FOURTH GENERATION

85. Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick ⁽⁶⁾ was born on 9 Nov 1766 in South Carolina. He died on 16 Dec 1821 in Bond Co., Illinois. He was buried in Moody Cemetery, Greenville, Bond Co., Illinois.⁽³¹⁾ Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick's birthdate is given as 9 Nov 1766 in South C arolina. He is generally considered the eldest son of James the Immigra nt, although the exact order of birth is not certain. His mother was S usannah Gillham. Thomas married abt. 1797 Mary 'Polly' Lane who was bo rn 18 Dec 1777.

Mary Lane was the twin sister of Sarah Lane who married Thomas Newton K irkpatrick's brother John. The two sisters were daughters of Jesse and W inifred (Aycock) Lane. Jesse was born in Halifax, NC on 3 July 1733. H e served as a Revolutionary War officer in the 3rd North Carolina Conte nentals and is reputed to have been at the battle of Kings Mountain. T he family moved to Georgia in 1784, first to Elbert and Oglethorpe coun ties, and finally to Jackson County.* We do not have a marriage date o r place for Thomas and Mary, although it probably took place in Jackson C ounty, Georgia, abt. 1797.

Thomas Kirkpatrick was named among Jackson County, GA's first Justices o f the Peace on 4 Aug 1797 (The Early History of Jackson County, Georgia b y G.J.N.Wilson, 1914, p. 296). Jesse Springer in her book Cranehook on D elaware (a genealogy published in Illinois), states that the Georgia De partment of Archives & History, in correspondence dated 17 May 1961, in formed her that Thomas Kirkpatrick served as Justice of the Peace of Ja ckson County, commissioned 3 Jun 1799. Again, the book Gone To Georgia : Jackson & Gwinnett Counties and Their Neighbors in the Western Migrat ion (Compiled by William C. Stewart, National Genealogical Society Publ ication #30, 1965) gives Kirkpatrick's appointment as Justice of the Pe ace in Jackson County in 1799.

David M. Kirkpatrick in his genealogy, An American Kirkpatrick Family, r eproduces newspaper clipping facing page 34. The clipping was found in t he effects of James G. Kirkpatrick, descendant of Thomas Newton Kirkpat rick, presumably from an Illinois newspaper. It refers in the last two p aragraphs to a document 130 years old in the possession of George Kirkp atrick, James G. Kirkpatrick's brother. It is an order of Governor Jar ed Irwin of Georgia, appointing Thomas Kirkpatrick a Justice of the Pea ce, signed as follows: "...given under my hand and seal at the State Ho use in Louisville, this 13th day of June, Anno Dom. 1797 in the 21st ye ar of American Independence." **

A number of land transactions show up connecting Kirkpatrick to Georgia a nd Jackson County. A 1788 grant gives Thomas Kirkpatrick 300 acres in F ranklin County, GA. *** (Jackson County was erected from Franklin Count y). The land is described as bordered on the northwest by Scott's land s but vacant on all other sides. **** Franklin was one of Georgia's ori ginal counties. In 1807 another grant of 200 acres is given to Thomas K irkpatrick on his own headright, this time in Jackson County. It is bo rdered on the Northeast by Kirkpatrick's (which one?) land, on the sout heast by Jarrett, on the southwest by surveyed land and on the northwes t by Deprest's land. This grant is signed by the Governor Jared I rwin. *****

A transaction between Thomas Kirkpatrick and Francis Kirkpatrick both o f Jackson County, Georgia, concerns a transfer of land, 120 acres on Cu rries Creek, for 100 dollars "unto him in hand paid," from Thomas to Fr ancis, 26 May 1798. On the 9th of October 1805, James Kirkpatrick for t he sum of $500 agrees to buy land on Curries Creek in Jackson County fr om Thomas Kirkpatrick. Another record dated 17 Nov 1815 records the tr ansfer by Thomas Kirkpatrick of Madison County, Illinois Territory, of 2 00 acres of land in Jackson County, Georgia, for the sum of $500 to Joh n Boyle of Jackson County. The land is described as a tract on the wat ers of Currey Creek and reference is made to "grant for the same in my n ame signed by his excellency the Governor, the 25th day of November 180 7." All of these records are on file in the Jackson County courthouse a s Book AB-110, Book D-265, and Book F-442 respectively. The last descr ibed transaction is obviously a sale by Thomas Kirkpatrick of land desc ribed in the previous paragraph as being granted to him on his own head right. Kirkpatrick had departed from Georgia and was living in Madison C ounty in the Illinois Territory and was selling off his land back east.

