1858-March 5 Columbia Co AR:Three Creeks Ark: Hon David Kilgore, Dear Sir: recd a note from Hon. E. A. Warrne from yourself to him making inquiries for the purpose of ascertaining whether we were of the same family. I know that my great grandfather came from Ireland about 200 years ago with four sons and settled in Penna or Maryland. The names of his sons were Ralph, William, Charles and Thomas. The last name was my grandfather who settled in an early day in North Carolina, from whence he, in company with my father, then quite a youth, removed to Tennessee, immediately after the Revolutionary War. Tennessee was then an unbroken wilderness and they were forced to build and live in a fort as a protection aginst the Indians. This fort was called Killgore's Station and was situated near where Nashville now stands. My grandfather died since my recollection at the advance age of 110 years. My fathers name was also Thomas.My father had three brothers, all of whom were active! ly engaged in the Revolutionary War and one of them was shot through at the battle of Kings Mountain. If you are a relative to us, you will have no cause to blush on account of those four then young men as they all fought and shed their blood freely in battling for the liberty we now enjoy. We have relations in Indiana and Kentucky. I remember having seen at my father's house in Tennessee, many years ago, four men of our name whose given names were John, Huey, David and Charles. I have heard my father speak of an Obed Kilgore who was a relation. Where he lived I do not know. The name James was a common one in our family. I recollect hearing my grandfather say that all of the names were related, which must necessarily be true according to the legend. I think sir, we have the right to be proud of the name as I have never yet seen it associated with crime or infamy. So may it ver be. I enclose you a short obituary notice of my father who recently died at the age of 9! 4 years, I close sir! With the request that you will let me know the history of your immediate family which I will take as a great favor. Respectfully yours, etc. G. L. Kilgore -Thompson Journals V.20 p150-152 (re:Lee Bartos internet contact). As long as we're having a discussion-why don't we rehash this letter and maybe come at from a fresh perspective. For instance, just for the sake of argument-let's drop G. W. Kilgore's 5 brothers for a moment. Also we should keep in mind that this letter is based on oral traditions and that the "facts" it contains may lack accuracy. First: it states that Gabriel Lea Kilgore listed age 62 on 1860 Census Columbia Co NC claims that his great-grandfather came over from Ireland about 200 years ago with 4 sons and settled in PA or MD. Well, I don't think we need consider abt 200 years ago a precise number-it should more likely be 200 years ago give or take some. Note that the great-grandfather was supposed to have come from Ireland. Both the Robertson & Russell Co Kilgores have a tradition that the first ancestor came from Ireland-not Scotland. This says that the great-grandfather had 4 sons who accompanied him and that they were Ralph, William, Charles & Thomas. Well for the sake of argument, lets presume that Ralph & William are the ones in Augusta District GA, Charles is the one who died in Greene Co TN in 1823 and Thomas the one who died in Robertson Co TN in 1822. There's no mention of a Robert Kilgore although he's the earliest known Kilgore listed in the Orange Co NC area where Thomas Kilgore died 1822 came from. Was he the unnamed great-grandfather? What about Robert married Winnie Clayton-he's believed though not proved to be the b/o Charles Kilgore-and if he was in fact Charles' brother-that makes him a brother of Gabriel's grandfather, Thomas who died in 1822. So the question is: Was Robert (M: Winnie) not included in the list of brothers because he was forgotten? Or because he wasn't the brother of these men? Descendants of William Kilgore list his birth as about 1726 -we know that he was married with 3 children when he applied for a land grant in 1755 Augusta District GA (presuming that he was the same William Kilgore listed in Orange Co -and now we know he was listed there (actually Granville Co) as early as 1751 when he appears on a tax list along with "Robbard Kilgore" hey are separated by 14 names but listed in the same list. Charles Kilgore was born in 1740 making him abt 14 years older than William. I don't have a birth date for Ralph-his date of death was about 1783 and William died about 1791. Thomas Kilgore, f/o of Gabriel Lea Kilgore was born c1759 NC according to 1850 census record & he died in 1857 Columbia Co AR. Note that he is the soldier listed in the above letter with the THREE brothers who fought in the battle. This makes Thomas about 21 years old at the time the Battle of King's Mountain occurred in Oct 1780. This Thomas Kilgore married Phoebe Lee in 1786 Orange Co NC. He's listed as having a brother named Charles who married Unice Lea in 1796 Orange Co NC and is believed to be one of the two males listed under the age of 21 on 1786 Orange Co NC census in the household of Lydia Kilgore (who's listed as head of household) the other male is supposed to be Johnson Kilgore who was born about 1765 NC and died in Warren Co MO after 1850. The father of Thomas Kilgore born c1759 is the Thomas Kilgore who died in Robertson Co TN in 1822. His birth is listed as 1712-1715-in one account he's 110 years old and in another he's 108 years old. A newspaper entry in the "Knoxville Register" published in 1822 stated that he died at the age of 110 years old-but provided no additional details. I personally have a problem with this age-I just can't wrap my head around it. I think that it must be off by at least 10-20 years. (Just because it was printed in a newspaper doesn't