Summary Information
Irwin Family Papers
1818-1902
Green Bay Mss 96
0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Photocopies of papers of a pioneer Green Bay, Wisconsin family. The papers consist primarily of correspondence, financial records, and clippings. Most of the correspondence is composed of letters between Alexander J. Irwin and his wife, Frances, and letters to Frances from her son, Robert. Alexander's letters give details about his business activities as a fur trader and merchant and his work as a local official, Territorial legislator, and Receiver for the United States Land Office in Green Bay. Frances' letters detail life in Green Bay. Robert's letters, from the 1850s, tell of his life in Chicago and as a homesteader in Minnesota. General financial records of Robert Sr., Robert Jr., Alexander, and Frances Irwin relate primarily to land sales and mortgages. Alexander's records as Receiver for the Bank of Wisconsin relate to clearing of claims against the bank, and his records as Receiver for the United States Land Office consist of all the financial records for the Green Bay land office, 1845-1847. Clippings consist of obituaries of Irwin Family members and relations, information about other early Green Bay families and Wisconsin historic sites, and recollections of Green Bay area pioneers.
There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0096 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Irwin Family originated in Ireland. Robert Irwin Sr. was brought to the United States in 1776 as a six-month-old child. His father fought in the Revolutionary War. After the family had settled in Pennsylvania, Robert Irwin Sr. grew to be a skilled carpenter. He married Catherine Singer. They had seven children, six of whom reached adulthood.
Their oldest son, Robert Jr., came to what is now Green Bay in 1817, soon after the establishment of the Fort Howard garrison. He kept a store and traded with the Indians. Later he served as Justice of the Peace, Clerk of the Circuit Court, and Postmaster. He was the first member elected from the west side of Lake Michigan to the Michigan Territorial Legislature.
The rest of the Irwin Family--Robert Sr., Catherine, and the other five children, came to Green Bay between 1820 and 1823. One of the children, Alexander J. Irwin; his wife, Frances Smith Irwin; and their son, Robert A. Irwin, account for most of the correspondence in the Irwin Family Papers.
Alexander J. Irwin was born in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1799, the second son of Robert Irwin Sr. and Catherine Singer Irwin.
Alexander came to Green Bay in 1823 to join his brother, Robert Irwin Jr., in operating a store. On December 2, 1826, Alexander married Frances Pamelia Smith.
Alexander Irwin served as deputy clerk of the U.S. District Court in Green Bay, beginning in 1823. In 1832 he served as quartermaster for the force sent from Green Bay to pursue Black Hawk and the Sauks. This force consisted of about nine white men and upwards of three hundred Menominee Indians.
Irwin was a member of the House of Representatives for Wisconsin's first Legislative Assembly, which convened at Belmont on October 25, 1836. He replaced Joseph Dickinson in the first Legislative Assembly's second session (1837-1838) as a member of the Legislative Council, and remained as a member of the Council through the first and second sessions (1838-1839) of the Second Legislative Assembly. (The Territorial Legislative Assembly corresponds to our Legislature, with the Legislative Council comparing to our Senate, and the House of Representatives to our Assembly.)
From 1837 through 1843, Irwin sat on the Green Bay City Council. On October 24, 1842, he was appointed Receiver for the Bank of Wisconsin, after the bank's charter had been annulled. As Receiver, Irwin took charge of the bank's property, collected its debts, and paid its creditors the proportions due them.
Irwin served as Green Bay Postmaster from 1843 through 1845, when he became Receiver of the Public Moneys for land sales for the Green Bay area. Because there were no banks in Green Bay, Irwin had to arrange for carrying, or carry himself, money from land sales to banks in Detroit, and later, St. Louis.
On one of the trips to St. Louis, Irwin may have developed the infection which resulted in his death, June 14, 1847.
Frances Pamelia Smith was born in Balston Springs, Saratoga County, New York, November 8, 1809, the fifth child of Reuben Smith and Cynthia Rowe Smith.
In 1826, she accompanied her cousin, Henry Smith, and his new wife, Elvira Foster, to Green Bay, where Henry Smith served in the garrison. On December 2 of that year, she married Alexander J. Irwin.
Between 1828 and 1847, Frances and Alexander had seven children. When Alexander died in 1847, their six surviving children ranged in age from an infant to eighteen-year-old Maria Jane. Their only son, Robert, was thirteen. Frances continued raising her children alone.
