George Kirk

George Kirk, My Wife's great great grandfather, and father of Lydia Kirk, was born in Nov of 1837 in England.  His parents were Scotish and he lived in County Fife, Scotland as a child.  He Married Elizabeth (Eliza) Gray in 1874 who was born in Cupar, Fife in 1839.  Their 12 children were George, David, James, Robert, Rebecca, Lydia, Thomas, Andrew, Eliza, Hellen (Nellie), Alexander, and Elizabeth (Bessie).  George's occupation was Carpentry, reporting himself as a joiner in 1861, and again in 1881.

George left for America in about 1880 and the rest of the family joined him in about 1881.  They first settled in Watertown, SD where the family lost their mother Elizabeth in 1886.  A few years later they were in Spokane, Washington but as soon as Kalispell, Montana was founded George moved with a portion of the family to this area.  According to "Montana, Its story and Biography"; when George and family moved to Kalispell..."the town was only improved by two shacks".  A niece of George Kirk was the "first white person to be born" in Kalispell (as opposed to the children of the Kalispell indians who inhabited that area).  Her name was Etta Kirk.

George and Elizabeth's daughter Elizabeth married a Gentleman named John Uehlinger who was Prominent in Insurance.  Their daughter Hellen (Nellie) married William Thierwechter in Kalispell.  George build them a home that is now on the national register of historic homes (shown above), and is a great example of the Queen Anne style.  Below is an account of the home.  George lived with his daughter and son in law in that home until his death in 1908.  He and his wife (who was moved to the site later) and several of the family are buried in Kalispell.

Thierwechter / Kramer House (305 4th Avenue W)

The Queen Anne style is nowhere better represented than in this charming two-story home built for newlyweds William and Nellie Thierwechter in 1901. The couple spent the first months of their marriage living across the street with Nellie’s carpenter father, George Kirk, while this residence was under construction. Scottish-born Kirk, one of Kalispell’s earliest settlers, undoubtedly applied his considerable talents to the construction of his daughter’s home and then lived with her until his death in 1908. Thierwechter, a locomotive engineer, was seriously injured in a railroad collision in 1906. His subsequent business ventures included a saloon, a grocery, and an automobile stage, run between Kalispell and Somers. In 1924, Cornelia Long purchased the home and lived here with her daughter and son-in-law Lena and Walter Kramer. Kramer, a dealer in firewood, stabled his horses in a barn that stood on the property, and Lena kept an extensive backyard flower garden. During the Depression, the Kramers shared the home with their own three children and grandchildren as well. The residence features a cross-gabled plan, decorative wood shinglework, full-width porch, and corbeled brick chimney. Of special note are the Palladian window with its decorative wood surround and the semicircular arch in the front gable. In 1934, a fire of unknown origin burned the front porch, which was then rebuilt and enclosed. Architecturally significant and home to several generations of the Kramer family, this vintage residence has earned its prominent place among Kalispell’s historic buildings.