Notes:

According to jpkirkpatrick.com:
"James Kirkpatrick was born abt. 1710 (1700-1715 WFT Est.) in Dumfrieshire, Scotland. Settled briefly in Pennsylvania before receiving Land Grants in South Carolina (in a portion of the colony that at that time was administered by North Carolina).

"His will is dated March 10, 1786 he and Mary (Newton) were buried in "The Old Irish Cemetery/Graveyard" near Loves Crossing on the Broad River in South Carolina. Today this cemetery is abandoned which is located in the bottoms of the Broad River about one mile South of the bridge at Lockhart, SC, on the Chester County side of the river. The cemetery has been used recently as a cattle grazing pasture and is very difficult to reach.

"The tradition of the descendants of James Kirkpatrick, who settled on lands granted by the Governor of North Carolina to him, that lay along Turkey Creek, a branch of the Broad River and situate in now what is York and Chester Counties, South Carolina are that this is a Scottish family that moved to North Ireland, in a 'neck-saving' operation. One Robert Kirkpatrick, a descendant of the Barony of Kirkmichael, was hung in 1746, for his part in the rebellion of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' in 1745.

"It had been believed that in 1746, James migrated to Northern Ireland with his father and five brothers. (New information has been found to show that James and his four brothers migrated from Belfast, Ireland to the colonies in 1736. Originally it was believed that two younger brothers, Andrew and Alexander had left Scotland about this time and came to the colonies, while the remainder of the family migrated to N. Ireland, and thence came to the colonies in the later years. Evidence now shows that the family had moved to N. Ireland in 1725, and thence to the Americas in 1736.)

"He came to America and landed in the area around New Castle, Delaware but settled in the area now known as Reading, PA, but was not there very long, and in early 1750's he appears in South Carolina. There is no 'official date' on the move to South Carolina, but the Gaston and Gillham families, with whom they were very closely associated, both went there in 1750-1751. His brother Alexander and Andrew moved to New Jersey soon after landing in New Castle by crossing the Delaware at Philadelphia.

"On 24 September 1754 he is given land grants by the Governor of North Carolina to lands situate Turkey Creek in what is now South Carolina. The total of his land grants were 1,350 acres along Turkey Creek.

"Mary Newton? died on 16 Sep 1769 in Rockhill, York or Fairfield Co., South Carolina."

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Another clue? From the Kirkpatrick Newsletter (cited):
"I am connected to the Kirkpatricks through Alexander [James "the Immigrant's brother] who came to America in 1736 via Ireland. We visted Basking Ridge, N.J. and saw Alexander's grave in the churchyard there. We noted that although other family members buried in the churchyard used Kirkpatrick, Alexander's stone used Kilpatrick... Last spring my wife and I were in Ireland. I noticed there were quite a few names preceded by "Kil". I was told that Kil means church in Gaelic. Could it be that Alexander, who lived about ten years in Ireland before coming to America, adopted the Irish version of Kirk? In later years descendants of Alexander Kirkpatrick dropped the "patrick" and went by the shortened name, Kirk.

"When we visited the churchyard at Basking Ridge, NJ we were told by the pastor that members of his church [were] living in the Alexander Kirkpatrick house at Mine Brook. He called them for us and they kindly showed us through this stone house. It had been modernized, but still had the old flavor to it. Up the road was another house, built of stone by one of his sons...David, I believe."

James married Mary (Hanna?) NEWTON about 1734 in South Carolina?. Mary was born in 1710-1714 in Chester, , South Carolina, U.S.A.; died on 16 Sep 1769 in Rockhill, York or Fairfield Co., South Carolina; was buried in The Old Irish Cemetery/Graveyard near Loves Crossing on the Broad River, SC, U.S.A.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. James KIRKPATRICK was born in 1743 in South Carolina, U.S.A.; died on 1 Jan 1781 in York Co., South Carolina.
2. William KIRKPATRICK
3. Francis KIRKPATRICK was born between 1735 and 1740 in Ulster, Ireland; died in Jun 1798 in Chester Co., South Carolina, USA.
4. Thomas KIRKPATRICK was born about 1741; died in 1780 in Charlston Co., South Carolina, USA.
5. Agnes KIRKPATRICK was born in 1742-1743 ?; and died.
6. John KIRKPATRICK was born in 1744; died on 13 Aug 1785.
7. Robert KIRKPATRICK was born in 1749; died in 1803.
8. Jane KIRKPATRICK was born in 1745-1748 ?; and died.

Notes:

Dawn's note: I am not 100% convinced this was "our" James' father.

New info from this site:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kirkpatrickjan08&id=I2

--- begin quote ---
THE MIGRATION OF THE KIRKPATRICK BROTHERS, ALEXANDER AND ANDREW

The Kirkpatricks are of ancient lineage. Our chief concern in these pages is to register the descendants of the Kirkpatricks who emigrated from Scotland to New Jersey and settled in the year 1736 near Baskingridge, in Somerset County; and in so doing it is convenient to head the list with Alexander Kirkpatrick of County Dumfries, Scotland; he being the last ancestor of theirs in the male line who lived and died in the Old World. This Alexander was a son of George Kirkpatrick and a great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, Lord of Closeburn.

Sir Roger's wife was Lady Margaret de Somerville who traced her descent from Alfred the Great, King of England. See Chapter VII.

1. ALEXANDER KIRKPATRICK, SR., son of George Kirkpatrick, is said to have had nine children. See Chapter VII. We are here concerned only with his two sons:

+701. i. Alexander Kirkpatrick, emigrator from Watties Neach, Scotland, in 1725; he died June 3, 1758. See Chapter VI.

+2. ii. Andrew Kirkpatrick, emigrator from Watties Neach, Scotland, in 1725; see Chapters II-V.
--- end quote ---

The author does not list his sources here, but the original book may have.