Harriet Fithian Kirby (maiden name: Garrison) was born on February 9, 1831, in Cumberland County, New Jersey, to Edmund F. Garrison and Rebecca Dare. His father was a merchant who owned $15,000 of real estate in 1850. She married John Kirby in Swedesboro, New Jersey, on March 23, 1854, and they had at least two children: Helen, born around 1855; and Catherine, born around 1856. The family lived in Salem, New Jersey, and her husband worked as a physician. They moved to Mercer County, New Jersey, sometime before 1880, and John died there in 1897. Harriet passed away on February 1, 1919.