Frances Irwin died in Kenosha, Wisconsin, January 11, 1880.
Robert A. Irwin was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, February 15, 1834, son of Alexander J. Irwin and Frances Smith Irwin.
He was educated at an academy for boys in Lockport, New York. After working in Chicago, he went to Belle Plaine, Minnesota, in the spring of 1855.
Irwin proved up a homestead there. He also served, starting in 1856, as Clerk of the Territorial District Court for his County.
In 1856, Robert married Celia A. Chatfield. They had four sons and a daughter. One son became mayor of Belle Plaine.
Robert Irwin died October 17, 1891.
Children of *Robert Irwin Sr. (November 15, 1775-July 19, 1852) and Catherine Singer Irwin (September 5, 1781-April 19, 1843)
|
Child's Name
|
Date of Birth
|
Name of Spouse
|
Date of Death
|
| Robert Irwin Jr. |
December 24, 1797 |
Hannah Reese |
July 9, 1833 |
| Alexander J. Irwin |
March 1, 1799 |
Frances P. Smith |
June 14, 1847 |
| James Irwin |
|
|
Died in infancy |
| **Samuel Irwin |
March 17, 1803 |
|
February 14, 1845 |
| Mary Irwin |
June 29, 1805 |
John Burnham |
|
| Elizabeth Irwin |
September 3, 1807 |
William Dickinson |
February 20, 1891 |
| Jane Irwin |
December 4, 1810 |
**John Suydam |
October 2, 1894 |
| Catherine Irwin |
October 18, 1817 |
Emmons Follett |
October 14, 1894 |
Alexander J. Irwin is a principal correspondent in the collection.
*Robert Irwin Sr. is also a correspondent in the collection.
**Samuel Irwin and **John Suydam are mentioned in the correspondence.
|
Child's Name
|
Date of Birth
|
Name of Spouse
|
Date of Death
|
| Norman Smith |
December 14, 1801 |
|
October 3, 1804 |
| *Horace Smith |
October 24, 1803 |
|
January 8, 1828 |
| *Cynthia Maria Smith |
December 12, 1805 |
**Ezra Cruttenden |
1862 |
| Frances Pamelia Smith I |
October 11, 1807 |
|
August 17, 1808 |
| Francis Pamelia Smith II |
November 8, 1809 |
Alexander J. Irwin |
January 11, 1880 |
| Joseph Warren Smith |
April 13, 1817 |
|
June 24, 1823 |
| *MaryAnn Smith |
February 16, 1822 [1823?] |
|
February 15, 1908 |
Frances Pamelia Smith is a principal correspondent in the collection.
*Reuben Smith, *Cynthia Rowe Smith, *Horace Smith, *Cynthia Maria Smith, and *MaryAnn Smith are also correspondents in the collection.
**Ezra Cruttenden is mentioned in the correspondence.
|
Child's Name
|
Date of Birth
|
Name of Spouse
|
Date of Death
|
| *Maria Jane Irwin |
September 23, 1828 |
Charles Wheelock |
May 6, 1912 |
| **Elizabeth Frances Irwin |
November 9, 1830 |
Joshua Whitney |
March 18, 1909 |
| Robert Alexander Irwin |
February 14, 1834 |
*Celia Chatfield |
October 17, 1891 |
| Cynthia Elvira Irwin |
March 31, 1836 |
Henry Furber |
October 7, 1912 |
| **Harriette Brown Irwin |
February 8, 1839 |
|
1928 |
| **Horace Smith Irwin |
July 18, 1842 (?) |
|
November 18, 1844 (?) |
| **Emilie Virginia Irwin |
1847 |
|
1919 |
Alexander J. Irwin , Frances Pamelia Smith , and Robert Alexander Irwin are principal correspondents in the collection.
*Maria Jane Irwin and *Celia Chatfield are also correspondents in the collection.
**Elizabeth Frances Irwin, **Harriette Brown Irwin, **Horace Smith Irwin, and **Emilie Virginia Irwin are mentioned in the correspondence.
Scope and Content Note
The papers consist of photocopies, primarily of correspondence, financial records, and clippings. They detail the activities, work, and finances of a family on the Wisconsin frontier during Territorial days, and, in the letters from the 1850s, the life of one family member on the Minnesota frontier.
Correspondence in the Irwin Family Papers is arranged chronologically, 1819-1859, with one item for 1864, and another dated circa 1877.
