Tracing the John Harris Erwin Family from Scotland to Texas
“And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book. Which we have heard known and our Father’s have told us: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born. We should arise and declare them to our children.” --From George (I) Irwin’s Bible
THE NAME IRWIN:
Check: Irwyn, Irwin, Irvine, Irvin, Irving, Erwin, Ervin, Urvine, Eriwin (all spellings were used at one time or another.
The name Irwin, according to Harry E. Irwin, Seneschal of the Clan Irwin, has been spelled several hundred different ways over the years with the “Irwin” spelling being the most dominant. It is believed the name was softened from Irvine to Irwin while the family spent a generation or so in Northern Ireland. In the new world, the “Erwin” spelling was most used in the South, while the “Irwin” spelling dominated in the Northeast and the Middle West. In Scotland, the “Irvine” spelling centered in Aberdeenshire (Drum Castle), while at Bonshaw in Dumfries, the spelling was more commonly “Irving.” Hence: The Irvines of Drum and the Irvings of Bonshaw.
A PAGE FROM ANCIENT HISTORY:
The following history was taken from an article written by Dennis Ervin.
By the mid 500’s, the area that would be Scotland was divided among four major groups, three of whom were related, for they were all Celts. First was the non-Celtic Picts, whose territory was the largest. Another was the Britons who occupied the area south of Hadrian’s Wall as well as the territory between Loch Lomond and Solway Firth, known as Strathclyde. The third was the Angles. They were Germanic from northern Europe, but were originally Celtic. They had settled on the east side between the Forth and the Tyne, having moved north from the Humber and Yorkshire areas of the former Roman Province of Britain.
The fourth group was the Scots, referred to by the Romans as Scoti. They were of Celtic origin and had originally come from Ireland. During England’s period of Roman occupation, the Scots lived in Dalriadic settlements in the northeastern part of Ireland that is now County Antrim. Although small numbers of Scots had been raiding across the North Channel for generations, it was in 498 that three Scots princes of Irish Dalriata, sons of King Erc, led a group of settlers and their families across the Channel. The three brothers, Lorne, Fergus, and Angus, established a government in the rugged mountainous area of Argyll in southwestern Scotland.
The territory that the Scots controlled came to be known as the Dalriadic Kingdom of Scots. Lorne governed the northern part of the kingdom while Angus controlled the Islay peninsula and the Western Isles. Fergus administered the Argyll area, which included the Kintyre Peninsula.
While the three brothers initially governed the kingdom jointly, Fergus would eventually succeed his brothers and rule until his death in 505. It was from Fergus MacErc (son of Erc), who was descended from Cairbre Riadhi, the founder of the Irish Kingdom of Dalriata, that the Scots kings for the next several generations would descend.
The presence of the Scots in Argyll did not go unnoticed by the Picts. The Picts had been in the northern part of the island for a long time and regarded all of the lands above the Forth-Clyde line as their personal property. The Picts were also fierce fighters, and there were many bloody clashes between the two tribes. The Scots, however, gradually took over the fertile Midland Valley. As time passed, the two peoples found that they had common enemies—mainly the Vikings—as well as common problems, and over the next five hundred years or so the two peoples gradually became one.
The Picts were well organized. Their government was based on the clan (kin), a system seen in many early peoples, but one which became very involved and sophisticated under the Picts. They had strict laws of succession, which were different from those of most early groups. Succession was passed not from father to son but through the female side of the family. This meant that a man became chief because his mother was the daughter of an earlier chief and he was succeeded not by his son but by his brother (his mother’s son) or by his nephew (his sister’s son). They reached the peak of their power under Angus, who established ascendancy over the Scots in 740. The matrilineal system of inheritance caused succession problems, however, the kingdom declined.
Constantine MacFergus—a Scottish chieftain who was a descendant of Pictish kings (via the female line)—claimed the Pictish throne and was able to win it. Alpin, king of the Dalriadic Scots, married a Pictish princess, and the affairs of the combined kingdom prospered comparatively peacefully. Their son, Kenneth MacAlpin of Dalriada (c. 800-58), inherited the crown of the Dalriadic Scots as well as that of the Picts. In 843, Kenneth was able to unite the two peoples—Picts and Scots—and form the state that came to be called Scotia.
