• General Notes

  Burial: White Stone Cemetery, Church Hill, Pennsylvania
  
  Note:
  3/22/2001: From William Parkin's webpage: "He sailed from Londonderry,Ireland on the ship "George and Ann" on 9 May 1729 arriving at either Wilmington, DE or Philadelphia, PA with a number of his brothers. He was a farmer and a blacksmith, received numerous land warrants, owned 6 tracts of land at his death, & his home was named Irwinton Mills & located about 4 miles south of Mercersburg, PA. He was a member of the
  Concocheague Presbyterian Church (obviously the one referred to numerous times above). James and his wife were the great, great grandparents of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the USA."
  
  "James IRWIN b ca 1700 in Glencoe, Ireland, one of 10 children of Robert and Margaret (Wylie) Irvine. Sailed from Londonderry, Ireland on Ship "George and Ann" on 9 May 1729. He settled in Peters Township near
  Mercersburg. Married Jean __ (some say she was Jean McDowell, a cousin).
  
  By 1748 James had 540 acres in Cumberland County. James listed himself as a blacksmith. His Will was written in 1776 and he died 1778."
  
  NOTE: The record of the James Irwin (Irvine) family of Cumberland Valley in Pa. is listed with Paull-Irwin family at Virginia State Library in Richmond, Virginia.
  
  NOTICE:
  
  Will of James Irwin In the name of God Amen. I James Irwin of Peters Township in the County of Cumberland and Province of Pennyslvania blacksmith being very weak in body but of sound and disposeable mind and memory thanks be to God for the same. Calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all once to die do this twenty sixth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy six make and ordain this my last will & Testament that is to say principally and first I give and recommend my Soul into the hands of God who gave it and my Body to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named, and as touching such wordly Estate as it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life I will Devise and Dispose of them in manner following:
  
  Namely First I allow all my just debts and funeral Expenses to be paid out of my personal Estate Iem I will and devise unto my sons Joseph Irwin and James their heirs and assigns the plantation I now dwell to be equally divided as to quantity and as it may best suit the Improvements allowing Joseph the side whereon he now lives and James the other half including my old improvements the said James paying unto my beloved wife Jean Ten pounds Yearly together with her maintenance and the full use of the house I now live in during her natural life, also I give and devise unto my son James my waggon and Team still and still vessals Likewise I give and Devise unto my beloved wife Jean the third of all the remainder of all my personal Estate Exclusive of her mare and saddle bed and furniture likewise I give devis and bequeath unto my son Archibald Irwin his heirs and assigns all my right Title and Interest in or to the plantation I purchased from Andrew Simpson adjoining the tract I now dwell on.
  
  Also I will that the plantation whereon my son in law Aaron Tarrens & daughter Elizabeth now lives on be sold at the discretion of my Executors the one third of the Value thereof be Given to my daughter Elizabeth her heirs or assigns and the remainder to be Equally Divided amongst the children of ther the said Elizabeth Born to William McConnel Decd. also I will and devise unto my two Grand Children Phineas Porter and Jean Porter their heirs and assigns a tract of land in Fannet Township for which I obtained an order of Survey Likewise Iallow my plantation in Air Township (called the Cove Settlement) for which Iobtained an order of survey for in the name of Joseph Irwin, to be sold and Divided amongst the rest of my children in manner following Viz. Unto my son John Irwin his heirs & assigns the sum of Ten pounds Pennsylvania Currency and unto my daughter Jean Boggs the sum of twenty pounds and to my daughter Lidia Porter Ten pounds & to my son Joseph and my daughter Martha Pawl five shillings Sterling Each Likewise I will and devise unto my son Archibald Irwin his Heirs or Assigns a Tract of Land in Awhick (sic) which I bought of Mr. Croghan & for which I obtained and Order of Survey out of the land Office he paying to my son in law & Daughter Thomas & Margaret Patton their heirs or assigns the sum of Twenty pounds Currency out of said Plantation when recovered and it is also my will that what remains of the Price of the plantation in the Cove and my personal Estate after all Just Debts and Legacys above mentioned be discharged shall be to the use and behoof of my son James afsd. his heirs and assigns and lastly I do hereby ordain and appoint my son James together with my son in law William Nesbit to be Executors to this my Last will and Testament to see that the same be executed according to the true Intent and meaning thereof. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & Seal the year & Day above written the words Thomas & Margaret Patton Interlined before signing.
  
  James Irwin
  Signed Sealed and Acknowledged by said James Irwin as his Last Will and Testament in presence of J. Mazwell Wm. Lowery Robt. Vance
                                                    ___________________________
  Also, from Elson Irwin's Index (another researcher): NOTES ON JAMES IRWIN FAMILY
  Family tradition says that the Irwin family is descended from the John  Irwin who received a manor in Ireland in Cromwell's time. They came to Pennslyvania about 1727-9, supposedly landing in Wilmington, Delaware. The family came to the West Conococheague settlement in Peters Township then in Cumberland County, Pa., and now in Franklin county. Their land was about four miles south of Mercerburg.
  
  James Irwin and his sons had numerous land warrants in this area. At the time of his death James Irwin, he owned six different tracts of land near the Conodoguinet Creek. His home became known as Irwinton Mills. He was a farmer and a blacksmith.
  
  The family were devout Presbyterians and belonged to the West Conococheague congregation which in 1738 built its first log church building at a place called Church Hill. This building, enlarged twice, served the congregation until 1820 when a stone building was erected. In 1855 the congregation abandoned this structure and from then on worshipped in Mercersburg. The Irwins are buried at the site of the
  original church at Church Hill.
  
  Like many others James Irwin was a distiller which did not seem to interfere with his or his family's devotion to Presbyterianism.
  
  He brought up a large family of sons and daughters who were influential citizens, loyal to both country and church. One son, Archibald, served in the French and Indian Wars and the Revolution, and was commissioned an ensign in April 1756.
  
  A fine stone house, a gristmill, and a sawmill were built by James Irwin and added to greatly after his death by his son, Archibald. The house, unusual for its day, continues to merit admiration.James Irwin died about April in 1778 and was buried in Church Hill. His wife died in 1781.
  
  James Irwin and his wife were great great grandparents to BENJAMIN HARRISON, twenty third President of the United States. There were ten children mentioned in the will of James Irwin, which was probated 21 April 1778 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
  
  (SOURCES - General: Cumberland County,Pennsylvania: Tax lists, deed
  records & will records.
  (SOURCES: Published: Keith, Charles P. "The Ancestry of Benjamin
  Harrison" Philadelphia, 1893.
  (SOURCE: Paull, Elizabeth Maxwell "Paull-Irwin, a Family Sketch" 1915.
  (SOURCE/QUERY: Mary Ann Million -- mam@@itexas.net - Nov. 02, 1997)
  (SOURCE: ?The Kittochtinny Historical Society, Papers Read Before the
  Society October 1950 to May 1957. Vol XII Excerpts from pages 35-46.)
  
  More Information: Dave's Bohemian, Canadian, and Southern Kin
  http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=david_hughey&id=I177842

Details of James 's family with  Jean  McDOWELL