Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1802

Notes:

According to jpkirkpatrick.com:

5. Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick was born on 9 Nov 1766 in South Carolina. He died on 16 Dec 1821 in Bond Co., Illinois. He was buried in Moody Cemetery, Greenville, Bond Co., Illinois. (29) Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick's birthdate is given as 9 Nov 1766 in South Carolina. He is generally considered the eldest son of James the son of the Immigrant, although the exact order of birth is not certain. His mother was Susannah Gillham. Thomas married abt. 1797 Mary 'Polly' Lane who was born 18 Dec 1777.

Mary Lane was the twin sister of Sarah Lane who married Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick's brother John. The two sisters were daughters of Jesse and Winifred (Aycock) Lane. Jesse was born in Halifax, NC on 3 July 1733. He served as a Revolutionary War officer in the 3rd North Carolina Contenentals and is reputed to have been at the battle of Kings Mountain. The family moved to Georgia in 1784, first to Elbert and Oglethorpe counties, and finally to Jackson County.* We do not have a marriage date or place for Thomas and Mary, although it probably took place in Jackson County, Georgia, abt. 1797.

Thomas Kirkpatrick was named among Jackson County, GA's first Justices of the Peace on 4 Aug 1797 (The Early History of Jackson County, Georgia by G.J.N.Wilson, 1914, p. 296). Jesse Springer in her book Cranehook on Delaware (a genealogy published in Illinois), states that the Georgia Department of Archives & History, in correspondence dated 17 May 1961, informed her that Thomas Kirkpatrick served as Justice of the Peace of Jackson County, commissioned 3 Jun 1799. Again, the book Gone To Georgia: Jackson & Gwinnett Counties and Their Neighbors in the Western Migration (Compiled by William C. Stewart, National Genealogical Society Publication #30, 1965) gives Kirkpatrick's appointment as Justice of the Peace in Jackson County in 1799.

David Kirkpatrick in his genealogy, An American Kirkpatrick Family, reproduces newspaper clipping facing page 34. The clipping was found in the effects of James G. Kirkpatrick, descendant of Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick, presumably from an Illinois newspaper. It refers in the last two paragraphs to a document 130 years old in the possession of George Kirkpatrick, James G. Kirkpatrick's brother. It is an order of Governor Jared Irwin of Georgia, appointing Thomas Kirkpatrick a Justice of the Peace, signed as follows: "...given under my hand and seal at the State House in Louisville, this 13th day of June, Anno Dom. 1797 in the 21st year of American Independence." **

A number of land transactions show up connecting Kirkpatrick to Georgia and Jackson County. A 1788 grant gives Thomas Kirkpatrick 300 acres in Franklin County, GA. *** (Jackson County was erected from Franklin County). The land is described as bordered on the northwest by Scott's lands but vacant on all other sides. **** Franklin was one of Georgia's original counties. In 1807 another grant of 200 acres is given to Thomas Kirkpatrick on his own headright, this time in Jackson County. It is bordered on the Northeast by Kirkpatrick's (which one?) land, on the southeast by Jarrett, on the southwest by surveyed land and on the northwest by Deprest's land. This grant is signed by the Governor Jared Irwin. *****

A transaction between Thomas Kirkpatrick and Francis Kirkpatrick both of Jackson County, Georgia, concerns a transfer of land, 120 acres on Curries Creek, for 100 dollars "unto him in hand paid," from Thomas to Francis, 26 May 1798. On the 9th of October 1805, James Kirkpatrick for the sum of $500 agrees to buy land on Curries Creek in Jackson County from Thomas Kirkpatrick. Another record dated 17 Nov 1815 records the transfer by Thomas Kirkpatrick of Madison County, Illinois Territory, of 200 acres of land in Jackson County, Georgia, for the sum of $500 to John Boyle of Jackson County. The land is described as a tract on the waters of Currey Creek and reference is made to "grant for the same in my name signed by his excellency the Governor, the 25th day of November 1807." All of these records are on file in the Jackson County courthouse as Book AB-110, Book D-265, and Book F-442 respectively. The last described transaction is obviously a sale by Thomas Kirkpatrick of land described in the previous paragraph as being granted to him on his own headright. Kirkpatrick had departed from Georgia and was living in Madison County in the Illinois Territory and was selling off his land back east.

