Maj. John Irwin and Mary Pattison

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Husband Maj. John Irwin ^{1 2 3 4}

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           Born:  - Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died: 1808 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 3 5
         Buried: 

       Marriage: 

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Wife Mary Pattison ^{2 3 4 5}

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           Born: 
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Children

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1 F Margaret Irwin ^{2 4 5}

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           Born: 
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         Spouse: [Unk] George (      -      ) 2 4 5

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2 M John Irwin ^{1 2 3 4}

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           Born: 1 Jul 1787 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 1 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 1863 3 5
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Hannah Taylor (      -      ) 3 4 5

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3 M Dr. William F. Irwin ^{2 4 5}

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4 F Eliza Irwin ^{2 4 5}

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         Spouse: Alexander Semple (      -1861) 2 6

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General Notes: Husband - Maj. John Irwin

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He was a native of Ireland, and in 1776, when a young man, he emigrated to America, and enlisted in the colonial forces. He 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. [HAC 1889 II, 343]

He fought throughout the war of the Revolution. He settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after the close of the war, coming principally to take possession of the many acres of land which were given him in part payment for his services to his country. His military order book, which he carried in his breast pocket, bore the marks of several bayonet thrusts and was greatly prized by his descendants. Not an old man in years, but weakened by his many wounds received in battle, he died in Pittsburgh early in the nineteenth century.

Major Irwin, according to a family tradition, was the first from the American army to enter Yorktown after its surrender by Cornwallis.

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General Notes: Wife - Mary Pattison

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After the death of her husband, she was left with four children to raise. She realized that a growing river town would need quantities of rope, so she gathered together the necessary materials and men, built a rope walk and founded the most lucrative and enduring business of rope making in Pittsburgh. She soon admitted to partnership her son John and he proved a most enterprising and valuable assistant. This business continued until about 1876 and made fortunes for her son, John, and his sons, Henry and John Irwin, who continued the business. Acres in Pittsburgh did not then bring in revenue, but Mrs. Irwin's bright and timely idea that the boats then commencing to ply upon the three rivers would absorb the output of the rope manufactory proved to be correct, and was the foundation and main structure of the Irwin fortunes. Patriotic was the work: Commodore Perry's fleet on Lake Erie was rigged with ropes made under Mrs. Irwin's supervision.

1 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 343.

2 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. III (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 410.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. IV (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 296.

4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1578.

5 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 344.

6 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 110.