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1824 - 1863 (~ 39 years)
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Name |
James J. KIRK |
Born |
ca 1824 |
Clarke Co. AL |
Gender |
Male |
_UID |
29889AD2E4914D13BB4E9E17ACDF28C225B6 |
Died |
21 Dec 1863 |
Rock Island, IL Prisoner of War Camp |
- Information from his Civil War Records.
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Buried |
Grave No. 44, Rock Island, IL Prisnor of War Camp |
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Notes |
- Lived in Clarke Co. AL in 1830, later moved to Wilcox Co. AL.
Served as a private in Co. B 38th AL Infantry. Each man in Company B enlisted for three years or the war. They enlisted at Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox County, Alabama on March 29, 1862 and were paid a $50 bonus for signing.
James took part in the Battle of Chicamauga. Gen. Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army attacked Gen. William Rosencrans' Union Army forcing a Union retreat to Chattanooga, Tennessee. There were 34,000 total causalties. The 18,000 Confederate losses included 37 men from the 38th Alabama. In addition, 151 soldiers of the 38th were wounded and five were missing.
Missionary Ridge was the site of a major battle in the drive back to Chattanooga. Many members of the 38th Alabama were taken prisoner and sent to Rock Island.
James was captured on Nov. 25, 1863 at Missionary Ridge, TN according to his Civil War military records. On 11 December, 1863 he was received at the military prison in Louisville, KY, and was discharged to Rock Isle IL on 12 Dec. 1863.
James died a prisoner of war at Rock Island, IL, on 21 December 1863 of pneumonia and diarrhea. His buried in grave number 44 south of the prison barracks.
Rock Island Prison, built in 1863, was located on a government-owned island in the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Moline, Illinois. Over 12,000 Confederates were imprisoned there during the war. These included many 38th Infantry soldiers captured at Missionary Ridge.
The island facilities were converted and built in 1863; they were not yet completed in December of that year, when the first Confederate prisoners were incarcerated. The construction was makeshift. The first prisoners were 468 Confederates captured in battles at Chattanooga, Tennessee. That month more than 5,000 total would swell the population of Rock Island Prison.
Rock Island was not without its problems?ignominious punishments, inadequate facilities, malnutrition, and lack of basic supplies. At one time it was called the "Andersonville of the North." Most died from disease or exposure, as sanitation was primitive as in all army encampments. The prison camp operated from December 1863 until July 1865, when the last prisoners were freed.
CIVIL WAR INFORMATION
Source:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wb4kdi/Military%20Service/Confederates/index.html
Private, Co. B, 38th Alabama Infantry Joined Winter 1862;
Captured at Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863; POW at Rock Island IL, died December 21, 1863.
http://www.38thalabama.com/
From W. R. Kirk's Journal, James was
"was of fair complexion, red hair, blue eyes, about six feet high - had a strong constitution, a little stooped, of an ardent temperament - he had a taste for farming. Was from his boyhood religiously inclined. Left father after he was twenty one years old and commenced business for himself. His first effort was to work on a farm as a hireling at 50 cts per day. Was never stingy, but when he commenced doing business for himself, practiced rigid economy and in a few years had lands and other property to the value of some fifteen or twenty thousand dollars. He married Louisa Yow. He joined the Confederate Army in winter of 1862. Made a good soldier. Was captured at the battle of Missionary Ridge, carried to Rock Island Ill. where he died soon after. He left four children. His widow married J. D. Clark in 1866."
[1]
CENSUS RECORDS
1860 United States Federal Census
Name: James J Kirk
Age in 1860: 36
Birth Year: abt 1824
Birthplace: Alabama
Home in 1860: Western Division, Wilcox, Alabama
Gender: Male
Post Office: Prairie Bluff
Household Members:
James J Kirk 36
Louisa Kirk 34
Nancy J Kirk 4
James B Kirk 1
Robert Kirk 18
Henry Luker 18
Gilman Clark 8
1860 Slave Schedule
James J. Kirk owned 7 slaves, 2 males ages 30, 8; 5 females ages 22, 16, 13, 9, 2
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Person ID |
I6099 |
Master File |
Last Modified |
6 Dec 2014 |
Father |
James Johnston KIRK, Sr., b. 10 May 1794, Lancaster Co, SC , d. 21 Jun 1857, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL (Age 63 years) |
Mother |
Jane WALKER, b. 1796, South Carolina , d. Sep 1835, Wilcox Co. AL (Age 39 years) |
Married |
1823 [1] |
Family ID |
F5090 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family |
Louisa YOW, b. 15 Mar 1825, Randolph Co. NC , d. 25 Aug 1893, Clarke Co. AL (Age 68 years) |
Children |
| 1. Nancy Jane KIRK, b. 09 Mar 1857, Clarke Co. AL , d. 1 Feb 1940, Camden, Wilcox County, AL (Age 82 years) |
+ | 2. James Bradley KIRK, b. 30 Apr 1859, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL , d. 21 Nov 1910, Wilcox Co. AL (Age 51 years) |
+ | 3. Lavinia KIRK, b. 22 Jun 1861, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL , d. 27 Dec 1931, Clarke Co. AL (Age 70 years) |
+ | 4. Anna J. KIRK, b. Nov 1863, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL , d. 05 Sep 1906, Clarke Co. AL (Age ~ 42 years) |
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Last Modified |
1 Jul 2012 |
Family ID |
F4551 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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