Shortly thereafter, Kenneth was acknowledged as the king of the two groups, and moved his seat of power out of Dalriada and into the heart of the Pictish territory, and Dalriada ceased to exist. Later, at the Battle of Carham, Scotia gained parts of Northumbria and Cumbria as well. Kenneth I reigned until he died in his palace at Forteviot in 858.
The Vikings had been raiding the islands on the west and north of Britain for centuries, and by the early 800’s, they had gained control of much of Ireland. They repeatedly raided Iona and had virtually wiped out the little monastery established there. As a result, Kenneth, in about 830, moved the remaining monks and their relics from Iona to Dunkeld, which was far inland and secure from the sea-going Vikings. Dunkeld then became the center of Christianity of the new Kingdom of Scotia. Kenneth then placed a member of the Royal Family over the center as Abbot of Dunkeld. The title was hereditary, and was handed down from father to son for many generations. The members of this group of Abbots were the progenitors of our Clan. One of the earliest Abbots was Dungadr (Duncan), Mormaor of Caithness, and the Vikings are said to have called him “the greatest of all the Scottish Chiefs.”
In 875, the Viking forces of Olaf the White, King of Dublin, and his son Tborstein the Red, captured Dumbreton (later to be known as Strathclyde), stronghold of the Bretons in Strathclyde. At that time Eadmund, King of England, and Malcolm I, King of Scots, combined their forces to expel the Vikings. But Groa, daughter of Thorstein the Red, remained as the wife of Dungadr. Thus a Viking ancestry was introduced into the line of Abbots following Durgadr. The next of this line was Duncan, son or grandson of Dungadr, who succeeded as Abbot of Dunkeld. He also held the title of Abthane of Dule and Mormaor of Atholl. He was killed at the Battle of Duncrub c. 965. His son, also called Duncan, succeeded to these titles.
The last Duncan was similarly killed in battle at Luncarty c. 990. He had three sons, Crinan, Grim and Duncan. Crinan succeeded to his father’s titles: Seneschal of King's Rents, Athbane of Dule and Abbot of Dunkeld, and stood second in rank only to the King. As such, he was wed to the eldest daughter of King Malcolm II, who was himself the great-great-great grandson of Kenneth MacAlpin. Crinan also was killed in battle in an attempt to regain the throne of Scotia from MacBeth for his grandson.
The marriage of Crinan Eryvine and Beatrix, daughter of Malcolm II, King of Scotia, brought the lines of the Abbots and the Royal Family together again when their son Duncan I became King.
The battle of Carham in 1016-18 brought the little kingdom of Cumbria under the rule of Malcolm II of Scotia. It has since remained a part of Scotland and is now Galloway. Never a peaceful area, it was a mixture of Picts, Scots, Norse and Danish Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Bretons. Malcolm placed his grandson Duncan, son of Crinan and Beatrix, as King of Cumbria to maintain peace in the area. With the young Duncan (age about 18 years) were his father Crinan, his uncles Grim and Duncan, and his brother Malmare.
Historical details of the period in which Cumbria was settled into the Kingdom of Scotia are scarce. But it is known that Crinan, the Patriarch of our Clan, gave his name to the wide area of land extending from the west coast of Scotland, where the Royal Burgh of Irvine now stands, to the River Esk in the east. “Strathirwin” (river-valley of Irwin) eventually became Stratherarn. Duncan, son of Crinan was made King of Cumbria; Duncan, brother of Crinan, became its Governor; he moved south to the borderlands and in 1018, married an heiress whose inheritance included the lands between the Kirtle and the Esk Rivers, southeast of Lockerbie. They built the Towers of Bonshaw on the banks of the Kirtle and, as the family grew to fill them, many manor houses were added in what became the ancient home of the Irvine clan. Grim, brother of Crinan, became Earl of Strathirwin (a title created in 1114 by Alexander I, King of Scotia). Duncan, King of Cumbria, had two sons, Malcolm and Donaldbane. In 1034, Duncan of Cumbria was crowned King of Scotia as Duncan I. In 1040, he was murdered by MacBeth; five years later, Crinan and his son Malmare were killed in an attempt to regain the throne for Prince Malcolm.
