Finding the Kirks' 18th Century Berkeley County, (West) Virginia Farm

In early 2018, mounting DNA evidence indicated that my fifth great-grandfather, Thomas Kirk (1778-1846), was the younger brother of his neighbor Mary (Kirk) Geiger (1774-1832). Digging into Mary's genealogy, I came across notes from her grandson George W. Geiger that identified her parents as Joseph and Sarah Kirk of Berkeley County, (West) Virginia. 

The genetic link made it plausible that Joseph and Sarah were also Thomas' parents and my sixth great-grandparents.

Naturally, I focused my research on Berkeley County, Virginia [now part of West Virginia]. I soon discovered land and tax records that confirmed there was indeed a Joseph and Sarah Kirk living in the area. On April 9, 1773, just 16 months before Mary was born, Joseph Kirk leased from George William Fairfax a 100-acre farm that was "lying and being in the parish of Norborne in the County of Berkeley being part of a tract of land of [seventeen] hundred acres and called Poplar Spring." 

Joseph died in about 1784. Sarah continued to maintain her lease with Fairfax and lived on the property until at least 1802 (when she was identified as a neighbor in the land indenture for a neighboring farm). Beginning in 1796, a male of legal voting age (over 16) and approximately the same age as Thomas, appeared in Sarah's household. It looked as though Thomas aged into legal voting age and was finally recorded by county tax assessors. Another promising sign that I was investigating the right family.

Where is the Kirks' Berkeley County farm located? Could I find it and walk the property?

Unfortunately, the 1773 lease provided boundary descriptions that were archaic to my Google Maps dependent brain. The property was staked out using ephemeral geographic features like trees: "Beginning at a stake near a black oak, white oak, and hickory and near a corner of Joseph Evans and Michael Close..." Nearly 250 years later, those trees (and Joseph and Michael) were unlikely to still be around to help point me in the right direction!

I quickly learned that the land description was based on the metes-and-bounds system or the indiscriminate-survey system where "the land was chosen indiscriminately (independently) of the survey system." In this system, used in Virginia and the other original colonies, "the crown gave land either to the colony itself or a major proprietor, who then transferred the title to individuals." 

George William Fairfax was one such proprietor who held millions of acres in Virginia's Northern Neck (now much of West Virginia). 

The Library of Virginia notes that, "The Northern Neck Land Office controlled 5,282,000 acres in land grants located between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, which were given to seven loyal supporters of King Charles II [in 1649, after he fled England in exile following the execution of his father King Charles I]." The Northern Neck Proprietary (or Fairfax Land Proprietary) was eventually inherited by George William Fairfax, who leased portions of the 1,700-acre tract known as Poplar Spring to men like Joseph Kirk. 

I taught myself how to map or plat metes-and-bounds land descriptions by hand (which required the use of a protractor - who knew it would ever come in handy?!). I platted the 100-acre Kirk farm. When I put my pencil down, I saw that I had drawn a box. I was underwhelmed. 

In isolation, Joseph's platted land didn't help me pinpoint where exactly he lived. I repeated these steps for his neighbors and was slowly able to stitch together chuncks of Fairfax's original 1,700-acre Poplar Spring tract. 

Despite assembling the land like a puzzle, I still had little idea where the farms would be situated on a current day map. 

A break came in January when Jeff Hollis, a member of the Remember in Martinsburg when ........ Facebook group, posted a photograph of a ramshackle limestone farmhouse called Protumna. Hollis, a longtime resident of Martinsburg who was familiar with the area's history, shared that the home was built by Henry Bedinger in 1801 on part of the Poplar Spring tract. 

Protumna, Berkeley County farmhouse built by Henry Bedinger
Photo by Jeff Hollis

My eyes widened when I read about the Poplar Spring tract and the Bedinger name immediately set off alarm bells. Having already mapped out many of Joseph Kirk's neighbors, I knew that Bedinger was a neighbor to the southwest. If I could identify where Bedinger's farmhouse was located, perhaps I could climb my way up to the Kirk farm. 

Unfortunately, the crumbling ruins of the home were removed in 2013 to build a Sheetz convenience store. Berkeley County lost a centuries-old historic home to neglect and development (and one that the widowed Sarah Kirk would have seen, as she was still in the area until at least 1802). 

Family Sleuther at the Berkeley County Sheetz
once the site of Bedinger's Protumna

Tossing the protractor aside, I turned to online platting software integrated with Google Maps. Carefully examining the map, I discovered I could make out the faint lines (tree lines, hedgerows, and roads) of historic property boundaries. Moving west from the Bedinger home, I began to find the borders for Joseph Kirk's neighbors: Adam Tabler's 245-acre farm (bordered along its southern edge by Tabler Station Road - another modern day clue hiding in plain sight). Heading north, I traced the outline of Philip Pendleton's 200-acre farm. Navigating further north brought me to Michael Close's property, which finally revealed (drum roll, please...) Joseph Kirk's 100-acre farm.

