Research Attic: Thomas Kirk

Background:
A couple years ago, I stumbled onto a non-paternal event after discovering a birth certificate for my paternal grandfather that listed his father as Jimmy Kirk. Jimmy Kirk was not my great-grandfather's name. At least not the name of the man I believed to be my great-grandfather.

Shortly after this discovery, I heard a family rumor that my great-grandmother had a relationship with a man who worked at the water reservoir beside her home. 

Both traditional and genetic genealogy have identified my biological paternal great-grandfather as Samuel Kirk. That research odyssey is outlined in the blog series below Uncovering My Kirk Roots.

Research Question:

After I mapped out Samuel Kirk's paternal ancestry, I reached the paternal line brick wall with my 5th great-grandfather Thomas Kirk (1778-1846). Who were Thomas Kirk's parents and what were his ancestral origins?

Cast of Characters (Thomas Kirk's Children):

• Vachel Kirk: 1807 – 1832 (d. Ohio), married Jane Delzell 
• William Kirk: 1807 – 1888 (d. Illinois), married Nancy Anna Swisher 
• Andrew Kirk: 1809 – 1809 (d. Ohio), died in infancy 
• James Kirk: 1811 – 1875 (d. Illinois), married Kezia Patterson 
• George Kirk: 1813 – 1813 (d. Ohio), died in infancy 
• Thomas Kirk Jr.: 1814 – 1895 (d. Ohio), married Hester Patterson 
• Jane Kirk: 1816 – 1886 (d. Illinois), married 1. Lloyd Tracy, 2. Joseph Bottenfield 
• Sarah Kirk: 1817 - ?
• Joseph Kirk: 1818 – 1901 (d. Illinois), married Eunice Tracy 
• Rachel Kirk: 1820 – 1852 (d. Illinois), married Joseph McConn 
• Greenberry Dorsa Kirk: 1821 – 1859 (d. Illinois), married Abigail Medford 
• Anna Kirk: 1823 – 1888 (d. Iowa), married Jacob Rhodes
• Hugh Kirk: 1826 – 1856 (d. Illinois), married Jane Hartsock

Blogs:

• Thomas Kirk: Sourcing the Patriarch's Birth

• Census Records Shine a Light on My Patriarch

• The Patriarch's Children Reveal Clues 

• Land Records Reveal Family and Sizable Estate

• Family History Emerges From The Ashes

• Tax Records Pinch-Hit For Burned Records

• What's In A Name: DNA & Naming Customs

• A Birthday of Genealogy Serendipity

• Ten Hours In The Family History Library Uncovers A New Daughter

• Y-DNA Raises Thomas Kirk From The Dead

• The Fragility of Family History

• Grandpa Was Accidentally Killed 170 Years Ago

• Probate Records Hint At Family Heartbreak

• Exhausting Research: An Examination of Everything and the Kitchen Sink

• The Ties That Bind: A Sister Undercover

• Surname Evolution: A Y-DNA Journey From Ohio to Ireland

• Ancestor Patronus: Encounters With Spirit Animals

• Tracking Ancestor Movements: Pining For A 19th Century Ankle Bracelet

• A Family's Migration: An Accidental Death and the Lure of Illinois

• The Back End of Nowhere: My Irish Ancestral Homecoming

• Desperation: Why My New Genealogy Research Strategy Is A Cluster

• Rent To Own: A Land And Tax Record Quandary

• Honoring The Patriarch In Stone

• Patrilineal Longevity: Defying Life Expectancy Rates

• Will The Real Kirk Daughter Please Stand Up?

• What A Tangled Web Genealogy Weaves

• Were They Brother and Sister? Verifying an 18th Century Relationship with Autosomal DNA

• Virginia Is For Lovers: Finding Thomas Kirk In His Father-In-Law's Hometown Tax Records

• Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder: Now Where's That Marriage Record?!

• Building A Reverse Genealogy Case Study With DNA, Land, And Tax Records

• A Genealogy Cold Case Heats Up

• A Genealogical Land History: Location, Location, Location!

• Virginia's American Revolutionary War Public Service Claims

Uncovering My Kirk Roots (The Serial Blog That Started it All):

• A Family History Mystery Revealed
• Family Mystery Part II: Identifying the Watchman
• Family Mystery Part III: Are You My Grandpa?
• Family Mystery Part IV: DNA Doesn't Lie