Son of a school teach­er and mu­si­cian, Kirk­pat­rick grew up in a mu­sic­al at­mo­sphere. In 1854, he went to Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia, to stu­dy mu­sic and learn a trade; he spent over three years as a car­pen­ter. But he was more in­ter­est­ed in mu­sic than me­chan­ics, de­vot­ing all his lei­sure time to its stu­dy. His am­bi­tion at the time was to be­come a vi­o­lin­ist.

In 1855, Kirk­pat­rick joined the Whar­ton Street Meth­od­ist Epis­co­pal Church in Phil­a­del­phia, and from then on de­vot­ed him­self most­ly to sac­red mu­sic, giv­ing his serv­ic­es to the choir and Sun­day school. As there were few church or­gans in that day, his vi­o­lin and cel­lo were in con­stant de­mand for choir re­hears­als, sing­ing so­ci­e­ties, and church pro­grams. Dur­ing this time he wrote a num­ber of un­pub­lished hymn tunes and an­thems.

Kirkpatrick stu­died vo­cal mu­sic un­der Pro­fess­or T. Bi­shop, then a lead­ing ora­tor­io and bal­lad sing­er. He be­came a mem­ber of the Har­mon­ia and Han­del and Hay­dn Sac­red Mu­sic So­ci­e­ties, where he heard the great­est sing­ers of the day and be­came fa­mil­iar with the prin­ci­pal chor­al works of the great com­pos­ers. Kirk­pat­rick’s first pub­lished com­po­si­tion was When the Spark of Life Is Wan­ing, which ap­peared around 1858 in the Mu­sic­al Pi­o­neer in New York. He went on to pub­lish about 50 hymn col­lect­ions, inc­lud­ing:

• The Wells of Sal­va­tion: Songs for the Sab­bath School, with John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1881)
• The Roy­al Foun­tain, with John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1882)
• The Ark of Praise, with John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1882)
• Melodious Son­nets, with John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1885)
• Songs of Joy and Glad­ness, with John Swe­ney et al. (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: Mc­Don­ald, Gill & Com­pa­ny, 1885)
• Precious Hymns: For Times of Re­fresh­ing and Re­viv­al, with Tho­mas Har­ris­on & John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1885)
• On Joy­ful Wing, with John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1886)
• Songs of Re­deem­ing Love No. 2, with C. C. Mc­Cabe, Tull­i­us O’Kane & John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1887)
• Showers of Bless­ing, with John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1888)
• Redemption Songs, with L. W. Mun­hall & John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1889)
• The Joy­ful Sound, with John Swe­ney (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1889)
• Cheerful Songs, with John Swe­ney & Le­an­der Pick­ett (Lou­is­ville, Ken­tucky: Pick­ett Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1891)
• Sunlit Songs, with John Swe­ney & Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1890)
• Songs of Joy and Glad­ness No. 2, with John Swe­ney et al. (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Mc­Don­ald, Gill & Com­pa­ny, 1890)
• Radiant Songs, with John Swe­ney & Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1891)
• Praise in Song, with Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1893)
• Songs of Love and Praise, No. 2, with John Swe­ney & Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1895)
• Songs of Love and Praise, No. 3, with John Swe­ney & Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1896)
• Songs of Sov­er­eign Grace, with Lin­coln Hall & Win­field Weed­en (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack Com­pa­ny, 1897)
• The Young Peo­ple’s Hym­nal, with W. D. Kirk­land & James At­kins (Nash­ville, Ten­nes­see: Pub­lish­ing House of the Meth­od­ist Epis­co­pal Church, South, 1898)
• The Bow of Pro­mise, with George El­der­kin, C. C. Mc­Cabe, John Sweney & F. A. Har­din (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: R. R. Mc­Cabe & Com­pa­ny, 1898)
• Sunday-School Prais­es (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Jen­nings & Pye, 1900)
• Gospel Prais­es, No. 2, with Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack Com­pa­ny, 1900)
• Songs of the Cen­tu­ry, with John Swe­ney & George El­der­kin (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: George D. Eld­er­kin Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1900)
• Hymns of Grace & Glo­ry, with Jo­shua Gill & Hen­ry Gil­mour (Cleve­land, Ohio: Evan­gel­i­cal Pub­lish­ing House, 1901)
• Songs of the Liv­ing Way, with Hen­ry Gil­mour & E. L. Hyde (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Pep­per Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1901)
• Grateful Praise, with Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack Com­pa­ny, 1902)
• Songs of Chris­tian Ser­vice, with Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack Com­pa­ny, 1903)
• Light and Life Songs, with Tho­ro Har­ris & Will­iam Olm­stead (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: S. K. J. Ches­bro, 1904)
• Glorious Praise, with How­ard Doane (Lou­is­ville, Ken­tucky: The Bap­tist Book Con­cern, 1904)
• The Trib­ute of Song, with Hen­ry Gil­mour et al. (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack Com­pa­ny, 1904)
• The Re­deem­er’s Praise, with George El­der­kin (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: George D. El­der­kin Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1906)
• Jubilant Voic­es, with How­ard Doane et al. (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Hope Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1907)
• The King’s Prais­es, with Hen­ry Gil­mour et al. (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: The Praise Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1907)
• The Young Peo­ple’s Hym­nal No. 2, with James At­kins (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1907)
• The Old Sto­ry in Song Num­ber Two, with Hen­ry Gil­mour et al. (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: The Praise Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1908)
• The Gos­pel in Song, with Mil­ton S. Rees & Hen­ry Gil­mour (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: The Praise Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1908)
• Joy and Praise, with James Fill­more (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Fill­more Mu­sic House, cir­ca 1908)
• Songs of Praise and Pow­er, with Hen­ry Gil­mour et al. (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: The Chris­tian Wit­ness Com­pa­ny, 1909)
• Best of All, with Bev­er­ly Car­ra­dine & C. J. Fow­ler (Chris­tian Wit­ness Com­pa­ny, 1910)
• The King’s Prais­es Num­ber 2, Hen­ry Gil­mour et al. (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: The Praise Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1910)
• Spirit of Praise, with Charles Case & Jacob Hall (Day­ton, Vir­gin­ia: The Rue­bush-Kieff­er Com­pa­ny, 1911)
• The King’s Prais­es Num­ber Three, Hen­ry Gil­mour et al. (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: The Praise Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1912)
• Revival Mel­o­dies, 1921
• Waves of Glo­ry No. 2, 1921

