As an officer [lieutenant], Absalom Kirk was able to do what most Confederate soldiers could not--he resigned. His reason was "the want of the due respect and proper treatment from my superior and brother officers." He and wife, Harriet appear on the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census records of Giles County, Virginia. By 1900 he was living in Mercer County, West Virginia. He was born in July 1833 and made his living as a farmer.