Foreword:
This page is a synopsis
of United State History (from the time our Kilpatrick ancestor came to this
area until present), how certain events affected the lives of our ancestors,
and our family's place in our country's history. I have included many events
that seem unrelated to our family history, but they serve as time stamp to let
you what was going on in the rest of the country at the time. These
events were big enough events that the news would have got to our ancestors
somehow, through word of mouth or in a newspaper. Though they may not
have been involved in anyway in these events, the news of these events would
have caught their attention and would have been a topic of discussion.
Imagine, if you will, the men sitting around talking about the Johnstown Flood
at Billy Kilpatrick's store. This text will be in blue. There are many links
in the body of this text carrying you to other web sites that have more
detailed information on certain people, places, and events. Now this is not a
completely precise history, some of the material prior to Billy's and Reed's
biographies is based upon family legends and supposition based on historical
fact. It is just meant to give you an idea of our ancestor's lives
and where we came from. Lineage to persons prior to Billy and Reed
Kilpatrick are not proven. I am not claiming 100% accuracy. So
don't flame me if you find something wrong, just e-mail with corrections and
your sources. I'll appreciate it.
Now here we go. Rust colored text is the latest corrections and additions.
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Kilpatrick's in the Old Country:
Our family, as well
as all other Kilpatrick and Kirkpatrick, were likely descendants Normans who
settled in Scotland after William the Conqueror's invasion of
Britain. The Kilpatrick/Kirkpatrick family was a major sept of the
Colquhoun Clan of Dunbartonshire. In the 1600's James I of England got
the idea that relocating some of the Scot people to Ireland where they might be
a taming inluence on the Irish people. So, settled on land confiscated
from Irish chiefs exiled after the Nine Year War, our Kilpatrick ancestors may
very well have began a new life in Ulster Ireland. As you can imagine,
the Irish Catholics did not take to the Presbyterian Scots very well.
Both groups were very intolerant of the others religion, so soon there were
hostilities between the two groups. In 1634, the Anglican church began to
persecute the Ulster Presbyterians. Presbyterian marriages were not
recognized by the state and Presbyterians were limited in what position they
could rise to. In 1641 the Irish Catholics determined to drive the
Ulster-Scots from their land. The war was to last eleven
years. Meanwhile back in Scotland, a civil war raged all across the
England and Scotland. Because of the war no crops were being harvested in
Scotland or England. In Ulster, bad weather came upon the Scots.
Famine followed. Years of war, religious intolerance, famine. The
Ulster-Scots adusted and flourished, but now there was an alternative. It was time to move on to
the new world.
Moving to the New World:
The "Promise
land" of America awaited our ancestors. A place where they might be
free to worship as they believed without interference. A place where they
might own their own land, and not have to share what they grew with a landlord.
The Ulster-Scots' "Great Migration began early in the 1700's.
Between 1717 and the American Revolution, about 250,000 thousand Scots-Irish
came to the New World, but
Kilpatricks
have been in this country for a longer time than that, at least 330 years in
fact. According to a Surry County "List of
Tythables", there was a James Kilpatrick living in Southwarke Parish,
Surry County, Virginia in 1669. There was another James Kilpatrick living
there also, possibly his son, who was a cooper by trade. There was also a
John Kilpatrick that I found on a jury list in 1673. I cannot establish a
connection between these men and our family line but they seem to be some of
the first Kilpatricks in the New World.
I don't know the exact date of when our ancestors came to this continent, but I know that they were definitely Colonists. Our ancestors probably came to America in the fourth major Ulster-Scot exodus from Ulster. More famine in Ulster and promise of freedom and promise of prosperity in America lured many Scots-Irish to the New World in 1754 and 1755. They probably landed in Philadelphia, but because of lack of available land in Pennsylvania, moved southward through the Valley of Virginia to North Carolina. My 5th great-grandfather (and 5th. Great-Uncle), Joseph W. Kilpatrick and his brother, my 5th great-grandfather (and 5th. Great-Uncle), Andrew Kilpatrick came and settled in the colony of North Carolina during that time. They were accompanied by several brothers (James Balis, John C., and Hugh). One source says they were born in Ulster while another says they were born in Scotland. It is possible that these brothers were the sons of Joseph (abt. 1693-1757) and Mary Kilpatrick. Joseph and Mary's family settled in Orange County, North Carolina.
The journey to America was long and difficult. The ships
were overcrowded. The people suffered from sea-sickness, and
homesickness. The stench of sickness and human filth added to the
people's misery. Food was scarce, and what there was of it was weevil and
worm infested. Fresh water was in short supply and it would turn stagnant
during the voyage. Many people died on the way, far from their homeland,
far from their goal. Death took it's greatest toll on the children.
The dead were interred in the sea with as much ceremony as throwing the trash
overboard. I wonder how many of our Kilpatrick ancestors that started
this trip didn't live to see the "Promise Land".
In the "Promise Land":
You can well imagine
the joy of our ancestors, who after weeks of misery at sea, laid eyes on land. Now about
75-85% of all the colonists that came over were not able to pay for their
passage to the new world. They faced four to seven years (depending on
age and strength) of servitude before they could take advantage of the free
land in America. What about our Kilpatrick ancestors? Did they
have the means to pay their way, or did they have to work out four years as a
bond servant? It was quite probable that James and John Kilpatrick
(mentioned in the previous chapter) came over as a bondsmen. What about
Grandfathers Joseph and Andrew?
When the ship arrived at its destination, those that could pay for their passage were allowed to disembark first. Next, those that did not pay and were still healthy were sold to landowners for the full cost of their passage. Those that were sickly were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Sometimes the sick had to wait as much as two to three weeks before they were taken off the ship. Some died without ever setting foot on land again. If a family member had died during the trip, the others in the family were held accountable for the deceased's passage. In other words, if a man and his wife came over and the man died on the way, the wife would have to work eight years of servitude instead of just four. A child, say age 10 to 15 years, whose parents died during the trip had to work until they were 21 years old to pay off their passage. Many times family members were separated, being sold to different masters. Sometimes it was years before families found each other and were reunited. Some families were never reunited.
While an indentured servant worked out his passage, he was the
personal property of his master. His contract could be sold, traded,
awarded as settlement in a law suit, seized in a foreclosure, or left in a
will. While under contract, the indentured servant could not marry, have
children, leave the plantation without permission, or work for people other
than their master. The indentured servant could be punished by whipping,
branding, or in an extension of his contract. Working conditions for the
indentured servants were so bad that about two thirds did not live to fulfill
their contracts. If
the indentured servant lived to finish working out his contract, he was paid
"freedom dues", which included corn, clothes, tools, and at least 25
acres of land.
