Individual Details
Samuel D. Kirkpatrick
(5 Feb 1822 - Apr 1906)
Samuel D. Kirkpatrick, was born 5 February 1822 in Bond County, Illinois. He was in Wisconsin for a time as a chain carrier with a surveying group. This was in 1840 in Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin. According to the "History of Crawford and Richland Counties, Wisconsin", Samuel was a blacksmith in Towerville, Crawford County, in 1856 and 1857. This may, however, be a different Samuel D. Kirkpatrick, for there is a record of a marriage of Samuel D. Kirkpatrick to a Melvina Chatterlin, 7 December 1862 in Grant County, Wisconsin, and we know that this was not S.D.'s wife. Apparently S.D. Kirkpatrick drifted southward because during the Civil War he came aboard a troop steamer docked briefly at Alton, Illinois, to greet Samuel Cotter Kirkpatrick of the 11th Wisconsin Infantry, who was on his way south to Missouri. S.D. invited the young man to supper but the younger Kirkpatrick could not be excused. This account, calling S.D. Kirkpatrick "Uncle Harrison's Samuel", is contained in a letter from Samuel Cotter Kirkpatrick to his father dated 26 November 1861. S.D. was in business in Alton, Illinois at this time according to a pre-Civil War city directory.
By 1867, we find him in Litchfield, Illinois, where he helped to found a Masonic lodge. According to a history of Montgomery County, Illinois, he was a lumber merchant. He apparently continued to live in Litchfield for the rest of his life, for we find him there in the 1880 census *** and it is there that he died in 1906. However, the Montgomery County history, which was published in 1904, states that in 1879 he removed to Oregon, and has lived there since that time, living in 1904 in Portland.
S.D. Kirkpatrick authored a short family history titled "A Chronological Record of My Ancestry". There is no date on this piece. The account is vivid but much of it's content is in error. It must be used with care. The paper apparently descended through the family via S.D. Kirkpatrick's daughter Myrtle (Kirkpatrick) Hazard of Lake Charles, Louisiana. (Some copies of this paper bear comments by Day Jewell, another Kirkpatrick researcher, and some of his conclusions, unfortunately, are equally unsound.)
In his paper, S.D. Kirkpatrick writes: "Bond County has many memorable events for me. It was in that county that my parents were married, in that county, I was born, in that county that my grandfather [Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick] died, in that county that my great grandmother [Susannah Gillham Kirkpatrick Scott] died*; it was from that county that my grandfather went as a member of the convention that gave to Illinois her first constitution that started her on her career as a free state for a free people. Yes, some of them had slaves, but only Grandfather brought any to Illinois. He had two--a man and his wife. He gave them their freedom. They settled in the American Bottom** among the Gillhams and were living there when I came to Alton..."
S.D. died in April 1906, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Litchfield, Illinois on 3 May 1906. His wife is given in the 1880 census as Mary J. Kirkpatrick. She was Mary Jane Elworthy or Elsworthy, daughter of William Elsworthy, whom he married 4 September 1851 in Madison County, Illinois. She was born in England and emigrated to this country with her family when she was five years old, settling with them in Alton, Illinois. She died in February 1915 in Litchfield and is buried there in Elmwood Cemetery beside S.D. The 1880 census record lists her age as 48 and her birthplace as England. This would make her birthdate around 1832. However her cemetery record lists her age as 79, which would make her birthdate about 1836. The Montgomery County history states that she was 69 years old in 1904, which would place her birth as 1834 or 1835. Which, if any of these dates is accurate, we cannot at this time say.
There were five children born of the marriage.
--------------------------------------
* - Incorrect: Susannah died in Sangamon County, Illinois.
** - Region near the Mississippi River in the Southwestern corner of Madison County, Illinois.
*** Occupation listed as prospecting.
Obituary not found at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, genealogybank.com or newspaperarchive.com, April 13, 2018.
By 1867, we find him in Litchfield, Illinois, where he helped to found a Masonic lodge. According to a history of Montgomery County, Illinois, he was a lumber merchant. He apparently continued to live in Litchfield for the rest of his life, for we find him there in the 1880 census *** and it is there that he died in 1906. However, the Montgomery County history, which was published in 1904, states that in 1879 he removed to Oregon, and has lived there since that time, living in 1904 in Portland.
S.D. Kirkpatrick authored a short family history titled "A Chronological Record of My Ancestry". There is no date on this piece. The account is vivid but much of it's content is in error. It must be used with care. The paper apparently descended through the family via S.D. Kirkpatrick's daughter Myrtle (Kirkpatrick) Hazard of Lake Charles, Louisiana. (Some copies of this paper bear comments by Day Jewell, another Kirkpatrick researcher, and some of his conclusions, unfortunately, are equally unsound.)
In his paper, S.D. Kirkpatrick writes: "Bond County has many memorable events for me. It was in that county that my parents were married, in that county, I was born, in that county that my grandfather [Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick] died, in that county that my great grandmother [Susannah Gillham Kirkpatrick Scott] died*; it was from that county that my grandfather went as a member of the convention that gave to Illinois her first constitution that started her on her career as a free state for a free people. Yes, some of them had slaves, but only Grandfather brought any to Illinois. He had two--a man and his wife. He gave them their freedom. They settled in the American Bottom** among the Gillhams and were living there when I came to Alton..."
S.D. died in April 1906, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Litchfield, Illinois on 3 May 1906. His wife is given in the 1880 census as Mary J. Kirkpatrick. She was Mary Jane Elworthy or Elsworthy, daughter of William Elsworthy, whom he married 4 September 1851 in Madison County, Illinois. She was born in England and emigrated to this country with her family when she was five years old, settling with them in Alton, Illinois. She died in February 1915 in Litchfield and is buried there in Elmwood Cemetery beside S.D. The 1880 census record lists her age as 48 and her birthplace as England. This would make her birthdate around 1832. However her cemetery record lists her age as 79, which would make her birthdate about 1836. The Montgomery County history states that she was 69 years old in 1904, which would place her birth as 1834 or 1835. Which, if any of these dates is accurate, we cannot at this time say.
There were five children born of the marriage.
--------------------------------------
* - Incorrect: Susannah died in Sangamon County, Illinois.
** - Region near the Mississippi River in the Southwestern corner of Madison County, Illinois.
*** Occupation listed as prospecting.
Obituary not found at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, genealogybank.com or newspaperarchive.com, April 13, 2018.
Events
| Birth | 5 Feb 1822 | Bond Co., Illinois | |||
| Marriage | 4 Sep 1851 | Madison Co., Illinois - Mary Jane Elsworthy |  | ||
| Death | Apr 1906 | Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois | |||
| Burial | Elmwood Cemetery, Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois |
Families
| Spouse | Mary Jane Elsworthy (1833 - 1915) |
| Child | Anna M. Kirkpatrick (1856 - 1925) |
| Child | James William Kirkpatrick (1859 - 1918) |
| Child | Edward Kirkpatrick ( - ) |
| Child | Mary Carrie Kirkpatrick (1866 - 1873) |
| Child | Myrtle Kirkpatrick (1869 - 1940) |
| Father | James Harrison Kirkpatrick (1798 - 1876) |
| Mother | Nancy Hufner (1800 - 1830) |
| Sibling | Thomas Gillham Kirkpatrick (1823 - 1907) |
| Sibling | Mary L. Kirkpatrick (1824 - 1890) |
Endnotes
1. Illinois Marriages On-line.