Archives West Finding Aid

The Reynold Marvin Kirby collection consists primarily of correspondence to Kirby concerning his election as Episcopal Bishop of Utah and Nevada in October of 1886. In addition there is a small amount of correspondence regarding Kirby's departure from Salt Lake City, where he had been an Episcopal priest from 1871 to 1882. The collection also contains biographical and genealogical information about Kirby and photographs of a fishing trip near Fish Kill Lake, New York.

The collection revolves around two specific time periods, the 1882 departure of Kirby and his 1886 election as Bishop of Utah, thus the decision was made to arrange the collection chronologically, allowing the researcher to reconstruct the events as they occurred. An index of correspondents has been created to allow access by name. The collection documents the importance of the Episcopal Church to its members in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kirby had become popular in Salt Lake while working as a priest there in the 1870s. His main contribution to the community came from his work on developing St. Mark's Hospital. Kirby returned to his home, in New York State, in 1882. When Utah's Bishop, Daniel Sylvester Tuttle, was called to become Bishop of Missouri, the most sought after replacement for Tuttle was the Reverend Kirby.

Kirby, in October of 1886, was elected by the Episcopal House of Bishops to succeed Tuttle as Bishop of Utah. This election generated a number of letters and telegrams from Episcopalians in Salt Lake, as well as several prominent Episcopal Bishops, urging Kirby to accept the position. These letters appear in the October 1866 folders. Kirby, due to family considerations, chose to decline the offer. This rejection caused a flurry of letters in November of 1886 from Salt Lake, encouraging Kirby to reconsider his decision. Kirby did not change his mind then, but apparently in the summer of 1887 he did reconsider the offer, as indicated by another series of letters written in June and July of 1887.

This collection documents an important event in the history of the Episcopal Church in Utah. The letters carry the signatures of many prominent non-LDS citizens of Salt Lake City. In addition, there are several letters penned by Bishop Tuttle. Most interesting is the letter written by Tuttle to Kirby, postmarked Silver Reef Utah, March 29, 1886. Tuttle at this time had just been notified that he had been elected Bishop of Missouri, and in his letter Tuttle described his surprise and anguish over the decision. Tuttle did not desire to leave Utah, but indicated that if Kirby would succeed him the decision to go would be much easier. The Kirby collection documents a the period of Utah history when the state was becoming less isolated