"Joseph Kirby married (1), Dec. 10, 1681, in Wethersfield, Ct., Sarah Markham. The name of his first wife is so given in the manuscript copy of the Kirby genealogy made in 1818, and published in 1890 under the title of 'Kirby Family.' In the records of Wethersfield, published in the N. E. Gen. Register, Vol. XVIII., page 226, the name of his wife is given as 'Sarah Mackoon.' But in the original Town Records the name is plainly written 'Markcoon,' and it seems more probable that such spelling indicates the family of Markcom (as Markham was then sometimes written), than that of McCoon. It is certain that there were Markhams living at that time in the Connecticut valley, while it is not known that there were any living there by the name of McCoon. William Markham owned land in Middletown, which he deeded to Robert Warner in 1664. He married (1) Priscilla Graves, daughter of George Graves of Hartford, by whom he had a daughter Priscilla, and perhaps another daughter, for when he removed to Hadley in 1659 he left a daughter by his first wife with her grandparents. (See Will of Nathaniel Ward of Hadley, Mass.) There were Graves living in Wethersfield who were relatives of his first wife, and this may account for the marriage of Sarah Markham to Joseph Kirby taking place in Wethersfield. Daniel Markham (whose father, Daniel, born 1618, was cousin to William) was also in Middletown about this time. He was a deacon and a man of consequence; and a grandson of Joseph and Sarah Kirby was named Daniel, perhaps after Deacon Daniel Markham. Much effort has been expended in the endeavor to obtain some clue to the ancestry of the first wife of Joseph Kirby, but without result. The date of her birth and death and the place of her burial are unknown; and so her parentage, and even her name, must be left in obscurity."