Pioneers:
Free at
last. Whether they had been bond servants or no, our ancestors would
finally find freedom. Living conditions here were quite different from
Scotland or Ireland. In the tidewater settlements, the land was low and
swampy and the summer weather hot and humid. Housing was very primitive
with shelter probably consisting of a cabin with a dirt floor. Diseases
such as malaria and others that they had never before encountered took the
lives of many settlers. That's probably what happened to the middle aged
James Kilpatrick who died sometime around 1677, although it is possible he died
in Bacon's
Rebellion. Younger James died when he was only about 35 years
old. By 1713, the Tuscarora
Indians had been driven out of the North Carolina opening the area up for
white settlement. Many of Scots-Irish moved away from the tidewater towns
of the colonies to the interior to get away from the English. They laid claim
to land (but probably never paid for it, after all, it was God's land) marking
it's boundaries by carving their initials in trees. They cut down trees
leaving the stumps and planted around the stumps. The Scots-Irish
dominated the land.
5th. Great-Grandfathers Joseph and Andrew moved into Rowan County (part of which what is now Iredell County), North Carolina. They lived on the south side of the South Yadkin River near the town of Salisbury.
How did they live? Living conditions were probably still primitive. The house was probably built of split logs like the Swedes and Fins had introduced to the colonies. The roof was made of boards split with a frow. For the lack of nails, these boards were held down with heavy poles. The floor was either dirt or of split logs called puncheons. It probably had only one room and a loft and was heated by a huge fireplace made of stone and clay. This fireplace also served for cooking. Windows were few and had no glass in them. They were shuttered and may have had oiled paper covering them so as to let in light but not the cold wind. The shutters and doors were hung by hinges and closed by latches either carved out of wood or made of leather. Tables and stools were handmade of split logs fastened together with pegs. Beds were often dry leaves or corn husk mattresses. The house was lit by candles usually made of tallow. What did they wear? The men probably wore clothes of skin. The women wore dresses of cloth that they had spun and woven themselves, if there was something available to spin the thread from. Otherwise the women wore dresses of animal skin also. The Animal skin of choice was deer skin.
Wild game was plentiful. Turkey, partridge, fish, raccoon, rabbit, squirrel, opossum, deer, and bear were meat for the table. They grew potatoes, beans, and squash in their vegetable gardens. Corn was the grain of choice because it could be grown with little tillage of the soil. When the corn was fresh they roasted it on the ears. From the dried corn they made hominy. They also ground it up to make grits, mush, and cornbread. The also used the cornmeal to make corn whiskey. Honey was used as a sweetener. Desserts were made with nuts and berries found in the area. There was little seasoning except for lard. What did they do for a living? They didn't work for money to buy things the way people do now. They worked to produce the things that they needed. They may have grown some tobacco which was used like money in Virginia and North Carolina in those days.
What did they do for entertainment? They had to provide their own entertainment. Dances, shooting matches, poundings, and quiltings provided for amusement and socializing. Drinking and fighting were another favorite pastime. The Scots-Irish were known for being hard fighting, hard drinking people (the Presbyterian Church did not condemn alcoholic drink), our Kilpatrick ancestors were probably no exceptions.
Living on the frontier, our ancestors were under the constant
threat of attack by the natives of the region. They probably clashed with the
Indians even in peace time. Our Ancestors arrived just in time for the French and Indian
War, and settlements on the fringes of the colonies were the first to suffer,
and suffered worst.
Their Fight for Freedom:
Let's catch up first
with our family. Fourth Great-Grandfather, James W. Kilpatrick,
was born in the year of 1766 in Rowan County, North Carolina. James is
assumed to be the son of Joseph W. Kilpatrick.
Fourth-Great-Grandmother, Euphemia Kilpatrick, was born in Iredell County,
North Carolina October 12, 1773.
After the French and
Indian war (1755-1760), the English expected the colonist to reimburse them
for the cost of war. Reimbursement was taken in tariffs. They taxed
everything, and the colonist had no recourse because they were not represented
in Parliament. Additionally the colonist were expected to house and feed
the British troops. When the colonist became rebellious, the British
authorities broke into their homes to search for contraband and took their
guns. The people, especially the Scots-Irish, had had it with the
English. It was time for Americans to stand up for their
rights. The Kilpatricks rose to the call. Fifth
great-grandfather Andrew Kilpatrick was an Ensign in the 1st. Regiment of the
Rowan Militia of North Carolina. There were other Kilpatricks served in
the Revolutionary war, but I could not find a connection to them. Cornwallis
tried to attack the northern colonies coming up through the South. His campaign began with the siege of
Charleston, South Carolina in 1779. In August, 1780, Cornwallis
faced off with militia from Virginia and North Carolina at Camden, South
Carolina. Out numbered about two-to-one, the Americans had to
retreat. Loyalists and British regulars did not fair as well at the North
Carolina/South Carolina border, suffering utter defeat at King's Mountain in
October, 1780, and then at the Battle
of Cowpens in January, 1781. Fifth Great-Grandfather Andrew
Kilpatrick, under the command of Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, was at
the Battle of Cowpens. Then in March, 1781, Cornwallis' troops were
attacked by American forces at Guilford Courthouse, which
was about 65 miles from Andrew's home. The Americans were defeated, but
at great cost (25% or more casualties) to Cornwallis. Everywhere
Cornwallis went, he met with greater resistance than he had anticipated.
Cornwallis suffered so many casualties at the hands of these Scots-Irish
frontiersmen, that it definitely attributed to his ultimate defeat at Yorktown
in October, 1781. At least one of those Scots-Irish patriots was an
ancestor. Follow this link for more
information on the Revolutionary War.
The First U.S. Census:
The Paris Treaty of
1783 which officially brought an end to the Revolutionary War was signed
September 3, 1783, and the boundaries of the new republic were agreed upon.
The western boundary would be the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes the
northern, and Florida the southern boundary. George Washington resigned his
commission as Commander and Chief of the American Army December 24, 1783.
In 1788 Andrew Kilpatrick's wife Jane (Nichols) Kilpatrick died
about five days after giving birth to their twin sons James Hall Tanner and
Andrew Conger Kilpatrick. Andrew and Jane's younger children were raised
by their older sister Mary (Kilpatrick) McClure in Rutherford County. Some
time between this time and 1789 Andrew would marry the widow Elizabeth
(McCorkle) Barr. Andrew and Elizabeth had one son (that we know of),
Alexander McCorkle Kilpatrick.
