In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1914) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
From History of Darke County, Ohio (1914), A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography (1900)
WILLIAM J. IRWIN.
William J. Irwin is engaged in taking and executing contracts for public works and in this capacity has been in control of many extensive and important public interests. He was born in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, February 22, 1859, his parents being Stephen and Bridget (Rooney) Irwin. His father, Stephen Irwin, was born in the county of Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1829, and with his parents crossed the Atlantic to the United
States in 1847. Li 1%5A ne leif this country and went to Canada, where the same year he was united in marriage, in Cobourg, to Bridget Rooney, who was born in county Leitrim, Ireland, in 1835. She emigrated to Canada in 1847, an(i after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Irwin remained in that country until 1861, during which time their two eldest daughters and their son, William J., were born. Their eldest child, born November 22, 1855, was married, and their second daughter was Annie, born May 22, 1857. Their family now numbers eight children, of which l.number three sons and three daughters are yet living. In 1861 the parents removed with their three children to Montgomery county, Ohio, taking up their above in Dayton, where, on the 24th of March, 1861, their son, Felix, was born. The other children are: John, born December 28, 1862; James, born January 2, 1865; Rose Ellen, born May 30, 1867; and Stephen Edward, born August 24, 1870. All are living at the present writing with the exception of John and James. In 1864 Stephen Irwin enlisted in Company K, Thirteenth Regiment of Ohio Cavalry, in which he served until July 4, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. He then returned to his home and soon afterward removed with his family to Dayton, Ohio, where he resided until 1868, when they went to West Baltimore, Ohio, where the father engaged ia farming. In 1874 the mother was called to her final rest, and five years later, in 1879, Stephen Irwin went with the rest, locating in Scott county, Minnesota, where he remained until 1885. He then returned to the Buckeye state and made his home with his son, William J., until 1898, when he went to the National Military Home, in Dayton, Ohio, where he still resides.
William J. Irwin received the ordinary country school educational privileges and assisted his father in the work of the home farm until 1879, when he began taking contracts for putting in drainage ditches upon farms. He did considerable ' work of this character in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa and was frequently awarded such contracts by county commissioners. In 1881 he went to Muscatine county, Iowa, where he engaged in county work. In this work he was very successful and continued there until 1883, when he returned to Ohio and in partnership with A. Gallagher continued to take public contracts for drainage in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In 1888, however, he dissolved rjartnership with Mr. Gallagher and continued in business alone. He also began taking contracts for sewer, street and municipal work, carrying on the business until 1889, when he went into partnership with M. A. Maher, of Greenville, Ohio, a connection that was maintained until 1892. That partnership was then dissolved and Mr. Irwin was once more alone in business until 1893, when on account of the extent of the contracts which he managed he was unable to continue alone and admitted his brother, Stephen Edward, to a partnership in the business. In 1894 the Greenville Construction Company was formed as an incorporated stock company, of which Mr. Irwin was general manager. He does general contracting, making a specialty, however, of street and sewer work. In 1897 he built a system of sewers in Chihuahua, Mexico, being the first system completed in Mexico. In 1898 he entered into partnership with his two brothers, Stephen Edward and Felix, under the name of Irwin Brothers. In 1899 he began the manufacture of building brick, establishing a yard at Greenville, where he manufactured all grades of brick. In connection with his other interests he carries on farming, owning a valuable tract of land, which is pleasantly and conveniently located a mile south of Greenville. In the manufacture of brick he is meeting with excellent success, finding a good market for his products. His various business interests amount to over two hundred thousand dollars annually, for the different firms with which he is connected employ from five hundred to eight hundred men.
In 1885 Mr. Irwin was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Dwyre, a daughter of Martin and Mary Dwyre. She was born and reared in Darke county and her parents were natives of Ireland, but became early settlers of this locality. The mother died March 21, 1896, and the father passed away a year later. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin now have five children: William E., Mary Beatrice, Helen, Catherine and Irene. Their home is a very substantial brick residence at No. 451 East Fourth street, and as the result of his success in business Mr. Irwin is enabled to surround his family with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He is a well informed man, possessing broad general information, and in his nature there is nothing narrow or contracted. He has a spirit that, while devoted to his residence community, is liberal, recognizing and appreciating advancement and progress in any other part of the world. His actions have during his life been such as to distinctively entitle him to a place in this publication, and although his career has not been filled with thrilling incidents, probably no biography published in this book can serve as a better illustration to young men of the power of honesty, integrity and enterprise in securing success.
As printed in A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography (1900). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
WILLIAM JOSEPH IRWIN.
