Person:James Kerr (124)

Biography

James Kerr, an emigrant from Scotland, came to the county about 1762, and soon after bought a small place at the head of Ivy Creek. He subsequently leased the present Birdwood plantation, in 1773 purchased it from the trustees of John Dabney, and made it his residence for twenty-seven years. During this time he became a man of no little note and consideration in the community. When the records made a second beginning in 1783, he was one of the acting magistrates, and frequently participated in the deliberations of the County Court. He was appointed Sheriff in 1793. He was a ruling elder in the D. S. Church. In 1800 he sold the Birdwood place to Hore Brouse Trist, and bought from Michael Woods, son of Colonel John, a farm on Mechum's River, not far above the Depot of that name. From increasing age, or because of the distance from the county seat, he took no further part in public business. In 1808 he sold his property to James Kinsolving Sr., and removed to Kentucky. After the death of Sarah, his first wife, he married Susan, widow of David Rodes. This union was a brief one, as Mrs. Kerr died in 1798. She left a will, which for want of proof was not recorded; and it was not till 1826 that it was sent to Georgetown, Ky., to procure the depositions of William Rodes, and Milton and Rodes Burch, to prove the handwriting of David Kerr, a deceased witness to the document.

The children of James Kerr, as far as known, were James, John Rice, David, Mary, the wife of Samuel Burch, and Elizabeth, the wife of Joseph J. Monroe, a brother of the President. James seems to have been a young man of tact and sprightliness, but of prodigal life. He once owned the lots on which the Farish House, and the old Presbyterian Church, now stand. He died in Richmond in 1788, leaving a short will written in a light, sceptical tone; and when it was presented for probate, until his father gave his consent, his brother magistrates declined admitting it to record. John Rice was admitted to the Albemarle bar, but appears not to have practised. In 1807 he was appointed a magistrate, and with his father served as an elder in the D. S. Church. He married Sarah, daughter of Bennett Henderson, and lived for a time on the south side of the Staunton Road, where it crosses Ivy Creek, on land that belonged to his brother-in-law, Samuel Burch. He accompanied, or followed, his father to Kentucky, and there entered the Presbyterian ministry. A son named for Andrew Hart lived near Memphis, Tenn., and was Moderator of the Southern General Assembly, when it convened in that city in 1868. David Kerr married Dorothy, daughter of the elder Clifton Rodes, and by many years preceded the rest of his family in removing to Kentucky. in the southern part of the county near Covesville, but is said to have removed eventually to Fluvanna County. Jesse P., a son of Tandy, married Sarah, daughter of the younger William Woods, of Beaver Creek, and lived for some time near Mechum's Depot. William Bibb married Mourning, daughter of Christopher Clark, and went to Elbert County, Georgia. Henry settled in Bedford County, and Jesse died in Richmond in 1826. Walter appears to have been the only one who spent his whole life in the county, and his death occurred in 1834. John, Tandy and Joshua were all magistrates of the county, and Walter was appointed to the office, but declined to accept. John served as Sheriff in 1795, and Tandy in 1809. John was an Ensign in the Eighth Virginia, and Henry a soldier in the army of the Revolution.

[Source: Albemarle County in Virginia, By Edgar Woods, pg. 244, pub. 1901].