We find papers dated March and April in 1802 that Kirkpatrick signed in his capacity as Justice of the Peace of Jackson County. It would appear from this that he did not move to Illinois until sometime in 1802--a year when other Kirkpatrick's, Gillham's, and related families, moved in some numbers to the western territory. According to John Fletcher Kirkpatrick, the motivating factor in the move to Illinois was the reluctance of Thomas and his brother John to raise their children in slave territory.

Thomas and Polly's son, Thomas Milligan states that Thomas had been raised in the Presbyterian Church, but that he and Polly were 'converted' (to Methodism) in the Cane Ridge Revival which took place in central Kentucky in 1801, and was the single most notable event in the major religious movement usually call the "Second Great Awakening." It is possible, but not very likely, that they were present at cane ridge. It is more likely that Thomas and Polly became Methodists under the influence of the religious revival of which the Cane Ridge Revival was a part. In any event, it is clear that they, along with Thomas's brother John and his family, became Methodists at approximately the time they moved to Illinois. This conversion was to have profound effects on the families of both brothers.

The family settled in a spot in Illinois about 20 miles northeast of St Louis, Missouri. The land Thomas settled on was bought as the militia claim of Pierre LeJoy (#991), 8 Jun 1804, and a second militia claim (#1719) of Louis LeBrun, Jr., affirmed to Thomas Kirkpatrick 16 Nov 1806. These claims are recorded in the American State Papers, 2nd Volume, Public Lands. The two Frenchmen had served in the militia on the early Mississippi frontier and grants of land were awarded for this service. These lands were located on what was known as Cohos (or Cohokia) Creek in Madison County. Kirkpatrick built a cabin there about 1805.

Madison County, IL was organized as a county 4 Sep 1812. The home of Thomas Kirkpatrick was designated as the County Seat of Government by the Territorial Governor, Ninian Edwards:

"September 14th, by Ninian Edwards, Governor of the Illinois Territory, a Proclamation: By Virtue of the powers vested in the Governor of the Territory, I do hereby lay off a County or district to be called the County of Madison to be included within the following bounds viz to begin on the Mississippi to run the second township line above Cahokia East until it strikes the dividing line of Upper Canada, thence with said line to the Mississippi and thence down the Mississippi to the beginning--I do appoint the house of Thomas Kirkpatrick to be the seat of Justice of said County...done at Kaskaskia the 14th day of September 1812 and of the Independence of the United States the 37th, Ninian Edwards..." ******

On 23 June 1813 the Governor appointed Thomas Kirkpatrick as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Madison County, again as a County Judge on 25 Dec 1814 and 10 Jan 1816. (These records are also found in the Territorial Papers of Illinois, Vols. 16 and 17.)

Thomas Kirkpatrick is recorded on a tax list dated 1814 as having one slave and six horses with a total tax of $4.00. *******

Kirkpatrick's land claim covered the Northwest part of the present town of Edwardsville, IL. In the Indian troubles that preceeded the War of 1812, Kirkpatrick built a block house on the land, which was meant as a protection for several families living in the adjacent area. Kirkpatrick served briefly as a Lieutenant in the militia during this period. The muster rolls of Lieut. Daniel G. Moore's company of volunteer infantry called into service from 9 May 1813 to 9 Jun 1813, lists Thomas Kirkpatrick and his oldest son James Harrison Kirkpatrick as privates. Harrison Kirkpatrick would have been about 15 years of age at this time. A John Kirkpatrick, probably Thomas' brother, is also listed. (Illinois in the War of 1812-1814, Stevens, 1904.)

