Timothy Hersey and his family were first to settle Abilene, Kansas in 1858. It was Mre. Hersey who named this fertile land - Abilene. Taken from Luke3:1 it means City of the Plains. James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill Hickok, held the position of town marshall in Abilene for eight months in 1871. Thomas Kirby built this Second Empire style Victorian structure in 1885. He came to Abilene in 1872 and in 1878, founded the Kirby Bank.