On this day in Alabama history: Ephraim Kirby appointed to Superior Court
Ephraim Kirby (1757-1804) was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and a Connecticut politician. In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson appointed him as a judge in St. Stephens, Washington County, the capital of what was then the Mississippi Territory. He is credited as the first Alabama judge but died soon after his appointment of an illness, possibly yellow fever. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History)
April 6, 1804
Ephraim Kirby was born in 1757 in Connecticut and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, fighting at Bunker Hill and in 16 more battles. He was reportedly injured 13 times. He later became a politician in his native state and in 1804 was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as a judge in St. Stephens, Washington County, which was then a part of the Mississippi Territory. He is credited with being Alabama’s first judge, but his judicial career ended quickly, when in October of that year he died, possibly of yellow fever, at Fort Stoddert on the Mobile River, east of what is now the town of Mount Vernon. A monument to Kirby is located near town, and he is buried 2½ miles east of the monument at Fort Stoddert Cemetery.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama and the Town of Mount Vernon.
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
