| Home Surname List Name Index Sources Email Us | Sixth Generation517. Reuben D. Kirkpatrick was born on 30 March 1842 in West Benton, Franklin Co., Illinois. He died on 12 May 1927 at the age of 85 in Benton, Franklin Co., Illinois.55 Reuben D. Kirkpatrick was born near West Benton, Franklin County, Illinois, 30 March 1842. He died 12 May 1927 in Franklin County, Illinois. He married Martha Ester Penny, 6 August 1865, also in Franklin County. She was the daughter of James Penny, a native of Tennessee. During the Civil War, Reuben D. Kirkpatrick served in the Union Army, mustered into service at Anna, Illinois, in January 1862 as a corporal in Company F, 63d Illinois Volunteer Infantry, the same company and regiment as his brother William Ashley Kirkpatrick. He gives his profession as teacher. He is described on pension papers as 5 feet, 6 inches tall (this varies to 5' 10"), with red hair and blue eyes. He served until April 1865 and was discharged at Goldsboro, North Carolina. He had fought at Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge and the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, as well as participating in the March to the Sea. On his way home he passed through Washington, D.C. on the very night that President Lincoln was assassinated. Prior to his military service Kirkpatrick had secured sufficient education to be certified as a teacher. After reaching home he returned to school but quit to enter the mercantile business with his uncle LeRoy Kirkpatrick at Du Quoin, Perry County, Illinois. The partnership continued for a time, and then Reuben and two of his brothers purchased the store and operated it for two more years. After Du Quoin he operated stores in Benton and then West Frankfort. After these years in the retail trade Kirkpatrick abandoned that line and bought a newspaper at Osage Mission (later St. Paul), Kansas. He disposed of the paper after a time and removed to St. Louis to become a manufacturer of linseed and castor oil. But once again he sold and moved. This time he went back into journalism, buying the Benton (Illinois) REPUBLICAN. He was the editor and publisher for a number of years, during which time he also acquired real estate, including a farm in Franklin County. Eventually he sold the REPUBLICAN and turned to full-time livestock farming and land. Included in his holdings were extensive coal rights waiting development. Kirkpatrick was an active Republican and was elected to the Illinois legislature, serving several terms beginning in 1904. He was an Elk and a Mason. His wife was active in the Missionary Baptist Church. There were nine children born of the marriage. On the 1870 U. S. Census of Mulkeytown, Franklin Co., Illinois, R. D. Kirkpatrick appears with his wife Martha and sons Guy and James. R. D. is a merchant. On the 1880 U. S. Census Osage Mission, Neosho Co., Kansas, Ruben appears with his wife Martha and children Guy C., James F., Silas N., Roy and Ruben D. Jr. Ruben is a grain dealer. On the 1910 U. S. Census of Benton, Franklin Co., Illinois, Reuben D. Kirkpatrick appears with his wife Martha E. and children Beulah, Robert J. and Olin P. Also in the household is Edith Thomas, servant. Reuben is a farmer. Reuben and Martha have been married 44 years, Martha is the mother of 10 children, 5 of whom are living at this time. On the 1920 U. S. Census of Ft. Myers, Lee Co., Florida, Ruben D. Kirkpatrick, age 77, appears with his wife Martha S., age 73. No occupation listed. Reuben D. Kirkpatrick and Martha Esther Penny were married on 6 August 1865 in Franklin Co., Illinois.20 Martha Esther Penny, daughter of James Penny, was born on 14 October 1846 in Mulkeytown, Franklin Co. Illinois.5,186 She lived in Osage Mission, Neosho, Kansas, United States in 1880.5 She lived in Benton Village, Franklin, Illinois in 1900.5 Martha lived in Benton Ward 2, Franklin, Illinois in 1910.5 She lived in Fort Myers, Lee, Florida in 1920.5 She died on 8 August 1926 at the age of 79 in Benton, Franklin Co. Illinois.5 Reuben D. Kirkpatrick and Martha Esther Penny had the following children:
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