Brink's History of Madison County, Illinois, reproduces this document giving Kirkpatrick Lieutenancy:

"Edwardsville, September 24, 1814, Sir--This day there was an election held at this place for a Captain and First and Second Lieutenants, by the volunteers that have of late been raised in consequence of your request to Isam Gillham and J.G. Lofton, Esq. The company detained the election until about the 4 of the O'Clock in the afternoon in hopes we would have been joined by Mr. Stout and a party from that neighborhood. On being disappointed, we proceeded to elect John G. Lofton, Captain, Thomas Kirkpatrick, 1st Lieutenant, and Samuel G. Morse, 2nd Lieutenant, and intend when orders are received, to elect the balance of the officers, so as to dispose of the officers in each settlement which may join. We assure your Excellency that the old men have volunteered with a spirit that reflects an honor on the old veterans of '76. The notice of the election was so short in this settlement that the people had not general notice, but there remains no doubt but the company will be complete before this reaches you.-- there are 70 on the list now. The above officers were elected by a unanimous vote. Very respectfully yours,
Thos. Kirkpatrick
C. Cadwell, Judges of the Election"

Samuel G. Morse, mentioned in the above paragraph as being elected 2nd Lieutenant, married three times and two of his wives were Kirkpatrick women. He seems to have been closely associated with Thomas Kirkpatrick, at least for a time, and served in both Madison and Bond counties as Sheriff.

At the first meeting of the Court of Common Pleas in Kirkpatrick's home, Kirkpatrick applied for and received a license to keep a public house. He paid $6.50 for the license and had prices stipulated by the Court: a meal for 25 cents, corn or oats 1 bit per gallon, hay for the night 12 1/2 cents, rum or wine 37 1/2 cents per half-pint.

In 1816 a town surveyed by Kirkpatrick was set out. It was called Edwardsville in honor of Ninian Edwards, then territorial governor of Illinois.

The Court of Common Pleas was superseded 19 December 1814 by a territorial law which created county courts, concerned with the administrative affairs of the counties. Governor Edwards commissioned Kirkpatrick as one of the three judges of the first such Madison County Court. It met for the first time 6 March 1816. Sometime in 1816 he donated $100 to the building of a Madison County courthouse.

The Kirkpatrick name pretty well disappears after about 1816 from county histories of Madison County, IL. This corresponds with the appearance of Thomas Kirkpatrick and others in Bond County, a little to the east. An epidemic of 'milk sickness' is sometimes credited as the reason for this settler exodus. On 1 July 1815, Thomas sold to Dr. George Cadwell two lots in Edwardsville, including the lot containing his dwelling. This probably marks the date of the removal of Thomas and his family to the vicinity of Greenville, which at that time was still a part of Madison County. He remained a Madison County judge and continued to show up in Madison County records until Bond County was set up in 1817 from Madison County territory.

On 17 Sep 1817, Thomas Kirkpatrick and Polly his wife deeded two acres of land in Bond County to John Kirkpatrick, Robert Galispie, Andrew Moody, Robert Diamond, John Spellers, Francis Kirkpatrick and Isaac Price, in trust to be used as a meeting house for the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In Bond County, Thomas was a defendant in several civil suits brought by Samuel Whiteside and others. In some of the suits he was co-defendant with his brother Francis and his son James Harrison. What was the cause of the suits is unknown.

On 12 Feb. 1817, Kirkpatrick was appointed a Judge in Bond County, and also at the same time he was named a Justice of the Peace. Finally, he was named as a Judge of Probate. he was still active in the affairs of the county when he served as a foreman of a grand jury in Bond County on 15 May 1820.

Thomas died in Bond County, IL 16 Dec 1821. In an obituary, the Edwardsville Spectator said, in part:

"Society has seldom felt a regret more prevalent, or more sincere, than has been called forth by the death of the Hon. Thomas Kirkpatrick on Sunday the 16th last, late Judge of Probate for the county of Bond...in early life, the attachment of his father to the cause of our indepence, brought upon him the vengeful malignity of the Tories, and he was killed by them, at his own house, desolving the care of a large family upon the subject of our present notice. In a war, in which the frontier inhabitants of Georgia (where he then resided)******** were called to defend their hard earned possessions, against the lawless aggressions of a savage and barbarous foe, he early shared it's perils, and performed the duties of a commissary until peace succeeded...For the term of fifteen years, from 1803 to 1818 he discharged with the responsible duties of a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, with the ability always satisfactory and with adherance to justice...He was at that time elected a member of the Convention which formed the Constitution of our State, and though born and educated under the influence of different sentiments, was one of those who firmly maintained the political truth that 'all men are born free and equal'... He had a fondness for books, and had acquired a fund of useful information on various subjects, especially religious...For more than twenty years he was a professor of the Christian religion..."

