E. W. KIRKPATRICK: TEXAS HORTICULTURALIST WHO SAVED THE FRENCH WINE INDUSTRY

by Pat Rodgers

The busy downtown streets of McKinney are abounding in wineries and vineyards dot the countryside. Visitors to the local wineries savor the delicate cabernets, merlots, pinot noirs, and chardonnays. Visitors to the vineyards taste and learn the science that goes into planting a vineyard and choosing the best rootstock for the local conditions.

As a wine connoisseur you may not have heard of E. W. Kirkpatrick; however, he is widely considered an outstanding pioneer Texas horticulturalist and nurseryman. Wine historians consider his 19th-century research to be among the biggest influence on the beverage as we know it today. Most visitors to our Dallas-Fort Worth area have never heard his story, and it happened right here in North Texas.

Elbert partnered with another well-known nurseryman in Denison, T. V. Munson. Together they helped save the French wine industry from a vineyard blight in the 1880’s by sending Texas grapevines to fortify the Old-World vineyards. It’s a story that resonates with all of us with enduring ties to Texas.

In the mid-19th century, French wine was an international phenomenon and big business. But in 1865, a root louse called phylloxera began wiping out the country’s vineyards. Desperate for a solution, the French reached out to American botanists, E. W.

Kirkpatrick from McKinney and T.V. Munson from Denison. The two men were known for their pioneering documentation of native grapevines in Texas and the Southwest.

The phylloxera blight had brought European grape growers to their knees. The pest would eventually destroy two-thirds of the continent’s vineyards, including the majority in France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. It was native grape cuttings from the scrubby limestone hills of Texas that turned the tide of the vineyard blight.

Kirkpatrick determined that the wild mustang grapes found growing in Central Texas limey soil were similar to the soil conditions of southern France. He noted that native grapes evolved to tolerate phylloxera.

He sent specific disease-resistant grapevine cuttings to France, where farmers grafted their grapevines to the Texas roots—literally binding the two together—and crossed them with local plants. The tactics stemmed the tide of phylloxera and saved a range of many delicate French grape varieties. Even now, 140 years later, France grows wine grapes rooted on the descendants of Texas native plants.

Elbert Wiley Kirkpatrick was born in 1844 in Tennessee and at age ten, migrated with his family to McKinney area to begin farming. His father died when he was thirteen, leaving Elbert to run his mother’s farm and to care for and support his eight siblings.

In October of 1862 he enlisted with other Collin County boys in the service of the Confederacy and returned to McKinney as a

Lieutenant General of the United Confederate Veterans, an organization which held his life-long interest and participation.

In 1872, and although self-educated, Elbert began a career as a teacher in the first public school in Collin County. He also tried surveying for a couple of years.

After marrying Emily Clive in 1874, he began growing, experimenting, and improving trees and plants of all kinds. Eventually Elbert originated or introduced to Texas twelve varieties of fruits and nuts, including the English blackberry and the Benge back-walnut.

Kirkpatrick worked closely with Luther Burbank, known as the founding father of American Horticulture and whose birthday is celebrated each year as Arbor Day. The Elberta peach variety was developed by Elbert and Mr. Burbank named it in his honor.

Elbert partnered with another nurseryman, C.C. Mayhew, and together created the Texas Nursery Company of Sherman, one of the largest producing nurseries in the country.

During his lifetime Kirkpatrick served and chartered many organizations that support horticulture today. He organized the state and national Nurseryman’s Association, and became a charter member of the Texas Nut Growers Association.

Recently three trees, two magnificent Red Cedars and one giant Deodar Cedar, have been identified through the Texas Historic Tree Coalition in McKinney’s Historic Neighborhood. They were purchased and planted around 1902 by Mr. Kirkpatrick, who ordered them from the nursery of Mr. Luther Burbank in

California. These beautiful trees are living proof of their significance to the history and development of horticulture in the State of Texas.

E. W. Kirkpatrick passed away in 1924 while on a business trip; but his legacy lives on in the trees across McKinney that are living witnesses to the work and life of this great pioneer.

Come visit us at the Collin County History Museum on Friday or Saturday from 11:00 to 5:00. There are many more stories to share!