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The Constitution became effective 3/4/1789 and the first session of Congress was held. North Carolina at first rejected the Constitution because they didn't believe that it did enough to protect the rights of its citizens. With the addition of the Bill of Rights, North Carolina adopted the Constitution on November 21, 1789 becoming the 12th. state of the union. George Washington was inaugurated the first President of the United States of America on April 30th. On March 1, 1790, Congress authorized the first U.S. Census to be taken. It was complete August 8, 1790. It showed the population of the new republic to be 3,929,625. |
The 1790 census found Joseph W. Kilpatrick and Andrew Kilpatrick
still in Iredell County, North
Carolina. Andrew was a Registrar of Deeds, a plantation owner, and
possibly a schoolmaster. Joseph was likely still a farmer.
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On October 28, 1793, Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin. The machine, which could clean ten times as much cotton as one man, would make cotton growing much more profitable. Cotton production rose from about 3000 bales in 1790 to 3,841,000 bales in 1860. Whitney had envisioned the cotton gin ending the need for slavery, but it made slavery more profitable also. |
In 1800 Andrew is still listed in Iredell County 1800 Census with; 3 males
under 10, 1 male 10-16, 2 males 16-26,1 male 45 & over; 2 females under 10,
1 female 10-16, 1 female 16-26, 1 female over 45, in house #672, living next
door to Joseph W. Kilpatrick. Joseph William is listed with; 2 males
10-16, 2 males 16-26, 1 male 45 & over; 2 females under 10, 1 female 10-16,
1 female 16-26, 1 female 45 & over.
"The Great Awakening":
"The Great Awakening"
was a religious movement that had its beginnings in the 1740's and continued on
through the early 1800's. You see, the problem with the Presbyterian's
Calvinistic Doctrine was that it taught that only a few, elect individuals were
to saved from the fires of hell. The election was purely
involuntary. If you were one of the elect there was nothing you could do
to be lost. If not, there was nothing you could do to be saved.
That kind of doctrine does not create a lot of religious fervor or faith in a
man. After all, you could live as you liked and be saved, or live as you
liked and be lost. Another problem that the Presbyterian church shared
with other churches that were prevalent in America, they required that the
minister have had formal theological training (until the Cumberland
Presbyterians came along in the early 1800's). Not many formally educated
preachers wanted to commit themselves to a poor, backward frontier church. Not
many formally educated preachers wanted to commit themselves to living in
poverty, in primitive living conditions, and in harm's way. So, as you
can imagine, interest in the Presbyterian Church waned.
In "The Great Awakening" the doctrine "Arminianism" was taught. In this doctrine anyone, regardless of race, class, or status could be saved. Election was not involuntary, but was dependent on belief. This doctrine was spread by Baptist and Methodist preachers in camp meetings. Some of these preachers were itinerant (circuit rider) preachers, traveling from community to community acquiring their living from the "offerings". Others were part time preachers, having some other trade and/or farming to provide a living for themselves. They were charismatic preachers. Their sermons were presented with emotion and therefore raised the emotions of their listeners. They drew many converts from among the poor frontiersmen. They also taught against drinking alcohol, gambling, dancing, sexual immorality, and cursing. All in all, this movement was responsible for the growth of churches in frontier and the taming of the frontiersman.
3rd Great-Granduncles Joseph Nichols Kilpatrick, Joshua Wilkerson Kilpatrick, William D. Kilpatrick, and James Hall Tanner Kilpatrick were caught up in this, probably much to the consternation and disapproval of their father 4th great-grandfather Andrew Kilpatrick who was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. Joseph, Joshua and William became Methodists, Joseph and Joshua Methodist preachers. James became a Baptist preacher and later was a delegate to the first Southern Baptist Convention at Augusta First Church in 1845. Somewhere along the line, the Kilpatricks that moved to Franklin County Tennessee became Methodists and some Baptists. Some of the Kilpatricks held on to Presbyterianism, but many left going to the Methodist or Baptist Church.
About 1807, a group of Presbyterian and Episcopalian pioneers,
having no preachers with them in the wilderness, got together to study the
Bible. After a while they were worshiping together as one body.
They didn't call themselves Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, or
Baptists, but simply christians. They called
the name of their congregation, in what is now Jackson County, Alabama,
"the church of Christ". Another movement was started that
would affect the Kilpatrick family many years later, the "Restoration Movement".
West to the "Land of Do Without":
Let's catch up with
our family tree now. In 1797, 4th Great-Grandfather, James W. Kilpatrick,
eldest son of Joseph
W. Kilpatrick (assumed) married his cousin, Euphemia Kilpatrick, daughter
of Andrew
Kilpatrick. James and Euphemia moved to Rutherford County,
North Carolina and lived there for over 20 years.
After our independence from England, the land west of the Appalachian Mountains was opened up for settlement. Americans started heading west into Western Virginia, Western North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Land grants were cheap. Some soldiers that had fought in the Revolutionary War received promissory notes from the Continental Congress for the pay owed them for their service. Some traded these promissory notes for land beyond the Appalachians. This land was known as the "Land of Do Without" because there was nothing there but open territory. Our ancestors, some of them anyway, got caught up in this westward movement.
In 1788 5th. Great-Grandfather Joseph W. Kilpatrick obtained 800 acres on both sides of the Duck River in what is now Maury County (formed in 1807 from Williamson County), Tennessee. Sometime after 1800, he, his sons Ebeneezer W., Eleazer, and some of his youngest daughters left Iredell County to go claim this land. William Kilpatrick and James Miller Kilpatrick, grandsons of James Balis Kilpatrick, and Andrew's son, Joshua Wilkerson Kilpatrick, went with them. Joseph died there sometime after 1811.
Andrew seems to have been a prominent land owner having a plantation(s) and slaves. He would leave these to his children in his will dated 1810. Andrew was a Registrar of Deeds, possibly the first Registrar in Iredell County. According to family legend, he was a schoolmaster for 22 years. Andrew stayed put in Iredell County where he died March 27, 1813.
Andrew's next to the oldest son William Wilson Kilpatrick bought
land in Buncombe County,
North Carolina (later called Henderson
County) in 1808. Joseph's eldest son, 4th Great-Grandfather James W.
Kilpatrick moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina sometime before 1790 and
lived there for over 20 years. Second Great-Grandfather, William Kilpatrick
was born there in 1795, and third Great-Grandfather, James H. Kilpatrick, was
born there in 1807.
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Carved out of North Carolina, Tennessee became the 16th. state of the union on June 1, 1796. |
The Second War with Britain:
Out of hunger for
more land, and after sufficient provocation, Congress declared war against
Great Britain on June 18, 1812. The fledgling nation of the United States
went to war against one of that day's "World Powers". Great
Britain incited its Indian allies to war against the Americans. The
Shawnee "Prophet", Chief
Tecumseh, campaigned from Canada to Florida for a war to wipe out the
whites. In this area the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees, and some of the
Creeks refused to join in this war. But William
Weatherford (Red Eagle) would lead the Upper Creeks war party, the "Red
Sticks" against the white settlers armed with weapons from the Spanish.