We find papers dated March and April in 1802 that Kirkpatrick signed in h is capacity as Justice of the Peace of Jackson County. It would appear f rom this that he did not move to Illinois until sometime in 1802--a yea r when other Kirkpatrick's, Gillham's, and related families, moved in s ome numbers to the western territory. According to John Fletcher Kirkp atrick, the motivating factor in the move to Illinois was the reluctanc e of Thomas and his brother John to raise their children in slave terri tory.

Thomas and Polly's son, Thomas Milligan states that Thomas had been rai sed in the Presbyterian Church, but that he and Polly were 'converted' ( to Methodism) in the Cane Ridge Revival which took place in central Ken tucky in 1801, and was the single most notable event in the major relig ious movement usually call the "Second Great Awakening." It is possibl e, but not very likely, that they were present at Cane Ridge. It is mo re likely that Thomas and Polly became Methodists under the influence o f the religious revival of which the Cane Ridge Revival was a part. In a ny event, it is clear that they, along with Thomas's brother John and h is family, became Methodists at approximately the time they moved to Il linois. This conversion was to have profound effects on the families o f both brothers.

The family settled in a spot in Illinois about 20 miles northeast of St L ouis, Missouri. The land Thomas settled on was bought as the militia c laim of Pierre LeJoy (#991), 8 Jun 1804, and a second militia claim (#1 719) of Louis LeBrun, Jr., affirmed to Thomas Kirkpatrick 16 Nov 1806. T hese claims are recorded in the American State Papers, 2nd Volume, Publ ic Lands. The two Frenchmen had served in the militia on the early Mis sissippi frontier and grants of land were awarded for this service. Th ese lands were located on what was known as Cohos (or Cohokia) Creek in M adison County. Kirkpatrick built a cabin there about 1805.

Madison County, Illinois was organized as a county 4 Sep 1812. The hom e of Thomas Kirkpatrick was designated as the County Seat of Government b y the Territorial Governor, Ninian Edwards:

"September 14th, by Ninian Edwards, Governor of the Illinois Territory, a P roclamation: By Virtue of the powers vested in the Governor of the Ter ritory, I do hereby lay off a County or district to be called the Count y of Madison to be included within the following bounds viz to begin on t he Mississippi to run the second township line above Cahokia East until i t strikes the dividing line of Upper Canada, thence with said line to t he Mississippi and thence down the Mississippi to the beginning--I do a ppoint the house of Thomas Kirkpatrick to be the seat of Justice of sai d County...done at Kaskaskia the 14th day of September 1812 and of the I ndependence of the United States the 37th, Ninian Edwards..." ******

On 23 June 1813 the Governor appointed Thomas Kirkpatrick as Judge of t he Court of Common Pleas of Madison County, again as a County Judge on 2 5 Dec 1814 and 10 Jan 1816. (These records are also found in the Territ orial Papers of Illinois, Vols. 16 and 17.)

Thomas Kirkpatrick is recorded on a tax list dated 1814 as having one s lave and six horses with a total tax of $4.00. *******

Kirkpatrick's land claim covered the Northwest part of the present town o f Edwardsville, Illinois. In the Indian troubles that preceeded the Wa r of 1812, Kirkpatrick built a block house on the land, which was meant a s a protection for several families living in the adjacent area. Kirkp atrick served briefly as a Lieutenant in the militia during this period . The muster rolls of Lieut. Daniel G. Moore's company of volunteer in fantry called into service from 9 May 1813 to 9 Jun 1813, lists Thomas K irkpatrick and his oldest son James Harrison Kirkpatrick as privates. H arrison Kirkpatrick would have been about 15 years of age at this time. A J ohn Kirkpatrick, probably Thomas' brother, is also listed. (Illinois in t he War of 1812-1814, Stevens, 1904.)

