[1] Robert Crothers Kirk was born February 26, 1821, in Mount Pleasant, Jefferson County, Ohio.
[2] He attended the schools in Mount Pleasant and entered Franklin College in New Athens, Ohio, but did not graduate.
[3][4] He returned to his native town and studied medicine, and then took a course at University of Pennsylvania medical school in Philadelphia.
[3][4] Kirk moved to Fulton County, Illinois, and began a medical practice.
In 1873, Governor Noyes appointed him Commissioner to represent Ohio at the Vienna Exposition.