Malcolm II had three daughters but no male heir and failed to produce one before he was assassinated in 1034. The throne, which had been held for two centuries by the descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin, whose father was Eochiad IV, King of Dalriada, and whose mother was Fergusa (Urguia), daughter of Ungust, King of the Picts, was filled now by the grandson of Malcolm and son of Crinan, Duncan Erivine I. During his reign, Duncan met with defeat in his campaign against the Norsemen and led the remnants of his army home again in 1040. But on the way, he was attacked and killed by his first cousin, MacBeth, the Usurper who assumed the throne and ruled for the next seventeen years. Crinan himself was killed by MacBeth’s forces in 1045 while seeking revenge for the murder of his son.
The sons of Duncan I remained in hiding throughout that time until 1057 when Malcolm Erivine raised an army to challenge MacBeth. With the aid of Lord MacDuff, Thane of Fife, he defeated and executed the Usurper that same year. Malcolm defeated MacBeth's stepson, Lulach, two years later, regained his father's throne and became Malcolm III. This succession included David I (The Saint) who created all the offices of the royal court and William 'The Lion of Justice' who created the lion rampant as his battle crest and coat of arms. The line ended with Alexander III when he rode his horse over a cliff in pitch darkness in March of 1286. Alexander III was predeceased by all his heirs and with his death, the succession was thrown into wild dispute. No less than thirteen claimants stepped forward to declare their right to the throne, all through some relation to the line of Irvine. John Balliol, the primary claimant, was great-great-great grandson of David I, while his only serious rival, Robert the Bruce, was great x4. Edward 'Longshanks' of England then imposed his will and chose Balliol from among these rivals to be King of Scotland, so long as he acted in ways that pleased London. When even the compliant and dutiful Balliol could no longer bear to follow the direction of his English benefactor, he was deposed and imprisoned in London. Now only Balliol's nephew, John 'Red' Comyn, stood between Robert the Bruce and the throne. These two agreed to meet at the Church of the Grey Friers in 1306, to resolve their differences. That discussion ended when, in the heat of argument, Robert put a dagger through Comyn's heart.
During his campaign, Robert often sought help and refuge from his kinsmen, the Irvines of Bonshaw. He chose from among them, William de Irwyn as one of his principle aides and companions. As the story goes, at one point King Robert found himself put to flight by his enemies with only his aides around him. Exhausted by the chase, the King was compelled to sleep under a holly tree while William stood guard over him. Holly leaves are a prominent feature in all seven family crests which represent the major branches of the Irvine clan. William stood by King Robert again at Bannockburn in June of 1314, and for his service was awarded the Royal Forest of Oaks in Aberdeenshire and Drum Castle which guards it in 1323. This land had previously belonged to John Comyn and Robert, as king, was free to do with it as he pleased. Drum was made into a free barony in 1329.
Alexander, Third of Drum, marched away to lead the forces of Aberdeenshire with his cousin the Earl of Mar to meet the invaders from the Hebrides. This was the battle of Harlaw in 1411, before which Alexander made his brother Robert swear that should he be killed, Robert should assume his baronial right at Drum. During that battle, Alexander encountered the ferocious Chief of the MacLeans of Duart in Mull, known as Red Hector of the Battles. After 'noble and notable single combat' the two of them lay dead upon the field, killed by mortal blows struck one upon the other. Younger brother Robert took the oath he swore to his dead brother quite seriously, changed his name to Alexander and married his elder brother's fiancée, Elizabeth de Keith. Sometime later, he led the delegation which negotiated the release of James I from the hands of the English for which he was knighted.
Drum Castle was plundered to its stones three times during the Covenanting Rebellion throughout which the royalist Irvine's supported the efforts of Charles I. Alexander, 10th Laird of Drum, his brother Robert Federett and his two sons were imprisoned at the Toll booth in Edinburgh more than once during this time and Alexander was fined 10,000 marks for his loyalty. His younger son, Robert, died there February 4, 1646. The Irvine family remained intensely loyal to the Stuart royalty. The 14th Laird took part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, and Alexander, the 17th Laird, joined Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden in 1745. He managed to escape imprisonment and forfeiture though he was twice charged with treason.
WHY THE IRWINS CAME TO AMERICA:
With all their connections to Scottish royalty and with all their land holdings in Northern Ireland, why did the Irwins of various branches of the family decide to pick up stakes and go to an unsettled, barbaric part of the world called America?
