SIXTH GENERATION

687. Thomas Gillham Kirkpatrick was born on 3 Nov 1823 in Bond Co., Illinois. He died on 7 May 1907 in Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada.
Thomas Gillham Kirkpatrick was born 3 November 1823 in Bond County, Ill inois, and he died 7 May 1907 in Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada. A s a young man he married on 24 March 1847 in Grant County, Wisconsin, t o Esther Jane Stiles, daughter of Reuben and Eliza Stiles, who was born c a. 1832 in Michigan and died in 1851.
In 1849 came news of the discovery of gold in California. Thomas was o ne who was fired by gold fever. He told his story to his son Samuel, wh o wrote it down as nearly as possible as it was told to him.

"...Eventually I was married, and during our second year of married lif e, [came] the startling news of the great Gold rush to California and o f course I was set on going. My wife objected, but I promised to come b ack in two years with a fortune, or send money for her to join me in Ca lifornia. She finally gave in, but nearly broke her heart when we part ed, and so I left this beautiful young woman and a handsome baby boy be hind, never to see them again. O dear God, why did I do it?

"Well we eventually got rolling, about a hundred strong, with 60 wagons , mostly 4 horse teams, some had oxen. There was 12 women and about th e same number of children. There was nothing but hardships from the st art to finish. There was sickness and death, there were rivers to cros s, some could be forded, others where the stock had to swim, and we had t o build rafts to take our wagons and supplies across. There were prair ies where there was no wood to cook with, there were desert like plains w here there was no water, there were mountains to climb, mountain passes w here the snow laid nearly all summer, and there were no roads. Indians w ere numerous. Though they did not attack our train, they did worry us. O n many occasions they watched from nearby hills as our train went by. M any trains had gone ahead of us, so their track was easy enough to foll ow, but there were several routes. The Northern trail led to Oregon. W ell all went well till we reached the fork where one route led south, t hen there was a split in opinions. The southern trail was said to be b etter traveling, but much longer so a vote was taken, and a small party i ncluding one of the assistant wagon bosses voted to go south. The othe rs said we better keep plugging on over the shortest route as we were f ar behind our schedule now. So our party was split. But the party I w as with, all reached California. We did meet many people who became di scouraged and turned back. All the way from Missouri to the mountains w e met them every day or so. I sent letters by some of them to my wife.

"Well, when we finally reached California, we were too late for the gol d, as all the good ground was taken, and hundreds of claims were staked t hat were no good. Those that got good ground were taking out millions o f dollars worth of gold. Hundreds of men were working for wages, while t housands were in the hills hunting for gold. New towns were springing u p in a dozen places, and the big demand was for lumber. That was my ch ance, there was lots of good timber and plenty of water for power, so I g ot busy on a saw mill, and by early fall I was operating at full capaci ty, and really coining money. The climate was ideal. I was elated, th e world seemed bright, my future was assured, and I was happy, so began t o make plans to get my wife and son to California. I kept on trying to g et a letter through to her, but there was no organized mail service. M any letters started on their way East. Some went by boat to Panama whe re freight was being toted across the Isthmus from the Atlantic, where h undreds of boats were bringing freight from all parts of the states, an d during all this time I never got one word from home. I decided, I wo uld have to make the trip East so I made all arrangements for a man to r un my business, and the Bank that had opened up, to handle the finances , and made enquiries as to the best and quickest way to make the trip.

"Then suddenly a letter arrived, a letter that was to change my whole l ife, from a respected business man, to an outcast, a ruined man. I ope ned the letter. It was not from my wife, but from the old Mason [his f ather-in-law]. It started off, 'Dear Tom, your wife is dead.' That wa s all I could read. I got up and walked. My eyes were flooded with te ars. It was night time. I walked towards the mountains, I never knew w here I went or how far. It was nearly morning when I got home. I had t ried all night to think, to hope there was some mistake, yet I knew it m ust be true.

"It brought my bright happy world crashing down on me. I was ruined, m y plans, my hopes, were all blasted forever. What was I to do? Where c ould I go? I had to leave California, with all my happy dreams behind. I h ad to go somewhere, anywhere, to try and forget the past, so I sold out e verything I had for the best offer for cash...