Located a few miles southwest of the courthouse in downtown Martinsburg (Berkeley's county seat), the property is now split in half by Interstate 81. On either side of the highway, a few modern homes with expansive yards occupy the remains of the Kirk farm. 

Although it took several years, one clue eventually led to another and finally disclosed the location of Joseph Kirk's farm where his children Mary and Thomas were likely born and raised. Sadly, Jeff Hollis passed away in July. If he hadn't shared his photograph of Bedinger's Protumna home and its location, I would still be searching for a modern day marker to help direct me to the Kirk farm. I am forever grateful! 

In June, I was finally able to visit the Kirks' Berkeley County, West Virginia farm (which you can view on Google Maps here). 

The Ancestral Origins of the Kirk Family

I know we're supposed to love, value, and appreciate all of our forebearers equally, but let's be honest: genealogists have favorite ancestors, right? 

You know, the ancestor who you'd stay up into the wee hours researching even if it was just to turn up some paltry clue (Wahoo! He paid personal property taxes in 1823!). 

My favorite ancestor to research is my fifth great-grandfather Thomas Kirk.  

Once an impenetrable brick wall on my direct paternal line, I've learned that Thomas was likely born in Berkeley County, Virginia in 1778, migrated to Ohio shortly after it received statehood, and made a decent living as a farmer in Licking County until he was "accidentally killed" on December 3, 1846.

Genetic and paper trail genealogy now suggest that his Licking County neighbor, Mary (Kirk) Geiger, was his sister. Geiger family history firmly identifies her parents as Joseph and Sarah Kirk of Berkeley County. Accordingly, Joseph was likely Thomas' father, too.

Few records survive for Joseph Kirk. The earliest known record dates to April 9, 1773, when he leased a 100-acre farm in Berkeley County. He presumably raised a family in the area while subsisting off the land until his death in about 1784.

Where did Joseph Kirk come from? Was he my immigrant ancestor - the first Kirk in the American Colonies? What were the Kirks' ancestral origins?

I've spent a considerable amount of time meditating on these questions, sifting through the paper trail and boning up on genetic genealogy to surface answers. 

I recently made a film to benchmark my present understanding of the Kirks' ancestral origins and my next research steps. The purpose was to help my Kirk cousins understand the research to-date in a more compelling way. 

 

Tracing Land Ownership and Discovering the Widow Kirk

For nearly two years, I've struggled to locate on a modern day map the 18th century Virginia farm leased by my suspected sixth great-grandparents Joseph and Sarah Kirk.

My efforts have been thwarted by the peculiar wayfinding descriptions from the Colonial-era deeds, which use the metes and bounds system that relies on ephemeral physical boundary descriptions like trees, wooden stakes, and, if you're lucky, more permanent features such as hills or waterways. (*Spoiler alert* I'm not so lucky!)

The Berkeley County Farm

On April 9, 1773, Joseph Kirk leased 100 acres in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Joseph died in about 1784, and his widow, Sarah, continued to live on the farm with their children.

Joseph Kirk leased 100 acres in Berkeley County, Virginia, April 9, 1773

Their landlord sold the farm in 1798 to a man named Nicholas Roush with the only encumbrance to the sale being "...the said Kirks lease till set aside..."

Excerpt of 1798 Roush land deed, mentioning Kirk lease

Personal property tax records for 1799 indicated that Sarah Kirk still lived on the farm. Her absence in 1800 and subsequent tax years led me to believe that she had left the property.

Her departure made sense to me because her son, Thomas Kirk (my fifth great-grandfather), had moved from Berkeley County to Brooke County, Virginia (also now West Virginia) in 1799. I assumed that Sarah had either died in that year or now lived with one of her children as an aged dependent. I was wrong.

Land Ownership Hot Potato 

I tried to trace the ownership of the Berkeley County farm forward in time, but immediately ran into roadblocks.

In 1816, an entry in the general index for Berkeley County's land deeds recorded that there was a division of Nicholas Roush's lands. He must have died and his real estate was divided among his heirs. With no record of it having been sold since its purchase in 1798, the Kirk land was presumably still among Roush's holdings.

To my great misfortune, the deed book for much of 1816 - number 28 - was lost! Missing from the Berkeley County courthouse, it was never microfilmed or digitized. Only the index survived to taunt me.

Berkeley County, (West) Virginia index to land deeds, book 28 lost

My research was confounded by the splintering of the property into smaller unrecognizable pieces during future sales. It was difficult to confirm which plots of land were part of the original Kirk farm because the modified wayfinding descriptions used by the metes and bounds system no longer matched the boundaries of the 100 acres Joseph Kirk originally leased.

My search for the farm stalled and eventually stopped.

Snooping on the Neighbors

Recently, I returned to Berkeley County's land records and began tracing the ownership of the adjacent properties forward in time. Perhaps the Kirks' neighbors would help shed light on the location of their farm.

In the illustration below, the yellow plot of land included the Kirk farm (combined with another farm that had been leased to Michael Close), which was sold to Nicholas Roush in 1816.

