Bremerton J. Kilpatrick

Bremerton J. Kilpatrick was born March 20th, 1830 (the equinox) in Essex County, Massachusetts to Herbert and Polly Kilpatrick. Herbert, a purveyor of rare books and manuscripts, moved the family to Terminus, Georgia to set up a southern outpost of his firm - Enigmatic Press  . Polly, originally from the north of England, found herself beloved in the society of Terminus and Bremerton quickly became seen as one of up-and-coming young men of the area.
In 1860 Bremerton heard the call of his state and joined the Confederate forces assembling near the state capitol in Milledgeville. With his education as a structural engineer and charisma he quickly rose through the ranks of the Corps of Engineers and found himself as Commandant of the State Railway Authority. His ability to get maximum utilization out of the over-stretched railway network brought him to the attention of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis and within just a few years he was a Major General in charge of all the the CSA railways from Virginia to Texas. It was also during this time that Bremerton's whole personality changed. While encamped north of Dalton, Georgia the group of soldiers with Bremerton were attacked and he was the sole survivor. The "Tunnel Massacre" made all of the southern newspapers demonstrating the evil of the "Yankee Bandits" who had not just killed a dozen brave soldiers but had desecrated their bodies in a 'most horrible manner that cannot be spoken or written of in a Christian Nation...' Bremerton refused to publicly speak of the event for the rest of his life except to say that "great men died horribly in service to their nation".
At the end of the war Bremerton took advantage of the skills and connections he had to begin working as a railway consultant and entrepreneur. He quickly amassed a considerable fortune. Bremerton never married, never developed close attachments, and spent most of his time either building and operating railroads or reading tomes purchased across the world. He amassed a library of considerable size that, until his death, he was the only person permitted to enter and read any of the books.
Bremerton J. Kilpatrick died September 23, 1905. It was noted that after the Tunnel Massacre that Bremerton seemed to have aged 30 years overnight but, until his death, he seemed to not age at all. He bequeathed his entire estate to a trust dedicated to create and operate the Southeastern Institute for Parapsychology Studies. "Ammetio House", his large mansion with attached gardens, became the physical location and his library - still closed to the public - remained inside.

Life

1833 1905 72 years old