Thomas made a will dated 15 Dec 1821 in Bond County, IL, naming his wife Polly and his sons James H. and John L. Kirkpatrick as executors. The will is not too informative.

Mary 'Polly' Kirkpatrick, Thomas' wife, died 1 February 1839 in Morgan County, IL. Her will dated 30 Jan 1839 in Morgan County, IL, is a little more interesting. She gives $250 to Charles Alford and Jonathan Hart Kirkpatrick, her two youngest sons. She gives to daughters Emily and Sarah Louisa (Loiza) $20 each; $50 to Pope Curtis Kirkpatrick, son of her son Richard H. Kirkpatrick, deceased; and the rest to share equally in monies raised by the sale of her property, that is, says the will, one-twelfth part to James H., John L., Joseph L., William P., Emily, Sarah, Jesse W., Thomas M., Francis A., Charles 'Alphred' (Alford), and Jonathan Hart, "each of them being my sons and daughters", also one-twelfth part to the children of my daughter Winifred, "now deceased". John L. Kirkpatrick and Daniel Troy were named executors. Witnesses were John Fox and John H. Barton. Filed with the papers is an inventory made March 1839 giving details of notes held against the estate and other details. Among those listed are John L. Kirkpatrick, Francis Kirkpatrick and Asa C. New.

===============================
* For more on this family, see Joseph Habersham Historical Collections, Vol. 2, 1902, Atlanta, p. 619, "General History of the Lanes of North Carolina and Georgia".

**Louisville: "In 1786, the assembly directed that a new town, to be called Louisville, be located within twenty miles of Galphin's Old Town on the Ogeechee as capital. Augusta was to be the capital until Louisville was ready for occupancy which was not until 1795." History of Georgia, K. Coleman, ed., Univ. of Georgia Press, Athens, GA., 1977.

*** Georgia Department of Archives & History, Atlanta, Grant Book PPP, p. 294.

**** "Scott's lands" were probably the lands of Thomas' step-father Joseph Scott.

***** Grant Book G-5, p. 191.

******Territorial Records of Illinois, edited by Edmund James, Illinois State Historical Library, No. 11, 1901.

******* This list is given in the Madison County section of the County Archives in Illinois, by Pease, Illinois State Historical Library, 1915, page 410.

******** This is incorrect. The Kirkpatrick's lived in South Carolina during the Revolution.

He was married to Mary Ann "Polly" Lane (daughter of Jesse Lane and Winifred Aycock) in 1797 in Jackson Co., Georgia.(30) Mary Ann "Polly" Lane was born on 18 Dec 1777 in Wake Co., North Carolina.(31) She died on 1 Feb 1839 in Morgan Co., Illinois. Thomas Newton Kirkpatrick and Mary Ann "Polly" Lane had the following children:

child+217 i. James Harrison Kirkpatrick.
child+218 ii. John Lane Kirkpatrick.
child219 iii. Isaac Gillham Kirkpatrick was born on 22 Feb 1801 in Georgia. He died on 17 Mar 1810 in Madison Co., Illinois.(32)
Isaac Gillham Kirkpatrick died at the age of 9 from drowning in a river in Illinois.
child+220 iv. Joseph Lane Kirkpatrick Rev..
child+221 v. Richard Henry Kirkpatrick.
child+222 vi. William P. Kirkpatrick.
child+223 vii. Susan Emily Kirkpatrick.
child+224 viii. Winnifred P. Kirkpatrick.
child+225 ix. Jesse Walker Kirkpatrick.
child+226 x. Sarah Louisa Kirkpatrick.
child+227 xi. Thomas Milligan Kirkpatrick.
child+228 xii. Francis Asbury Kirkpatrick.
child229 xiii. Polly D. Kirkpatrick was born on 20 Mar 1817 in Madison Co., Illinois. She died on 17 Apr 1819 in Madison Co., Illinois.
child+230 xiv. Charles Alford Kirkpatrick.
child231 xv. Jonathan Hart Kirkpatrick was born on 15 Jan 1822 in Bond Co., Illinois.
Jonathan Hart went west to California during the Gold Rush. Nothing further is known of him.

