Biography - THOMAS C. KIRKLAND
Thomas C. Kirkland is
one of the most enterprising citizens of Litchfield, having been engaged in
active business here for many years, and he has taken an active and
interested part in the maintenance of the intellectual and moral as well as
the material development of the city. He has fostered numerous local
industries and has contributed of his means and influence to various
undertakings calculated to benefit the people of Montgomery county. He is
now practically living retired, but his invested interests return to him a
handsome income.
Mr. Kirkland was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, July 26, 1823. His
father, Isaac Kirkland, was a native of Kentucky, and was descended from
Virginian ancestry, although the family was established in the Blue Grass
state at an early epoch in its improvement. Isaac Kirkland removed to St.
Louis, Missouri, about the time the state was admitted into the Union. He
was a pioneer, and followed his trade in that city and at Clayton for a long
period, but later engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1835 he came to
Illinois, settling on a farm near Jerseyville, all of which was then largely
wild prairie, but several years prior to his death he put aside active
business cares and located in Litchfield, where he spent his remaining days
with his children. He died in 1881 in his eighty-fifth year and thus
terminated an honorable and upright life, which had been in consistent
harmony with his professions as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
When in the prime of manhood he took a very active part in church work. His
political support was given to the Whig party until its dissolution, and he
subsequently joined the ranks of the new Republican party, but never sought
or desired public office. He had an elder brother, Joseph Kirkland, who was
a soldier of the war of 1812 and died of yellow fever contracted while
serving under General Jackson at New Orleans.
The mother of Thomas C. Kirkland bore the maiden name of Mary Malinda Mann.
She was born in Kentucky in 1779 and died in 1858. Her parents were Beverly
and Mary Mann, the former a farmer by occupation. His death occurred in
Kentucky. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Kirkland were born nine children, namely:
James and Mary, now deceased; Thomas C.; Mrs. Cynthia Ann Irwin, who has
passed away; Lucinda, the wife of Chauncey Davis, of Litchfield; John B., a
resident of Litchfield; and Eliza Jane, William A. and Fletcher, all three
deceased.
Thomas C. Kirkland acquired his early education in an old log schoolhouse in
Jersey county, Illinois. The path of learning was not a very flowery one for
him. Indeed, his school privileges were quite limited, but he made good use
of the few opportunities he had and through reading and observation greatly
broadened his knowledge. In his youth he assisted in the operation of the
home farm, and after attaining his majority began farming on his own account
in Jersey county. The year 1849 witnessed his arrival in Montgomery county,
where he located a land warrant, but as he had no means with which to carry
on the work of improvement there he returned to Jersey county, and it was
not until 1851 that he began the cultivation of his farm in Walshville
township, though as a township Walshville was not then organized. He moved
his family to this place, the first home being a mere "shell," the lumber of
which was hauled from Alton in 1851. Mr. Kirkland hewed the house sills and
other trimmings from the adjacent woods. They resided upon his first farm
until 1865, when he purchased another tract of land nearby and for twenty
years made it his place of residence. He then came to Litchfield township in
1885, but he still has extensive landed possessions, owning four hundred and
forty-one acres in Walshville township and four hundred acres in Pitman and
Zanesville townships.
On removing to this city Mr. Kirkland became a very active and influential
factor in its public and business life. In connection with S. M. Grubbs and
others he organized the first National Bank and has since been its vice
president. He was one of the organizers of the Litchfield Water Supply
Company, and its first president and is now one of its directors. He was
also one of the organizers of the Litchfield Marble & Granite Company and
from the beginning has been its president. He owns stock in both of the
banks at Hillsboro, is one of the largest stockholders in the First National
Bank of Litchfield and likewise has stock in the Mount Vernon Car
Manufacturing Company. His realty possessions, including a comfortable home
in Litchfield, have been won entirely through his own efforts. He has been
administrator of as many estates as any man in the county and has been
guardian for many children.
On the 18th of February, 1847, in Jersey county, Mr. Kirkland was married to
Miss Edith Irwin, a daughter of Abijah Irwin. She was born in North Carolina
and died in 1878 at the age of fifty-six years. By their marriage there were
eight children, three of whom died in infancy. The others are: Matilda
Ellen, the deceased wife of William F. Davis; Sarah E., the wife of R. W.
Ripley, of Waggoner; Ann E., the wife of G. W. Flint, of Raymond; John
Hardin, a manufacturer of Decatur; and Mary, the widow of E. W. Dresser, of
Greenville, Illinois. Mrs. Kirkland, the mother of these children, died in
the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she was long a member.
In August, 1885, Mr. Kirkland was again married, his second union being with
Louisa J. Peal, the widow of Robert Peal, and the daughter of James Eddings,
who was a farmer and came to Montgomery county in 1850, locating in North
Litchfield township.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland are identified through membership relations with
the Methodist Episcopal church and from his boyhood he has been active in
church work, serving as steward and trustee for many years and doing all in
his power to promote the various church activities. Fraternally he is
associated with the Masons and politically with the Republican party. He has
never sought public office yet served as supervisor from Walshville township
and also from North Litchfield township. He is a man greatly beloved in the
county because of his kindly spirit and many excellent traits of character
and greatly esteemed for his probity. His life has been a busy and
successful one, not, however, given up to self-aggrandizement, but ever
dominated by the noble desire to aid and uplift his fellow men. A man
sincere, upright and conscientious in word and deed he is truly one of the
best citizens of Litchfield.
Extracted 11 Apr 2020 by Norma Hass from 1904 Past and Present of Montgomery County, Illinois, by Jacob L. Traylor, pages 20-23.
