REVOLUTIONARY WAR KIRKMANS

Pvt. George Kirkman Jr. (1735-1820) was the most memorable Maryland Kirkman: a hero of the American Revolution; a Moses who led seven Kirkman families from Dorchester County to North Carolina’s lush, fertile Piedmont; and the ancestor of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of modern day Kirkmans.

George first appears in 1749 at age 14 when the will of his father George was filed in Dorchester County. His father bequeathed the family plantation to his eldest son.

Then, in 1777, George, Jr. was one of America’s red hot Revolutionary War patriots when he became a 42-year-old militiaman in Gen. George Washington’s army during the terrible 1777-78 winter encampment at Valley Forge, PA, 25 miles west of Philadelphia.

It’s not known how long George suffered Valley Forge’s privations, but it was long enough to tell his son Leven about Valley Forge’s gut-wrenching starvation, ragged clothing, lack of shoes, blankets, fuel and pay. George, Jr. was the first American Kirkman to participate in an unforgettably historic event. More about him later.

werhsepa.gif (1260 bytes)

Five other Maryland Kirkmans were Revolutionary War members of Dorchester County militia units: Capts. Leven and Samuel Kirkman, 2nd Lts. Leven and James Kirkman, and Ensign Michael Kirkman.

Capt. Leven became a Very Important Person in Dorchester during and after the Revolution. He was appointed a 1st Lieutenant in a Dorchester militia battalion in 1778, promoted to Captain in 1781, then named a county justice in 1782, a political post that was half dispenser of justice and half county executive. Leven was elected to three subsequent two-year terms and was a county big shot from 1782-89.

Justice Leven was one of more than a dozen Kirkmans who bore his curious name in the 18th and 19th centuries, the surname of a famous Scottish Field Marshal.

One of the maddening aspects about the 17th, 18th and early 19th century Maryland and North Carolina Kirkmans is they didn’t have middle names, and only a few had Jr. or Sr. tacked on. As a result, it’s difficult to keep the one-namers straight, particularly the many Levens. There also were six one-name Williams, five Georges, five James, three Johns, three Thomases, two Elishas and two Peters. Kirkmans finally began using middle names in the mid-19th century.