I'm following this discussion from years ago of the Kirby's. I'm a gggrandchild of Shep Kirby's. I thought the discussion interesting about "Fate" Kirby. No doubt, the Thomas Lafayette Kirby was Fate. Even today folks in Jackson County TN pronounce Lafayette - La Fay et, with the stress on the middle syllable pronounced Fay. My grandfather Thomas Franklin Birdwell b. 1881 was possibly named for Fate. My gf was the son of Martha Kirby, Shep's daughter.