The reasons are many, but the most important stimuli for the steady emigration of Scotsmen from Ulster to America during the early 1700’s seemed to have been: Religious persecution by the Episcopal authorities of a nature most galling and outrageous; one incident being the loss of the rights of citizenship. A system of unjust and unwise “landlordism” which served to discourage thrift and enterprise. Prohibitory discrimination against the tradesmen and manufacturers of Ulster (Northern Ireland) in favor of England. This was especially true in the linen business in which the Irwins were highly involved. The enforced payment of tithes to the Episcopal Church to sustain a theocracy which the Presbyterians believed to be contrary to the laws of God and knew to be destructive of their rights and liberties.
The emigration from Ulster is one of the most striking features of Irish history and one having a most prominent effect on the vital force of the United States of America, which drew so much of the best blood from the Presbyterians of the north of Ireland. There was nothing to induce the active-minded men of the North to remain in Ireland, and they left in crowds, going away with wives and children, many of them to perish on the high seas, never to return again to their native country. Thus was Ulster drained of the young, the enterprising and the most energetic and desirable classes of its population.
These Scots-Irish abandoned the land which had been preserved by England, by the swords of their fathers. These brave souls crossed the sea to escape from the galling tyranny of the bishops whom Mother England had made rulers of the land. The Irwins came to a new and better land and here they founded their homes, built their churches, established their communities, and again set up their religion. Here, in the end, the sons were obliged to draw their swords in order that they might save themselves from England in the land they had taken for their own.
The term “Scotch-Irish” is peculiarly American. The word seems to have come into use since the Revolution, having been taken as a “race name” by many individuals. The first of these immigrants did not use the term at all. They thought of themselves as coming from Ireland and henceforth they were “Irish.” The term “Scotch-Irish” was generally applied to descendants in America of the early Presbyterians who had emigrated from Scotland to Northern Ireland a hundred or so years before.
This story will start with the Irvines of Scotland since that was the spelling of the name for hundreds of years. The “e” was dropped by many Irvines once they reached the colonies of America in the 1700’s. The “v” sound was replaced by the softer “w” sound by many Irvines. The name was never pronounced “Irvine” as in “vine,” but Irvine as in Irwin. This genealogy will trace only the family line of John Harris Erwin from William Irwyn whose son took the name Alexander de Irvine I.
Name: Alexander de Irvine I ï€
Birth: 1260 in Dumfriesshire, Scotland ï€
Death: ABT 1380 ï€
Married: Marotte Bernard ï€
Children: Alexander de Irwyne II William took the name Alexander I although his name was William de Irwin when he was armor bearer for Robert The Bruce, future king of Scotland. William de Irwin was presented the deed to Drum Castle and the surrounding hunting forests in 1321 A.D. The castle near Aberdeen, Scotland, has been in existence since 1286 A.D. and was in Irwin hands until 1975 when it was turned over to the National Trust of Scotland.
Name: Alexander de Irwyne II ï€
Birth: 1317 in Drum Castle, Aberdeenshhire, Scotland ï€
Death: 1390 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland ï€
Married: Lady Montford, daughter of Sir Thomas Montford ï€
Children: 1. Sir Alexander de Irwyn III
2. Robert “Sir Alexander” Irvine IV
Alexander II (last name also seen as Irruwein) appears among the list of barons during the reign of King David II. This Irvine was a member of Parliament held at Perth, Scotland in 1369.
Name: Alexander de Irwyn III ï€
Birth: ABT 1360 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland ï€
Death: June 24,1411, in Scotland ï€
Married: Unknown ï€
Children: Alexander Irvine, born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, died June 24, 1411
Alexander III was killed with his oldest son, Alexander, at the Battle of Harclaw. This battle was a bloody conflict with forces of the Lowland Scots and the Highland clans supporting Donald, Lord of the Isles.
Alexander III was knighted on the morning of the Battle Of Leige in 1408. He returned to Scotland in 1410. On July 24, 1411, he had command of a Lowland Army under his cousin Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. In the Battle of Harclaw, he encounted Eachin Raudh nan Cath MacLean III of Dowart, with whom he fought hand-to-hand until both were killed. Since he and his oldest son were killed in this battle, he was succeeded by his brother, Robert, as Laird of Drum. Alexander is buried at St. Nicholas Church in Aberdeen.
