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Today in My History

2000:  Netstock Ends
2001:  
Creative Juices
2002: 
73 (lbs)
2003: 
Call Me Sometime
2004:  
I Want S'more
2005: 
Musical Beds
2006:   
Killing Time Productively
2007:  It Must be a Good thing
2008: Less of Me
2009:  The Friend Meme
2010:  Taking Inventory
2011:  Squirrel Wars
2012: Busman's Holiday
2013: My Audition

2014: Grainne
2015: Today at logos
2016: Sunday Stealing
2017: Proud Mama Bragging
2018: The Enforcer
2019: Impulse Purchases


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MY CRAZY ANCESTORS

7 Aug 2020

This was written in  1997 by my cousin Peach, who spent years researching the family genealogy.  I thought my kids (and grandkids) might like to know about their "royal" roots on my mother's side. 

Our great grandmothers and great grandfathers are both descendants of royalty in some way or another.  Here are some instances that will prove what I'm trying to convey to you:

Great grandfather Josiah Kirkpatrick is said to have descended from Sir Roger Kirkpatrick who was knighted by Robert the Bruce from Scotland.  This has not yet been proven to this day.  However, we who are working on the family are vigilant in our efforts to find and document the truth concerning this conjecture.

Great grandmother Cynthia Estes Kirkpatrick, however,  is a different story. It has been proven and documented that she was descended from Sylvester Estes, who was from the royal family of Este in Italy in the year  1097.  It seems that one of his sons, Francesco, fled to France and then England due to death threats given to him by his brother, and thereby became founder of the English line of Estes from whom we are descended.

Another well known Estes in the family (although not of royalty) was Patrick Estes.  He came to the Missouri Territory with Daniel Boone and helped in founding Boone's settlement there.  This also has not been verified, but a great story that has been handed down through the family.

However, there are always a few bad apples in every family and ours has had its share.  Most of them in our family have faded into anonymity and no one ever knew the difference.  But there are a few of them who gained recognition in the 1800s.

It seems that an ancestor of ours by the name of Ben Franklin Kirkpatrick (or Kilpatrick--the names are sometimes confused) married one of the "Younger Brothers" half sister.  Her name was Sophrona.  It seems that Ben's mother died soon after his birth and his grandparents took him in.  However, they must not have done a very good job in the upbringing department because he joined the "Quantrill Band" at the age of seventeen.  Through them he met Sophrona.

Ben clanned with the Youngers and was forever dodging the law after bank and train robberies. Sophrona finally persuaded Ben  to cut loose of the Youngers, and they moved near Salem, Arkansas.  There they settled into a peaceful life.  However, one night some of the Younger Brothers stopped by to spend the night and about midnight as all were about to retire there was a knock on the door.  Ben opened the door and was shot down without warning and a gun battle took place between the law and the outlaws.  The Youngers shot their way out and escaped, leaving four dead and three or four wounded, including Ben, who died the next day.

In the book titled, "The Life, Times, and Treacherous Death of Jesse James" the author reports that a Mrs. Kirkpatrick, kin of the deceased (meaning Jesse) was at his funeral.  He puts it this way, "The relatives, consisting of Mrs. Samuel, Mrs. James and two children, Mr. and Mrs. Luther W. James, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Mimms, and Mrs. Kirkpatrick were seated beside the coffin place in front of the altar.'

Finally, there is supposedly a descendant in our family named Ben Kirkpatrick who was a member of the "Hole in the Wall Gang," run by Butch Cassidy.  Among the "wild bunch" he was known as a poor shot but the best rider and forger. He was a master at copying signatures.  He first joined up with his cousin Black Jack Ketchum and when Ketchum joined up with Butch, Ben went along.

Ben got caught during a train robbery and spent several years in jail.  After he got out he tried to go straight for awhile but ended up back at the "Hole in the Wall" where he and another of the gang cooked up a scheme to rob another train.  During this train robbery attempt he was shot down and killed by a guard and was buried in an unmarked grave near Sanderson, Texas in 1912. 

 

(I found this interesting because Ben was a forger....and in my day I was a very good forger, though only my boss's signature)

Here is a story of Ben's train robberies, excerpted from the book  "The Tall Texan,  the Story of Ben Kilpatrick."

PHOTO OF THE DAY


This is the Wild Bunch, Ben in the middle front, with
the Sundance Kid on his right and Butch Cassidy on his left
--Wikipedia

 

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