I was able to map out three neighboring farms and identify their owners into the early 19th century, pictured in green, blue, and tan.

She's Alive!

While tracing the ownership of the neighboring farms into the 19th century, I made some important discoveries.

In 1802, before Magnus Tate bought the property in 1805, John Evan Fryatt purchased from John Fryatt Sr. (presumably his father) the green-colored farm. The metes and bounds description of the property included an important and surprising clue.

While laying out the property line, the deed stipulated that one of the boundaries of the farm extended "to a stake near a black oak and white oak, corner to the part of this lot held by the widow Kirk..."

Excerpt of 1802 Fryatt land deed, mentioning widow Kirk

Excuse me?! "...held by the widow Kirk..." implied that Sarah Kirk was still alive when the neighboring farm was sold on October 22, 1802. That extended her tenancy and life in Berkeley County three years beyond when I thought she left or died in 1799.

Nearly three years later, on April 30, 1805, John Evans Fryatt sold the green-colored farm to Magnus Tate.

That land deed again mentioned Sarah, providing more important details. The farm's boundary extended "to a stake near a black oak and white oak corner to the lot formerly held by the widow Kirk..."

Excerpt of 1805 Tate land deed, mentioning widow Kirk

Formerly was the key word. By the spring of 1805, Sarah Kirk was no longer living on the farm that Joseph had leased 32 years earlier. She left the farm sometime between October 22, 1802 and April 30, 1805.

Was she deceased or did she move in with one of her children? It remains a mystery.

Although the question of what happened to Sarah persists, the value of researching the neighboring land deeds is clear. They helped me extend her life while also providing a likely bookend.

The work to find the Kirk farm on a modern day map continues, but it's edging closer to resolution (and victory). Stay tuned for more discoveries.

A Sister Emerges From the Shadows

Although he's not my direct ancestor, George W. Geiger is an important source of information that is helping me pole-vault over my patrilineal brick wall.

Born in 1841, George Geiger was the grandson of Mary (Kirk) Geiger (1774-1832). Mounting evidence has led me to speculate that Mary was the sister of my fifth great-grandfather Thomas Kirk (1778-1846).

George is indispensable to my research because he compiled details about his immediate family's history. Those records endured over time when many others were lost to fire or poor record keeping.

Among his research were exacting details about his grandmother:

Mary (Kirk) Geiger was born in Virginia in 1774. She was of Irish descent and daughter of Joseph and Sarah Kirk. She had two brothers and one sister.

Pinpointing Joseph and Sarah Kirk as Mary's parents has allowed me to infer that they were also Thomas' parents.

If Thomas and Mary were siblings born to Joseph and Sarah Kirk of Virginia, who was the unnamed sister?

Finding family

Although George Geiger's surviving notes do not name Mary's three siblings, there is a candidate up for consideration to be the sister.

When Thomas Kirk died in December 1846, the Licking County, Ohio probate court appointed three men to appraise his estate. One of them was Hugh Ford.

Court-ordered appraisal of Thomas Kirk's estate, names Hugh Ford
March 13, 1847

At the time of Thomas' death, Hugh was his neighbor and lived on a farm to the north in Monroe Township, Licking County.

Detail of 1847 Monroe Township, Licking County, Ohio map
highlighting land owned by Thomas Kirk and Hugh Ford

Fifteen years earlier, on November 29, 1831, Hugh and his wife Ann bought their Monroe Township farm in two separate land transactions. According to their son Hugh Ford Jr., the Ford family moved to the farm in 1832 from Belmont County, Ohio, where they had lived since about 1803.

Curiously, the two deeds were witnessed by, drum roll, please...

Thomas Kirk!

Monroe Township, Licking County, Ohio land deed, purchased by Hugh Ford
witnessed by Thomas Kirk

In 1831, at the time of these transactions, Thomas Kirk lived in Licking Township. He didn't move to Monroe Township, south of the Fords, until seven years later in 1838.

Why would Thomas Kirk be a witness on two land deeds for Hugh Ford who lived ninety miles to the east in Belmont County?

Was there a relationship between the two men?

Identifying the unnamed sister

I began digging into the identity of Hugh's wife Ann.

Again, according to son Hugh Ford Jr., Ann Ford "was born December 26th, 1777, and was married to Hugh Ford September 18th, 1800." Ann lived to be enumerated in the 1850 US Federal Census, which gave her birth location as the state of Virginia (just like Thomas and Mary!).

Junior also wrote that his mother was the daughter of a man named Joseph Kirk.

Kirk!

Ann's maiden name was Kirk!

Ann's father, like Mary (Kirk) Geiger's and likely Thomas', was named Joseph Kirk!

What were the odds that Thomas would be a witness on two land deeds for a man who lived ninety miles away and was married to a woman born in Virginia who was the daughter of a Joseph Kirk?

Prior to his appearance in Belmont County, tax records placed Hugh Ford across the Ohio River in Brooke County, Virginia. Hugh appeared on Brooke County tax records from 1797 to 1802.

