On 3 November 1864, Pitts Kirby of Wilson County executed a detailed will disposing of his worldly goods. Kirby lived on the far southwest edge of the county, within a mile or two of the Johnston County line.
In addition, Kirby directed that his “Negro Boy Isaac” be hired out until his youngest child reached age eighteen “& then to be Sold & Equally Divided among all of my Children.”
Pitts Kirby didn’t die for more than a decade and, in any event, Ellick and Isaac were emancipated six months after this will was drafted.
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The 1860 slave schedule of Kirbys district, Wilson County, lists Pitts Kirby with two enslaved young men, a 19 year-old and a 17 year-old — Ellick and Isaac. (Or Isaac and Ellick.)
On 6 May 1866, Alexander Kirby and Martha Perry registered their cohabitation with the Johnston County clerk, thereby legitimating their marriage, which had taken place in June 1861.
On 2 May 1867, Isaac Kirby and Mary Barnes were married in Johnston County, North Carolina.
In the 1870 census of Beulah township, Johnston County, N.C.: farmer Isaac Kirby, 30, and wife Mary, 18, farm laborer. He claimed $50/real estate and $125/personal estate.
In the 1870 census of Beulah township, Johnston County, N.C.: Alexander Kirby, 30, farm laborer; wife Martha, 30; and five children Allen, 8, Willis, 6, Neely, 3, James, 2, and Mary, 3 months. [The eldest two children were born in slavery on the farm on which their mother was enslaved.]
In the 1880 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Isaac Kirby, 41; wife Mary, 25; and sons Willis, 14, and Leroy, 1.
In the 1880 census of Beulah township, Johnston County: farmer Alic Kirby, 43; wife Martha J., 40; and children Clarkey, 21, Willis, 17, Milley J., 14, James A., 12, Mary, 10, Martha A., 8, Martha A., 7, Sarah E., 6, Evaline, 3, Lewis Z., 2, and Leroy, 10 months.
In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Isaac S. Kirby, 58; wife Mary, 54; and sons Leroy A., 21, William, 14, and Isaac R., 13.
In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: day laborer Alex Kirby, 61; wife Martha J., 60; sons Amos, 18, and Obie, 12; and grandson Wiley, 5.
It appears that both Isaac S. Kirby and Alexander Kirby died between 1900 and 1910. Were they brothers?