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...