It's worth noting that Thomas Kirk was also in Brooke County from 1799 to 1803. It was here that he met and likely married his wife Sarah Bonar.

A brief notation from a Brooke County minister confirmed that Hugh Ford and Nancy Kirk were married on December 18, 1800 [note that this date is three months later - to the exact day - than the marriage date given by their son Hugh Jr]. Also, Nancy was, according to FamilySearch, a common diminutive nickname for Ann.

1800 Brooke County, Virginia marriage of Hugh Ford and Ann "Nancy" Kirk

Presumably Hugh and Ann (Kirk) Ford moved from Brooke County, Virginia to Belmont County, Ohio in about 1803.

According to Bonar family history, Thomas and Sarah (Bonar) Kirk moved to Captina in Belmont County after they left Brooke County. Did Thomas and Sarah follow his sister and brother-in-law into the burgeoning Ohio frontier?

It's also worth flagging the naming patterns employed by all three Kirks:

• It appears that Hugh and Ann Ford named their first four children after their parents. Two of the four were Henry and Rachel - the names of Hugh's parents. The other two were Joseph and Sarah. We know Ann's father was Joseph, so can we infer that her mother was named Sarah? If yes, that would suggest Ann was also the child of a Joseph and Sarah Kirk just like Mary (Kirk) Geiger and Thomas Kirk. Furthermore, Ann's last child, a son, was named Thomas Kirk Ford (middle name Kirk!). Was this an homage to her brother?

• Mary (Kirk) Geiger's first two children were named Joseph and Sarah.

• Thomas Kirk also had children named Joseph and Sarah.

The paper trail seems to suggest a family relationship. What do you think? How off the wall are my interpretations?

Next up is to try and find DNA matches - if possible at this distant relationship level - to help prove that Thomas Kirk and Mary Geiger were siblings with Ann Ford. The research journey continues.

Timeline of a Colonial-Era Death

Timelines are an import tool in genealogy.

Laying out the chronology of an ancestor's life enables family historians to surface patterns, gaps, or inconsistencies. This visual approach to mapping research helps flag problems that may otherwise be overlooked.

Evidence-informed timelines can also help frame milestones like births, marriages, and deaths, providing narrowed time periods for when a life event likely occurred.

For example, my current research is focused on Joseph and Sarah Kirk who lived in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) during the latter 1700's. I speculate that they were my sixth great-grandparents [see A Genealogy Cold Case Heats Up].

Curiously, some researchers have decided that this Joseph Kirk moved to Kentucky where he died in the 1830's. The Kentucky Joseph Kirk proliferates in Ancestry's public trees and is now appearing with alarming frequency.

Despite his growing dominance, the public trees for the Kentucky Joseph Kirk include no substantiating evidence. Actually, that's not entirely true. There is one source that appears.

That's right. The sources for the Kentucky Joseph Kirk are other family trees with no corroborating facts.

Realizing what I was up against and eager to set the record straight, I turned to Berkeley County's few surviving Colonial-era documents. I created a timeline that helped determine when my Joseph Kirk died and, in turn, built a factual case that dispelled the myth propagated by these contagious family trees.

Timeline

• 1773 April 9: Joseph Kirk made his first appearance in Berkeley County, leasing 100 acres from George William Fairfax in a "land lease for lives".
• 1773 September 22: The lease was proved and recorded in Berkeley County Court.
• 1780 September 20: Joseph Kirk served as a court witness for Isaiah Hoskinson and was due 300 pounds of tobacco as remuneration.
• 1781 April 3: Joseph Kirk submitted a Revolutionary War Public Service Claim (a receipt from the local authorities verifying Joseph provided six bushels and a half of wheat to supply provisions for the use of the Continental Army. In exchange, he was entitled to 130 pounds).
• 1781 November 20: A charge of trespass was brought against Joseph Kirk by John Coplan, a local constable and operator of an ordinary (tavern) in Martinsburg, Berkeley County.
• 1782 September 21: Joseph Kirk served as a court witness for John Evans and was due 125 pounds of tobacco as remuneration.
• 1782: Personal Property Tax Records 
• 1782: Land Tax Records
• 1783: Personal Property Tax Records
• 1784: Personal Property Tax Records
• 1784 August 18: George William Fairfax brought a petition (Replevy Bond) against Joseph Kirk for falling behind on land rents.
• 1784 August 21: Joseph Kirk didn't appear in court for the Replevy Bond. Instead, he was represented by his wife Sarah and likely brother-in-law John Beard. Why didn't Joseph appear in court?
• 1784: Land Tax Records
• 1785: Land Tax Records
• 1786: Land Tax Records
• 1787: Land Tax Records
• 1788: Land Tax Records with the first mention of Joseph Kirk's "exrs" - executors, confirming that he was deceased by 1788.

Drawing Conclusions

From this timeline, I could narrow to a period of a few years when my Joseph Kirk died based on what the records said and even pinpoint the specific year I think he died based on what the records didn't say.