"Yes, I had to go, so I headed north for Oregon, on foot. I had my rif le and a small pack sack. I took my time. I spent months in the mount ains. I found an empty trappers cabin and made it my headquarters till s pring, then I wandered on. In early summer I arrived at what is now Po rtland, Oregon. It was a thriving community. Business men, men of all t rades and professions, farmers, laborers, they were all settling here, a nd the crying need was lumber. Small boats plying up and down the coas t brought what lumber that was to be had but they must [have] more. Wh en they found I was a Millman they called a meeting, and made me offers . They would furnish all the help I needed, the farmers would haul the l ogs, and they would take their pay in lumber later on. Well it seemed t o me that it was my duty to go ahead with this mill, not for myself, bu t those honest hard working people that needed the lumber. I knew the t imber was good and very plentiful, so I agreed, and we went to work. S ome forty odd men turned out the next day, many first class carpenters, a nd that mill was erected in short order. I also got a planer from San F rancisco, and so the huge water wheel began to roll. We turned out the f inest dressed fir lumber any man ever saw. It was taken right from the p laner and hauled away, and in due course all my bills were paid off. T hen the money started rolling in, but it didn't last long.

"A tall and distinguished looking man called on me and we had a long ta lk. He was a lumber baron from the East. He made a fortune in lumber a nd was now looking for a new field of operation. He asked if I would b e interested in selling my business. I told him I hadn't given it much t hought, but every man will sell at a price. 'Perhaps you could make me a n offer and see how our opinions compare in regards to value.' he said ' I have been here several days and looked the situation over and am prep ared to make you an offer that I think is fair to both of us.' Then he m ade his offer, which seemed to me to be outrageously high, so I said, ' Give me the rest of the day to think it over.' So I went back to work a nd tried to think. Money was no object, as I had more California Gold i n pack than I wished to lug around. In regards to the future, there wa s no future for me. I knew 99 men out of a hundred would have refused t he offer, as it was a chance of a lifetime. Thousands of acres of the f inest fir in the world lined the Oregon coast, yet my feet were beginni ng to itch. I had that old urge to move on, so I went over after suppe r and accepted his offer, providing it was not in gold, so he paid me i n paper currency on the First National Bank. Then I walked out a free m an, with my eyes turned to the mountains in the east. I did not wait f or morning. With my rifle and pack sack, I headed east in the moonligh t. It was tough going but I made it through in time where I could look d own on the beautiful country that is the Yakima-Winatchi fruit belt. T he country was new but there was a few farms producing wonderful crops. O ne man had all his land in hay and grain, as he had a contract with the U S Army, who were all mounted, and had over a thousand horses at their p ost in Oregon, and was looking for a man to haul the hay and barley fro m Yakima, Wash. to the Dalles, Oregon. He made me a good offer, so loo ked around and found that mules could be bought and there were many hea vy wagons that came in overland from the East. So with 6 mules and 2 w agons, I was in business again. This was a very interesting life. I s oon had more than I could handle, and had to hire a man. Well I follow ed this life for a couple of years, then I thought perhaps it was about t ime to file on a piece of ground, so I went into the foot hills for sev eral days, and found a dandy spot, with a stream of water for irrigatio n. I picked a spot for a house, a barn, a chicken house and other buil dings. I would get cattle, horses and chickens, a garden and fields of h ay and grain. So I went back to Yakima and when I got there, I found s everal hundred people congregated around the shopping centre of the one s treet. They all seemed excited. I thought it meant disaster of some k ind. I thought an Indian War or perhaps international trouble, but whe n I reached the centre of the crowd where a man in buckskin garb was do ing the talking, I became excited too. He was a Canadian trapper who w as well acquainted with the country from the Oregon to the interior of B ritish Columbia. He was telling of the fabulously rich gold strike in t he Caribou country of BC, on tributaries of the Fraser River, some four t o five hundred miles from the coast. Well it didn't take me long to se ll out to the man that worked for me. I bought a dozen horses and equi pment and loaded them with supplies and I was ready to go. A great man y men from the Yakima Valley made the same move, and within a week we w ere moving. We hired the trapper as guide. The Army Commander at the D alles sent a detachment to escort us through to the Canadian border, as t his was Nez Perce Indian country and they were known to be very hostile t o the whites...And so I left the United States of America, along with m y citizenship to that nation, never to return."

