Snowden Kirkland Family
Virginia, , Georgia, North & South Carolina

Richard Snowden Kirkland (II)
b c1728 family home near Occaquan River, (now Fairfax Co.) VA*
d. probably 04 Dec 1804 near Clouds Creek, Edgefield Co., SC

m. Sybil/Sibbell (possible dau. of Abraham Odom) [identified in a deed of 1770]

father: (probably Robert Kirkland)
mother: probably Honour (unk.)
Children
Thomas Kirkland b. c1748-1760 d.1788/9 m. Lucretia Cotton
(her 2m. Benj. Arrington-d. Edgefield Co., SC [KSBR V2 p 225] Lucretia buried in Humphreys Co., TN)
James Kirkland b. c1748-1760 d. c1804 m. Sarah
John Kirkland b. c1748-1760 d. a. 1810 in Edgefield Dist., S. C. m. Sarah
Constant (Coney) Kirkland(f ) (v2 p187) b. c1748-1760 d. m. Benjamin Loveless
Sybil/Sibbell Kirkland b. c1748-1760 d. m. (unknown) Ganes/Gaines
Benjamin Kirkland b. c 1750 ?SC ?VA ?NC d. Nov. 1805 Barnwell Co., S.C. m. Alcey (Odom?)
Aaron Kirkland b. c1748-1760 d. 6 Dec1842 m. Elizabeth
Although we have little hard evidence from Snowden's records, Dr. J. R. Peacock after about 20 years of research and studying newly discovered documents from Georgia believes that Robert is his father. He was probably born on the family home near Occaquan River, (now Fairfax Co.) Virginia that had belonged to Richard (d.1743). Snowden apparently moved to North Carolina and then to Georgia and then the short distance to South Carolina. After 1750 children seem to have been born in rather rapid succession but there are no known documents that lists their dates of birth. Snowden, as he is known to most researchers, seems to have been named for his uncle and this has caused much confusion for researchers. He generally attended to his business of farming with few records to fill out his life story. Recent research by Dr. J. R. Peacock whose extensive arguments, highly recommended and abbreviated greatly here, have given us a more complete picture of Robert and Snowden's lives. I don't have the space to devote to all the children of each of the major Kirkland lines as Dr. Peacock does in his volume. The History of Baptism in Georgia, web site, contends, "The Tuckaseeking Baptist Church (Effingham County) existed only from 1759 to about 1763, when persecution forced its members out of Georgia. " Effingham County Baptist churches had three Kirklands listed as parishioners, one was Robert who was identified as a minister and another was his son, Richard Snowden according to Peacock. [History of Baptism in Georgia]

The wife of Snowden, Sybil, may have been the daughter of Abraham Odom who's family and immigration pattern follows closely to the Kirklands. Richard Odom, Abraham's father, owned land in Nansemond County, Virginia and moved by 1715 to Chowan County, North Carolina. This region eventually becomes part of Edgecombe and Granville Counties in which the Kirklands are documented to have lived. Abraham Odom submitted three petitions for land on the Wateree River in South Carolina on 18 Dec. 1754 on which the Kirklands had filed claims. Both Abraham's wife and a daughter were named Sybil. They started to sell their land on the Wateree River on the 6th March of 1760 and moved to Georgia by 1764. They seemed to have moved back to South Carolina with at least two purchases on the waters of the Savannah River in 1767. These are the same regions in which Robert and Snowden Kirkland had tracts of land. Snowden's property was adjacent to Abraham Odom on Pipes Creek in South Carolina. The circumstantial continuous relationship from Virginia days is very strong and indicates for Peacock and a few other researchers the probability of a marital relationship between Abraham Odom and Snowden Kirkland. No marriage record, probate record, or church record has verified this conclusion. [Peacock 101-103]

Land records for Georgia are almost non-existing but South Carolina records show the move into that territory at the right sequence to fit the records of the Seven-Day Baptist history out of Georgia.

17 Apr 1764 - SNOWDEN KIRKLAND

1768 South Carolina Baptists, p. 169, Footnote 135, Crozer MS Furman Univ., S. C.
SNOWDEN KIRKLAND and wife were constituents of Clouds Ck. Church ... ( Manuscript actually says " ... in 1768 when Mr. Martin administered the Lord's Supper to SNOWDEN KIRKLAND & ----e with some others ..." This probably is "wife". [KSBR v. 1, p74]

24 Jan 1770 - Deed Bk. P-3 pp. 103-107 Rec. 24 Feb. 1770

31 Aug 1797 - Vol. 36, p. 111 (indexed for Richard Kirkland)

1776- War of Independence

Four of the sons of Snowden are documented to have been British loyalists. James, John, Benjamin and Aaron Kirklands names were listed on the payroll of the British militia. They were among a rather sizable portion of South Carolinans who felt the British were responding to their needs better than might this new group of malcontents that wanted independence from Britian. According to Peacock, Aaron was a corporal and served during the siege of Savannah in 1779 and during the last abttle at Camden in 1781. Benjamin and John fought with Colonel John Cruger in the backcountry of South Carolina when the fort at 96 was abandoned and the army retreated to Orangeburg. James fought in the back country as well as in the Coastal Islands. All fought for the British until the abandonment of South Carolina in 1782. The question remains as to why these men would continue their British service even after completion of the war at Yorktown in 1781 and then they returned to South Carolina to pick up their lives there while other Loyalist like their uncle Moses left the area. John even gets another grant of land in 1785. Peacock believes that the locals were somewhat supportive of their decision to join with the British therefore coming home would have been much less traumatic. [Peacock 113-114]

see more history of South Carolina during the Revolution.

The following writing was by Levi Kirkland the only known son of Thomas Kirkland.
1778, July -"The Declaration of the Birth and Progress of Levi Kirkland" was first provided to the KSBR by Turner Kirkland, owner of the Dixie Gun Works, Gunpowder Land, Union City, Tenn 38261. He is a decendant of Levi Kirkland, son of Thomas of Edgefield Dist., SC. Later Kenneth Kirkland of Chicago discovered an earlier version that is used here. There is some variation in the dates and names between these two documents. The following copy is believed to be more accurate to the original in which the basic name list, at least, has been proved through other sources. The original remains lost to date.

Lucretia Cotton Kirkland, wife of Thomas Kirkland, had a 2nd marriage to Benjamin Arrington. Proof is in the Edgefield Co., S. C. estate records for Benjamin Arrington. [KSBR Vol. 2 p 512]

1810- John Kirkland seems to have died by this year. The records are very confusing on John Kirkland since there were three Johns in region in this time period. Our John Kirkland was not listed in the census records for 1810 but his wife Sarah was there with children. He does not seemed to have moved to Georgia during his life as did two other Johns. [Peacock 122]

Source:


Kirkland Family Index || Elroy's Family Index || Ancestoral Chart #10 || Kirklands of Henry Co., AL


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