The records definitely said Joseph Kirk was in Berkeley County for a decade beginning on April 9, 1773, when Joseph first signed a land lease for lives (meaning the land lease could be passed on to Joseph's heirs in the event of his death) until 1783 when he paid his personal property tax.

Things began to look dodgy in 1784.

On August 18, 1784, a petition was filed against Joseph Kirk, which summoned him to appear in court for a Replevy Bond (a legal procedure used to return property to the owner, suggesting that Joseph fell behind in payments to the farm's landlord, George William Fairfax).

Excerpt of Berkeley County, VA court orders 18 Aug 1784
George William Fairfax vs Joseph Kirk on Replevy Bond

However, Joseph Kirk didn't appear in court to answer the petition. Three days later, on August 21, 1784, his wife Sarah and John Beard (a man married to Joseph's maybe sister Margaret Kirk) appeared in court.

Excerpt of Berkeley County, VA court orders 23 Aug 1784
George William Fairfax vs Sarah Kirk & John Beard on Replevy Bond

Where was Joseph? Why was he being represented by his wife? The records didn't say.

During the next four years - 1784 through 1787 - Joseph Kirk's name appeared on land tax records for the 100-acre farm, suggesting that the Replevy Bond was satisfactorily resolved.

In 1788, though, the land tax records confirmed what I had speculated. Joseph Kirk's name appeared but, for the first time, was followed by the abbreviation "exrs" or executors. 

The land tax was levied on the executors of his estate. 

Berkeley County, VA land tax for 1788
Joseph Kirk's Exrs

Joseph Kirk was in fact deceased by 1788. This record single-handedly undermined the family trees alleging that he died in Kentucky in the 1830's. Thank you for playing. Next!

But I was sure I could do better and further refine the window of time in which Joseph passed away. The absence of his name in certain records helped, I believe, pinpoint an exact death year.

Narrowing the Window of Death

Berkeley County's personal property tax lists survive and date to 1782. Joseph Kirk appeared in the records in 1782, 1783 and 1784. However, his name disappeared from the tax lists in 1785. 

Was this further evidence that he was deceased? 

If Joseph died before August 1784 when he didn't appear in court for the Replevy Bond, he would still be liable for personal property tax for whatever portion of that year in which he was alive, right?

His death mid-way through 1784 could explain why his name appeared in that year's personal property tax list but then not the following year, 1785.

But how to explain why his name continued to appear in the land tax records?

I believe it was reasonable for his name to continue to appear in land tax lists from 1784 through 1787 while his estate was undergoing probate or the lease for lives was being transferred to his widow Sarah (which tax, land, and court records suggest eventually happened).

Collectively, I believe the records support the theory that Joseph Kirk died in the first part of 1784. 

Of course, the answer would be more definitive if Joseph Kirk had a surviving probate record. He does not, according to the West Virginia State Archives. Strike one for the Kirk Curse!

Furthermore, Berkeley County's Court minutes documenting all legal petitions spanning February 1779 to October 1785 are missing, so there's no court notation of initial probate proceedings. Strike two for the Kirk Curse!

Out of an abundance of caution, I'm trawling through every single page of Berkeley County's surviving court minutes and order books to ensure nothing has been overlooked, even the vaguest hints that may shed light on Joseph Kirk's estate. 

While the painstaking search goes on, the genealogical timeline has dispensed with a false family history and narrowed the timeline for Joseph Kirk's death.

That's a remarkable victory and cause for celebration!

A Rookie Researcher Mistake

A little over a year ago, I wrote about my maybe sixth great-grandparents Joseph and Sarah Kirk, and the farm they leased beginning in 1773 in Berkeley County, (West) Virginia [see Locating an 18th Century Farm Using Colonial Wayfinding Descriptions].

Joseph Kirk died in about 1783 or 1784. His widow, Sarah, continued to lease the farm.

Following the trail of Colonial-era land records, I discovered that Ferdinand Fairfax - the owner of the 100-acre farm leased to the Kirks - sold the property on September 7, 1798 to Nicholas Roush.

1798 Berkeley County land deed: Fairfax sells 100 acres to Roush

Deed of sale to Roush mentions the land was originally leased to Joseph Kirk

The sale came 25 years after Joseph Kirk initially signed a lease for life. A year ago, I speculated that the land was sold to Roush because Sarah Kirk had passed away.

That was a careless inferred mistake.

I recently returned to the record, and conducted a more thorough and thoughtful review. Although the deed states early on that the land was originally leased by Joseph Kirk, the end of the document includes a brief but important mention about the Kirks.

The deed transfered all rights of ownership from Fairfax to Roush with no encumbrances, but with one curious exception:

"...the said Kirks lease till set aside being only excepted."

Kirk lease the only exception to the deed

So the Kirk lease appears to have remained an active commitment still honored despite the change of ownership. Sarah Kirk was presumably still alive.

The Berkeley County court minutes include two petitions - dated after the land sale to Roush - between Fairfax and the Kirks. Unfortunately, the entries are so vague it's difficult to determine the nature of the petitions brought before the court.