Name: Robert “Sir Alexander” Irvine IV ï€
Birth: ABT 1385 in Drum Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland ï€
Death: ï€
Marriage: Elizabeth De Keith, daughter of Robert Keith ï€
Children: Alexander Irvine V
The marriage between Robert “Sir Alexander” and Elizabeth De Keith was arranged to end a violent feud between the Keith’s and Irvine’s.
Name: Alexander Irvine V ï€
Birth: ABT 1435 in Scotland ï€
Death: 1493 in Scotland ï€ ï‚§ï€
Marriage: 1. Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of Alexander Forbes ï€
Children: 1. Richard Irvine 2. Henry Irvine 3. Agnes Irvine 4. Sir Alexander Irvine VI
Marriage: 2. Unknown Lindsay ï€
Children: 1. Daughter Irvine 2. Margaret Irvine 3. Daughter Irvine 4. Daughter Irvine 5. Daughter Irvine 6. Daughter Irvine 7. Daughter Irvine 8. Janet Irvine
While serving as Sheriff of County Aberdeen in 1471, Sir Alexander attacked the house of Sir Walter Lindsay of Bewfort with a large force of men. For this, by judgment of the Lords of the Council, he was dismissed from the office of sheriff and sent to prison. How much of a sentence was carried out is not certain.
Name: Sir Alexander Irvine VI ï€
Birth: ABT 1455 in Scotland ï€
Death: 1527 in Scotland ï€
Marriage: Janet Keith, daughter of Sir Gilbert Keith, after 1475 ï€
Children: 1. Margaret Irvine 2. Elspeth Irvine 3. Henry Irvine 4. Alexander Irvine VII
The Sixth Laird was sheriff in Aberdeenshire in 1492, the year Columbus sailed to the New World. He received Lonmay and Cairness from his father in 1475 and Drum in 1493, with a charter of Drum from King James IV in February 1506.
Name: Alexander Irvine VII ï€
Birth: AFT 1476 in Scotland ï€
Death: AFT 1552 in Scotland ï€
Marriage: Janet Allardyce, daughter of John Allardyce ï€
Children: 1. Alexander Irvine, born after 1500 in Scotland
Alexander VII was Laird of Drum from 1527 to 1552. He had a charter for the Lands of Forglen from his father dated September 10, 1499. He took an active role in the minority of Queen Mary and had to surrender Drum Castle and all its land to the Crown in 1552. He did obtain a regrant in favor of his grandson February 12, 1553.
Name: Alexander Irvine ï€
Birth: AFT 1500 in Scotland ï€
Death: September 9, 1547 in Scotland ï€
Marriage: Elizabeth Ogilvy, daughter of George Ogilvy and Elspeth Irvine in 1526 ï€
Children: 1. William Irvine 2. Robert Irvine 3. Gilbert Irvine 4. Sir James Irvine 5. John Irvine 6. Janet Irvine 7. Elizabeth Irvine 8. Margaret Irvine 9. Alexander Irvine VIII
Alexander was killed in the Battle of Pinkie in Scotland September 9, 1547. He was known as Alexander Irvine of Forglen. He did not inherit the title; it instead went to his son, Alexander who became the 8th Laird of Drum.
Name: Alexander Irvine VIII ï€
Birth: ABT 1527 in Drum Castle, Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Death: ABT 1603 in Scotland ï€
Marriage: Lady Elizabeth Keith, daughter of William Keith, 1552 in Aberdeen ï€
Children: 1. Robert Irvine, born ABT 1554 in Aberdeen, Scotland 2. Janet Irvine, born 1555 in Aberdeen, Scotland 3. Mary Irvine, born 1556 in Aberdeen, Scotland 4. Margaret Irvine, born ABT 1557 in Aberdeen, Scotland 5. James Irvine, born 1558 in Aberdeen, Scotland 6. Elizabeth Irvine, born ABT 1562 in Aberdeen, Scotland 7. William Irvine, born ABT 1570 in Aberdeen, Scotland 8. Sir Alexander Irvine IX, born AFT 1570 in Drum Castle, Aberdeen, Scotland 9. John “of Artamford” Irvine, born 1575 in Aberdeen, Scotland
Alexander was the Eighth Laird of Drum. He held charter under the Great Seal on 2/12/1553, to all the lands of Drum, Learney and Auchindoch, to himself and his male heirs.
