US Congressman, US Mayor, Lawyer. He was a United States Representative from the State of New York. He was born one of two children in Newent Society, in the Town of Newent, New Lisbon County, Connecticut, which was later separated as the Town of Lisbon, New London County, Connecticut, to Joseph Kirkland (1744-1774), and his wife Hannah Perkins Kirkland (1741-1838), on January 18, 1770. He was educated locally and attended and graduated from the prestigious Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1790. He then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1794, and commenced his practice of law in New Hartford, New York, shortly thereafter. He then became interested in politics and was elected and served a term as a Member of the New York State Assembly representing Oneida County, New York, from 1804 to 1805. He then moved to Utica, New York, in 1813, and served as a District Attorney for the Fifth District of the State of New York which comprised of Otsego County, New York, Herkimer County, New York, and Oneida County, New York, from 1813 to 1816. He was preceded in that post by Nathan Williams (1773-1835), a United States Representative from the State of New York from March 4, 1805, to March 3, 1807, and the first lawyer to permanently establish a law practice in Utica, New York, and a veteran of the War of 1812 who volunteered for service and became a major in a company of militia at Sackett's Harbor, New York, and was succeeded in that post by Thomas Hill Hubbard (1781-1857), an American lawyer, judge and public official from Madison County, New York. He also served again as a Member of the New York State Assembly representing Oneida County, New York, in 1818, and Oneida County, New York, and Oswego County, New York, from 1820 to 1821. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative Henry Randolph Storrs (1787-1837), on December 3, 1821. A Member of the Federalist Party, he then served New York's 16th District (Seventeenth Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from December 3, 1821, to March 3, 1823. In total, he was elected in 1821. Following his term in the United States Congress, he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative John Watts Cady (1790-1854), on March 4, 1823. After leaving the United States Congress, he resumed his practice of law in New Hartford, New York, and served another term as a Member of the New York State Assembly representing Oneida County, New York, in 1825. He then became the first Mayor of Utica, New York, when the city was incorporated in 1832. He served as the new city's first mayor from 1832 to 1836. After his term as the first mayor of Utica, New York, from 1832 to 1836, he again resumed his practice of law until his death on January 26, 1844. He passed away in Utica, New York, on January 26, 1844, and he was buried in the Family Plot in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica, New York. Following his death, he was remembered in one of his newspaper obituaries of the time as, "He was universally respected and loved for his public spirit and benevolence during his life, and died as universally regretted." He was married to Sarah Backus "Sally" Kirkland (1777-1848), in Windham, Connecticut, on April 15, 1795. The couple had eight children together including, John Thornton Kirkland, Joseph Francis Kirkland, Charles Pickney Kirkland (1798-1883), William Kirkland (1800-1846), Mary Kirkland (1804-1895, last name later Holley), Eliza Kirkland (1806-1872, last name later Bacon), Sarah Backus Kirkland (1810-1872), last name later Floyd), and Louisa Kirkland (1813-1885, last name later Tracy). His daughter Sarah Backus Kirkland (1810-1872), married John Gelston Floyd (1806-1881), an American lawyer and politician who served three terms as a United States Representative from the State of New York from 1839 to 1853, and again from 1851 to 1853, and his daughter Louisa Kirkland Tracy (1813-1885), married Charles Tracy (1810-1885), a prominent author and attorney. His wife Sarah survived him and she passed away in Utica, New York, on June 14, 1848, at the age of 70, and she is buried with her husband in the Family Plot in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica, New York.