November 29, 1798 - Berkeley County, (W) Virginia court minutes
Fairfax v. Kirk

May 31, 1799 - Berkeley County, (W) Virginia court minutes
Fairfax v. Kirk

The May 1799 petition appears to have been continued, but I haven't located further mentions in the court minutes.

Who was the Kirk being called into court? Was it Sarah? Or was it a child and heir?

Were there no further appearances in the minutes because Sarah finally passed away? I don't have enough information to draw a conclusion.

But I stand chastened and reminded to read every single word and pay close attention to what the record is telling me. A rookie researcher mistake - now discovered - has given new life to my sixth great-grandmother.

Following Thomas Kirk's FAN Club Across 18th Century Virginia

I’ve located new evidence that suggests Thomas Kirk, my fifth great-grandfather, was not alone when he moved from Berkeley to Brooke County, (West) Virginia in about 1799.

Brooke County, (West) Virginia

In April 2018, I discovered Thomas Kirk on five years of tax lists in Brooke County, (West) Virginia: 1799 - 1803. This was an exciting discovery because it was the first time he had been found outside Licking County, Ohio (where he settled and died in 1846), and verified his children's claims in census enumerations that their father was born in Virginia.

Thomas’ appearance on the Brooke County tax lists put him in the home county of his future wife in the years just before family lore says that they married (about 1804).

1799 Brooke County, (West) Virginia Personal Property Tax List
Thomas Kirk made his first appearance in the home county of his
soon-to-be bride

Perhaps equally important to being in the right place at the right time was that Thomas disappeared from Brooke County’s tax lists (1804) when he and his bride likely married and moved across the Ohio River to Captina, Belmont County, Ohio (per published family histories).

But where was Thomas before his 1799 appearance in Brooke County?

Berkeley County, (West) Virginia

In the ensuing months, my research turned up a handful of DNA matches that indicated Thomas Kirk might have a sister, Mary Kirk. The investigation moved to Berkeley County, (West) Virginia when I learned that Mary married Anthony Geiger there in 1797.

A grandson of the Geigers gave me names to focus on when he wrote that Mary’s parents were Joseph and Sarah Kirk of Berkeley County.

In November 2018, research found Sarah Kirk widowed by the late 1780's but continuing to live on the 100-acre Berkeley County farm that Joseph leased in 1773. She was a good citizen and paid her taxes, leaving me a paper trail.

Berkeley County tax lists enumerated the number of white men over age 16 in the taxpayer’s household (because they were subject to a poll tax). From 1792-1795, there were no white men 16+ in Sarah’s household.

1795 Berkeley County, (West) Virginia Personal Property Tax List
Sarah Kirke was enumerated with no white men above the age of 16

In 1796, that changed.

In that year, a male above the age of 16 appeared. Depending on the exact date of birth, this male would have been born in about 1779. Pretty darn close to Thomas Kirk’s purported 1778 birth year.

1796 Berkeley County, (West) Virginia Personal Property Tax List
Sarah Kirke was enumerated with 1 one man above the age of 16

The unnamed male over 16 appeared with Sarah Kirk in the personal property tax lists for 1797, 1798, and 1799. They were both missing in 1800 and onward.

How convenient that a man, who was the approximate age of Thomas Kirk, appeared in Sarah Kirk’s household – the purported mother of Mary (Kirk) Geiger, who DNA suggests may have been Thomas’ sister. Perhaps Sarah was also his mother.

Did Thomas move in 1799 – appearing on both the Berkeley and Brooke counties tax lists? The paper trail supports that theory.

But would a young unwed Thomas move alone?

John Beard Appears Again

Fast on the heels of my research into John Beard, who played a reoccurring supporting role in the lives of my Kirk family (see The Linchpin Who Links an 18th Century Family Together), I found evidence that further substantiates the theory that Thomas was in Berkeley County prior to moving to Brooke County in 1799.

He had familiar company!

I just found an 1803 deed between “…John Beard late of Berkeley County and state of Virginia and Margaret his wife…” and George Harris. The Beards sold Harris 200 acres in Berkeley County for “…nine hundred pounds current money of Virginia…” The deed states that John inherited the land from his father Andrew Beard of Frederick County, Virginia.

1803 Berkeley County, (West) Virginia land indenture - John and Margaret Beard
sold 200 acres to George Harris

For descendants of John and Margaret Beard, this document is a treasure because it confirms the identity of John’s father.

For descendants of the Kirks, it’s important because of the curious notation that John was “late of Berkeley” – an indication that he had moved elsewhere. Where were the Beards now living?

The land deed concluded with a note from the clerk of [drum roll, please...] Brooke County, (West) Virginia.

The Beards were living in Brooke County, where they finalized the sale of their Berkeley County property.

1803 Berkeley County, (West) Virginia land indenture - John and Margaret Beard
sold 200 acres to George Harris, finalizing the sale from Brooke County, (West) Virginia

There is now proof that the Beards were in the same place at the same time as the Thomas Kirk I speculated was my fifth great-grandfather!

