American author, son of Caroline M. S. Kirkland; born at Geneva, NY, in 1830. He enlisted for the war in the Twelfth Illinois Regiment, served with it in the Army of the Potomac and came out a major. Afterward he studied law and was admitted to the bar, but latterly engaged in literature and became noted for his stories of Western life. Among these are Zury, the Meanest Man in Spring County (1887); The McVeys (1888), graphic stories of pioneer life in Illinois; The Captain of Company K; The Story of Chicago; and History of the Chicago Massacre of 1812. He died in Chicago on the 29th of April 1894.
