JP Kirkpatrick Genealogy &
Family Site
Welcome to the JP Kirkpatrick
Genealogy and Family Site
The beginnings of this family lies in
the beginnings of the mother country, Scotland. At the seat
of the family in Closeburn
Estates, the Kirkpatrick Family existed
from the start and was hardened in those tumultuous times in what was
known as
"The Borders Region of Scotland".
This landed family grew in the feudal
system of government that was in place, having many stout-hearted sons
that branched
out to establish their own
holdings. The establishment of the Kirkpatrick's of
Kirkmichael is believed to be the beginnings
of this family line here, that left
their native country of Scotland, moving to Northern Ireland around
1725, settling in County Antrim
long enough to catch their breath,
before heading on to America in 1736.
There are several schools of thought as
to just where the James Kirkpatrick (the Immigrant) Family fits in the
history of the
Kirkpatrick Family in America, and the
ability to find documented evidence is difficult due to the area from
which this family comes.
It was noted in the book
"The Kirkpatrick Memorial..." published
in 1867, that the New Jersey branch of the Kirkpatrick Family
came from Watties Neach, Dumfriesshire,
Scotland; as well as our James in this accounting, having also come from
Watties Neach. That has been
accepted by almost all of the researchers of this family. It
was discovered by collaboration
of this editor and a fellow named
William Conbhail, a native of Scotland and a Kirkpatrick family member,
that Watties Neach
does not exist (as has been borne out
in many inquiries by just about every family researcher) in Scotland.
William, who used
to work for the Scottish Trust as an
Investigator states that based on his knowledge of the area, fluency in
Old German Script,
that when a location known as "Wallaces
House" is written in the old script (which is similar in form to Old
Scots) it can be
misconstrued as "Watties
Neach". Copies of an email exchange with William can be found
elsewhere on this website.
Also, this whole project on the annals
of the Kirkpatrick and Allied Families would never have been possible
without the
hundreds of family researchers that
willingly gave of their research into this family. We are all
indebted to you...
Copyright © 1997-2012 John P. Kirkpatrick
All Rights Reserved
Page Last Updated: 30 January
2012
