FOURTH GENERATION

88. John Kirkpatrick was born on 2 Jun 1776 in South Carolina. He died in 1845 in Ottumwa, Wapello Co., Iowa. John Kirkpatrick's date of birth is given as 2 Jun 1776 by Russell Kirk patrick Smith. While the source of this information is not known, that d ate fits well with what is known of John. His son, John Fletcher Kirkp atrick, says in his brief history of the Kirkpatrick's that his father w as the youngest of the four brothers, sons of James and Susannah Kirkpa trick. He was apparently born in South Carolina and removed to Georgia w ith the rest of the family after the death of his father in the Revolut ion and the remarriage of his mother. He is said to have married 26 No vember 1799 (according to Russell Kirkpatrick Smith). His bride was Sa rah Lane, twin sister of Thomas' wife Mary, who was born 18 December 17 77 (see preceding material on Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick).

He moved from Georgia to Illinois Territory in 1802.* He first settled i n the neighborhood of present day Edwardsville. In 1817 John lived in B ond County, Illinois, at about the same time Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick m oved there. John lived Northeast of Greenville approximately one-half m ile North of the site of Almira College. According to John Fletcher Ki rkpatrick, one of John's sons, John went back to Georgia to bring his m other and brother James out to the Illinois settlements. Says John Fle tcher Kirkpatrick in his account: "At his death [of Joseph Scott, their s tep-father], my father [John] and Uncle Frank [John's brother Francis] w ent to Georgia after her [Susannah Kirkpatrick Scott] and Uncle James a nd family, moved with her to Illinois, but I cannot remember the year. S he lived with us when we lived in Bond County and went with us when we m oved to Sangamon County, near Springfield, where she died."

It is not clear exactly when John moved to Sangamon County, but once th ere he is reported to have built the first horse-mill in the county. A J ohn Kirkpatrick of Sangamon County was named along with two other count y men to locate a county seat for Vermillion County, Illinois. The trio n amed Danville in 1827. This probably our John Kirkpatrick although ano ther of the same name settled in Sangamon County.

John Kirkpatrick is believed to have been the first local Methodist pre acher licensed to preach in Illinois. A story is told that at one of h is charges, two members of the church, neighbors, got into a quarrel an d preferred charges against each other and demanded a trial. A committe e was accordingly called and the accused and accuser brought face to fa ce. But before entering upon the trial John Kirkpatrick asked both of t hem to go alone with him to the woods. After praying earnestly himself f or them, he called on each of them in succession to pray and the result w as that they were then and there reconciled and resolved of their diffe rences and returned in love and friendship to each other.**

In his autobiography, famed Methodist preacher Peter Cartwright told a t ale of how local preacher John Kirkpatrick of the Sangamon Circuit warn ed him of the very high expectations the local congregation had of Cart wright.

"The people have heard that you are one of the greatest preachers in th e West and their expectations are on tiptoe, and no bishop could satisf y them; but do your best," said Kirkpatrick. Cartwright tried and trie d again at several meetings but could tell that his preaching was only b eing received politely. "Brother Kirkpatrick came to me again and deep ly sympathized with me. Said I, 'Brother, I know what is the matter. I t'll come the next time.'" And so on the next Sunday night Cartwright, o nly partially prepared, drew his bow and "let fly arrows in almost all d irections; some laughed; some cried; some became angry; some ran; some c ursed me right out; some shouted; some fell to the earth; and there was a g eneral uproar throughout the whole encampment. Our meeting lasted all n ight, and the slain of the Lord were many; and although this discourse w as delivered without connection, system or anything else but exhortatio n, I redeemed myself, and now it was admitted that I was a great preach er."***

John Kirkpatrick named one of his children after Peter Cartwright.

In 1829 Kirkpatrick was on the move again, this time to Adams County, I llinois. In 1832, a John Kirkpatrick of Adams County sold 640 acres in S chuyler County to Osian M. Ross. Since he received only $100 for it, i t was probably unimproved land. Kirkpatrick is reported to have inheri ted three slaves from Georgia while he lived here. It is said he broug ht them to Illinois and gave them their freedom, binding them to a man i n Quincy to learn a trade. Mysteriously they disappeared, presumed to h ave been kidnapped with the connivance of the man in whose charge they h ad been placed.****

An unexplained record shows a John Kirkpatrick manumitting (freeing fro m slavery) a slave named Caty Smith in Madison County, Illinois in Sept ember 1815, though this does not tally with the above story's date and p lace. Caution must be used here because we believe that two John Kirkp atricks, cousins, lived in Illinois at this time and often in the same g eneral vicinity, Madison County, Adams County, etc. (See John Kirkpatr ick, son of Thomas Kirkpatrick). To make matters worse both Kirkpatric k's both died in Iowa at approximately the same time and in the same ge neral region.