It seems more plausible that Thomas would travel from Berkeley to Brooke if he was accompanied by family rather than alone. How fitting that it was the Beard family – whom records have shown were an ever-present support to the Kirks.

It’s also curious that the Beards sold their land in November 1803. Did the Beards want the cash in hand because they planned to move across the Ohio River into the newly formed state of Ohio (where they also settled in Licking County and eventually sold Thomas his farm)?

While the research continues, I have sifted from the sparse 18th century paper trail complementary evidence that reinforces my growing confidence that Thomas Kirk was born in Berkeley County, (West) Virginia in 1778 to Joseph and Sarah Kirk, moved to Brooke County in 1799 where he married, and then crossed the river to settle in Licking County, Ohio.

Dueling 18th Century Virginia Land Plats

I really ought to learn to leave well enough alone, but some genealogy questions just persist and gnaw at you.

It's like the question itself is a fiendish parasite deriving a sinister thrill from the torment of obfuscating every effort to find the truth.

You pick at loose threads hoping to unravel the tightly-wound mystery. Sometimes you luck out, yet other times you come up empty-handed, frustrated, tears rolling down your check, anguished guttural cries into the dark abyss.

That's how I feel about my efforts to locate George William Fairfax's 1700-acre tract of land colloquially known as Poplar Spring.

Fairfax was a member of the landed gentry of Colonial Virginia who was a contemporary and friend of George Washington and owned vast amounts of land in Virginia's Northern Neck, including the elusive Poplar Spring.

Located in modern-day Berkeley County, West Virginia, I've had little success in identifying the exact location of the Poplar Spring property where my suspected sixth great-grandparents Joseph and Sarah Kirk leased 100 acres for 25 years between 1773 and 1798.

What telltale clues would surface during a review of surviving land records?

Two Competing Land Plats

In November 2018, I spent hours in the Family History Library trawling through land deeds for Berkeley and Frederick counties (Berkeley was carved from Frederick County, Virginia in 1772).

I discovered not one but two land surveys conducted by Thomas Rutherford. I knew immediately that he was important to my research because several of the Poplar Spring land transactions that I had previously reviewed cited a survey conducted by Rutherford.

Was this it? Was I looking at Poplar Spring?

A few items initially grabbed my attention about the two maps:

• Both surveys were conducted for George William Fairfax (proprietor of the lands in Virginia's Northern Neck and owner of the Poplar Spring tract);
• Both surveys were conducted by Rutherford on February 20, 1763 (the surveyor cited in later Poplar Spring transactions and surveyed before the 1773 lease by the Kirk family); and
• At a glance, both surveys appeared to survey the same land but with a 600-acre discrepancy between them (one covering 2,680 acres and the second 2,080 acres).

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2680 Acres

Rutherford's 2680-acre map, "surveyed for George William Fairfax Esq.," examined "a parcel of land lying at the dry marsh on the drains of [the] Opequon, including the place which formerly belong to Nicholas Mercer in Frederick County." The survey name drops each of the men whose land borders the property mapped for Fairfax. In total, I counted 12 individuals:

1. Samuel Littler
2. Robert Milburn (deceased)
3. Peter Falkner (deceased)
4. Joseph Parrell 
5. Richard Calbert
6. Benjamin Blackburn
7. Captain Angus McDonald
8. McMachen men: William, John, and Rush
9. George Hollingsworth
10. James Wright
11. Josiah Ballinger
12. John Nickland

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2080 Acres

Rutherford's 2080-acre map, also "surveyed for George William Fairfax Esq," examined a "parcel of land lying at the dry marsh one of the drains of Opequon, including an improvement which formerly belonged to Nicholas Mercer in Frederick County." This survey also named men whose property bordered Fairfax's land. But this time I counted 13 individuals: 

1. Samuel Littler
2. Andrew Milburns, late survey of a 200 assigned to Thomas McClane a major (illegible)
3. The heirs of Roger/Robert Milburn
4. Formerly Peter Falkner
5. Joseph Parcell
6. Richard Calbert
7. Benjamin Blackburn
8. Captain Angus McDonald
9. Henry Hath
10. William McMachen 
11. David Brown
12. Mr. Charles Dick, late survey 400 acres taken off
13. The heirs of John Nickland

Curiously, two men are associated with acreage: Andrew Milburns (200 acres) and Charles Dick (400 acres). In total, that's the 600-acre difference between the two maps. Although I'm unclear why they're "taken off" the survey. 

Bottom line, the border contours and matching names of the neighboring property owners indicate that both maps plat the same area but one includes the combined 600 acres of Milburns and Dick while the other has them "taken off".

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What can I learn from these men that might help me pinpoint the location of the Fairfax land on a modern-day map?

Of course, I could trace land ownership forward in time beginning after the February 20, 1763 survey and see whether any names match neighbors of the Poplar Spring tracts.

