Andrew Kirkpatrick was an American jurist. He served as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1797 to 1798 and as a chief justice of New Jersey supreme court from 1804 to 1824.
Background
Andrew Kirkpatrick, the third child of David and Mary (McEowen) Kirkpatrick, was born on February 17, 1756 at Minebrook, New Jersey, United States, on the old homestead established by his grandfather, Alexander, who had emigrated from Belfast, Ireland, in 1736. His grandfather, who was a strict Scotch-Presbyterian, had been exiled for taking part in the rebellion of the Old Pretender to the throne of England in 1715.
Education
Andrew, who was intended for the ministry by his devoutly religious father, graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1775, and began reading theology under a Scotch minister, Reverend Samuel Kennedy, residing about two miles from the Kirkpatrick home. Six months' trial was enough to convince Andrew that the ministry was not his calling, and without hesitation he suffered expulsion from his father's home as punishment for deserting theology for the law. Having no money, he was forced to teach for a while, but shortly entered the law office of William Paterson, later governor of New Jersey, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1785.
Career
In 1787 Kirkpatrick moved for the law practice to New Brunswick. In 1797 he was elected to the lower house of the New Jersey legislature, but resigned in January 1798, to become associate justice on the New Jersey supreme court. Six years later he was elevated by the legislature to the office of chief justice. He was twice reelected, filling the office till 1824, when, as a result of a combination of political influences and opposition to his judicial conservatism, the legislature appointed another justice in his place.
He was generally reputed to be an able judge, and in the law of real estate, profoundly learned. Although eminently qualified for his office, Kirkpatrick had defects, not so grave then as they would be in a chief justice of today. He was a worshipper of the Common Law of England, especially that developed before 1776, and preferred the learning of Coke to the "modern innovations, " regarding them as not worthy of his study.
Kirkpatrick was also one of the original trustees of Princeton Theological Seminary and chairman of the board from 1822 to 1831; and a trustee of the College of New Jersey from 1807 to 1831. After leaving the bench he spent his remaining years in retirement at his home in New Brunswick, where he died.
Achievements
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
"He was the beau ideal of a minister of justice. . His enunciation was slow and distinct; his voice full and musical; and his opinions, when not previously prepared, were delivered with fluency and clearness; when written, the language was marked by great purity and precision. " - J. G. Wilson
"He was a firm believer in capital punishment and the whipping post, and had little faith in the efficacy of confining criminals in state prisons. " - J. G. Wilson
Connections
On November 1, 1792, Kirkpatrick married Jane Bayard, daughter of Colonel John Bubenheim Bayard, by whom he had seven children. Andrew and his wife were said to be the handsomest couple in New Brunswick.