My Genealogy Hound

JOHN IRWIN (deceased) was born July 1, 1787, in the city of Pittsburgh. His father, Maj. John Irwin, was a native of Ireland, and in 1776, when a young man, he emigrated to America; enlisted in the colonial forces, fought under Gen. Wayne, and was in the Paoli massacre, where he was nearly killed. He was under Maj. Arnold in the expedition to Quebec; participated in Gen. Wayne’s campaign, and was with Gen. Washington at the taking of Yorktown. He was lieutenant and captain, and later was breveted major. Subsequent to the war he lived in Pittsburgh, where he died in 1808. Mr. Irwin was married to Mary Pattison, who became the mother of four children: Mrs. Margaret George, Mrs. Eliza Semple, Dr. W. P. Irwin and John, who was a rope-manufacturer, and made the rigging for Perry’s fleet in the war of 1812. He married Hannah, daughter of Rev. John Taylor, the first rector of Trinity Church, Pittsburgh, and this union was blessed with twelve children. Mr. Irwin died in 1863, aged seventy-six years. He had identified himself with the growth of the city generally, and at one time he owned ten acres of ground near West Park. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church; was first burgess of the borough of Allegheny, and held various offices of trust and responsibility.