Frank H. Kirkwood
Frank H. Kirkwood and Family
The year 1832 is the first date at which the Kirkwood family became identified with Grant County. For fully eighty years, covering practically the entire period of the history of civilization in this section of the State, the name has been identified with the pioneer and modern activities in farming, business and public and social and religious affairs in this county and in Delaware County, as well as in other adjacent counties of Indiana. The immediate family of Frank H. Kirkwood was introduced to Grant County a short time before the Civil War and Mr. Frank H. Kirkwood has spent practically all his life in the county, and for many years has been one of the prosperous farmer citizens of Fairmount Township, his home being on Section 27 of that Township. The family record is one of such importance in different sections of the state, that it is appropriate that extended mention be made of its earlier generations. The following paragraphs are the substance of a family sketch prepared by Mr. L. A. Kirkwood of Muncie, for Frank H. Kirkwood, and written under date of September 20, 1909. This sketch covers the different generations quite fully, up to that in which Mr. Frank H. Kirkwood belongs.
The name Kirkwood is Scotch and signifies a "church in the woods," or a "wooden church." The late Samuel J. Kirkwood, who was Governor of Iowa during the Civil War, and later Secretary of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Garfield, once wrote in reply to some inquiries from Mr. L. A. Kirkwood, that his ancestors were natives of the north of Ireland, and were commonly called "Scotch-Irish or Presbyterian Irish,, Presbyterianism being as natural to them as water to a duck." Daniel Kirkwood, for many years Professor of Mathematics in the Indiana State University at Bloomington, and an astronomer of note in both Europe and America, was a cousin to the Iowa statesman. He, too, was of Scotch-Irish origin with the usual pronounced Presbyterian religious faith so peculiar to the earlier generations of the family. In a letter written by him in 1871, he expressed the belief that his ancestors and those of the Indiana family were of the same family in the north of Ireland.
The earliest known ancestors of the Kirkwood branch as related to the well known McCormick family, of Eastern Indiana, were from Knocknarney, County Down, Ireland, namely: James Reed Kirkwood and his wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Stewart. James Reed Kirkwood was born May 10, 1763, and Margaret Stewart on March 15, 1765. The exact date of their marriage is not known, but probably occurred about the year 1784, their first child being born October 11, 1785. In their old Bible, printed in Belfast, Ireland, in 1764, on a blank page, plainly written and in a fine state of preservation, is found this inscription, penned there more than one hundred years ago:
"James Kirkwood is my name
And Ireland is my nation
Knocknarney my dwelling place,
And Heaven my habitation."
"His hand wrote
May sixth,
1785."
James Reed Kirkwood and wife reared a family of several children of record as follows:
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Martha Kirkwood, born October 11, 1785, in Ireland.
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Mary Kirkwood, born June 9, 1786, on the Atlantic Ocean.
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Annie Kirkwood, born July 26, 1791.
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William Nesbit Kirkwood, born January 19, 1794.
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Thomas Kirkwood, born November 18, 1796.
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James Stewart, born September 23, 1801.
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Margaret Kirkwood, born October 4, 1803.
All the last five having Mifflin County, Pennsylvania as their birthplace. There is nothing of record to show when these parents first left the shores of Ireland or of their landing on American soil, save that it was in the summer of the year 1778. It would seem that they located in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, where they continued to reside until some time subsequent to October, 1803. Of the children just mentioned, Martha married William Starkey; Mary married John Gilland; Annie married James Gilland; William Nesbit married Matilda Randall; Thomas married Jane McCormick and James Stewart married Catherine McCormick.
James Reed Kirkwood passed away May 10, 1836, his wife having preceded him September 25, 1835. At the time of their death they made their home with their youngest son, James S. Kirkwood in Posey Township, Fayette County, Indiana. Their earthly remains are in a neglected pioneer graveyard about one-fourth of a mile north of Bentonville, Fayette County. It has long since been utterly abandoned as a burial place and is part of an open field used for farming. There are now no signs whatever of a cemetery there save the two base stones, from which the marble slabs have been broken off and removed to the fence which encloses the field. These were the only graves with stone markers in this early pioneer burial place, and not a sign of other graves therein is visible.
The Kirkwood relationship with the McCormick family began with the marriage of Thomas Kirkwood and Jane McCormick, which event took place March 4, 1824, at the old McCormick homestead near Connersville, Fayette County. They settled on land in Posey Township in that county, living the life of the settlers of that early time in Indiana. They remained in Fayette County, until 1832, when they moved to Grant County, and located on a farm, near where the town of Mathews now stands. In about the year 1850 they removed to a farm near Eaton, in Union Township of Delaware County, on the west bank of the Mississinewa River, remaining there the rest of their days. They had fourteen children, the first five born in Fayette County and the other nine in Grant County, their names with dates of birth being as follows:
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Wliliam Nesbit, December 9, 1824.
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Joseph Stewart, October 12, 1826.
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James Lewis, January 17, 1828.
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John Reed, July 20, 1829.
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Elizabeth Margaret, march 18, 1831.
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Samuel Drennan, October 2, 1832.
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Sarah Catherine, April 26, 1834.
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Thomas Cousins, April 27, 1836.
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Amos Washington, May 15, 1838.
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David McCormick, May 20, 1840.
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a son stillborn, October 10, 1841.
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Robert Lewis, may 25, 1843.
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Mary Jane, March 4, 1846.
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Martha Ann, November 24, 1848.
Thomas Kirkwood, father of these children, died October 2, 1851, aged fifty-four years, ten months and fourteen days. His widow, Jane Kirkwood, survived him forty-five years, passing away April 30, 1896, aged ninety-three years, eleven months and four days. Their remains rest in Mount Zion Cemetery, Union Township, Delaware County.
The further relationship of the Kirkwood's and the McCormcik's took place June 24, 1825, when James Stewart Kirkwood, a brother to Thomas, was united in marriage with Catherine McCormick, a sister to Jane. This event, like the other, was celebrated at the old McCormick homestead near Connersville, in Fayette County. They also settled on land in Posey Township, adjoining that of Thomas Kirkwood and John Gilland. They also had born to them a family of fourteen children of record as follows:
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John Drennen, born October 9, 1826.
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James Reed, October 24, 1828.
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William Morrison, June 24, 1830.
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Thomas Boston, August 18, 1832.
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Mary Jane, July 21, 1834.
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David McCormick, November 12, 1836.
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Joseph Lewis, December 22, 1838.
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Jefferson Stewart, May 23, 1841.
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Elizabeth Ann, March 3, 1843.
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Margaret, May 10, 1845.
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Levingston Alexander, February 11, 1847.
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Savannah Caroline, December 25, 1849.
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Amanda Samira, March 1, 1851.
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Almyra Frances Helen, January 30, 1854.
James Stewart Kirkwood, father of the last mentioned children, continued on the same farm until the time of his death, October 9, 1860, aged fifty-nine years and sixteen days. His widow, Catherine (McCormick) Kirkwood, survived him forty years, passing away July 11, 1900, aged ninety-one years, six months and twenty-five days. In 1874, Catherine Kirkwood moved from Fayette County to Muncie, Indiana, where she spent the remaining twenty-six years of her life. Their remains rest in the cemetery one-half miles south of Bentonville in Fayette County. Of the fourteen children above named, the following had passed away at the time Mr. L. A. Kirkwood wrote in September, 1909; Mary Jane, wife of Lexemuel Beeson, June 8, 1853; Almira Frances Helen Kirkwood, August 26, 1860; James Reed Kirkwood, November 16, 1903; and John Drennen Kirkwood, May 6, 1905.
