Page "Kirksville, Missouri" Paragraph 9

According to tradition, Jesse Kirk, Kirksvilles first postmaster, shared a dinner of turkey and whiskey with surveyors working in the area on the condition that they would name the town after him.

Not only the first postmaster, Kirk was also the first to own a hotel and a tavern in Kirksville ( contrary to popular belief, the name of the city has no connection to John Kirk, onetime president of Truman State University ).

However, the grandson of Jesse Kirk reported that the town was named for Kirk ’ s son John, a figure of local legend credited with killing two deer with a single bullet.

" Hopkinsville " was explained as a joking reference to the peculiar gait of John Kirk ’ s lame father-in-law, David Sloan ; the jocular name was discarded when the village was selected for the seat of justice in Adair County.