The Red Sticks massacred the white settlers at Fort Mims in Baldwin County,
Alabama. General Andrew Jackson was authorized to raise an army to put
down this uprising. He would rendezvous his Tennessee Volunteers at Fort
Blount near Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee. Famous
frontiersman, Davy
Crockett was numbered among the Tennesseans. They would proceed on,
stopping at New Market, Madison County, Alabama, and then at Huntsville,
Alabama. They would camp in Huntsville at what is now the intersection of
Holmes Avenue and Lincoln Street. Jackson would find Huntsville deserted
except for a few stalwart souls, her occupants frightened into flight by a
rumor that Red Eagle and his band were on their way. Jackson and his
Tennessee Volunteers went on south and defeated the creeks in the Battle of
Horseshoe Bend on March 29, 1814. In August he forced the Creeks to
surrender about half the present state of Alabama in the Treaty of Fort
Jackson. On December 24,
1814 a peace treaty was signed with Britain in Ghent, Belgium. The
Treaty of Ghent, though not resolving any differences, ended the war.
Unfortunately, news of the treaty did not reach America until February 11, 1915.
General Andrew Jackson's victory in the the Battle of New
Orleans on January 8, 1815 came fifteen days after the treaty was signed.
I have not found that any of our direct ancestors fought in the
war of 1812, but some of our uncles did. Half 4th. Great-Granduncle
Alexander McCorkle Kilpatrick, youngest son of Andrew was a private in the
North Carolina 7th. Regiment, 6th Company. His brother Andrew Conger
Kilpatrick was 4th. Do in the same outfit. Their half brother James Hall
Tanner Kilpatrick volunteered in Natchitoches, Louisiana and fought at the
Battle of New Orleans. 4th. Great-Granduncle Eleazer Kilpatrick,
son of Joseph W. Kilpatrick was a Captain in Samuel Ashmore's Company.
Eleazer's big brother Ebeneezer was commissioned a captain in the 27th.
regiment. Both were in General Andrew Jackson's Tennessee Militia.
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In 1812, the community of Francisco right at the Franklin County, Tennessee and present day Jackson County, Alabama line was not settled. But the Tucker Family had come from Greasy Cove, Tennessee to tap sugar maples for syrup. While the Tucker men were out tapping trees, Mrs. Tucker was back at the camp with her baby and two older children. Taking the baby with her, Mrs. Tucker walked down to a near by spring for water. The two older children were left at the camp alone. While she was gone rogue Indians raided the camp and murdered the two children. Upon returning to the camp, Mrs. Tucker saw what had happened and crawled in a large hollow log and covered the baby's mouth with her hand to keep it quite until the Indians were gone. When the Tucker men returned and saw what had happened, they tracked the Indians over the mountains to Bridgeport, Alabama, but lost the trail after that. They buried the two children there where the camp was and today that is the Beech Grove Cemetery. |
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Alabama became the 22nd state of the Union on December 14, 1819. |
4th. Great-Grandparents James W. and Euphemia Kilpatrick left
Rutherford County and headed out to Franklin
County, Tennessee where he could be found in the 1820 Census. He
lived in the Huntland/New Salem area near Beans Creek. James was over 45,
1 female 26-45, 4 males 16-26, 1 female 16-26, 2 female 10-16, 1 female under
10, 1 male under 10. James W. Kilpatrick can be found in Franklin
County up until the latter part of the 1830's. At this time, James W.,
now in his seventies, and Euphemia moved to Talladega County, Alabama with
their son James H.
and his wife Matilda. James W. and Euphemia lived in Talladega
County until they died a few years later (sometime after 1840). James W.
Kilpatrick's other son, 2nd Great-Grandfather William and his wife
Hannah, stayed in Franklin County or at least right across the state line
Jackson County, Alabama. In 1822 or 1823 Great-Grandfather Ephriam Reed Kilpatrick
is born to William and Hanna right in sight of the place where the Tucker
children had been murdered about ten years earlier.
The Trail of Tears:
Andrew Jackson was
inaugurated the 7th. President of the United States March 4, 1829. The
peoples of Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia were hungry for land
owned by the Indians. This was especially so in North Georgia where gold
had been discovered. So on May 28, 1830,
Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The act called for the
removal of all natives east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the
Mississippi River, namely Oklahoma. The act had been opposed by such
notable statesmen as Davy
Crockett, Daniel
Webster, and Henry
Clay, but to no avail. In April of 1838, 7,000 soldiers under General Winfield Scott moved
into the Cherokee home land. The Cherokee people were forced out of their
homes at gun point, and allowed to take no more than the clothes on their
back. Whites descended upon the Cherokees houses like vultures or
"hungry wolves" as one Baptist missionary put it, stripping them of
their contents. In October of 1838 the "Trail of Tears"
began for most of the Cherokee. Twenty-five percent of the Cherokees who
started out on the march to Oklahoma didn't make it. Some Cherokee hid in
the mountains of North Carolina and in 1842 the government finally gave up on
trying to find them.
First Cousin Five Times Removed Nimrod Merrill Kilpatrick
(grandson of Joseph W. Kilpatrick), 2nd Cousins Five Times Removed 2nd.
Corporal Madison Hugh Kilpatrick and 4th. Corporal Allen Davidson
Kilpatrick (grandsons of Hugh Kilpatrick) had the sad duty to participate in
this tragedy in North Carolina serving in Company H, Rutherford
Volunteers of the North Carolina militia. So did 2nd. Cousin Five
Times Removed Balis (Baley) Jackson Kilpatrick (grandson of Hugh
Kilpatrick) and 3rd. Cousins Four Times Removed Felix and Drewry
(great-grandsons Hugh Kilpatrick) who served in Company L, Macon
Volunteers of the North Carolina militia.
Back in Tennessee:
2nd
Great-Grandfather William Kilpatrick died some time before 1840 and was buried
in the Beech Grove Cemetery right in sight of where he had lived in Franklin
County. His brother, 3rd Great-Grandfather James H. Kilpatrick, returned
to Franklin County sometime before 1840 where he can be found in the 1840
Census. But sometime around 1843 he moved his family to Lincoln County, Tennessee, near
the the town of Elora. James and Matilda were living there when 2nd.
Great-Grandfather William
Reed Kilpatrick was born August 12, 1844. Great-Grandfather Reed married Sophia
Brown December 30, 1844. They moved near Cunningham Station, Tennessee
(now called Flintville) in Lincoln
County.
