Matilda (Sims) Kirkpatrick

© Kathy Duncan, 2015

Matilda Sims, daughter of Rev. James and Dolly (Spillers) Sims,  married John Kirkpatrick.

Biographies of children of Matilda (Sims) Kirkpatrick. There is some discrepancy over the name of her husband: Joseph or John Kirkpatrick? Most evidence seems to point toward him being John Kirkpatrick.

KIRKPATRICK, John Lane, a representative farmer of McDonough County, Ill. engaged in the pursuit of his calling in Bethel and Industry Townships, was born in Morgan County, Ill., May 27, 1841, a son of Joseph L. and Matilda (Sims) Kirkpatrick, his father being a native of Georgia and his mother of  South Carolina. His paternal grandparents, Thomas and Mary (Lane) Kirkpatrick, were natives of Georgia, and his grandparents on the mother's side, Mr. and Mrs. James Sims were South Carolinians by birth, the grandmother's maiden name being Spiller. The great-grandfather Kirkpatrick was killed by Tories during the Revolutionary War. Thomas Kirkpatrick and his family came to what is now the State of Illinois (then a part of Indiana Territory), and settled in the vicinity of what afterwards became Madison County, and in 1818 represented Bond County as a delegate to the State Convention which framed the first State Constitution.

Joseph L. Kirkpatrick was born in this locality in 1803, where his family remained until about 1825, when they removed to Morgan County, and there the grandparents, Thomas Kirkpatrick and wife, died. Joseph L. Kirkpatrick, who became a local Methodist preacher about 1832, and later entered the itinerant service, remained in Morgan County until 1870, when he removed with his family to McDonough County and purchased 274 acres of land in Industry and Bethel Townships, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying about 1876.

John Lane Kirkpatrick, the subject of this sketch, was the seventh born of eleven children, and lived on the paternal farm until his father's death, receiving his education in the public schools of his locality. After reaching manhood he bought 160 acres of the homestead, on which he has since been engaged in general farming, stock-raising and feeding. After being left a widow his mother lived with him until her death, January 8, 1877. Both parents are buried in Camp Creek Cemetery. Mr. Kirkpatrick has made additions to his farm until he now owns 360 acres, having 130 acres of timber and pasture land in Bethel and Industry Townships. Mr. Kirkpatrick met with a very serious accident on June 2, 1860, being shot in the left arm, which necessitated amputation near the shoulder. Nevertheless, he has since attended to his active duties on the farm.

On September 15, 1868, Mr. Kirkpatrick was married to Mary F. Munson, who was born in Rushville, Schuyler County, Ill., where she  attended the district school. The children resulting from their union are: Catherine M. (Mrs. H.C.D. Osborn), who died in 1893, at the age of twenty-four years; George Melvin, of McDonough County, and James Garfield, who is at home. Politically, Mr. Kirkpatrick is a Republican, and in religious faith, a Presbyterian. The subject of this sketch is a thorough farmer and a good citizen. He has proved himself and diligent in all the relations of life.
[Source: Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, vol. 2, Newton Bateman and Paul Selby]

Rev. Harvey S. Jordan, who is the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Lansing, Ingham County...The Rev. H.S. Jordan was born in Concord, Morgan County, Ill., April 9, 1854. He is a son of the Rev. W. H. Jordan, D.D., who was born in Birmingham, England, in 1832...The Rev. Mr. Jordan's mother was before her marriage Miss Mary J. Kirkpatrick. She was born in Chapin Township, Morgan County, and was a daughter of Rev. John Lane Kirkpatrick, who was born in 1799 in North Carolina. He was the one to haul the first cannon across the Mississippi into Illinois. He was Lieutenant in Capt. Nathan Winter's regiment which is better known as the Third Illinois Regiment and served in the Black Hawk War. He was reared in the South, although the Kirkpatrick family came from the North of Ireland to this country, making their entrance hither prior to the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Jordan's great-grandfather served in that war, his brother being shot by the Tories. Mrs. Jordan's great-grandfather was a slaveholder, but a heart he was a believer in the principles of Abolition and gave his slaves their freedom. He sold his farm and removed to Illinois, being among the earliest settlers of that State. He located in Morgan County and was one of the first to be interested in the opening of the Galena lead mines. He traveled by ox-team and was a pioneer preacher in the Methodist Protestant Church. For fifty years or more he engaged in preaching, never having received any renumeration for his services. His home was in Morgan County until 1868, when he removed to a place near Macomb, where he died at about seventy years of age. He was a Republican in his political views and a stanch supporter of the cause of freedom and independence. He is known throughout the country which he has served so long and faithfully by the affectionate title of old "Uncle  Johnny." His wife's father, the Rev. James Sims of Kentucky, was the first Methodist minister who was ordained in that State and was one of the founders of the Methodist Protestant Church. For a fuller biography of the Rev. Mr. Simms, refer to Stephen's History of Methodism. There were six brothers in the Kirkpatrick family and some were in the war and all were ministers. Three of them were Methodist Protestant and three belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
[Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Ingham and Livingston Counties, Michigan. Chapman Bros, 1891]