Individual Details
John Kirkpatrick
(2 Jun 1776 - 1845)
John Kirkpatrick's date of birth is given as 2 Jun 1776 by Russell Kirkpatrick Smith. While the source of this information is not known, that date fits well with what is known of John. His son, John Fletcher Kirkpatrick, says in his brief history of the Kirkpatrick's that his father was the youngest of the four brothers, sons of James and Susannah Kirkpatrick. He was apparently born in South Carolina and removed to Georgia with the rest of the family after the death of his father in the Revolution and the remarriage of his mother. He is said to have married 26 November 1799 (according to Russell Kirkpatrick Smith). His bride was Sarah Lane, twin sister of Thomas' wife Mary, who was born 18 December 1777 (see preceding material on Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick).
He moved from Georgia to Illinois Territory in 1802.* He first settled in the neighborhood of present day Edwardsville. In 1817 John lived in Bond County, Illinois, at about the same time Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick moved there. John lived Northeast of Greenville approximately one-half mile North of the site of Almira College. According to John Fletcher Kirkpatrick, one of John's sons, John went back to Georgia to bring his mother and brother James out to the Illinois settlements. Says John Fletcher Kirkpatrick in his account: "At his death [of Joseph Scott, their step-father], my father [John] and Uncle Frank [John's brother Francis] went to Georgia after her [Susannah Kirkpatrick Scott] and Uncle James and family, moved with her to Illinois, but I cannot remember the year. She lived with us when we lived in Bond County and went with us when we moved to Sangamon County, near Springfield, where she died."
It is not clear exactly when John moved to Sangamon County, but once there he is reported to have built the first horse-mill in the county. A John Kirkpatrick of Sangamon County was named along with two other county men to locate a county seat for Vermillion County, Illinois. The trio named Danville in 1827. This probably our John Kirkpatrick although another of the same name settled in Sangamon County.
John Kirkpatrick is believed to have been the first local Methodist preacher licensed to preach in Illinois. A story is told that at one of his charges, two members of the church, neighbors, got into a quarrel and preferred charges against each other and demanded a trial. A committee was accordingly called and the accused and accuser brought face to face. But before entering upon the trial John Kirkpatrick asked both of them to go alone with him to the woods. After praying earnestly himself for them, he called on each of them in succession to pray and the result was that they were then and there reconciled and resolved of their differences and returned in love and friendship to each other.**
In his autobiography, famed Methodist preacher Peter Cartwright told a tale of how local preacher John Kirkpatrick of the Sangamon Circuit warned him of the very high expectations the local congregation had of Cartwright.
"The people have heard that you are one of the greatest preachers in the West and their expectations are on tiptoe, and no bishop could satisfy them; but do your best," said Kirkpatrick. Cartwright tried and tried again at several meetings but could tell that his preaching was only being received politely. "Brother Kirkpatrick came to me again and deeply sympathized with me. Said I, 'Brother, I know what is the matter. It'll come the next time.'" And so on the next Sunday night Cartwright, only partially prepared, drew his bow and "let fly arrows in almost all directions; some laughed; some cried; some became angry; some ran; some cursed me right out; some shouted; some fell to the earth; and there was a general uproar throughout the whole encampment. Our meeting lasted all night, and the slain of the Lord were many; and although this discourse was delivered without connection, system or anything else but exhortation, I redeemed myself, and now it was admitted that I was a great preacher."***
John Kirkpatrick named one of his children after Peter Cartwright.
In 1829 Kirkpatrick was on the move again, this time to Adams County, Illinois. In 1832, a John Kirkpatrick of Adams County sold 640 acres in Schuyler County to Osian M. Ross. Since he received only $100 for it, it was probably unimproved land. Kirkpatrick is reported to have inherited three slaves from Georgia while he lived here. It is said he brought them to Illinois and gave them their freedom, binding them to a man in Quincy to learn a trade. Mysteriously they disappeared, presumed to have been kidnapped with the connivance of the man in whose charge they had been placed.****
An unexplained record shows a John Kirkpatrick manumitting (freeing from slavery) a slave named Caty Smith in Madison County, Illinois in September 1815, though this does not tally with the above story's date and place. Caution must be used here because we believe that two John Kirkpatricks, cousins, lived in Illinois at this time and often in the same general vicinity, Madison County, Adams County, etc. (See John Kirkpatrick, son of Thomas Kirkpatrick). To make matters worse both Kirkpatrick's both died in Iowa at approximately the same time and in the same general region.
