Joseph Kirkman was born in Kentucky on 9 September 1809. He moved to Indiana as a young man, where he became a farmer. He also owned one of the first brickyards in the county and later held the prominent position of Sheriff of Gibson County for many years. Kirkman married Jane Demig (b. 1810) of Virginia on 29 July 1828; together they had nine children. Kirkman was a Republican and active in party councils. He was also a deeply religious man, although not an official member of any one church. He died on 9 March 1879.

Among Joseph and Jane's children were Irene, who is featured in this collection, and Louisa J. (Powell). Son John B., who married Mary Wyat, was a farmer in Princeton, Indiana. Daughter Sophronia married William Snow, who worked as a farm laborer for her father. Son George died shortly after his marriage to Mary Fentress (the exact date is unknown), and Robert died at age 30. The remaining children were Joseph A., who died in 1864 at the age of 10, and two others who died in infancy.

Irene Kirkman Coolidge was born on 20 January 1843 in Princeton, Indiana. As a child she developed an interest in music, learning to sing and play the piano. At 18 she performed the "Star Spangled Banner" for Memorial Day and went on to sing the anthem at every Memorial Day thereafter at various events. Although she attended the Female College (Saint Mary of the Woods) in Terre Haute, Indiana, and briefly taught in Evansville, Indiana, Ms. Kirkman returned to music as a career. She studied voice culture in Chicago and became a full-time voice teacher and leader of choirs when she came back to Princeton, Indiana. Ms. Kirkman married S.E. Coolidge, a distant relative of then-President Calvin Coolidge. Their daughter Mary, who also has papers included in the collection, like her mother showed an interest in music and theater. Mary Coolidge married Roy Kingston and lived in San Diego, California.