Shrewd, alert, careful in looking after his own interests, William Joseph Irwin, a merchant of Greenville, is still a man of whom no one could speak except in terms of the highest praise. Many of his kind and generous acts are hidden from the public for he is modest in disposition and does not care to emblazon his charities to the world. His business, which is located at Nos. 117 to 121 East Fifth street, is one of the leading ones of its kind in- Darke county, and his connection with it insures fair dealing and prompt service. He was born at Coberg, Ontario, Canada, February 22, 1859, a son of Stephen and Bridget (Rooney) Irwin, and grandson of William Irwin, and Felix and Celia (Mulligan) Rooney. William Irwin was a native of Ireland, who came to Anferica in 1844, being shortly followed by his wife, whose first name was Mary, who came as soon as the husband decided upon a permanent place of residence. They located in the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio, where he engaged in farming, and also worked upon the railroad which was in process of construction at that point There he died at the age of eighty-five years, having lost his wife in middle life. Their children were: Mary, who became a sister at Mount St. Joseph's; Stephen; William; and Bridget. Felix Rooney and his wife died in Canada, having had the following family: William, Daniel, Patrick, Felix, John, Bridget, Rosa, Celia and one unnamed.
Stephen Irwin and wife were born in Inniskillen county, Fermanagh, Ireland, he coming to America when sixteen years old, and grew to manhood at Dayton, where he found employment as a brickmaker. From that city he went to Canada and spent some years in the Dominion, marrying there and remaining until three of his children were born. May, Anna, and William J. Once more he located at Dayton, Ohio, and when the Civil war devastated his adopted land, he was not found backward in its defense, for he served it for one year and ten months, in a cavalry regiment. After the war, he moved to West Baltimore, Ohio, and continued brickmaking throughout Montgomery county. His wife died at this point in 1875, being then thirty-eight years old. In 1879 he went to Silver Lake, Minn., and married a Miss Black. Still later, he went to Iowa with his son, W. J. Irwin, assisting him in contract work, but died in a hospital at Dayton, Ohio, in December, 1906, aged seventy-six years. He and his first wife were Roman Catholics, and in politics he was a Democrat. By his first marriage he had the following children: Mary, who married Carey McNeely, of Greenville, Ohio; Annie, who is the wife of Ed McKee, of Dayton, Ohio; William J., who resides at Greenville, Ohio; Felix, who is a contractor of Greenville, Ohio; John, who was drowned in childhood; James, who is deceased; Rosa, who is deceased; and S. Edward, who was also drowned. By his second marriage Stephen Irwin had one daughter, Louisa.
William J. Irwin lived at Dayton, Ohio, until he was nine years old, at which time removal was made by his parents to West Baltimore, Ohio, and he resided there until he was nineteen years old. He then embarked in a business of his own, taking contracts for farm ditching, tiling and other country work, and planted the first tiling in Muscatine county, Iowa. He also built levees along the Mississippi river, being engaged in some of the most important reclamation work of that day. Returning to Ohio, he settled in Darke county and was engaged in drainage work all over western Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Subsequently he became interested in municipal work and took and executed contracts for the construction of sewers, waterworks and street3 for twenty years, operating all the way from New York to Mexico. In 1908 he retired from that line of work, and returned to Greenville, which he nas considered his home since 1885, and built a large block in which he opened a furniture store. In connection with this, he has a branch store at Bradford, Ohio, doing an immense business and carrying a full and varied stock of all kinds of furniture. Among some of the important contracts held by him in the past may be mentioned the 247 miles of sewerage put in at New Orleans, and the fifty miles put in at San Antonio, Tex. He has built and owned several excellent properties at Greenville, Ohio, including the Palace store, which he erected in 1901, and his own store, erected in 1906, the latter being a three-story brick structure, reinforced with concrete and steel. In 1894 Mr. Irwin built his residence at No. 451 East Fourth street, and since then has built three more residences. His Bradford store occupies a large building, and he carries a heavy stock at that point as well as at Greenville, all of his goods being first class, as he waters to the very best trade. In addition to his furniture store, Mr. Irwin is further interested at Bradford, as he owns the Dewey Hotel there. A man who received but limited educational advantages, he has made his own way in the world and stands today as one of the best examples of self-made manhood Darke county has ever known.
On January 18, 1885, William J. Irwin was united m marriage with Miss Catherine Dwyer, a daughter of Martin and Mary Dwyer, and they have had five children: William Joseph, Mary Beatrice, Helen Celia, Catherine A. and Irene. William J., Jr., is in the employ of his father. He married Annie Mahcr and they have three children, Mary Catherine, Elizabeth Ann, and Jane Frances. The other children of William J. Irwin, Sr., are living with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin are consistent and devout members of the Roman Catholic Church. Fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Columbus and Elks. Politically, he is a Democrat, but has never sought public notice, his time being fully occupied with his extensive operations.
Mrs. Irwin was born in Darke county, Ohio, but comes of Irish stock, as her parents were born in County Tipperary, Ireland. Her mother died in 1896, and her father the following year, they having had the following family: Thomas, Daniel, William, Frank, Emma, and Catherine, the first three of whom are deceased.
Mr. Irwin built the first system, of sewers ever built in the Republic of Mexico, while Don Ahuamada was Governor of the State of Chihauhau.
As printed in History of Darke County, Ohio (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Their biographies name William Irwin: David Lewis Gaskill (b. 1862) William Irwin Swartz (b. 1865)
The printed record stops around 1914. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.