"Uncle Johnny" Kirkpatrick, as he is referred to in one of the histories of Adams County, continued his work as a local Methodist preacher in Adams County. According to an account in the HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY, he had a homey way of drawing his illustrations from his hearers' experience. In one of his sermons, he was combatting the idea that the Christian religion could be overthrown, saying: "You might as well try to turn over Laurel hill with a corn stalk; it can't be done." At another time, by way of showing that Christians were going through the world by the help of divine inspiration, he said that if his hearers were going to Atlas in Pike County, "You would not take out into the prairie and around the corner of Keyes' fence, but would, on the contrary, go down the river, and you would find three notches on the trees, which would assure you that you were on the State road. And so it is with the Christians; they see the notches all along their route."*****
John Kirkpatrick moved to the area near Ottumwa, Iowa, and it is here that he died in 1845. Sarah ("Sally") Kirkpatrick, John's first wife, must have died in Sangamon County, Illinois, about 1823 or 1824. Her last child, Elizabeth ("Betsy") Lane Kirkpatrick was born in 1822. On 12 July 1825 in Sangamon County, John Kirkpatrick married Mary Ann Payne, who was born ca. 1789 in Virginia. In 1850 she was living with her daughter Nancy in Wapello County, Iowa Territory. His estate was probated in 1846. The administrator was Mary A. Kirkpatrick, with security or bond pledged by Thomas M. Kirkpatrick (Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick's son). The estate seems to have been settled about 1848. Papers included bear the names of William M. Kirkpatrick and P.C. (Peter Cartwright) Kirkpatrick, both sons of John.
There were 14 children born of the first marriage, John and Sarah Kirkpatrick. John and Mary Payne had 2 children.
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* James Leaton. History of Methodism in Illinois, 1793 to 1832, Walden & Stowe, 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 moved from Georgia to Illinois Territory in 1802.* He first settled in the neighborhood of present day Edwardsville. In 1817 John lived in Bond County, Illinois, at about the same time Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick moved there. John lived Northeast of Greenville approximately one-half mile North of the site of Almira College. According to John Fletcher Kirkpatrick, one of John's sons, John went back to Georgia to bring his mother and brother James out to the Illinois settlements. Says John Fletcher Kirkpatrick in his account: "At his death [of Joseph Scott, their step-father], my father [John] and Uncle Frank [John's brother Francis] went to Georgia after her [Susannah Kirkpatrick Scott] and Uncle James and family, moved with her to Illinois, but I cannot remember the year. She lived with us when we lived in Bond County and went with us when we moved to Sangamon County, near Springfield, where she died."
It is not clear exactly when John moved to Sangamon County, but once there he is reported to have built the first horse-mill in the county. A John Kirkpatrick of Sangamon County was named along with two other county men to locate a county seat for Vermillion County, Illinois. The trio named Danville in 1827. This probably our John Kirkpatrick although another of the same name settled in Sangamon County.
John Kirkpatrick is believed to have been the first local Methodist preacher licensed to preach in Illinois. A story is told that at one of his charges, two members of the church, neighbors, got into a quarrel and preferred charges against each other and demanded a trial. A committee was accordingly called and the accused and accuser brought face to face. But before entering upon the trial John Kirkpatrick asked both of them to go alone with him to the woods. After praying earnestly himself for them, he called on each of them in succession to pray and the result was that they were then and there reconciled and resolved of their differences and returned in love and friendship to each other.**
In his autobiography, famed Methodist preacher Peter Cartwright told a tale of how local preacher John Kirkpatrick of the Sangamon Circuit warned him of the very high expectations the local congregation had of Cartwright.
"The people have heard that you are one of the greatest preachers in the West and their expectations are on tiptoe, and no bishop could satisfy them; but do your best," said Kirkpatrick. Cartwright tried and tried again at several meetings but could tell that his preaching was only being received politely. "Brother Kirkpatrick came to me again and deeply sympathized with me. Said I, 'Brother, I know what is the matter. It'll come the next time.'" And so on the next Sunday night Cartwright, only partially prepared, drew his bow and "let fly arrows in almost all directions; some laughed; some cried; some became angry; some ran; some cursed me right out; some shouted; some fell to the earth; and there was a general uproar throughout the whole encampment. Our meeting lasted all night, and the slain of the Lord were many; and although this discourse was delivered without connection, system or anything else but exhortation, I redeemed myself, and now it was admitted that I was a great preacher."***
John Kirkpatrick named one of his children after Peter Cartwright.