Lyllis Brown states: Went to California, was a bachelor.
1

Residence:
According to Samuel D. Kirkpatrick, in one of his letters, Thomas and his family could not tolerate slavery, so decided to leave Georgia. "So in the fall of 1802 they gathered together their families, loaded their belongings and struck out, crossed over the mountains of Georgia, passed through what afterward became the state of Tennessee and Kentucky into Illinois. They located on the hills east of the Mississippi River about 20 miles northeast of St. Louis. At that time there were only two counties in Illinois, St. Clair and Randolph."

Thomas married Mary Ann "Polly" LANE in 1797 in Jackson Co., Georgia. Mary (daughter of Jesse LANE and Winifred AYCOCK) was born on 18 Dec 1777 in Wake Co., North Carolina, U.S.A.; died on 1 Feb 1839 in Morgan Co., Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. James Harrison KIRKPATRICK was born on 15 May 1798 in Georgia, U.S.A.; died on 8 Jul 1876 in Platteville, Grant Co., Wisconsin, U.S.A.; was buried in Hillside Cemetery, Grant Co., Wisconsin.
2. John Lane KIRKPATRICK was born on 1 Dec 1799 in Georgia; and died.
3. Isaac Gillham KIRKPATRICK was born on 21 Feb 1801 in Georgia, U.S.A.; died on 17 Mar 1810 in Madison Co., Illinois.
4. Joseph Lane KIRKPATRICK was born on 22 Apr 1803 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
5. Richard Henry KIRKPATRICK was born on 22 Nov 1804 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
6. William P. KIRKPATRICK was born on 23 Feb 1806 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
7. Susan Emily KIRKPATRICK was born on 2 Feb 1808 in Madison Co., Illinois; died on 6 Sep 1883 in Taylor Co. Iowa.
8. Winnifred P. "Win" KIRKPATRICK was born on 8 Feb 1810 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
9. Jesse Walker KIRKPATRICK was born on 8 Feb 1810 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
10. Sarah Louisa "Sally" KIRKPATRICK was born on 21 Jun 1811 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
11. Thomas Milligan KIRKPATRICK was born on 5 Jun 1813 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
12. Francis Asbury KIRKPATRICK was born on 3 Jan 1815 in Madison Co., Illinois; and died.
13. Polly D. KIRKPATRICK was born on 20 Mar 1817 in Madison Co., Illinois; died on 17 Apr 1819 in Madison Co., Illinois.
14. Charles Alford KIRKPATRICK was born on 25 Sep 1820 in Bond County, Illinois, U.S.A.; died on 13 Aug 1896 in Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas.
15. Jonathan Hart KIRKPATRICK was born on 15 Jan 1822 in Bond County, Illinois, U.S.A.; and died.

Notes:

According to jpkirkpatrick.com:
James Kirkpatrick is said to have been born in 1743. Since his father emigrated from Belfast, Ireland in 1736, and shortly lived in Pennsylvania prior to being found in 1750-51 in South Carolina and receiving land grants from the governor of North Carolina in 1754.

