What an absolutely wonderful story! I only wish I could claim kinship with the Kirklands. Of course, since I'm on this list, perhaps I can, with some distant relative. julie munn Nancy Parr wrote: > The information below is from one of the web sites I previously posted for > info on Richard Rowland Kirkland. This gives alot of good information I > thought I'd share it. As I was reading it again, I noticed that Richard's > gr grandfather was Daniel Kirkland. And the 'story' names his father as > John A. Kirkland as well as John P Kirkland, so I'm not sure just which of > these men was Richard's father. > As you read this information, you'll notice several similarities to the > Kirkland families who descend from Richard Kirkland and Mary Snowden. I > feel surely these families all began together here in the US after coming > over from Scotland. And when this article speaks of Flat Rock and those > area, all these are in Kershaw Co. and Fairfield County is adjacent. > Remember there was a deed from Fairfield Co. to Richard Kirkland who married > Hester Walker. > Enjoy..... > NancyP > =========================================== > > A Rebel Against Injustice > > Richard Kirkland, Young Humanitarian of Kershaw County, South > Carolina > > by Mrs Harold Hough > > On September 20, 1863, Lieutenant Richard Kirkland, died in an unsuccessful > spearhead > attack before victory at Chichamauga. His last words, "Save yourselves, men > and tell Pa I > died right", exhibited the same pattern of unselfishness he had shown less > than a year > before at > Fredericksburg when he became known as the " Angel of Marye’s Heights". > > Fredericksburg, especially in the sector of Marye’s Heights, was not a > battle; it was a > slaughter. Safe in a concealed sunken road behind a stone wall on the > Heights, the > Confederates could scarcely believe that the Federals (Union) now engaged in > sharpshooting , had > made six bloody attempts to take Marye’s Heights; but there below them lay > the Uniom dead and wounded---left for hours, some moaning feverishly for > water. As time went on, > Kirkland became so outraged at the Union desertion of their own wounded that > family > tradition claims he would have gone over the stone wall to give them water > even if General > Kershaw had not given him permission. > > After Kirkland miraculously reached the nearest sufferer and quenched his > thirst, soldiers > of both sides cheered and ceased fire for the hour and a half it took him to > make the dying > moments of his enemy a bit easier. > > A study of the Kirklands in South Carolina is the study of the very > back-bone of > Americanism. The Kirklands have always been rebels against injustice. They > were > descended from the freedom-loving Scotch who fought for centuries against > the > encroachments of the English. > > The Kirklands were not rice birds-planters from Charleston. They came > overland from > Farquhar County, VA and settled in the Catawba Wateree Valley where the > streams, the > falls, the steep hills and giant boulders reminded them of Scotland. They > were bred with the > individualistic tendency of the self-reliant pioneers-the determination to > do what they > thought right-yet ready to take the consequences. > > When the Kirklands in the back country of South Carolina were plagued by > horse thieves > and received no help from the government, they took the law in their own > hands, led the > Regulator Movement, and protected their property from the drifters after the > French and > Indian War. > > Richard Rowland Kirkland was reared in an historic community. The Hanging > Rock, Rugeley’s Mill > and the Battle of Camden were all within a five mile radius of his home. > Flat Rock slaves > were stolen to help build the British fortifications at Camden. On August > 14, 1780, the day > before the Battle of Camden, his great grandfather, Daniel Kirkland, signed > as a patriot > supply sergeant "for one horse pressed by Gen.. Gates’s order into the > public > service". Over a dozen Kirklands fought in South Carolina during the > American Revolution. > > So in 1861, with this heritage of ever safeguarding hard earned freedoms, > the Kirklands > again saw their rights being invaded. Young Richard Kirkland became another > minuteman-a typical American citizen soldier. He left his father’s Flat Rock > plantation and > joined the first company to leave Kershaw County. That was April 1861 before > his > eighteenth birthday in August. Richard, the son of Mary Vaughn and John R. > Kirkland, was > next to the youngest of seven children, six boys and a girl, Caroline. When > he was sixteen, > he and a friend helped in mapping a land purchase. The surveyor must have > been pleased, > for on the plat in the Kershaw County Court House, the surveyor recorded: R. > Kirkland > and John Sill, chain carriers, 1859. Another recording of that same year > reveals a practical > way in which Richard spent his money. He bought farm tools at an estate > sale. > Richard’s five brothers were: James, Jesse, Dan, William 'Billy' and Samuel > 'Sam' Kirkland. Sam was wounded during > the War between the States and, like Richard, died leaving no heirs. > > There were over a hundred slaves on the Kirkland plantations-White Oak, Gum > Swamp > and Flat Rock. It was agreed among the brothers that one must stay home to > protect the > women and children and to control the slaves, as an uprising was feared. > Lots