John D. Kirkwood
Coming to the immediate family of Frank H. Kirkwood, some additional facts may be stated concerning his father, John Drennen Kirkwood, mentioned in the family last named, and who died in 1905, near Matthews, in Grant County. Reared in Fayette County, he became a skilled workman as a carpenter and builder, a trade he followed for a number of years. In 1859, he settled in Grant County, where he bought some land near Matthews. He had married a widow with two daughters, and on the removal to Grant County he bought eighty acres for each of these daughters. Then by his active management and ability he secured two hundred and forty acres for himself in Jefferson Township. Thus practically all his attention after he came to Grant County was given to agriculture, and in his time he was known as one of the most successful men in Jefferson Township. In politics, like the majority of the Kirkwood's, he was a Democrat. Though he and his wife held to no church, he was in every sense a Christian. John D. Kirkwood was married in Fayette County to Mrs. Ruth Burgess whose maiden name was Crawford. She was born in Fayette County in 1824, and died in Jefferson Township of Grant County, December 16, 1902. By her first marriage to Israel Burgess there were two daughters, Margaret and Sarah (Sallie). Margaret is the widow of William Millspaugh, of Delaware County, Indiana, and has a family; Sarah married Leander Millspaugh, a farmer in Jefferson Township, and they have a family of children. To the marriage of John Drennen Kirkwood and Mrs. Burgess were born two children: Brooks, born in 1868, and died September 23, 1906, married Bell Corn, who lives at Muncie and has a son Marcus.
Mr. Frank H. Kirkwood, the older of the two sons of John Drennen Kirkwood, was born July 2, 1858, in Fayette County, Indiana, and since 1859 his home has been in Grant County. His early education was unusually good for the time, and all his active career has been devoted to farming. His is one of the fine rural estates in Jefferson Township, comprising one hundred and twenty-five acres of first-class land, with about one hundred acres in cultivation, and in a high state of improvement. He is the owner also of another tract, consisting of eighty acres. that is in Section Thirty-six of Fairmount Township. His home is on Section Thirty-seven, and the improvements about the place indicate his progressive character as a leading Grant County farmer. A well furnished and attractive residence, nicely painted white and of one and a half story, is the prominent feature, while a large basement barn, forty by one hundred feet, is another valuable improvement. Mr. Kirkwood believes in the rotation of crops and has had much success in growing the staple cereals, corn, wheat, oats and clover. In order to preserve the fertility of his soil and keep all his grain crops at home, he raises hogs, and cattle, and feeds practically all his grain on his own land.
Mr. Kirkwood was first married in Grant County to Mollie Richards, a daughter of L. G. Richards. She was born and reared in Jefferson Township, and at her death left a daughter Florence. Florence is the wife of Lewis Johnson, of Matthews, in Grant County, and their children are Arthur B., Twila, and Ruby E. The second wife of Mr. Kirkwood was Nettie M. Jones, who died while giving birth to twins, who did not survive their mother. The present Mrs. Kirkwood was before her marriage, Lydia D. Oliver, a daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Lugar) Oliver. Mrs. Kirkwood was born in Mills Township, where she was reared and educated. Her father Edward Oliver still lives on the old homestead at the age of seventy-two. He was born in Ohio. His wife Elizabeth, died in Mill Township January 24, 1904, and was a native of Mills Township, where she spent all her life, her parents having been among the pioneers in Grant County. Mr. Oliver is a Democrat and he and his wife had no church affiliations.
Mr. Frank H. Kirkwood and his present wife are the parents of four children:
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Walter E., born July 22, 1891, educated in Fowlerton and now manager of one of his father's farms, married Vedah P. Tom, and they have one son, Hubert Drennen, aged two years.
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Chester J., born January 12, 1895, educated in the Fowlerton Public Schools and the Fairmount High School and lives at home.
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Orin B., born April 6, 1897, is attending school.
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Russell A., born July 28, 1899, is also in school.
Mr. and Mrs. Kirkwood are members of the Untied Brethren Church of Fowlerton, and in politics he is a Democrat.
Source: Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914. page 941-944.