Biographical Note
Samuel Cotter Kirkpatrick, born in 1841, served in Company E of the 11th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. He enlisted for three years in 1861 and received the rank of corporal. He reenlisted in 1864 and served until the end of the war. During his service, he was injured two times and fought in the Vicksburg campaign. By the time of his discharge, he had achieved the rank of sergeant. Kirkpatrick married Caroline M. Ritchey on April 16, 1864. The couple had five children, two of whom survived to adulthood. After he was discharged from military service, Kirkpatrick worked as a farmer in Nebraska and Wisconsin. He died in Platteville, Wisconsin, in 1911.