Any names that match Poplar Spring ownership would help verify that the above maps encompassed the land where Joseph Kirk lived.

Unfortunately, this search needs to wait until I'm next in the Family History Library since the digitized Frederick County land records are only viewable in a Family History research center or library. It's a time-consuming, tedious research undertaking, but there certainly seems to be promising rewards.

West Virginia Family History Road Trip In Search of Colonial Roots

The Thanksgiving holiday afforded me some time to escape to West Virginia for a quick family history road trip.

Mounting evidence is coalescing around the theory that Joseph and Sarah Kirk were the parents of my fifth great-grandfather Thomas Kirk (1778-1846).

Joseph first appeared in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in April 1773 when he leased 100 acres from George William Fairfax, a friend of George Washington and proprietor for thousands of acres in Virginia's Northern Neck.

Joseph's parcel was part of a larger 1,700-acre tract of land called Poplar Spring.

Mapping the location of his 100 acres proved quite challenging. The lease's land descriptions detailed borders anchored to trees and hills. There were no GPS coordinates that would allow me to pull up the property's boundaries on Google Maps.

I was getting tired of sifting through centuries-old records for the faintest of clues as to the farm's location. I wanted to go to Berkeley County and get a feel for the area. Maybe I'd be lucky and make new discoveries leading me to the farm's location.

Berkeley County, (West) Virginia in the age of Joseph Kirk

Less than two hours northwest of Washington, DC, it was an easy road trip to make. Beginning in Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia (the county from which Berkeley was formed in 1772), I drove along Highway 11 - the old Winchester Road that existed in Joseph's day - north towards Martinsburg, Berkeley's county seat.

Old Town Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia

Entering Berkeley County, West Virginia along Highway 11
The Winchester Road dates to the 1700's

Driving on the same road that Joseph Kirk may have traveled on - albeit paved and using a much different mode of transport - was like traveling back in time. I could imagine men on horseback and with wagons making the journey to and from Winchester.

Once in Berkeley, I visited two historical sites to see the types of homes that existed during Joseph's era. One, a rustic log cabin, dated to the 1730's and used throughout the century, illustrated how early settlers in the Virginia county would have lived.  

The second, a stone home belonging to Adam Stephen, the founder of Martinsburg and an American Revolutionary War general, showed how wood-hewn structures were replaced by limestone. Built between 1782 and 1789 on the outskirts of Martinsburg, it's very like that Joseph Kirk would have seen this home.

Where did Joseph Kirk Live?

The question remained: where was Joseph's l00-acre farm located?

George William Fairfax's will, filed in England, included a small additional clue as to the location of the 1700-acre Poplar Spring tract: "...near the Opequon..." Indeed a small clue.

Excerpt of George William Fairfax, bequeathing the Poplar Spring tract

During last weekend's research stint in the Family History Library, I discovered a land survey conducted by Thomas Rutherford and dated February 20, 1763 that plotted 2,680 acres belonging to George William Fairfax. Was the Poplar Spring tract part of this acreage? Several of the Poplar Spring land transactions cited a survey conducted by Rutherford.

Survey of 2,680 acres belonging to George William Fairfax

I was struck by the appearance of the Winchester Road cutting through the property (right side of the survey) and the identification of the Big Spring with the waterway flowing west. 

The Big Spring is still on the east side of the Winchester Road (Highway 11) just across the street from Fort Evans. The flowing waterway is known today as Evans Run. 

Fort Evans, a two-story stone structure, was built in the mid-1700's by John Evans. John Evans was a nearby neighbor of Joseph Kirk. No doubt Joseph would have seen - maybe even been inside Fort Evans - which today is a private residence.

Boundary Similarities

At the Berkeley County Library in Martinsburg, I found a published genealogy on the Evans family. It included a sketch of the land owned by brothers John and Isaac Evans.

The sketch of the Evans' land included the Big Spring and the Winchester Road (Highway 11) both of which appeared on Rutherford's 1763 survey of Fairfax's land. 

Examining the contours of the Evans' land boundaries, I immediately thought of the Poplar Spring tracts that I had previously platted. Note the northern border of Isaac Evans plot above with the contour of his plot below. The resemblance is striking. But the land ownership dates conflict. I suspect the plots sketched above (with ownership dating to the 1750's) are to the east of the plots sketched below (with ownership dating to the 1770's).

From the published Evans family history, I learned that a gentleman named Galtjo Geertsema platted many of Berkeley County's early land records. Many of these records are now held in the Berkeley County Historical Society (which was closed during my road trip). I'll need to make inquiries to learn what answers those records may hold.

In the meantime, I followed Evans Run and imagined the land without its modern housing developments. I drove around a forest of trees that survive around the waters of Evans Run. From a southern vantage point looking north, I gained a glimpse of what the raw territory might have looked like when Joseph Kirk was a farmer in the area.

It's a beautiful landscape and slowly giving way to my Kirk family history. I'm already looking forward to my next visit and any new pieces of the puzzle that I might uncover.