were drawn > and the duty of staying home was drawn by James, the eldest brother-much to > his > sorrow-but he abided by the agreement. > > General Sherman’s forces spent three nights and three days in Richard’s > father’s home > because the freshets of Lynche’s Creek were difficult to cross. During that > time the eldest > brother was hiding deep in the woods and was supplied food by a few slaves > who could be > trusted. The rest of the slaves took off with the Northern soldiers. > When Sherman’s army fanned out, a later contingent of stragglers "visited" > Richard’s > father who seated himself at the half crescent dining room table to watch > the barrels of > country cured hams, bacon, molasses, flour and cornmeal which were to feed > his and the > slaves’ families disappear. Richard’s father lost more than food, slaves and > two sons. > Before the war he owed no money on his plantations. After the war he lost > everything > through debts incurred to run his and his sons’ plantations during the war. > He had borrowed > in Confederate dollars and was forced to pay back in Union dollars with > fantastic rates of > interests. > Richard’s father died two years after the war. His administrator declared > "John A. > Kirkland’s estate is insolvent due to the fact that the emancipation of the > slaves has > destroyed all productivity of labor". Much of the hilly, gullied land which > the Kirklands > controlled by neat bench terraces-some terraces yet visible-has been bought > by timber > companies. Only pines whisper around the once heavily populated area which > in 1860 had > five post offices and supplied several companies to the Confederate Army. > > Richard’s brothers, Dan and Billy. served with the Kirkwood Rangers, 7th > Cavalry. > Brother Billy was a dispatch rider between General Lee and General Jackson. > > Brother Billy’s marriage ceremony recorded in 1870 in the family Bible has > brought to light > a bit of romance concerning Richard’s sweetheart-"at least one of his > sweethearts!" adds > his closest living kin. Listed in the family Bible as a witness to Brother > Billy’s marriage is > Susan Evelina Kirkland, the daughter of Major Daniel D. Kirkland, was > Richard’s second > cousin who someday might have became his bride. Years later Susan > told her daughter-in-law that she stood on the top step of the Major’s home > and kissed him > good-bye, never to see him again. Evidently that was the winter of 1862-63 > when Richard > was reported absent at the company muster roll call. His > superior officer, Captain Lovelace, gave as the reason: "Absent on > recruiting service". > > In the summer of 1862 Richard Kirkland had been promoted to first sergeant, > after > transferring from Company E, the Camden Volunteers to Company G. the Flat > Rock > Guards. Richard had been in the Confederate army a little over a year. He > was a seasoned > soldier. Even his handwriting had matured, being smaller and less > embellished with > curlicues. To his sister in law, Rosa. First Sergeant R. R. Kirkland penned > a surprisingly > through chronicle of the Seven Day’s Battle to defend Richmond. > > Dan was spokesman for the Kirkland family when in 1909 the local John D. > Kennedy > Chapter, UDC was granted permission for transferring Richard’s remains from > the White > Oak Cemetery of his family to " Little Arlington" the UDC plot in Quaker > Cemetery at > Camden, South Carolina for Kershaw County heroes. > > The Confederate veterans of Kershaw County so admired Richard Kirkland that > they > bypassed six Confederate generals born in Kershaw County (Cantey, Chesnut, > Deas, > Kennedy, Kershaw, Villepigue) and named their organization " The Camp > Richard > Kirkland" > > So nationally outstanding was Kirkland’s humanitarianism that Camden, a city > much > smaller than those with a National Humane Alliance "loving cup" Esquine > fountain was > given one to memorialize the compassion our world rarely sees and never > quite > understands! The school children of Camden in that same year,1910, bought > for this > fountain a bronze plaque telling his story. Though antique now for watering > horses, the > "loving cup" fountain centers Wade Hampton Park which is bordered by the > Jefferson > Davis Highway, US Number One Route from North to South, as it traverses > Camden. At > the Carolina Museum in Lancaster, SC is a collection of Kirkland memorabilia > on > permanent loan by the owners. > > In prose, verse, drawings, paintings, ceramics, marble, and song, the > benevolent act of one > of the South’s finest heroes has been immortalized. Kirkland has become a > symbol of our > united North and South. In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, there is a small white > marble stone to > his memory in the Episcopal Church of the Prince of Peace (completed in > 1901). It is a > memorial to the war dead of both sides and as a thank offering for our > reunited Country. > ``````````````````````````````` > > Mrs Hough is historian for the John D. Kennedy Chapter of the UDC, Camden, > SC, the > Kershaw County Historical Society and a member of Catawba Wateree > Genealogical > Society. > > ==== GACOFFEE Mailing List ==== > If you would be interested in adopting a GaGenWeb county, please contact Melody at mmccook@bellsouth.net to see which counties are > available for adoption. All counties can beneift from extra volunteers! > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB