Today I introduce you to one of my 6th Great Grandfathers, Robert Kirkpatrick. He was a pioneer, soldier, husband, father, and hopefully, a friend to many. He died 189 years ago this week.
Robert Kirkpatrick was born January 19, 1754, in the Camden District of South Carolina. His parents are believed to have been Francis and Hannah (Ward) Kirkpatrick. Francis and Hannah married very young, and had 5 known children. Hannah was from South Carolina. Francis and his family had left Scotland and come to the Colonies around 1746.
Robert married Mary Ann Campbell at the age of 17, in South Carolina, in 1771. They had nine known children. Their daughter Nancy, is my 5th Great Grandmother.
When the Revolutionary War began, Robert enlisted as a Patriot early on. He was present at the Battle of the Great Cane Brake, along the Reedy River in the southern portion of present-day Greenville county, South Carolina. The battle took place on Dec. 22, 1775, with a Patriot victory. There were 1300 Patriots against 500 Loyalists that day. In the Summer of 1776, Robert was part of a group sent into the Cherokee Nation. Sadly, their orders were to destroy the Cherokee towns and villages. Later, he was stationed at Ninety-Six for a while, and pursued Indians who were rumored to be joining the British. In 1779, he was in a skirmish with the Tories near the Edisto River and assisted in pursuing “Bloody Bill” Cunningham. It’s unclear exactly when Robert’s service officially ended. We know that he served some of his time in 3 month intervals… he’d volunteer, serve 3 months, go home… then repeat. His pension records state that in total, he served one year and 7 months (over at least a 4 year time frame).
After the War, Robert and his family moved to Powell Valley, Virginia. The exact year is unknown. Family legend has it that Robert was captured by Indians while living there, and held prisoner for 5 months. Part of the legend is that he pretended he didn’t understand what they wanted him to do… if they wanted him to weed their crops, he could chop down the crop as well as the weeds. Perhaps he thought that if they believed he was crazy, they would let him go. The story continues that after 5 months, he was able to escape and go home. It’s said that his children didn’t recognize him with the long hair and Indian clothing, thankfully his wife did!
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| Powell Valley, Virginia |
By 1790, the Kirkpatrick’s were living in Madison County, Kentucky. Then in 1800, they were in Green County, Kentucky. And by 1803, they were in their final residence of Jackson County, Tennessee. I assume Robert was a farmer, but have no records to back that up.
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| 1830 Jackson County, TN census |
In 1832, Robert applied for a military pension. In it he states he has “a record of his age in his possession, which he took from his father’s Bible.” He was granted $63.33 per year until his death.
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| page from Robert's pension record |
Robert passed away on February 24, 1835, in Jackson County, Tennessee. He is buried in Hix Cemetery (aka Old Kirkpatrick Cemetery), located along the Cumberland River north of Gainesboro.
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