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Robert Floyd Kilpatrick
1890-1965 Cir. 1933
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Revisions in rust colored text.
He was probably most commonly known as "Brother" Kilpatrick, but also known as Floyd and R.F. to his friends. He was known as "Dad" to his ten children and "Granddad" to his abundance of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I wasonly five when Great-Granddad died, so I don't remember too much about him.I do remember going to see him and Great-Grandmother at the big house in Maysville (Madison County, Alabama). I may not remember much about Floyd Kilpatrick myself, but I find he still lives in the hearts of many. Visiting several congregations of the church in Athens and Limestone County, I have had several people to ask me if I was related to Brother R.F. Kilpatrick. When I tell them he was my great-granddad they then relate to me their memories of Brother Kilpatrick. He may have been the one that baptized them, or maybe he stayed with them when he preached in the area, or they have memory of a certain sermon that had stuck with them (usually "The Wheel" sermon). Their remembrances plus those of my Dad have fostered in me an appreciation for Floyd Kilpatrick, or more accurately for the work that God worked through him.
Family Background
- To fully appreciated Floyd Kilpatrick, you have to look at what he came
out of. For him to have become a Gospel Preacher was seemingly against
all odds. Great-Granddad was born April 28, 1890 in Flintville, Lincoln
County, Tennessee. He was born to William (Billy) Reed and Mary Caldonia
Graham Kilpatrick. 
He was third of six children that
Great-Great-Grandfather Billy would father, that we know of. Billy
Kilpatrick was a well known figure in the Post War (Between the States) history
of Flintville. Billy had been born in Elora (also in Lincoln County,
Tennessee) in 1844 to James and Matilda Kilpatrick (one of six children).
James died somewhere around 1849 leaving Matilda, daughter Nancy, and sons
Billy and John alone (sisters Mary and Margaret were married). Billy
likely enlisted in 1864 with Mead's 25th. Alabama Cavalry, a partisan battalion
that operated in this area. There was in Company D a Private William
Killpatrick (sic) that enlisted in Franklin County, Tennessee. There
was in Company G a Private W.R. Killpatrick (sic) that enlisted in Madison
County, Alabama. I lean more towards Company D because some of his
friends were also enlisted. Billy married the daughter of William A.
Metcalf from Madison County, Alabama after the war. I can't find any
record of this marriage other than in the body of Mr. Metcalf's testimony
in some litigation with David Counts in 1869. This was possibly a common-law
marriage. I don't know what become of this marriage or if any children
came out of it. Sometime prior to 1880, Billy would marry Mary Caldonia
Graham. Again, I could not find any documentation for this marriage,
but Mary is listed as Billy's wife in the 1880 Census. Jim Kilpatrick,
my mother's dad who grew up Flintville, said that Billy and Mary's marriage
was a common-law marriage. Whatever the case, Billy's marriage to Mary
did not preclude his having children outside of that relationship.
Case in point is Billy's second daughter, Willie Bell Kilpatrick, who in
the 1900 Census, is listed as Mary's stepdaughter. Who was Willie Bell's
mother? Billy's career was varied. He was a cotton farmer, and
a store keeper. Great-Great-Granddad Billy would be in the distillery
business with a Mr. Mims manufacturing "bug juice". They would cease
this operation in the Spring of 1884. Billy's store would also serve as a drinking establishment after
Flintville was incorporated. He was an
interim mayor of Flintville and later an alderman. You can find his
name mentioned in the Flintville section of the Fayetteville Observer many
times from 1884 through 1897. After 1897 he dropped from sight in Flintville
and he was not listed in the 1900 Census. I assume then, that it was
sometime between 1897 and 1900 that he moved to Belleview, Marion County,
Florida. Why? Looking for greener
pastures, maybe he was ran out of town, who knows.We do know he moved off without Great-Great-Grandmother
Mary, because in the 1900 Census she and Willie Belle were still listed in
Flintville. Mary's marital status in the 1900 Census was listed as
divorced. Where was Great-Granddad Floyd in 1900? He could have
been with his father down in Florida, or he could have been living with one
of his sisters somewhere close to Flintville. Mary did move down to
Florida until sometime after 1900. Billy died in 1923 at the age of
seventy-nine and is buried in Belleview. Mary died in Florida in 1934
at the age of seventy and is buried in Mount Dora. This family was
just not the kind that you would expect a gospel preacher to come out of.
Some blame the mess that is their lives on
their family or their circumstances. Floyd Kilpatrick showed us though,
that with God's help, we can rise above our circumstances.
Sources:
Flintville,
A People's History
The
Sword of "Bushwhacker" Johnston - Milas Eddings Johnson