Brink's History of Madison County, Illinois, reproduces this document g iving Kirkpatrick Lieutenancy:

"Edwardsville, September 24, 1814, Sir--This day there was an election h eld at this place for a Captain and First and Second Lieutenants, by th e volunteers that have of late been raised in consequence of your reque st to Isam Gillham and J.G. Lofton, Esq. The company detained the elec tion until about the 4 of the O'Clock in the afternoon in hopes we woul d have been joined by Mr. Stout and a party from that neighborhood. On b eing disappointed, we proceeded to elect John G. Lofton, Captain, Thoma s Kirkpatrick, 1st Lieutenant, and Samuel G. Morse, 2nd Lieutenant, and i ntend when orders are received, to elect the balance of the officers, s o as to dispose of the officers in each settlement which may join. We a ssure your Excellency that the old men have volunteered with a spirit t hat reflects an honor on the old veterans of '76. The notice of the el ection was so short in this settlement that the people had not general n otice, but there remains no doubt but the company will be complete befo re this reaches you.-- there are 70 on the list now. The above officer s were elected by a unanimous vote. Very respectfully yours,
Thos. Kirkpatrick
C. Cadwell, Judges of the Election"

Samuel G. Morse, mentioned in the above paragraph as being elected 2nd L ieutenant, married three times and two of his wives were Kirkpatrick wo men. He seems to have been closely associated with Thomas Kirkpatrick, a t least for a time, and served in both Madison and Bond counties as She riff.

At the first meeting of the Court of Common Pleas in Kirkpatrick's home , Kirkpatrick applied for and received a license to keep a public house . He paid $6.50 for the license and had prices stipulated by the Court : a meal for 25 cents, corn or oats 1 bit per gallon, hay for the nigh t 12 1/2 cents, rum or wine 37 1/2 cents per half-pint.

In 1816 a town surveyed by Kirkpatrick was set out. It was called Edwa rdsville in honor of Ninian Edwards, then territorial governor of Illin ois.

The Court of Common Pleas was superseded 19 December 1814 by a territor ial law which created county courts, concerned with the administrative a ffairs of the counties. Governor Edwards commissioned Kirkpatrick as o ne of the three judges of the first such Madison County Court. It met f or the first time 6 March 1816. Sometime in 1816 he donated $100 to th e building of a Madison County courthouse.

The Kirkpatrick name pretty well disappears after about 1816 from count y histories of Madison County, Illinois. This corresponds with the app earance of Thomas Kirkpatrick and others in Bond County, a little to th e east. An epidemic of 'milk sickness' is sometimes credited as the re ason for this settler exodus. On 1 July 1815, Thomas sold to Dr. Georg e Cadwell two lots in Edwardsville, including the lot containing his dw elling. This probably marks the date of the removal of Thomas and his f amily to the vicinity of Greenville, which at that time was still a par t of Madison County. He remained a Madison County judge and continued t o show up in Madison County records until Bond County was set up in 181 7 from Madison County territory.

On 17 Sep 1817, Thomas Kirkpatrick and Polly his wife deeded two acres o f land in Bond County to John Kirkpatrick, Robert Galispie, Andrew Mood y, Robert Diamond, John Spellers, Francis Kirkpatrick and Isaac Price, i n trust to be used as a meeting house for the Methodist Episcopal Churc h.

In Bond County, Thomas was a defendant in several civil suits brought b y Samuel Whiteside and others. In some of the suits he was co-defendan t with his brother Francis and his son James Harrison. What was the ca use of the suits is unknown.

On 12 Feb. 1817, Kirkpatrick was appointed a Judge in Bond County, and a lso at the same time he was named a Justice of the Peace. Finally, he w as named as a Judge of Probate. he was still active in the affairs of t he county when he served as a foreman of a grand jury in Bond County on 1 5 May 1820.

Thomas died in Bond County, Illinois 16 Dec 1821. In an obituary, the E dwardsville Spectator said, in part:

"Society has seldom felt a regret more prevalent, or more sincere, than h as been called forth by the death of the Hon. Thomas Kirkpatrick on Sun day the 16th last, late Judge of Probate for the county of Bond...in ea rly life, the attachment of his father to the cause of our indepence, b rought upon him the vengeful malignity of the Tories, and he was killed b y them, at his own house, desolving the care of a large family upon the s ubject of our present notice. In a war, in which the frontier inhabita nts of Georgia (where he then resided)******** were called to defend t heir hard earned possessions, against the lawless aggressions of a sava ge and barbarous foe, he early shared it's perils, and performed the du ties of a commissary until peace succeeded...For the term of fifteen ye ars, from 1803 to 1818 he discharged with the responsible duties of a J udge of the Court of Common Pleas, with the ability always satisfactory a nd with adherance to justice...He was at that time elected a member of t he Convention which formed the Constitution of our State, and though bo rn and educated under the influence of different sentiments, was one of t hose who firmly maintained the political truth that 'all men are born f ree and equal'... He had a fondness for books, and had acquired a fund o f useful information on various subjects, especially religious...For mo re than twenty years he was a professor of the Christian religion..."