Early letters are to or from Horace Smith, Frances Irwin's brother. A particularly interesting letter, dated February 8, 1826, from a former classmate, P.M. Martin, tells of Martin's travels to Havana and New Orleans.
Frances Irwin's first letter is dated July 19, 1826, and tells of the start of her journey to “Michigan” (Green Bay, Wisconsin) with her cousin, Henry Smith. From that letter until Alexander Irwin's death, a large portion of the correspondence consists of letters between Frances and Alexander Irwin. Alexander's private business and his public offices required him to be away from home often. During these absences, he wrote detailed letters about where he was, what he was doing, and the people he saw, and Frances wrote him detailed letters about what was happening in Green Bay.
The correspondence between Alexander and Frances is interesting, lively, and refreshingly devoid of the lugubrious references to death and the futility of life on earth which pervades most letters of the time. Frances and Alexander emerge as real people, friends as well as husband and wife, facing life with optimistic curiosity and good humor. Only when her two-year-old son, Horace, dies does Frances waver. Even then, she works out her grief by writing to herself about it over a year's time.
Sample excerpts:
Alexander to Frances, from Ft. Winnebago, May 16, 1831:
“Tell Caroline that this is one of the finest places to fall down I ever saw. . . when you fall, you are sure to fall into a swamp.”
Frances to Alexander, spring, 1832:
“Old Marts has been just as you left him, all the time drunk. I am heartily tired of him....”
Alexander to Frances, from Ft. Winnebago, August 2, 1832:
“Report says the Indians [Black Hawk] have crossed the Mississippi. If so, there is but little probability of our falling in with them. If we do, it will be in conjunction with Atkinson's or Dodge's force....”
Alexander to Frances, from Belmont, October 29, 1836:
“Belmont is a handsome place, but in a state of nature as yet. The accommodations are tolerable good....”
Frances to Alexander, November 15, 1836:
“I do think you must have delightful times at Belmont, more particularly sleeping two in a bed, and ten persons wiping on one towel....”
Frances to Alexander, November 21, 1836 (on the school building):
“...there are some things which ought to be attended to. If it was anything I could speak to Samuel about, I would tell him, but that I cannot do. There is one thing that is very necessary (and that will explain what it is)....”
Alexander to Frances, from Madison, November 30, 1838:
“...my roommates are Martin, Childs, and Shackelford. We sleep on the floor, and but one chair for us all. Sometimes we lie down on the bed, sometimes sit on the floor, on the table, and just as it happens....”
There are numerous letters, 1854-1859, from Robert A. Irwin, Frances and Alexander's son, written to Frances from Chicago, and, later, from Belle Plaine, Minnesota. The letters give a good picture of a young man growing up on the frontier.
Other correspondents include Frances' mother, Cynthia Smith, and her sister, C. Maria Cruttenden. The letters do give news from New York, but run much more to the standard type of the day, with long passages devoted to religion, sickness, and death. They serve as an interesting counterpoint to the exchanges between Frances and Alexander.
Other items in the correspondence include letters from Henry Dodge to Alexander (a March 22, 1842, letter consists largely of a thinly-veiled diatribe against Dodge's arch-rival, James Duane Doty); a number of letters and documents from 1845 which chronicle charges brought against Alexander while he was postmaster (these papers, as well as those relating to an earlier attack on Robert Irwin Jr. while he was postmaster, are most interesting for the many details they give about how mail was handled); letters, over several years, regarding Alexander's wish to exercise pre-emption rights to land (Lot 18) which he held jointly with the Episcopal Mission (the Mission had rights to the land as long as they maintained an Indian school there, but their rights came into question when the school closed); and an 1846 letter from Henry Smith giving graphic details of Henry's son shooting himself accidentally and surviving.
Among the early Wisconsin people mentioned in the letters are: Major and Mrs. David Twiggs, the Reverend Richard Cadle, Henry and Elizabeth Baird, Mr. and Mrs. John Kinzie, John Lawe, the Grignon Family, Pierre and Joseph Paquette, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Beall, and the Reverend Daniel E. Brown.
Financial records in the Irwin Family Papers are organized according to the family member generating them.