Name: John “of Artamford” Irvine ï€
Birth: 1575 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Death: 1663 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Marriage: Beatrix Irvine, 1597 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Children: 1. John Irvine of Pittmurchie, born ABT 1609 in Aberdeen, Scotland 2. James Irvine I of Artambord, born ABT 1615 in Aberdeen, Scotland 3. Robert Irvine, born ABT 1625 in Aberdeen, Scotland 4. Richard Irvine, born 1626 in Aberdeen, Scotland 5. Alexander Irvine, born ABT 1630 in Aberdeen, Scotland 6. William Irvine, born ABT 1632 in Aberdeen, Scotland 7. Gilbert Irvine of Larachmoir, born ABT 1633 in Aberdeen, Scotland
Note: Information on this branch of the family from Elson Irwin’s files and Scottish Church Records, Aberdeen, Scotland; “From Whence They Came” by J. Erwin Kemsley—copy on hand at Clayton Genealogical Library, Houston, Texas.
Name: James Irvine I of Artamford ï€
Birth: ABT 1615 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Death: 1675 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Marriage: Annas Keith, ABT 1640, probably in Scotland ï€
Children: 1. James Irvine II of Artamford, born 1642 in Aberdeen, Scotland 2. John Irvine, born ABT 1645 in Aberdeen, Scotland 3. Ann Irvine, born ABT 1646 in Aberdeen, Scotland 4. Beatrix Irvine, born ABT 1647 in Aberdeen, Scotland 5. Margaret Irvine, born ABT 1653 in Aberdeen, Scotland
Name: James Irvine II ï€
Birth: 1642 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Death: Unknown ï€
Marriage: Margaret Sutherland, born 1650 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Children: 1. Alexander Irvine, born ABT 1675 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland 2. William Irvine, born AVT 1676 in Aberdeen, Scotland 3. Robert Irvine, born ABT 1677 in Aberdeen, Scotland 4. James Irvine, born ABT 1684 in Aberdeen, Scotland 5. Thomas Irvine, Born September 30, 1685 in Aberdeen, Scotland 6. Richard Irvine, born August 19, 1687 in Aberdeen, Scotland 7. Charles Irvine, born ABT 1693 in Aberdeen, Scotland
8. Francis Irvine, born March 29, 1695 in Aberdeen, Scotland 9. Anna Irvine, born May 27, 1697 in Aberdeen, Scotland 10. Margaret Irvine, born ABT 1702 in Aberdeen, Scotland
​
Name: Alexander Irvine ï€
Birth: ABT 1675 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland ï€
Death: 1744 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland ï€
Marriage: Isabell Thompson, born ABT 1678 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland ï€
Married: August 18, 1698 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Children: 1. Thomas Irvine, born June 1, 1699 in Aberdeen, Scotland 2. Margaret Irvine, born ABT 1701 in Aberdeen, Scotland 3. Isabell Irvine, born ABT 1703 in Aberdeen, Scotland 4. Janet Irvine, born ABT 1705 in Aberdeen, Scotland 5. Ann Irvine, born 1707 in Aberdeen, Scotland 6. James N. “of Crimond” Irvine, Sr. born December 22, 1709 in Aberdeen, Scotland 7. Alexander Irvine, born June 24, 1711 in Aberdeen, Scotland 8. Elizabeth Irvine, born ABT 1715 in Aberdeen, Scotland 9. Mary Irvine, born ABT 1721 in Aberdeen, Scotland
Note: Information on children and marriage of Alexander Irvine come from Elson Irwin’s data; “From Whence They Came” by J. Erwin Kemsley; Scottish Ancestral Records (Edinburgh Historical Society); LDS Ancestral Files.
