Individual Details

John Award Kirkpatrick

(24 Apr 1786 - 19 Aug 1859)

John Kirkpatrick was born in Chester Co., SC 24 April 1786. He was named in the will of Francis Kirkpatrick and being a minor, Matthew Rogers was appointed his guardian. John moved to Jackson County, TN, but the year is uncertain. He married there but his first wife has not been identified. Two children were born to this union. John's wife died shortly after the birth of the second child on 20 Dec. 1810.

On 21 Feb. 1811, John married in Fayetteville, TN, Sarah Tinsley in the home of her father. The marriage vows were performed by the Rev. Phillip Mulkey, a well-known South Carolina Baptist preacher.

John Kirkpatrick was a soldier in the war of 1812 in a campaign against the Creeks in Tennessee. This was apparently Andrew Jackson's campaign that resulted in the rout of the Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. John Kirkpatrick and then his widow Sarah received a pension for this service and the records are on file at the National Archives in Washington (File # WC5371).

Kirkpatrick seems a little unclear as to the leadership he was involved in and there seems to be uncertainty as to whether he achieved the rank of Sergeant that is alluded to in one paper. More likely he was a West Tennessee militia private who served 90 days or so in the campaign. In his own words, he "...declares that he is the identical John Kirkpatrick who was a private in the company commanded by Captain James Bennett 1st and afterwards by Captain (Samuel) Ashmore (in the 3d Regiment I think, uncertain) of West Tennessee Volunteers commanded by Col. Steel (Steele) firstly and 2nd by Col. Chuburn I think in the Creek war...that he volunteered in Jackson County, to the service of the United States at Fayetteville West Tennessee some time in first of February 1814 to serve three months in said War...and was honorably discharged at Fayetteville West Tennessee on or about the 10th or 15th of May 1814 by reason of the expiration of his Term of Service."

In the records is a handwritten paper, apparently a discharge, signed by Samuel Ashmore, Capt. and by B. Irwin, apparently a Major in the First Regiment: "I Certify that John Kirkpatrick a private in my Company of Militia has served on an Expedition against the Creek Indians under the Command of Major Gen. Andrew Jackson three months and fifteen (?) days and is Hereby Discharged May the 10 1814."
On a muster list Kirkpatrick is listed as being in Ashmore's Company of Col. Richard C. Napier's Regiment of West Tennessee Militia Infantry, for the period described above. In still another paper there is reference to Col. Copland and to Kirkpatrick as a sergeant. We think the above assertion--90 days, private, in Ashmore's company is correct. Beyond that, there seems some slight confusion.

Sarah (Tinsley) Kirkpatrick, John's widow was awarded a pension (cert. # 5371). According to Day Jewell, she may have been the daughter of William Tinsley, another Revolutionary War veteran serving from Virginia. Jewell supplies no evidence of this connection. Sarah was born in Kentucky 25 Jun 1794 and died in Fitzgerald, Illinois, 22 May 1883.

John Kirkpatrick removed to Illinois, probably about 1816 or 1817. he was living in Franklin County when Illinois was admitted as a state in 1818. John appears in the first census of Illinois with a family of seven besides himself. His residence is given as Big Muddy in Franklin County.

John Kirkpatrick died 19 August 1859 in Franklin Co., Illinois, and was buried in Reid Hill Cemetery, about four miles northwest of Mulkeytown.
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Day Jewell makes the assertions that both James Riley Kirkpatrick and Francis McDonald Kirkpatrick (John's sons) served with the Illinois troops in the Civil War. The state archives in Illinois do not have any record of such service, and we have been unable to locate any evidence to support the claim. We do not rule out such a possibility, however, as sometimes it is difficult to track Civil War musters.
William T. Kirkpatrick and Edmund Singleton Kirkpatrick both served in the Black Hawk War in 1832 under the command of Captain William J. Stephenson in the 1st Brigade, 2d Regiment, Illinois Mounted Volunteers. Both made claims for bounty land. Their records of service are on file at the National Archives. Both men apparently served three months and were awarded bounty land warrants in the 1850's. John Foster Kirkpatrick applied for a second warrant and Martha, Williams widow, applied for a second in 1879. It is unclear whether these grants were made.
(Kirkpatrick Genealogy, 2nd Ed.)

Events

Birth24 Apr 1786Chester Co., South Carolina
Birth24 Apr 1786Chester Co., South Carolina
Marriage21 Feb 1810Jackson, Madison Co., Tennessee - Rebecca Singleton
Marriage21 Feb 1811Fayetteville, Lincoln Co., Tennessee - Sarah Tinsley
Residence1820Franklin Co., Illinois
Residence1840Franklin Co., Illinois
Residence1850Franklin Co., Illinois
Death19 Aug 1859Franklin Co., Illinois
Death19 Aug 1859Mulkeytown, Franklin Co., Illinois
MarriageJackson Co., Tennessee - Rebecca Singleton
Alt nameJohn Kirkpatrick
BurialReid-Kirkpatrick Cemetery, Mulkeytown, Franklin Co., Illinois

Families

SpouseRebecca Singleton (1788 - 1810)
ChildEdmund Singleton Kirkpatrick (1810 - 1876)
SpouseSarah Tinsley (1794 - 1883)
ChildWilliam Thomas Kirkpatrick (1812 - 1872)
ChildHiram Kirkpatrick (1814 - 1850)
ChildElizabeth P. Kirkpatrick (1816 - 1880)
ChildJohn Foster Kirkpatrick (1818 - 1880)
ChildWallace Kirkpatrick (1820 - 1830)
ChildGeorge Kirkpatrick (1822 - 1830)
ChildEleanor V. Kirkpatrick (1823 - 1913)
ChildMary Jane Kirkpatrick (1826 - 1903)
ChildJames Riley Kirkpatrick (1829 - 1875)
ChildMartha Kirkpatrick (1835 - 1850)
ChildFrancis McDonald Kirkpatrick (1840 - 1919)
FatherFrancis Kirkpatrick (1737 - 1791)
MotherMargaret Gilmer Rogers (1738 - 1798)
SiblingEleanor Kirkpatrick (1774 - )
SiblingElizabeth Kirkpatrick (1776 - 1846)
SiblingWallace Kirkpatrick (1781 - 1839)
SiblingWilliam Thomas Kirkpatrick (1784 - 1807)
SiblingJane Kirkpatrick (1788 - 1811)
SiblingEdward Morehead Kirkpatrick (1790 - 1869)

Endnotes