By the early 1860's, Thomas was in business once again at Cook's Ferry ( now Spence's Bridge) on the Thompson River in British Columbia. Here h e and his second wife had a son in 1863. She was an Indian from the Sp atsum Indian Reserve. Family tradition states that she was not well an d before her son was a year old, she returned to her people on the Spat sum Reserve, leaving her son with Thomas. Her name is not known.

About 1866, Thomas took a third wife, a "fine young woman from further u p the valley, the Snapah Reserve...They were united according to tribal c ustom, by appearing before old Chief Chin Chin, who was dressed in his o fficial garb. His frilled buckskin jacket was decorated with bear claw s, porcupine quills and eagle feathers. His cap was of skunk skin deco rated with the tails of flying squirrels, the skull of a redheaded wood pecker and a rattlesnake skin band." By this wife, whose name we also d o not know, Thomas had another son. But shortly after the birth of thi s son, she died.

Thomas married a fourth time to Emma Barr, whose Indian name was Quimet co. She had both Indian and Scottish ancestry. She was the daughter o f Jimmy Barr, who was the factor at Fort Kamloops. Thomas and Emma had e ight children. Emma died in 1892 in Ashcroft, British Columbia.

Thomas ran a ferry across the Thompson River for many years and when th ere was talk of a bridge, he seized the opportunity. He sold his holdi ngs in the ferry, bought a farm in Venables Valley and built a sawmill t o cut the lumber for the bridge. The bridge was built by Thomas Spence a nd the name of the town was changed from Cook's Ferry to Spence's Bridg e. Thomas ran the mill for many years, with people coming from all up a nd down the Caribou Road to buy from it.

In 1886, Thomas built a small general store in Ashcroft, British Columb ia. In 1888 he sold the store and bought land in Highland Valley. The re he started an orchard and grew small fruits. After Emma died in 189 2, Thomas sold his holdings in Highland Valley and Venables Valley.

Thomas was a vigorous man even in later years, as a note found in the A shcroft (B.C.) Journal, November 4, 1899, testifies: "Mr. T. G. Kirkpa trick, age 71, on being requested to assist to load cattle at 11 o'cloc k at night flatly refused. As an excuse for his refusal he said he had b een in the saddle for two days." After an adventurous and active life, T homas spent his last years in Ashcroft, British Columbia, where he died o n 7 May 1907. He had attained 83 years, 6 months and 4 days of life.

He was married to Esther Jane Stiles (daughter of Reuben Stiles and Eliza ???) on 24 Mar 1847 in Grant Co., Wisconsin. ⁽¹⁹²⁾ Esther Jane Stiles was born about 1832 in Michigan. She died in 1851 in Wisconsin. Thomas Gillham Kirkpatrick and Esther Jane Stiles had the following children:

1535 i. Name Unknown Kirkpatrick.

Thomas Gillham Kirkpatrick and 2nd Wife UnknownTGK had the following children:

+1536 i. William Valentine Kirkpatrick.

Thomas Gillham Kirkpatrick and 3rd Wife UnknownTGK had the following children:

+1537 i. James Douglas Kirkpatrick.

He was married to Emma Barr (daughter of Jimmy Barr) before 1870 in Cook's Ferry, British Columbia, Canada. Emma Barr died in 1892 in Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada. Thomas Gillham Kirkpatrick and Emma Barr had the following children:

1538 i. John Grant Kirkpatrick.
+1539 ii. Ida Isabella Kirkpatrick.
+1540 iii. Mary Rhoda Kirkpatrick.
+1541 iv. Litta Kirkpatrick.
1542 v. Frank Kirkpatrick.
1543 vi. Samuel D. Kirkpatrick was born on 24 Nov 1883 in Venables Valley, British Columbia, Canada. He died on 15 Apr 1966 in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada.⁽⁵⁸⁾
+1544 vii. Thomas G. Kirkpatrick.
1545 viii. Syrene Kirkpatrick.