"Uncle Johnny" Kirkpatrick, as he is referred to in one of the historie s of Adams County, continued his work as a local Methodist preacher in A dams County. According to an account in the HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY, h e had a homey way of drawing his illustrations from his hearers' experi ence. In one of his sermons, he was combatting the idea that the Chris tian religion could be overthrown, saying: "You might as well try to tu rn over Laurel hill with a corn stalk; it can't be done." At another t ime, by way of showing that Christians were going through the world by t he help of divine inspiration, he said that if his hearers were going t o Atlas in Pike County, "You would not take out into the prairie and ar ound the corner of Keyes' fence, but would, on the contrary, go down th e river, and you would find three notches on the trees, which would ass ure you that you were on the State road. And so it is with the Christi ans; they see the notches all along their route."*****

John Kirkpatrick moved to the area near Ottumwa, Iowa, and it is here t hat he died in 1845. Sarah ("Sally") Kirkpatrick, John's first wife, m ust have died in Sangamon County, Illinois, about 1823 or 1824. Her la st child, Elizabeth ("Betsy") Lane Kirkpatrick was born in 1822. On 12 J uly 1825 in Sangamon County, John Kirkpatrick married Mary Ann Payne, w ho was born ca. 1789 in Virginia. In 1850 she was living with her daug hter Nancy in Wapello County, Iowa Territory. His estate was probated i n 1846. The administrator was Mary A. Kirkpatrick, with security or bo nd pledged by Thomas M. Kirkpatrick (Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick's son). T he estate seems to have been settled about 1848. Papers included bear t he names of William M. Kirkpatrick and P.C. (Peter Cartwright) Kirkpatr ick, both sons of John.

There were 14 children born of the first marriage, John and Sarah Kirkp atrick. John and Mary Payne had 2 children.

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* James Leaton. History of Methodism in Illinois, 1793 to 1832, Walden & S towe, 1883, pp. 38-39.

** History of Methodism in Illinois, 1793 to 1832, supra.

*** Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, N.Y., Carlton & Porter, 1856, pp . 269-270.

**** History of Methodism in Illinois, 1793 to 1832, supra, pp. 38-39.

***** History of Adams County, Illinois, p. 276


Refer to Kirkpatrick Genealogy, 2nd Edition
By: Melvin Kirkpatrick & David Hudson

He was married to Sarah Lane (daughter of Jesse Lane and Winifred Aycock) on 26 Nov 1799 in Jackson Co., Georgia. Sarah Lane ⁽⁶⁾ was born on 18 Dec 1777. She died in 1823 in Sangamon Co., Illinois. John Kirkpatrick and Sarah Lane had the following children:

+256 i. Augustus Browning Kirkpatrick.
+257 ii. James Lane Kirkpatrick.
+258 iii. Jesse Jackson Kirkpatrick.
+259 iv. Joseph Scott Kirkpatrick.
+260 v. Susannah Sophronia Kirkpatrick.
+261 vi. Francis Walker Kirkpatrick.
+262 vii. Ameila Winifred Kirkpatrick.
+263 viii. John Fletcher Kirkpatrick.
+264 ix. Mary Serina Kirkpatrick.
+265 x. Thomas Shelby Kirkpatrick.
266 xi. William McKendree Kirkpatrick was born in 1815. He Fact1 Died of Smallpox in Wisconsin in 1844. He died in Jan 1844 in Grant Co., Wisconsin. ⁽³⁸⁾ He was buried in Hillside Cemetery, Grant Co., Wisconsin. ⁽³⁸⁾
+267 xii. Sarah Felina Kirkpatrick.
+268 xiii. Eliza Carolina Kirkpatrick.
+269 xiv. Elizabeth "Betsy" Lane Kirkpatrick.

John Kirkpatrick and Mary Ann Payne had the following children:

270 i. Peter Cartwright Kirkpatrick.
+271 ii. Nancy Jane Kirkpatrick.