John Kirkman (Nashville, TN)

Painting of John Kirkman (date unknown)

John Kirkman (April 9, 1813 – August 1, 1888)

Biography

• Name: John Kirkman
• Birth: April 9, 1813 Nashville, TN
• Death: August 1, 1888 Nashville, TN
• Spouse: Catherine Hobson (McNairy) Kirkman (Married 1841) (1823-1855)
• Spouse: Maria A. (Washington) Kirkman (Married 1857) (1832-1892)

John Kirkman, the son of an Irish immigrant, was born on April 9, 1813 in Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up mostly in Tennessee, except for 5 years in Philadelphia as a boy. At age 16, he founded a successful hardware business in Nashville with partner James Ellis called Kirkman and Ellis. There are some marked percussion rifles and pistols that bear this name. He later went into the wholesale hardware business with different partners, and then into banking and insurance. He was President and/or Director of the Commercial Insurance Company of Nashville for many years.

Kirkman was the president of the Union Bank of Tennessee, Nashville, both before and during the Civil War. After the war he helped organize, in 1865, The Third National Bank of Nashville, charter 1296. After the death of the bank's president, William Wells Berry, Sr., in 1878, he was elected President. The Third National Bank merged with the American National Bank of Nashville, charter 3032, in February, 1884. He then was elected President of the American National Bank and served in that capacity until his death. John Kirkman was killed in a horse and buggy accident on Broadway Street in downtown Nashville on August 1st, 1888 at the age of 75. He is buried in Nashville in Mt. Olivet cemetery.

Bank Officer Summary

During his banking career, John Kirkman was involved with the following bank(s):

• Union Bank of Tennessee, Nashville, TN (Haxby TN-210): President

• Third National Bank, Nashville, TN (Charter 1296): President 1877-1884

• American National Bank, Nashville, TN (Charter 3032): President 1884-1888

Series 1875 $5 bank note with pen signatures of Edgar Jones, Cashier and John Kirkman, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Currency Auctions, www.lynknight.com

References

• Bio info from Greg Culpepper post on facebook NBN Collectors Group, January 22, 2021.
• Ancestry.com family tree: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/78176190/person/30400650889/facts?_phsrc=UUi340&_phstart=successSource
• Findagrave.com: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161459951/john-kirkman#view-photo=189615842
• For an account of his death, and a short bio, see newspaper article in The Tennessean (Nashville, TN), August 2, 1888, p7.
• Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://bbdata.banknotehistory.com