Kilby, W. J.

Born in Freeport, Maine, W. J. Kilby descended from early New England Puritan lineage with ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. After graduating from high school in Maine, Kilby relocated to Fresno County, California, in April 1885, initialing work at the Pleasant Valley Stock Farm before taking up a homestead preemption and timber claim on Los Gatos Creek to engage in cattle raising and farming.

Elected justice of the peace for Coalinga in the early 1890s, Kilby served two terms on the bench while simultaneously holding appointment as the town’s postmaster. He acquired substantial property holdings, constructed several commercial and residential structures—including the Kilby Block on E Street—and operated a real estate, insurance, and notary public practice in Coalinga. Married in 1884 to Helen Murtagh, with whom he raised five children—Mollie, Ben W., Beatrice, Colon, and Neta—Judge Kilby was recognized as a prominent Republican leader and an authority on the oil and land development of Fresno County.