In 1829 Kirkpatrick was on the move again, this time to Adams County, Illinois. In 1832, a John Kirkpatrick of Adams County sold 640 acres in Schuyler County to Osian M. Ross. Since he received only $100 for it, it was probably unimproved land. Kirkpatrick is reported to have inherited three slaves from Georgia while he lived here. It is said he brought them to Illinois and gave them their freedom, binding them to a man in Quincy to learn a trade. Mysteriously they disappeared, presumed to have been kidnapped with the connivance of the man in whose charge they had been placed.****
An unexplained record shows a John Kirkpatrick manumitting (freeing from slavery) a slave named Caty Smith in Madison County, Illinois in September 1815, though this does not tally with the above story's date and place. Caution must be used here because we believe that two John Kirkpatricks, cousins, lived in Illinois at this time and often in the same general vicinity, Madison County, Adams County, etc. (See John Kirkpatrick, son of Thomas Kirkpatrick). To make matters worse both Kirkpatrick's both died in Iowa at approximately the same time and in the same general region.
"Uncle Johnny" Kirkpatrick, as he is referred to in one of the histories of Adams County, continued his work as a local Methodist preacher in Adams County. According to an account in the HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY, he had a homey way of drawing his illustrations from his hearers' experience. In one of his sermons, he was combatting the idea that the Christian religion could be overthrown, saying: "You might as well try to turn over Laurel hill with a corn stalk; it can't be done." At another time, by way of showing that Christians were going through the world by the help of divine inspiration, he said that if his hearers were going to Atlas in Pike County, "You would not take out into the prairie and around the corner of Keyes' fence, but would, on the contrary, go down the river, and you would find three notches on the trees, which would assure you that you were on the State road. And so it is with the Christians; they see the notches all along their route."*****
John Kirkpatrick moved to the area near Ottumwa, Iowa, and it is here that he died in 1845. Sarah ("Sally") Kirkpatrick, John's first wife, must have died in Sangamon County, Illinois, about 1823 or 1824. Her last child, Elizabeth ("Betsy") Lane Kirkpatrick was born in 1822. On 12 July 1825 in Sangamon County, John Kirkpatrick married Mary Ann Payne, who was born ca. 1789 in Virginia. In 1850 she was living with her daughter Nancy in Wapello County, Iowa Territory. His estate was probated in 1846. The administrator was Mary A. Kirkpatrick, with security or bond pledged by Thomas M. Kirkpatrick (Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick's son). The estate seems to have been settled about 1848. Papers included bear the names of William M. Kirkpatrick and P.C. (Peter Cartwright) Kirkpatrick, both sons of John.
There were 14 children born of the first marriage, John and Sarah Kirkpatrick. John and Mary Payne had 2 children.
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* James Leaton. History of Methodism in Illinois, 1793 to 1832, Walden & Stowe, 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
Events
| Birth | 2 Jun 1776 | South Carolina |  | ||
| Marriage | 26 Nov 1799 | Jackson Co., Georgia - Sarah Lane | |||
| Marriage | 12 Jul 1825 | St Clair Co., Illinois - Mary Ann Payne | | ||
| Death | 1845 | Ottumwa, Wapello Co., Iowa | | ||
| Burial | Ottumwa Cemetery, Ottumwa, Wapello Co., Iowa | |
Families
| Spouse | Sarah Lane (1777 - 1823) |
| Child | Augustus Browning Kirkpatrick (1800 - 1879) |
| Child | James Lane Kirkpatrick (1802 - 1858) |
| Child | Jesse Jackson Kirkpatrick (1804 - 1869) |
| Child | Joseph Scott Kirkpatrick (1805 - 1892) |
| Child | Susannah Sophronia Kirkpatrick (1807 - 1842) |
| Child | Francis Walker Kirkpatrick (1808 - 1863) |
| Child | Ameila Winifred Kirkpatrick (1810 - 1864) |
| Child | John Fletcher Kirkpatrick (1811 - 1882) |
| Child | Mary Serina Kirkpatrick (1813 - 1872) |
| Child | Thomas Shelby Kirkpatrick (1814 - 1882) |
| Child | William McKendree Kirkpatrick (1815 - 1844) |
| Child | Sarah Filina Kirkpatrick (1817 - 1880) |
| Child | Eliza Carolina Kirkpatrick (1820 - ) |
| Child | Elizabeth "Betsy" Lane Kirkpatrick (1822 - 1883) |
| Spouse | Mary Ann Payne (1789 - ) |
| Child | Nancy Jane Kirkpatrick (1826 - 1908) |
| Child | Peter Cartwright Kirkpatrick (1859 - 1943) |
| Father | James "The Patriot" Kirkpatrick (1743 - 1781) |
| Mother | Susannah Gillham (1747 - 1831) |
| Sibling | Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick (1766 - 1821) |
| Sibling | James Gillham Kirkpatrick (1769 - 1846) |
| Sibling | Francis Kirkpatrick (1772 - 1835) |
| Sibling | Polly Kirkpatrick (1777 - ) |