Joseph Kinkead

Joseph Kinkead (1688 - July 10, 1774) was an inhabitant of early Albemarle County.

Biography

Kinkead was born in Campsie, Stirlingshire, Scotland in 1688. According to a letter written by a descendant, his family left Scotland after the Glorious Revolution and traveled "to the North of Ireland," eventually migrating to the Virginia Colony. Kinkead first appeared in colonial records pledging money to support a Presbyterian minister (likely Reverend Samuel Black, the first cleric of the Mountain Plains Church on Michael Woods Sr.'s property).

Kinkead and his two brothers, David and James, were early settlers of the western part of the county. In 1746, David patented nearly 800 acres on the north fork of the Rockfish River, and the next year 400 more on Stockton's Creek. By entry and purchase together, the members of the family altogether became owners of close to 3,000 acres in the vicinity.

Kinkead Family Burial Ground in Greenwood, Albemarle County. Photo by Brian Gallagher.

In 1747, Kinkead, along with his son John and brother James, appeared as a subscriber to the call of Reverend Samuel Black. The homes of Joseph and James were situated around half a mile west of Immanuel Church. An old graveyard in the area is still known in the neighborhood today as the Kinkead burying ground, containing a broken-down wall and a few rough stones.

On March 10, 1774 Kinkead made his will, with the clerk spelling his name within the document in three different ways (Kincaid, Kincade, and then signed Joseph Kinkead).

Kinkead died on July 10, 1774.

Family and descendants

Kinkead had three children named Jean, John, and Ruth. In his will, Kinkead bequeathed his clothes and apparel to John. Jean married Hugh Alexander, while Ruth married Andrew Grier.

Alexander owned a mill on Stockton's Creek, not far from the foot of the hill west of Hillsboro. Widely known as Key's Mill (and later renamed to Humphrey's Mill), several roads were made adjoining it from every quarter as it was a noted center in that section of the county.

Grier, one of the early merchants of the area, became owner of nearly 600 acres adjoining Yellow Mountain. In liquidation of his debts, he conveyed it in 1766 to Jeremiah Parker and Richard Warden, two merchants from Philadelphia. Part of this land eventually passed into the hands of John Lobban Jr. and another part to Dr. Peter B. Bowen.

A grandson of Kinkead married a daughter of Adam Dean, another early settler on Stockton's Creek. Their son Adam Dean Kinkead was born in 1807 and died in Greenbrier County in December of 1898. All individuals bearing the surname of Kinkead appear to have moved away from the county by the end of the 19th century.