Thomas made a will dated 15 Dec 1821 in Bond County, Illinois, naming h is wife Polly and his sons James H. and John L. Kirkpatrick as executor s. The will is not too informative.

Mary 'Polly' Kirkpatrick, Thomas' wife, died 1 February 1839 in Morgan C ounty, Illinois. Her will dated 30 Jan 1839 in Morgan County, Illinois , is a little more interesting. She gives $250 to Charles Alford and J onathan Hart Kirkpatrick, her two youngest sons. She gives to daughter s Emily and Sarah Louisa (Loiza) $20 each; $50 to Pope Curtis Kirkpatri ck, son of her son Richard H. Kirkpatrick, deceased; and the rest to sh are equally in monies raised by the sale of her property, that is, says t he will, one-twelfth part to James H., John L., Joseph L., William P., E mily, Sarah, Jesse W., Thomas M., Francis A., Charles 'Alphred' (Alford ), and Jonathan Hart, "each of them being my sons and daughters", also o ne-twelfth part to the children of my daughter Winifred, "now deceased" . John L. Kirkpatrick and Daniel Troy were named executors. Witnesses w ere John Fox and John H. Barton. Filed with the papers is an inventory m ade March 1839 giving details of notes held against the estate and othe r details. Among those listed are John L. Kirkpatrick, Francis Kirkpat rick and Asa C. New.

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* For more on this family, see Joseph Habersham Historical Collections, V ol. 2, 1902, Atlanta, p. 619, "General History of the Lanes of North Ca rolina and Georgia".

**Louisville: "In 1786, the assembly directed that a new town, to be c alled Louisville, be located within twenty miles of Galphin's Old Town o n the Ogeechee as capital. Augusta was to be the capital until Louisvi lle was ready for occupancy which was not until 1795." History of Geor gia, K. Coleman, ed., Univ. of Georgia Press, Athens, GA., 1977.

*** Georgia Department of Archives & History, Atlanta, Grant Book PPP, p . 294.

**** "Scott's lands" were probably the lands of Thomas' step-father Jos eph Scott.

***** Grant Book G-5, p. 191.

******Territorial Records of Illinois, edited by Edmund James, Illinois S tate Historical Library, No. 11, 1901.

******* This list is given in the Madison County section of the County A rchives in Illinois, by Pease, Illinois State Historical Library, 1915, p age 410.

******** This is incorrect. The Kirkpatrick's lived in South Carolina d uring the Revolution.

He was married to Mary Ann "Polly" Lane (daughter of Jesse Lane and Winifred Aycock) in 1797 in Jackson Co., Georgia.⁽³²⁾ Mary Ann "Polly" Lane⁽⁶⁾ was born on 18 Dec 1777 in Wake Co., North Carolina.⁽³³⁾ She died on 1 Feb 1839 in Morgan Co., Illinois. Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick and Mary Ann "Polly" Lane had the following children:

+225 i. James Harrison Kirkpatrick.
+226 ii. John Lane Kirkpatrick.
227 iii. Isaac Gillham Kirkpatrick⁽³⁴⁾ was born on 22 Feb 1801 in Georgia. He Fact1 Drowned in Illinois. in 1810. He died on 17 Mar 1810 in Madison Co., Illinois.⁽³⁵⁾
Isaac Gillham Kirkpatrick died at the age of 9 from drowning in a river i n Illinois.
+228 iv. Rev. Joseph Lane Kirkpatrick.
+229 v. Richard Henry Kirkpatrick.
+230 vi. William P. Kirkpatrick.
+231 vii. Susan Emily Kirkpatrick.
+232 viii. Winnifred P. Kirkpatrick.
+233 ix. Jesse Walker Kirkpatrick.
+234 x. Sarah Louisa Kirkpatrick.
+235 xi. Thomas Milligan Kirkpatrick.
+236 xii. Francis Asbury Kirkpatrick.
237 xiii. Polly D. Kirkpatrick⁽³⁴⁾ was born on 20 Mar 1817 in Madison Co., Illinois. She died on 17 Apr 1819 in Madison Co., Illinois.
+238 xiv. Charles Alford Kirkpatrick.
239 xv. Jonathan Hart Kirkpatrick.