William Fosgate Kirby (November 16, 1867July 26, 1934) was a

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

who represented the state in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

from 1916 to 1921. Kirby was born in

Miller County, Arkansas Miller County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,462. The county seat is Texarkana. Miller County is part of the Texarkana, TX-AR, Metropolitan Statisti ...

, near Texarkana, on November 16, 1867, and attended common schools. He studied law at

Cumberland School of Law Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberlan ...

, graduating in 1885, in which year he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Texarkana. A member of the state House of Representatives in 1893 and again in 1897, Kirby served in the state senate from 1899 to 1901. In 1904, he wrote ''Kirby’s Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas''; in 1907, he moved to

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. He was the state's attorney general from 1907 to 1909 and was elected associate justice of the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...

, serving from 1910 to 1916. He resigned upon his election to the Senate to serve out the term of

James P. Clarke James Paul Clarke (August 18, 1854 – October 1, 1916) was a United States Senator and the 18th Governor of Arkansas as well as a white supremacist. Biography Clarke was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi. His father died when Clarke was seven ye ...

, who had died in office. As a senator, Kirby chaired the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture and served on the Committee on Patents. An unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1920 and again in 1932, he resumed his law practice upon leaving the Senate. He again became an associate justice of the state supreme court, serving from 1926 until his death; he died in Little Rock on July 26, 1934, and is buried in Texarkana.

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* 1867 births 1934 deaths People from Miller County, Arkansas Democratic Party United States senators from Arkansas Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Democratic Party Arkansas state senators Arkansas Attorneys General Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court {{Arkansas-politician-stub

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