Joseph Henry Kibbey

Joseph Henry Kibbey
Joseph H. Kibbey (c. 1913)
16th Territorial Governor of Arizona
In office March 7, 1905 – May 1, 1909
Nominated by	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Alexander Oswald Brodie
Succeeded by	Richard Elihu Sloan
Associate Justice, Arizona Territorial Supreme Court
In office August 5, 1889 – August 1893
Nominated by	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	William Wood Porter
Succeeded by	Owen Thomas Rouse
Personal details
Born	March 4, 1853 Centerville, Indiana
Died	June 14, 1924(1924-06-14) (aged 71) Phoenix, Arizona
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Nora Burbank
Alma mater	Earlham College
Profession	Attorney

Joseph Henry Kibbey (March 4, 1853 – June 14, 1924) was an American attorney who served as Associate Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court from 1889 to 1893 and Governor of Arizona Territory from 1905 to 1909. His legal career is most remembered for his efforts in the area of water law, his key legal contributions being the "Kibbey Decision", a legal ruling establishing the principle that "water belongs to the land", and creation of the legal framework for the Salt River Valley Water User's Association, a model for federal water projects in the American West. As governor, Kibbey was a leader in the effort to prevent Arizona and New Mexico territories from being combined into a single U.S. state.

Kibbey was born on March 4, 1853 in Centerville, Indiana to Caroline (Cunningham) and John F. Kibbey. His father was an attorney who had been in a legal partnership with Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and served as Indiana Attorney General from March to November 1862. After military service in the American Civil War, the elder Kibbey worked as a trial judge until 1885. The younger Kibbey was educated in public schools before enrolling at Earlham College.

After graduation, Kibbey taught school in Arkansas for a year and clerked at a store before he began reading law at his father's law firm in Richmond, Indiana. He was admitted to the bar in 1875 and spent the next thirteen years practicing law at his father's firm. In 1883 he added a term as city attorney to his duties.

Kibbey married Nora Burbank, the daughter of Dakota Territory Governor John A. Burbank, on January 10, 1877. The marriage produced two children: Walter and Anna.

Health concerns prompted Kibbey to move to Florence, Arizona Territory, in 1888. There he worked as secretary and attorney of the Florence Canal Company, which was owned by a family friend. For the remainder of his career, Kibbey specialized in corporate and water law.