• Blanchard, pp. 53-54
• Hall, pp. 155-60
• Hustad, p. 269
• Reynolds, p. 332
• Sanville, pp. 38, 88

1. Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?

1. All over the World
2. Alone with God
3. Anaheim
4. Annetta
5. Are You Com­ing to the Feast?
6. At the Mer­cy Seat
7. Beautiful Hills of Rest
8. Beautiful Robes
9. Beautiful Sab­bath
10. Becontree
11. Bells of Eter­ni­ty, The
12. Beneath His Shel­ter­ing Wings
13. Blackfriars
14. Blessed Be the Name
15. Blessèd Old Sto­ry of Love
16. Blessing in Pray­er, A
17. Braintree
18. Buda
19. Buried with Christ
20. By Grace I Will
21. Calling for You
22. Calvary’s Stream Is Flow­ing
23. City Be­yond, The
24. Close to Thy Cross, O Christ
25. Come, for All Things Are Rea­dy
26. Come, Lord, and Let Thy Pow’r
27. Comforter Has Come, The
28. Cozumel
29. Cradle Song
30. Crispus
31. Darmstadt
32. Dear Je­sus, Canst Thou Help Me?
33. Dear to the Heart of the Shep­herd
34. Deeper Yet
35. Every Word I Be­lieve
36. Famous Ea­gle
37. Farmington
38. Father All Ho­ly
39. Freedom in Je­sus
40. Friesen
41. Gathering Out of Tears
42. Gibraltar
43. Give Me Thy Heart
44. Glory in My Soul
45. Glory to God, Hal­le­lu­jah
46. Go, Stu­dy the Bi­ble
47. God So Loved the World
48. Golden Bells, The
49. Greenwell
50. Hallelujah! Amen!
51. Happy Crown­ing Day, The
52. Hear and An­swer Pray­er
53. He Came to Save Me
54. He Died for Thee
55. He Hid­eth My Soul
56. He Is All in All to Me
57. Healing at the Foun­tain
58. Healing Touch, The
59. He’ll Come and Tar­ry Not
60. His Blood
61. His Grace Abound­eth More
62. Home at Last
63. I Shall Be No Stran­ger There
64. I’ll Bear It, Lord, for Thee
65. In Beth­a­ny
66. In the Book Which Thou Art Keep­ing
67. In the Twink­ling of an Eye
68. Indianapolis
69. Jacksonville
70. Jesus Comes
71. Jesus On­ly
72. Jesus Un­der­stands!
73. Just a Lit­tle Sun­shine
74. Kansas Ci­ty
75. Keep in the Line
76. Keep Me Ev­er Close to Thee
77. Kirkpatrick
78. Lake Mead
79. Landås
80. Lead Me to Cal­va­ry
81. Let the Light Stream In
82. Let Us Sing of His Love
83. Like an Ar­my We Are March­ing
84. Like as a Fa­ther
85. Lilliard
86. Listen to the Bless­èd Invita­tion
87. Lo! the Gold­en Fields Are Smil­ing
88. Lord, I’m Com­ing Home
89. Made Whole
90. Maui
91. Meet in the Morn­ing
92. Meet Me There
93. Mercy Is Bound­less and Free
94. Minnewaska
95. Moline
96. Music and Love
97. My Heart’s Dear Home
98. My Light and Song
99. My Sav­ior Face to Face
100. No King but Christ
101. O to Abide in Je­sus
102. O to Be Like Thee!
103. Oh, for a Heart Whit­er Than Snow
104. On the Cross of Cal­va­ry
105. Only His Love
106. Open Bi­ble for the World, An
107. Orlando
108. Praise Je­ho­vah
109. Praise Ye the Lord
110. Raleigh
111. Redeemed
112. River of Life, The
113. Salva­tion
114. Sands
115. Saved to the Ut­ter­most
116. Saxony
117. Sing, My Soul!
118. Sing un­to God
119. Singing I Go
120. Sometime
121. Speeding On­ward
122. Stepping in the Light
123. Still Out of Christ
124. Take the Life-Boat
125. Tell It Over Again
126. Ten Thou­sand Thanks to Je­sus
127. Thy Ho­ly Spir­it, Lord, Alone
128. ’Tis Burn­ing in My Soul
129. ’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Je­sus
130. Triumphs of Faith, The
131. True Shep­herd, The
132. Turn a New Leaf for Me
133. ’Twill All Be Right at Last
134. Under the Blood
135. Very Friend I Need, The
136. Very Same Je­sus, The
137. Wait, and Mur­mur Not
138. Washed in the Blood of My Re­deem­er
139. Watch and Pray
140. Watchman, Blow the Gos­pel Trum­pet
141. We Have an An­chor
142. We Walk by Faith
143. Welcome for Me
144. What Will It Mat­ter?
145. When Love Shines In
146. When the Bride­groom Comes
147. Wingate
148. Wonderful Re­deem­er
149. You May Have the Joy-Bells