My interest in Thomas Kirk began when I stumbled upon a family secret. Ultimately, it would torpedo my carefully constructed genealogy and alter my patrilineal identity. In May 2012, as I left a movie theater, I saw I had two voicemails from my mother. In her first message, she said that she had spent all day with dad's half-sister reviewing documents about my grandfather. Mom said they had discovered some "surprising information." Her second voicemail clarified the first: "When I said surprising, I actually meant shocking. Call me!" That discovery revealed a long-kept secret that prompted lots of detective work and DNA testing. I had unwittingly discovered what genealogists call a Non-Paternal Event or Not the Parent Expected. Eventually, I confirmed I was a genetic descendant of Thomas Kirk. He was my fifth great-grandfather. But who was Thomas Kirk? The paper trail stopped abruptly at his branch of the family tree. A genealogical brick wall obscured his ancestral origins. With my curiosity piqued, there was no stopping now. My penchant for dispensing with family secrets in favor of the truth propelled my investigation. However, I quickly discovered that I had my work cut out for me. Shrouded in mystery, Thomas Kirk was not giving up his secrets easily. Over the years, many records documenting his life had been lost or destroyed in a series of misfortunes, including a disastrous courthouse fire. Could I sift Thomas' narrative from the ashes, or was his story extinguished and lost forever?