The Pioneers

To come of Quaker stock and have the blood of pioneers coursing in our veins is no small honor. It is good to know that our family tree is sound at the roots. Of course the leaves of that tree can not hide our nakedness if we dishonor the ancestral name and fame; each stands or falls on merit of its own. But the family tree affords pleasanter shade to sit under if its timber is well-rooted, sound at the core, and reasonably free from rotten fruits. Such shelter we can claim; and it is a priceless heritage.

[my first thoughts upon reading this passage was that Sherman Kirkbride, the author, was well educated, the language in this text is lavish, almost mythical, he was the perfect historian and a brilliant writer]

The Name

Whence came our name Kirkbride? Your historian was in blanket ignorance of its derivation until the reunion at Lake Park Sept. 2, 1911. There a letter from Mrs. Charles Walton of Woodbury, N.J., was furnished which gave this strange bit of history as authentic. Some time before 1066 A.D., the time of the Norman conquest, a church was built in a parish twelve miles west of Carlyle, Cumberland county, north-west England, and was dedicated to St. Brydock, or St. Bride, one of the earliest missionaries who came from Ireland to convert the inhabitants of the wild regions around Solway Firth. The village about St. Brydock church (called Bride kirk, or kirk Bride), fell to the inheritance of Odard III, Baron of Wigton; and his descendants took their name from the estate and were known as de Kirkbrides. The last of those in direct succession sold the manor in 1540 and during the tumult of the Commonwealth under Cromwell, no entries were made in register, none till 1660.

Whether the blood of Baron Odard flows in our veins or not we do not know, —nor care. But our ancestors came from his estates, and we still bear the name that took root in the old St. Brydock's kirk, a church which was older when Columbus discovered America, than the ships of Columbus would be now.

The Preface - book written for a family reunion in 1911

Preface

The history within, prepared for the Kirkbride family reunion at Lake Park, near Alliance, Ohio, Sept 2, 1911, is based upon the little booklet entitled, "Domestic Portraiture of the Kirkbride Family," published by the eastern branch of the connection in 1824. This booklet was in possession of Mrs. Frances Keen Kirkbride and was copied carefully with pen and ink by Mrs. Mary K. Warren who kindly turned over to me the copy with other material she had been able to gather. At the reunion, 1910, —Louis H. Kirkbride, president—a committee of three consisting of Rev. Sherman A. Kirkbride, for the Berlin, O., branch, Frances Kirkbride for the Salem, O., branch and Mrs. Mary K. Warren for the New Jersey branch of the family were appointed to prepare a history to be read the following year.

The work of composing was assumed by Sherman and it has been a task congenial, even if arduous. Access to a fine collection of colonial records at Washington and Jefferson College was made possible by an official visit to that institution, and a vacation of several weeks at Washington, D.C., with privelage of teh magnificent Congressional Library made other original records available so that your committee has verified much of the old booklet, and corrected some mistakes, —rare, for the book is admirably gotten up, —and also added some new light, as for example the date 1681 for Joseph Kirkbride's arrival in America; and the death of Robert, mentioned casually in a note in the large modern history of Bucks County Historical Society are perhaps unsurpassed by those of any other county in the United State. And our ancestors occupied a very large place in the affairs of the colonies there.

This sketch is submitted with reserve, for the history is imperfect, partly because of mistakes or uncertainties or omission in the records preserved, and partly because of limited opportunity to prosecute inquiries. But the record of such noble beginnings is easily worth while.



This is the end of the preface of the book.

The Kirkbrides in England

The Kirkbrides start in England. The Wigtons are ancestors of the Kirkbrides.

From a chart from William H. Kirkbride, who sent an expert to England to trace out our ancestral line.

1 - Odard de Logis, First Baron of Wigton, born 1095
Sheriff of Carlyle, made Earl of Wigton in 1130 by King Henry I.
2 - Adam, Baron of Wigton, born 1129
3 - Odard, Baron of Wigton, died 1129
4 - Adam, Baron of Wigton, died 1225
5 - Odard, Baron of Wigton, died 1238
6 - Walter, Baron of Wigton, died 1286
7 - John, Baron of Wigton, died 1315
8 - Sir Richard de Kirkbride of Kirkbride, died 1361

"Kirkbride" get its origin from Saint Brides Kirk or church. This very ancient church still stands as shown in a picture procured from Ruth Kirkbride of Trenton, N.J.

The manor of Kirkbride was part of the Barony of Wigton, granted by Baron John through his daughter and only child, Margaret, who married Walter de Kirkbride in 1332, to their son Richard de Kirkbride, a Knight. Court records still register Richard Kirkbride of Cumberland as the last Baron of Wigton, though a cousin is said to have usurped the estates.

9 - Richard de Kirkbride, died 1405
10 - Richard de Kirkbride, died 1454
11 - Percival de Kirkbride, died 1501
12 - Richard de Kirkbride, died 1566
13 - Richard de Kirkbride, died 1592
14 - Bernard de Kirkbride, died 1622
15 - Richard de Kirkbride, died 1659
16 - Bernard de Kirkbride, died 1677
17 - Matthew de Kirkbride, died 1636
18 - Joesph Kirkbride, born 1662. Came to America in 1681. Married, as second wife, Sarah
daughter of Mahlon Stacy, founder of Trenton, N.J.
19 - Mahlon (Stacy) Kirkbride, born 1703. Married Mary, daughter of John Satcher of [William] Penn's Manor.
20 - Robert Kirkbride, born 1737.
21 - David Kirkbride, born 1775.
22 - Robert, born 1800; John, born 1803; Asher, born 1806, Mahlon, born 1810

Throughout the blog, my notes will appear in burgandy. This is the foundation of the Kirkbrides. The key ancestor here in this long list being Joseph Kirkbride - who started the family tree in America. It is a fascinating journey as told by the author of this book, Sherman Kirkbride, published 1913. Stay tuned. ~Sarah

Kirkbride Family History! A blog...

I have unearthed some precious items from my husband's family in regards to the Kirkbrides who settled in Bucks County PA. I am planning on sharing some of these wonderful tidbits from the history book, published in 1913 by Sherman A. Kirkbride. It might take me awhile, but I'm going to *try* to blog and add things in as I can. If you are in this line of genetics - feel free to comment or say "hi!"

The book is a real treasure, so enjoy!