More War, The Gold Bug, and Qualla Kin:
Americans still
wanted more land, and they set their eyes on the west which was under Mexican
rule. The United States
declared war on Mexico May 12, 1847. The war ended with signing of
the Treaty of Guadalupa
Hildago on February 21, 1848. The United States acquired the land
that was later to become California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and
Utah. 13,780 Americans died in that war, one of which was First Cousin
Five Times Removed John Sidney Branch. John was the grandson of Joseph
W. Kilpatrick. Another grandson of Joseph W. Kilpatrick,
Joseph Henry Kilpatrick, was Lieutenant Colonel in the 2nd Mississippi
Regiment. Joseph would survive the war to become a lawyer.
On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered on John Sutter's land out in California. Word spread like wildfire. The first shipload of ocean going prospectors arrive in San Francisco on February 28, 1849. First Cousin Four Times Removed Elihu Valliant (grandson Joseph W. Kilpatrick) struck out west to seek his fortune, but died on board the ship he was on before reaching California.
Sometime before 1849 James H. Kilpatrick died leaving Matilda, daughter Nancy, and sons William Reed and John alone.
In 1852, 2nd Cousin 3 Times Removed James Wharey Terrell went
into business with William
Holland "Wil Usdi" Thomas, taking over his trading post in Quallatown, North Carolina.
James was the great-grandson of Andrew Kilpatrick, and grandson of William D.
Kilpatrick. Quallatown was a business center for the Eastern Band of the
Cherokee. James would later become an Indian Agent. William Thomas
campaigned for the Cherokee left at Oconaluftee in the Smoky Mountains to
receive removal payments under the Treaty of New Echota. James Wharey
Terrell became the Disbursing Agent that would carry the gold from Knoxville, Tennessee
over the Smoky Mountains to the Oconaluftee Cherokee.
King Cotton:
By the 1850's Reed and Sophia Kilpatrick
had three daughters, Martha (b. cir. 1845), Hannah (b. cir. 1847), and Sarah
(b. cir. 1849). They lived in a small cabin on a hill near Cunningham
Station, Lincoln County, Tennessee and raised cotton on their small farm.
There had been a lot of economic changes that had brought prosperity to the South. There a lot changes going on right here in the Tennessee Valley. Bell Factory, a water powered textile mill on the banks of the Flint River in Madison County, Alabama, had began production back in the 1830's. Railroads were being built linking major towns. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad provided rail service from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River. Huntsville, Alabama would be a major center on that line being the Eastern Division Headquarters and shops. Rails also linked Huntsville to Nashville, Tennessee (Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad). By 1860, the Winchester and Alabama Railroad had linked Winchester to Fayetteville, Tennessee with plans to go on to Hobbs Island, Alabama near Huntsville. This would make the Tennessee River more accessible to the Franklin and Lincoln Counties, Tennessee and Madison and Jackson Counties, Alabama. Cotton prices were high and crops were good. The railroad and local manufacturing would make cotton farming the most profitable it had ever been for this region. Many small farmers had began raising cotton to sell so that they could buy things that they needed instead of trying to raise them.
At Cunningham Station, Tennessee, sometime between 1860 and 1861,
the Reed Kilpatrick family would be mourning the passing of Sophia
Kilpatrick. Sophia would be the first of three wives that Reed would out
live.
Brother Against Brother:
Prosperity was not
to last for long. For while there were many economic changes in the
1850's, the decade would be the harbinger of war.
With Lincoln's election in 1860, the fabric of this country began to unravel.
Alabama was one of the first states to secede leaving the Union in January,
1861. Tennessee was the last to secede in June. After the Sumter was
fired upon in April of 1861, Lincoln gave up on trying
to restore the Union peacefully. The War of Northern Aggression had
begun. To read a more detailed
account about the causes of the war follow this link.
The North would call the war the "Civil War" or the "War of the Rebellion". Confederates were branded as "rebels". Rebels? These men were grandsons or great-grandsons of Revolutionary War soldiers. They were sons or grandsons of War of 1812 soldiers. They were the sons of soldiers that had fought in the Mexican War. Some of them had fought in the Mexican war themselves. They didn't see what they were doing as being rebellion, but standing up for their rights. To them this was the "War for Southern Independence" likened to the War of Independence from Britain.
When the Confederate army withdrew after the Battle of Shiloh, all the Tennessee Valley region was left undefended. Huntsville being an major rail center, was soon a target of the Union Army. In April, 1862 Union Troops made their move. Coming from Nashville, Tennessee, they made their way down through Murfreesboro, Shelbyville, and Fayetteville to Huntsville. They occupied the Huntsville area (Jackson, Limestone, and Madison Counties, Alabama and Franklin and Lincoln Counties, Tennessee) for about five months solid, subjecting the people to a harsh and repressive military dictatorship. Following that time the area was raided on several occasions and was occupied briefly at least one more time. The railroad that had been built between Winchester and Fayetteville, Tennessee was destroyed taking up the rails and ties to be used elsewhere. There were never any major battles in this area, but there was a lot military activity. Union troops and supply trains were attacked by local guerilla bands and by the likes of "That Devil" Nathan Bedford Forrest. (For a more details about the Union occupation of this area, follow this link.)
What did our ancestors do during the War Between the States? Reed Kilpatrick was too old to serve (he was about 40 at the beginning of the war). William Reed Kilpatrick is the only ancestor that was the right age to fight during the war (he was 18 at the beginning of the war), but I can't find any record of him serving. I haven't been able to find any record such as an application for pension or any family record that says he served on either side. He may have received an exemption or maybe he was a slacker and hid out during the war. It's possible though, that he have served in Mead's 25th. Alabama Cavalry, a partisan battalion that operated in this area. There was in Company D a Private William Killpatrick that enlisted in Franklin County, Tennessee. There was in Company G a Private W.R. Killpatrick that enlisted in Madison County, Alabama.
