What we know about the ancestry of Anna Maria Louisa Kirk

by Conrad W. Terrill, Nov. 2022

  We know very little for sure, but have found promising possibilities. First, here's what we know for sure:

  From the Amos Gilbert Atkinson family Bible we know that Amos married Anna Maria Louisa Kirk on 5 Apr. 1836. We do not know where the marriage took place, but we have heard that Anna Maria was excommunicated from her church and ostracized by her family, so it would have been a civil wedding ceremony.

  In the case of Amos we have Quaker records from 1841 telling that he had had his marriage accomplished contrary to the order of the Society and had removed to Washington City by that time. Considering that Anna Maria had her three youngest children baptized at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Ellicotts Mills soon after Amos died, in 1852, Anna Maria may have been attending St. Paul's (as a noncommunicant) ever since she and Amos had moved from Washington City to Ellicott's Mills in the mid-1840's.

  We also know from the inscription on the flyleaf of that Atkinson family Bible that it was originally "Mr. Tho.s Kirk's Bible / Alexa 30th apl 1797," and that "Mr. John Kirk, Baltimore" was on the list of subscribers to the Bible. So Anna Maria is somehow related to this Thomas Kirk, who was probably related to this John Kirk. The Bible was printed and sold by Carey, Stewart, and Co., Philadelphia, in 1790, so it was apparently purchased in the U.S.

  Records concerning Anna Maria's birth date are wildly contradictory. For the 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870 U.S. Censuses we have ages of 20-to-29 (a range), 40, 40 and 45, respectively. Her place of birth was given as the District of Columbia in 1850 and 1870, and Maryland in 1860. That's all the useful census information we have. The family Bible tells us she died in "the 64 year of her age," without giving us the death date. We can guess, based on all of this information, that she was born around 1810 in the District of Columbia, which at that time included the city of Alexandria, and died around 1874. Alexandria, which then included what is now called Arlington, became part of the District of Columbia in 1791, when D.C. was formed. It was retroceded to Virginia by Congress in 1846.

  Some indirect clues for Anna Maria's parentage come from several items of information. First, the 1870 U.S. Census record tells us that both her parents were foreign-born. In the D.C. city directories of 1843 and 1846 the address of Amos G. Atkinson, saddler, is given as 7th Street West, between Virginia Avenue and D Street. In 1843 the only Kirk listed is a Mrs. Mary H. Kirk, widow, at 7th Street West, between E and F Streets. In 1846 there was a Mrs. Kirk, widow, on F Street South, between 7th and 8th Streets, and a Mrs. E. Kirk, on 6th Street East, between L and M Streets. In the 1820 U.S. Census for D.C. there was a Reubin Kirk (head of the household) in Alexandria, over 45 years of age. Other members of the household (unnamed, with no relationship information) include his wife (presumably), of age between 26 and 44, a daughter between 10 and 15, and two daughters under 10. One of those daughters could have been Anna Maria, of age around 10. In the 1830 U.S. Census for D.C. there was an Eleanor Kirk in Georgetown of age 50 to 59, with two daughters of age 15 to 19, one of whom may have been Anna Maria, of age around 20. (If this Eleanor Kirk was the same person as Mrs E. Kirk mentioned above, then she moved considerably eastward in D.C. by 1846.)

  Further research possibilities include Catholic Church records and probate records of the District of Columbia in the early 1800's. It would be difficult to gain access to such Catholic Church records, but probate records are accessible online from Latter-Day Saints Family History Centers. The wills, if they exist, of Reubin Kirk, Eleanor Kirk, and Mary H. Kirk would be of primary interest. The Catholic Churches listed in the 1846 D.C. city directory were St. Mathew's (corner of H and 15th Streets), St. Patrick's (F St. N, between 9th and 10th Streets W), St. Peter's (2nd St. E, between C and D Streets S). Note that N, S, E and W stand for North, South, East and West (D.C. is divided into four quadrants).