The small number of records from Robert Irwin Sr., and Robert Irwin Jr., 1818-1823, 1841, relate primarily to land sales. Personal financial records, 1825-1847, of Alexander Irwin also relate primarily to land sales. Within these records are note of transactions when land was purchased or sold jointly by Alexander and Robert Irwin Jr. Also in Alexander's personal records are papers relating to money borrowed, land--and improvements--rented, and taxes paid. A particularly interesting item is a long list (1836) of credit “points” given to Indians for beaver pelts at the Irwins' store.
Papers, 1835-1844, relating to Alexander's controversy with the Episcopal Mission over pre-emption of Lot 18 are filed separately from his other personal financial records.
Alexander's records, 1842-1847, as Receiver for the Bank of Wisconsin consist mainly of lists of property belonging to the bank, lists of claims, copies of receipts for payments made by the Receiver, and Alexander's compiled statements of account.
Alexander's records, 1845 through 1847, as Receiver of the Public Moneys for Land Sales in the Green Bay area contain all the financial records of the Green Bay land office for that period. All the receipts, deposits, and disbursements are recorded--from paying for having wooden boxes built to haul payments which were made in gold and silver, to receipts for the actual purchase of land. Copies of Alexander's reports to the Commissioner of the General Land Office are also included. Alexander employed a consecutive numbering system, either by quarter or half year. This system has been retained. For this reason, initial dates of documents are not always in precisely chronological order.
Frances Irwin's financial records cover the period between Alexander's death and her own, 1847-1880. These papers relate to land sales and mortgages. There is also Frances' personal account book.
Financial records, called “non-Irwin,” relate primarily to land transactions between other early Green Bay area settlers. There is also a map of “Calumet Village,” plotted into lots, and a part of a circular urging people to settle in Brown County.
Irwin Family data include a few handwritten birth and death records, baptismal and marriage certificates, a sketch of a house plan, and copies of Irwin records from the Brown County Register of Probate.
Clippings retained in the Irwin Family Papers were sorted out of a large group of clippings, which had probably been gathered by Alexander's and Frances' two youngest daughters toward the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Most of the clippings relating to individual members of the Irwin Family are obituaries. These obituaries were all annotated, during processing, as to their exact family relationships, and, used in conjunction with the genealogical charts at the beginning of this register, will make the relationships between the correspondents easier to understand.
Clippings regarding other old Green Bay families will give the researcher a clearer picture of the names mentioned in the letters and other records.
Clippings relating to historic sites will also give the researcher a better understanding of place names in the papers.
“Recollections” clippings consist largely of the reminiscences of Elizabeth Therese Baird, which appeared in the Green Bay State Gazette, 1886-1887. (A somewhat condensed version of Mrs. Baird's recollections appear in theWisconsin Historical Collections.) Other reminiscences are by Mrs. Harriet de Nevue and J.G. Knapp.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Persons wishing to make machine or photo copies of more than fifty (50) words from the original letters in the Irwin Family Papers must obtain written permission from John Dery, 7013 Fahey Rd., Oshkosh, WI 54904. The phone number is (920) 841-0326. The restriction to duplication does not pertain to the transcriptions.
Originals loaned for copying by John Dery, Neenah, Wisconsin, February 1, 1984. Accession Number: M84-231
Processed by Janice O'Connell and Grace Hayek, June 1984.
Contents List
|
Green Bay Mss 96
Box
1
Folder
1-5
|
Correspondence, 1819-1859, 1864, circa 1877, undated
|
|
|
Financial Records
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1
|
Robert Irwin Sr., 1818, 1841
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
2
|
Robert Irwin Jr., 1818-1823
|
|
|
Alexander J. Irwin
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
3
|
General, 1825-1847, undated
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
4
|
Lot 18 records
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
5
|
Receiver for the Bank of Wisconsin, 1842-1847
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
6-7
|
Receiver of the Public Moneys, 1845-1847
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
8
|
Francis P. Irwin, 1847-1880
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
9
|
Non-Irwin, 1824-1844, 1902
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
10
|
Irwin Family data
|
|
|
Clippings
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
11
|
Regarding the Alexander J. Irwin Family
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
12
|
Regarding the Robert Irwin Jr. Family
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
13
|
Regarding the Jane Irwin Suydam Family
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
14
|
Regarding the Catherine Irwin Follett Family
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
15
|
Regarding the Smith Family
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
16
|
Regarding Early Green Bay Families
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
17
|
Recollections
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
18
|
Historic Sites
|
|
|
