James J. KIRK

Male 1824 - 1863  (~ 39 years)


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  • Name James J. KIRK 
    Born ca 1824  Clarke Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    _UID 29889AD2E4914D13BB4E9E17ACDF28C225B6 
    Died 21 Dec 1863  Rock Island, IL Prisoner of War Camp Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Information from his Civil War Records.
    Buried Grave No. 44, Rock Island, IL Prisnor of War Camp Find all individuals with events at this location 
    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

    Person ID I6099  Master File
    Last Modified 6 Dec 2014 

    Father James Johnston KIRK, Sr.,   b. 10 May 1794, Lancaster Co, SC Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 21 Jun 1857, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 63 years) 
    Mother Jane WALKER,   b. 1796, South Carolina Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Sep 1835, Wilcox Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 39 years) 
    Married 1823  [1
    Family ID F5090  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Louisa YOW,   b. 15 Mar 1825, Randolph Co. NC Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 25 Aug 1893, Clarke Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 68 years) 
    Children 
     1. Nancy Jane KIRK,   b. 09 Mar 1857, Clarke Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Feb 1940, Camden, Wilcox County, AL Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 82 years)
    +2. James Bradley KIRK,   b. 30 Apr 1859, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 21 Nov 1910, Wilcox Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 51 years)
    +3. Lavinia KIRK,   b. 22 Jun 1861, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 27 Dec 1931, Clarke Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 70 years)
    +4. Anna J. KIRK,   b. Nov 1863, Lower Peach Tree, Wilcox Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 05 Sep 1906, Clarke Co. AL Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 42 years)
    Last Modified 1 Jul 2012 
    Family ID F4551  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Sources 
    1. [S132] W. R. Kirk's Journal 1866.