Individual Details

Sibyl Kirkpatrick

(8 Jun 1892 - 1 Oct 1960)

Sybil, who was the oldest, born in 1892, quickly found that the addition of two brothers to her life, Ashby in 1896 and Alfred in 1900, was not all joy. As the only girl, she was expected to be 'mother's little helper', but the boys had no intention in the world of submitting to her authority. At times she believed that 'Let's Get Sybil' was their favorite game.

According to her, they were 'nasty'. She found worms in her bed, they dropped grasshoppers down her bodice, slipped flies into her soup and while she screamed at the top of her lungs, chased her through the house with dead mice. She had a life-long aversion to 'varmits', a term covering not only all creeping, crawling, icky things, but also small boys.

Occasionally, but not often enough, poetic justice overtook the boys, such as the time that Ashby was making a complete nuisance of himself, showing off outrageously for the guests at Sybil's birthday party. Half hysterical over the attention his antics engendered, he threw himself on the lawn and accidently rolled in a 'pasture pie'.

When Shelly was born in 1902, Sybil was at an age to really enjoy a new baby, and she adored him until he turned into one of the varmits too.

Time didn't extinguish her instinct for revenge. When the boys started dating, they would often appeal to her to iron up a fresh white shirt, which she did - but only the cuffs, collars and front panels. They couldn't take off their jackets. While Sybil tripped daintily through the Kansas summer evenings, comfortable in short-sleeved dimity dresses, she smiled wickedly at her brothers sweltering in jackets and starched white shirts.

Sybil's position probably was hard at times. No doubt she came in for a lot of babysitting, housework and responsibility. On the other hand, Sybil grew up to be an awfully good sport!

----------------------------------------------------
From "The I. B. Kirkpatrick Family; Oswego, Kansas - 1888-1941"
"A Memoir by Jane Kirkpatrick Gerard Watts, privately published 1986"

Obituary not found at genealogybank.com or newspaperarchive.com, April 11, 2018.

Events

Birth8 Jun 1892Mound Valley, Labette Co., Kansas
Marriage2 Jan 1918Creek Co., Oklahoma - John Birdell Maxwell
Death1 Oct 1960
BurialOakwood Cemetery, Mounds, Creek Co., Oklahoma

Families

SpouseJohn Birdell Maxwell (1894 - 1960)
FatherIsaac Barber Kirkpatrick (1856 - 1923)
MotherMary Jane Tanner (1868 - 1941)
SiblingInfant Kirkpatrick (1890 - 1890)
SiblingWilliam Ashby Kirkpatrick (1896 - 1989)
SiblingAlfred Emerson Kirkpatrick (1900 - 1927)
SiblingShelly Barber Kirkpatrick (1902 - 1968)

Endnotes