According to family sources he was killed by a group of Tories during the Revolution. He is buried in Bullock's Creek Cemetery, York County, SC. The headstone reads: "James Kirkpatrick, Deceast, 1781"...the stone lies flat to the ground and is found in the older part of the cemetary near other Kirkpatrick's

James Kirkpatrick served in the Revolution with the South Carolina militia. An indent is on file in Columbia, SC, at the South Carolina Archives, made to James Kilpatrick for duty with Brandon's Regiment 'Before and since the fall of Charleston'. Brandon would be Thomas Brandon, born in Pennsylvania and migrant to what is now Union County, SC. Brandon often served under General Sumter. We know he was active at Musgrove's Mill, King's Mountain, Blackstock's and Cowpens. We do not have any information as to whether James Kirkpatrick was with Brandon during any of these actions. This indent (U2956 Book X) was paid 17 November 1788 and received and signed for on that date by Thomas Gillham, executor, James Kirkpatrick's father-in-law. The signed receipt, again, bears the name of James Kilpatrick but is unquestionably James Kirkpatrick.

Kirkpatrick met his death during the Revolution in his own home during a tumultuous period of the war. South Carolina was torn by war, by shifting allegiances, by bitter blood fights between the native Patriots and Tories, and by family differences. After an engagement James Kirkpatrick went parole for a captured Tory neighbor named Mayfield, allowing him to return home to his family. The men returned to their respective homes. Still smarting from the battle loss, a group of Tories who had discovered from Mayfield that Kirkpatrick had returned home, surrounded his house. Bursting through the doors they killed him in front of his wife. The date is ordinarily given as New Years Day, 1781. This is family tradition, but has continued to be told in all four son's families down through the years.

James Kirkpatrick married Susannah Gillham, a daughter of Thomas Gillham abt. 1765 or thereabouts their oldest child was born in 1766. James Kirkpatrick died intestate. We have uncovered NO records--inventories, sale bills, guardianships or otherwise-- bearing on this intestacy.

After Kirkpatrick's death Susannah Kirkpatrick married Joseph Scott. Day Jewell states that this marriage took place in South Carolina circa 1783. He further states that the Scott family moved to Georgia about 1788. From later records we find the family in Jackson County Georgia. Scott's will dated 25 November 1817, and on file in Jackson County, Georgia, states: "First I give to beloved wife Suanna Scott one negro woman named Nance & her girl child named Rachel together with their future increase to be disposed of in any way she may think proper, also two cows & calves, her choice, one bay horse called Raustor, all my stock of hogs, one feathered bed & furniture, all my household & kitchen furniture & all my plantation tools, all to be at her disposal except one cupboard which at my wifes decease I give to my son Joseph....."

Susannah (Gillham) Kirkpatrick Scott removed to Illinois in 1818 with her son James Kirkpatrick, escorted apparently by his brothers John and Francis who returned from Illinois Territory for the task. Susannah died, date unknown, apparently in Sangamon County, Illinois, while living with her son John.

An undated paper by John Fletcher Kirkpatrick, a grandson of Susannah (Gillham) Kirkpatrick Scott, tells the story this way: "After his death (James Kirkpatrick) she married a man by the name of Potts (actually Scott--probably a transcription error over time). At his death my father (John Kirkpatrick) and uncle Frank (Francis Kirkpatrick) went to Georgia after her and Uncle James and family and moved 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." ("History of the Kirkpatricks", paper by John Fletcher Kirkpatrick, son of Susannah's son John. No date.)

He was married to Susannah Gillham (daughter of Thomas Gillham and Margaret Campbell) in 1765 in York Co., South Carolina. Susannah Gillham was born about 1746. She died in 1831 in Sangamon Co., Illinois.

Died:
According to jpkirkpatrick.com:
James died on 1 Jan 1781 at the hands of a neighbor whom he had paroled to his home. He was killed in front of his wife and family.

James married Susannah GILLHAM in 1765 in York Co., South Carolina. Susannah (daughter of Captain Thomas GILLHAM and Margaret (Peggy) CAMPBELL) was born in 1746 ? in Virginia?; died in 1831 in Sangamon Co., Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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."

---------------------------------------------

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]

Thomas married Margaret (Peggy) CAMPBELL. Margaret (daughter of William CAMPBELL and Sarah GRAY) was born in Btn 1748 - 1752; died in Virginia?. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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.

William married Sarah GRAY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]