make it true). We can be reasonably sure that he was born before 1738 because he was likely at least 21 years old (and probably older) when his son, Thomas was born. If we presume that the parents of Thomas Kilgore married when they were both of legal age -21 as most did in those days-though not all women were 21 and some were older-then Thomas' mother was born c1691 or earlier making her 49 years old or so when Charles was born. It doesn't rule her out-but it's pushing the envelope. It's also possible that these men were half-brothers-although there is no oral tradition of that. Personally, I think that if you knock off about 10 years from Thomas' age you get a birth date of c1722 to 1725 making it more likely that he could be William & Ralph's brother and Charles' too -that would make their mother in her late 30s or early 40s-quite acceptable age range now. -I'd better continue this again-it seems Rootsweb bounce long messages these days

This is the Robert Kilgore & Margaret Spencer info that is starting to make the rounds. Note: The John Kilgore who died in 1731 Chester Co PA has been listed as the f/o James Kilgore (M: Elizabeth Jack) by early researchers who presumed he was James' father- Later researchers no longer believe this. This John Kilgore was nearly penniless when he died. His landlord requested that his few belongings be sold to pay his lodging debts and for his burial-this is why his meager estate was inventoried by the court-in order to satisfy the landlord's claim. This strongly suggests that this John Kilgore was a single man as no heirs are mentioned-it also suggests that perhaps he had only recently arrived in America and perhaps contracted an illness during or after the crossing to which he succumbed. He could have been related to the other Kilgores of Chester Co PA-but it doesn't seem likely that James Kilgore would have allowed his father to be buried by someone else etc. It could be that he was a cousin or somesuch who wasn't able to track down his relatives before he died or just didn't have time enough to make the attempt. Remember he couldn't have just phoned them up when the ship docked. That's speculation-the important fact here is that descendants of this line-namely Rita Davis who used to be a member of this list and was an outstanding researcher no longer believe he was the f/o James Kilgore. We don't have a birth date for Robert Kilgore M: Winnie Clayton-but since his first known child was born c1763 or 1764-he was probably born prior to 1743. (I think more likely 1735-1740). Vickie ----- Original Message ----- From: Nell Blumel<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 1:30 PM Subject: Re: [KILGORE] Kilgore brothers cont'd Vickie, Let me throw something out for you all to discuss. Got this off a blog recrntly. There is more but it is too long to send. The first part is what I wanted you to see. Nell The Kilgours The oldest Kilgour I have researched is James Kilgour who was married to Isabelle Steele. He was born in Balbeggie, Fife, Scotland. They had at least two sons, James and William. James used the spelling Kilgore. He was born in Donagheady, Down, Ireland. He married Margaret Low. They had at least one son, John Kilgore. John Kilgore was also born in Donadheady, Ireland. He was married to Elpeth Howeson. They were married on July 9, 1713 in Fife, Scotland. John and Elpeth came to America. John died May 7, 1731 in Chester, Pennsylvania. They had at least two children: Robert & Jonathan. Robert Kilgore was born in 1715 in Ireland. He married Margaret Spencer. He died in North Carolina. They had at least three children: Robert, Elizabeth and William. Robert married Winifred "Milly Clayton. He fought in the Revolutionary War and was at the battle of King's Mountain. Robert died on December 31st, 1782 and died as a result of an Indian attack in Wise County, Virginia. Robert and Winny had at least five sons: Ralph, Robert "Robin", Hiram, Charles and William. Ralph married Nancy Gray in Russell County, Virginia. They had at least three children: Ralph "Rafe", Sarah and John. Rafe married Amelia "Milly" Wheatley. They had 10 children: Nancy Ann, Elizabeth, Sena, Nelson, Susannah, Esther Jane, Johnston, George, Mary "Polly", and Ira H. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Vickie, Let me throw something out for you all to discuss. Got this off a blog recrntly. There is more but it is too long to send. The first part is what I wanted you to see. Nell The Kilgours The oldest Kilgour I have researched is James Kilgour who was married to Isabelle Steele. He was born in Balbeggie, Fife, Scotland. They had at least two sons, James and William. James used the spelling Kilgore. He was born in Donagheady, Down, Ireland. He married Margaret Low. They had at least one son, John Kilgore. John Kilgore was also born in Donadheady, Ireland. He was married to Elpeth Howeson. They were married on July 9, 1713 in Fife, Scotland. John and Elpeth came to America. John died May 7, 1731 in Chester, Pennsylvania. They had at least two children: Robert & Jonathan. Robert Kilgore was born in 1715 in Ireland. He married Margaret Spencer. He died in North Carolina. They had at least three children: Robert, Elizabeth and William. Robert married Winifred "Milly Clayton. He fought in the Revolutionary War and was at the battle of King's Mountain. Robert died on December 31st, 1782 and died as a result of an Indian attack in Wise County, Virginia. Robert and Winny had at least five sons: Ralph, Robert "Robin", Hiram, Charles and William. Ralph married Nancy Gray in Russell County, Virginia. They had at least three children: Ralph "Rafe", Sarah and John. Rafe married Amelia "Milly" Wheatley. They had 10 children: Nancy Ann, Elizabeth, Sena, Nelson, Susannah, Esther Jane, Johnston, George, Mary "Polly", and Ira H.