We for sure had cousins that served on both sides of the conflict. Third Cousin, Three Times Removed, Miles Dickson Kilpatrick (great-grandson of Hugh Kilpatrick) of Cherokee County, North Carolina was as a 2nd. Lieutenant in the Co. H of the 39th Regiment of the North Carolina Infantry. He enlisted 3/4/1862 mustering in as a Sergeant. He was appointed 2nd. Lieutenant 5/19/1862. He was dismissed 5/16/1863 for being AWOL for a month or more. His brother Andrew Jackson Kilpatrick may have also enlisted in the same outfit. Third Cousin, Three Times Removed, William A. Kilpatrick (great-grandson of John C. Kilpatrick) was a merchant in Rowan Co. He enlisted in Co. D of the 34th. Regiment of the North Carolina Infantry 9/8/1861. He mustered in as a sergeant. He was wounded at Chancellorsville, Virginia 5/1-4/1863. He returned to duty prior to 7/14/1863. He was captured at Falling Waters, Maryland. He was confined at Old Capitol Prison in Washington D.C. and then transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland 10/27/1863. He died of dysentery in the hospital there 2/22/1864. Brothers, Second Cousin Three Times Removed, Benjamin Franklin and Robert J. Kilpatrick (great-grandsons of Joseph W. Kilpatrick) enlisted in Company C of the 65th. Regiment of the North Carolina Cavalry 8/3/1863. Second Cousin, Four Times Removed, James Warner Kilpatrick (grandson of Hugh Kilpatrick), a Rutherford County Dentist enlisted in Company D of the 16th. Regiment of North Carolina Troops in 5/1/1861. He was elected 1st. Lieutenant and was later promoted to captain when he was transferred to Company N 4/26/1862. Third Cousin, Three Times Removed, Madison Jefferson Kilpatrick (great-grandson of Hugh Kilpatrick) enlisted at age 16 on 6/17/1861 in Company A of the 29th. Regiment of the North Carolina Troops (also know as the Cherokee Guards). Fourth Cousin Twice Removed James A. Kilpatrick (2nd. great-grandson of James Balis Kilpatrick) of Maury and Tipton County, Tennessee served in the 4th. Mississippi Calvary. 4th. Cousin 3 Times Removed George W. Kilpatrick (2nd. great-grandson of James Balis Kilpatrick) moved from Giles County, Tennessee to Monroe County, Arkansas. He enlisted there in the Confederated army and served as a wagon driver in Bragg's Trans-Mississippi Army. He would rise to the rank of sergeant and serve until his unit surrendered on May 11, 1865. Second Cousin Three Times Removed James Wharey Terrell and his brother William Stuart Terrell (great-grandsons of Andrew Kilpatrick) both served in "Thomas's Legion", North Carolina's Cherokee Battalion. Thomas's Legion was a guerilla force made up of Cherokees and whites. They fought in North Carolina, the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and East Tennessee. At the Battle of Cold Harbor Virginia, 7000 men were killed in twenty minutes. Second Cousin Three Times Removed Ebenezer Peyton Mahon (great-grandson of Joseph W. Kilpatrick) was killed the evening of the first day of fighting there. First Cousin Five Times Removed Ebenezer (great-grandson of Joseph W. Kilpatrick) enlisted for service May 27, 1861 at Corinth, Mississippi. His grandfather, Ebeneezer Kilpatricck had fought in the War of 1812, He was sitting, leaning against a tree, reading his Bible when a minnie ball hit and killed him. Third Cousin, Three Times Removed, Elisha Kilpatrick (great-grandson of Hugh Kilpatrick) enlisted at age 22 in Company A of the 19th Regiment of the North Carolina Cavalry. He was furloughed having been wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg (possibly). Elisha's older brother Elijah enlisted in the Union Army August 10, 1864, at Cleveland, Tennessee. He enlisted as a private in Company C of the 5th Regiment of the Tennessee Mounted Infantry. Brother against brother, but luckily both lived to mend the rift and were still close after the war.
In November of 1861 Reed Kilpatrick would marry his second wife Mary L. Patterson. They would have two daughters born to them before the end of the war, Mary L. Kilpatrick (b. February 05, 1863) and Bettie (b. January 01, 1865)
On April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee
surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox Court House, Virginia. General Joe Johnston, commander of all
remaining forces in North Carolina surrendered his forces to General William Tecumseh
"Cump" Sherman on April 26, 1865 at Durham Station, North
Carolina. The last Confederate general to surrender his forces was Brigadier General Stand
Watie, leader of the Confederate Cherokees. Watie surrendered to
Federal forces on June 23, 1865. The war was over, the Confederacy
fallen. President
Andrew Johnson would declare the Insurrection over on April 2, 1866.
Reconstruction in Tennessee:
The whole state of
Tennessee was mourning over the loss from the war. So many young men bad
been killed. There were so many young men that had lost arms or
legs. So many young men came back to find that the homes, farms, or
businesses that they left behind were in ruins. As one Middle Tennessee
traveler put it, "Her cities, her towns, and her villages are draped in
mourning. Even the country, ever and always so much nearer God and nature
than these, wears the black pall..." Abraham Lincoln had devised a
plan under which seceded states could return to the Union. His plan was
lenient and forgiving to the Confederates. All they had to do was have ten
percent of their citizens take an oath to support the Union.
Unfortunately, President Lincoln was not able to carry out his plan. On
April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife were to attend the play "Our American
Cousin" at Ford's Theater. During the third act an
actor named John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln in the head.
Lincoln died the next morning. A week before Lincoln's assassination, William G.
Brownlow had became governor of Tennessee. Brownlow was a
Radical bent on punishing everyone that had supported the Confederacy. He
and a Radical Legislature enacted laws that would keep ex-Confederates from
voting or carrying firearms. Anyone that criticized the state or federal
government was punished severely. This kind of repression was to continue
until Brownlow resigned to take a Senate seat and Dewitt Senter succeeded
him. Senter fired Brownlow's Voter Registrars and replaced them with his
own. They understood that they were to register any voter that supported
Senter regardless if they were ex-Confederates or not. Senter was elected
to the office that he had previously occupied by succession. He sponsored
a bill that allowed all adult males to vote.
There was still much to do in rebuilding Tennessee. Her railroads had been destroyed or were not passable because of lack of maintenance. Money for farming was scarce. The end of the war not not mean the end of hard times for Tennessee.
4th. Cousin 3 Times Removed, George W. Kilpatrick, (2nd. great-grandson of James Balis Kilpatrick) married Mary C. Davis. With Tennessee in ruins he would move to Texas after the war. They would live for a while in Hill County and then in Coleman County. George and Mary would have ten children, their third child was Ben "The Tall Texan" Kilpatrick. The George Kilpatrick family would have a tarnished reputation being suspected of everything from questionable cattle and horse deals to homicide. None George's family would gain the notoriety of Ben though. Ben would first ride with the Black Jack Ketchum band and later with the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's "Wild Bunch". Ben's career in crime would end near Sanderson, Texas where during a 1912 train robbery he was killed by train detective. He is buried at Sanderson.
In The Little Town of
Cunningham Station:
Sometime in between
1865 and 1866, the Reed
Kilpatrick family would again be in mourning. Reed's second wife Mary
passed away, possibly giving birth to their third daughter, Margaret
Elizabeth Kilpatrick. In March of 1866, Reed would marry my Great-Grandmother
Martha S. Lankford. Reed was 44 years old the time, Martha was only 16
years old. They would begin a family of ten children
in 1867 still living in their cabin on a hill near Cunningham Station,
Tennessee.
I don't know what was happening with Matilda Kilpatrick and her family in the 1850's and most of the 1860's, but in 1869 she, her daughters Nancy Donelson, Margaret Harden, and Polly (Mary) Martinvale, and sons 2nd Great-Grandfather William Reed and John H. are involved in litigation with a David Counts. It seems that Matilda and family had filed a complaint against Counts over some land that he had sold James H. Kilpatrick before he died. It seems that Mr. Counts had continued to use the land after he sold it to James, living on it and cutting timber to sell to make railroad ties. Matilda and family won their suit as far as being awarded possession of the land, but I don't think they received any monetary settlement for rent on the land or for the timber because Counts had improved the property by building a couple houses and out buildings on it.
As you can see all of Matilda's daughters are married by this time. Polly lived in Arkansas. Margaret and possibly Nancy lived in Marshall County, Alabama. William Reed was married to the daughter of William A. Metcalf from Madison County, Alabama. I can't find any record of this marriage other than in the body of Mr. Metcalf's testimony in the Counts litigation.
Back before the war, the town of Cunningham Station was nothing more than a post office at the railroad. Mr. D. M. Mims was the first Post Master. Despite hard times, in 1868 a town was springing up around this mail stop, at town that would be called Flintville. By 1868, the railroad between Winchester and Fayetteville, Tennessee had been rebuilt and a depot built at Flintville. Thirty-six families lived in the area. There were four churches (Baptist, Christian, Methodist, and Cumberland Presbyterian), a school, two mills, and two distilleries. The book, "Flintville - A People's History", has a picture of William Reed Kilpatrick in front of the Baptist church building with four other men. The picture was taken about 1869, so William would have been 25 years old at them time.
Through out the 1870's Flintville continue to grow despite hard
times. More stores and shops would open. The town had its own
magistrate. A local order of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was
formed and a meeting hall built. The town would soon have three
dentists, two doctors, and a druggist. There were saw mills, and
mills that produced furniture, wagons and carriages. The Memphis and
Charleston Railroad was considering building a spur line from Flintville to
Huntsville, Alabama. Around the town they raised cotton, wheat, oats, and
corn.
|
In Chicago, 1871, the late summer and early fall were spent in drought. Everything was tinder including the wood buildings. Wells were dry. The city fire department was already exhausted having fought a succession of fire in late September and early October. Then on October 8, a drunken Thomas O'leary (not his cow) would knock over a lantern in his barn at 8:45 PM. The resulting fire would spread and continue for three days burning 2143 acres of land, destroying a third of the city's property value, killing 300 people, and leaving 10,000 homeless. On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for an apparatus to transmit voice or other sounds telegraphically. This apparatus, of course, was the telephone. |
I don't know what happened to his first wife, but sometime before 1880, William Reed Kilpatrick would marry 2nd Great-Grandmother Mary Caldonia Graham. Just like his first marriage I have not been able to find a record of his marriage to Mary other than in a family Bible. In the 1880 Census he is listed as a farmer. His mother, Matilda, was living with them at the time of the census. Matilda would have been about 78 years old. There were two boys living with the William Kilpatrick family. One was James Clark (age 12) listed as "bound", born in Alabama as well as both parents. The second was William Cryar (age 15) listed as "Hh" (hired hand?), born in Alabama as well as both parents. William Reed Kilpatrick was a cotton farmer, but in the 1880's he also ran a store. I don't know the date when he started, but William Reed Kilpatrick would be in the distillery business with a Mr. Mims manufacturing "bug juice." They would cease this operation in the Spring of 1884.
In the 1880 Reed Kilpatrick is
about 58 years old. He has nine children living at home at this
time. In February of 1881, my grandfather James Porter (Jim)
Kilpatrick would be born. Reed and Martha would have another son in
1883 and one in 1885. Great-Grandmother Martha passed away in 1886.
She was buried near their home in what is now the Kilpatrick Cemetery.
|
On July 2, 1881, our 20th. President, James A. Garfield became the second president to be shot while holding office. After only serving four months in office, he was shot in the arm and the back in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station by deranged lawyer, Charles J. Guiteau. Guiteau, a supporter of Garfield in the election, expected appointment to a consular post in exchange for his support, but he was turned down repeatedly. President Garfield lingered for weeks as doctors tried to locate the bullet in his back. He died of infection and internal hemorrhaging which was probably more the result of the doctors' probing than the bullet itself. Garfield held office only six months. Guiteau was hanged at the District of Columbia jail on June 30, 1882. The federal government refused to turn over Guiteau's remains to his family. Instead they stripped his corpse down the bone and planned to put his skeleton on public display. They never put Guiteau's skeleton on display, but is probably still in the storage vaults of the Army Medical Museum. |
William Reed and Mary Kilpatrick would not have their first
child together until 1887. Great-Grandfather Robert Floyd
Kilpatrick was born to William and Mary on April 28, 1890. He
was the third of six children.
|
On May 31, 1889, at 4:07 P.M., the citizens of Johnstown, Pennsylvania would hear a sound they would describe as "A Roar Like Thunder". Fourteen miles up the Little Conemaugh River, a dam had gave at Lake Conemaugh, a mountain side lake resort for the rich. Engineers had already declared the dam an "accident waiting to happen", but proprietors of the lake had done nothing to correct the problems or drain the lake. Twenty million tons of water, plus huge chunks of debris came crashing down the valley at forty miles an hour right down on Johnstown. Forty feet high and a half a mile wide, the wall of water and debris swept away all in its path leaving only a muddy plain. In it wake, there were left over 2200 dead, much more homeless. |
In the Spring of 1891, the town of Flintville would become incorporated. William Reed Kilpatrick was voted acting mayor. An citywide election was held the next month, but he was elected as an alderman instead of mayor. William either declined the office of mayor or the people declined him. Incorporating the town meant that it would be legal to have a drinking establishment within the city limits. William took advantage of this and his store became a store/saloon. Within three years after incorporating, the people of the town became tired of Alabama folks coming across the state line, getting drunk in Flintville and causing a disturbance, and then escaping across the state line again. So to get rid of the saloons, the people petitioned the Tennessee State Legislature to repeal their charter.
In October of 1896 it was reported that Reed Kilpatrick lost two horses. Both got sick and died while working, one at the plow and the other pulling a wagon.
I found several more notes about William Reed Kilpatrick, nothing really interesting, it just places him and gives a little glimpse of his life. In June of 1895 he is reported sick with fever. In February of 1986 Mary is reported to be in Plevna where her father (80+ years old) is on his death bed. In April of 1896 William had lost a cow. In July of 1896 someone shot one of his mules wounding it. In December of 1896 William and a Mr. W. R. Honey went to Huntsville to sell cotton. "They say the money did not swell their pocketbooks much at $6 a hundred." The last report of William in Flintville is in May of 1897 when a fire had spread into some woods that he owned. This is the last record I could find of William in Flintville. I am assuming that he moved to Belleview, Marion County, Florida sometime between May of 1897 and the 1900 Census. The whole family did not move to Florida with William. In the 1900 Census Mary is still living in Flintville with William's next to oldest daughter Willie Bell. Mary is listed as the head of household and Willie Bell is listed as her stepdaughter. Who was Willie Bell Kilpatrick's mother? Mary was still in Flintville in 1901, because she had a will probated in July of that year.
Reed Kilpatrick's next to the oldest son, Ephiram Lattimore
Kilpatrick, married Ellen Brooks in 1898. Ephriam Reed Kilpatrick died in
April if 1899. He was laid to rest in the Kilpatrick Cemetery near his
cabin. His older daughter Mary would raise the younger children and would
be listed as head of house hold in the Kilpatrick house in the 1900
census. Sisters Bettie, Omi (Naomi) and Rebecca and brothers Newt (George
Newton) and Grover were living with her. Ephriam's oldest son John and
his wife Ella had three daughters by 1900. Ephriam Lattimore Kilpatrick's
wife, Ellen Brooks, died sometime in 1900 and he was living with the family of
Alfred M. Hudson as a servant. My grandfather, Jim Kilpatrick,
married Florence Stiles sometime in 1900. Third oldest son Thomas was
living with John and his family at the time of the census, but he would marry
Mollie Armor in November. My grandfather, Jim Kilpatrick, married
Florence Stiles January 4, 1900. Ephriam and Martha's next to the
youngest daughter Caroline married Walter Damron January 11, 1900.
Closing Out the 19th. Century With a War:
The War between the
States had distracted the American attention from its "Manifest
Destiny". After the War Between the States, the American people
spread out from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast. As the last of
the Western Frontier was settled, Americans began looking beyond our shores, to
increase and control all trade with Asia. To accomplish this would
require a strong naval presence in the Pacific and naval bases would have to be
established on Pacific Islands. The United States had
already bullied Japan into a agreement in 1854. Pearl harbor had been
leased from the Hawaiians in 1887. By 1893 Americans had
deposed Queen Liliuokalani and were in control of the Hawaiian Islands.
In 1895 there was an attempt to restore Queen Liliuokalani to her throne by
force. The uprising was suppressed and the queen and here supporters were
arrested for treason. She was forced to sign an agreement renouncing any
and all claims to the throne. In 1896 Hawaii was annexed by a joint
resolution of Congress. America now had her mind set on the Spanish
controlled Philippines.
On January 25, 1898 the American battle ship Maine, under the command of Captain Charles Sigsbee sailed into Havana Harbor. Because of the loss of American property in the ongoing Cuban uprising, she had been summoned there by American consul Fitzhugh Lee to protect American interest in Cuba. Three weeks later the Maine would be on the bottom of Havana Harbor, sunk by an explosion in one of her powder magazines. The explosion may have been caused by a bomb, torpedo, or mine, but it might just as well been caused by an accidental fire in an adjacent coal bunker. The exact cause of the explosion was never determined. Spain concluded that the sinking was an accident, America was determined that it was a mine. The incident was the provocation our government was looking for to go to war with Spain. The Pacific Fleet was put on alert. On April 20th. President McKinley signs a congressional resolution calling for Cuba's independence, that Spain withdraw from Cuba, and for U.S. Military intervention. McKinley also orders Cuba blockaded. On the 24th. of April, Spain declares war against the U.S. The Pacific fleet was ordered to the Philippines the same day. Congress would declare war on Spain the next day. The U.S. was engaged in her last war of the 19th. Century. The Spanish fleet was destroyed at Manila and at Santiago. The Treaty of Paris, signed by Spain in December of 1899, officially ended the "splendid little war". In the treaty Spain gave up all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and handed over the Philippines to the U.S. for $20 million.
Fourth Cousin Twice Removed Athan A. Kilpatrick (2nd-great-grandson of Hugh Kilpatrick) of Hewitts, North Carolina was a private in the First North Carolina Regiment, Company G. North Carolina's First Regiment was the first American Soldiers to arrive at Havana. The Regiment returned to Savannah, Georgia on March 28, 1899 where they were mustered out April 22, 1899.
The fighting did not end with Spain's surrender. The Filipinos, who
had been waging a civil war against Spain, did not want to become a colony of
another imperialist nation, namely the United States. On February 4,
1899, Filipino freedom fighters, led by Emilio Aguinaldo,
attacked (allegedly) the American forces stationed in Manila killing 57 and
wounding 213. There were some 500 Filipinos killed and 1000 wounded in
this battle. Thus began the Philippine Insurrection or the War of
Independence. The Philippine war
was the Vietnam of the 19th. Century in which many atrocities were committed by
both sides. The war ended officially on March 23, 1901 when Emilio
Aguinaldo was captured, but fighting continued on several islands for a decade
or more.
|
On September 6, 1901, 25th. President William McKinley became the third president to be shot while holding office. He had appeared at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo to make a speech. An anarchist named Leon Czolgosz shot President McKinley as he stood in an reception line in the Temple of Music. "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people! I did it for the help of the good people, the working men of all countries!". Czolgosz would declare before his execution. President McKinley died eight days later. Czolgosz was executed in the electric chair at New York's Auburn prison on October 29, 1901. Orville Wright flew into the history books on December 7, 1903 at 10:35 A.M. at Kitty Hawk North Carolina. He flew the gasoline engine powered airplane that he and his brother Wilbour had invented 127 feet for a total flight time of twelve seconds. On April 18, 1906, an earthquake would strike California with the epicenter near San Francisco. The quake would be felt from as far north as southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles, and as far east as central Nevada. The quake would rupture gas lines that would fuel a fire that would burn a 4.7 square mile area. 28,000 buildings were toppled or burned in San Francisco at a loss of more than 400 million dollars of property. It was initially estimated that there were 700 to 800 person killed in the quake and resulting fires, but later research says that the number was more like 3000 dead. 22,500 were left homeless. |
More to come....
This page is going
to be under continuous construction. Check back at least monthly for
corrections and additions.