Name: James N. Erwin, Sr.—the name changed from Irvine when he came to North Carolina ï€
Birth: December 22, 1709 in Aberdeen, Scotland ï€
Death: February 27, 1770 in Second Creek, Salisbury, Rowan Co., NC ï€
Marriage: Agness Patterson, born 1717 in Ulster, Ireland, died 1800 ï€
Married: Bill Timmons’ manuscript says in Scotland; Elson Irwin’s data says marriage was Ulster, North Ireland ï€
Children: 1. Joseph Erwin, born 1738 in Aberdeen, Scotland, died 1793, married Agnes Reed 2. Alexander Erwin, Sr., born 1740, Chester Co., Pennsylvania, married Margaret Patton 3. Elizabeth Erwin, born 1742, Chester Co., Pennsylvania, died 1749, married Samuel Hughey 4. William Erwin, born 1743 in Chester Co., Pennsylvania, died 1815, married Elizabeth Orde 5. James N. Erwin, Jr., born September 1746 in Chester Co., Pennsylvania, died 1794, Sandy Creek, Natchez, Adams Co., MS, married Jennet Andrews 6. Isabella Agnes “Nancy” Erwin, born 1747 in Chester Co., Pennsylvania, married James Patterson 7. Isaac Erwin, born 1750 in Chester Co., Pennsylvania, died 1810, married Margaret Robinson 8. John Erwin, born 1752 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., North Carolina, died 1845, married Jane Brown 9. Jane Erwin, born 1753 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., North Carolina, married Richard Graham 10. Mary Erwin, born 1758 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., North Carolina 11. Isabelle Erwin, born 1759 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., North Carolina, died 1823, married Jared Irwin
It was about 1737, as religious and political tensions continued to mount in Scotland, which would soon fester and explode in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, that Alexander of Artamford and Crimond – who had recently inherited Drum Castle and had become the 16th Laird – sent James N. Irvine, one of his sons, to Ulster in Northern Ireland. James had been in some difficulty as a political activist, and he was directed to stay with the Edward Irvine family until his reputation waned somewhat in Aberdeenshire.
Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, but during his protectorate the economy of Scotland had collapsed. Even though they could now practice Presbyterianism without fear, many thousands of Lowland Scots families, including several Irvine families from around Aberdeen, moved to Ulster. They all tended to maintain their names, customs and religious faith, as well as their Scots identity. Some prospered initially, but the English systematically repressed Irish industry and commerce, and when their hopes and dreams of prosperity failed to materialize they looked to the New World for a new start. Starting about 1729, and for the next fifty years or so, great shiploads of families, Irish as well as Scots-Irish, poured out of Belfast and Londonderry.
It was in this economic atmosphere, while staying with the Edward Irvine family, that James met Agness Patterson, a young Scots-Irish beauty who immediately turned his head. Their relationship blossomed, and when James learned of Agness' father’s intention to emigrate to the Colonies he knew he would have to act quickly. James sent a message to his father, requesting permission to marry Agnes. Alexander immediately returned a dispatch indicating that he opposed the marriage, pointing out that it was his responsibility, as the head of the family, to negotiate the best marriage terms and arrangements. He further demanded that James return to Aberdeen at once.
Despite his father's adamant disapproval, James and Agnes were soon married. They had decided that they would join Agness' family, the Edward Irvine family, and others, and go with them to America. Alexander was furious at his son's defiance, but he nonetheless soon relented and allowed James and his now pregnant wife to return to the Drum family enclave in Aberdeenshire. After the birth of Joseph, their first child, in 1738, the young family traveled back to the home of Agness' parents in Northern Ireland to prepare for their impending departure.
James’ father objected to the marriage, but tradition has it that his anger was compounded when he learned that James planned to abdicate his Drum estate responsibilities and emigrate to the Colonies. James was the sixth of nine children, but was the second of three sons. Normally he would not have been in line to inherit any of the lands and titles of his father, but Thomas, the eldest son, had died at three years of age. Thus, under normal conditions, James would have been the one chosen to take on the responsibilities of the estate at some point. He was not, however, listed as the heir apparent of Drum, and subsequent Drum documents seem to insinuate that he was dead. It is probable that James and his father had a huge falling out as a result of his plans, and that he was disinherited. In that era, in England and Scotland—if the anger of the parent was
severe enough—being disinherited was the same as being declared dead. On the other hand, James was obviously not penniless, for he was able to book passage to Pennsylvania for himself and his family, as well as purchase land when they arrived there. The old Laird may have softened up enough to give James sufficient cash to get started in the New World, but with the admonishment, “Don’t come back!” James’ named his second child Alexander—undoubtedly in honor of his father—so perhaps he was not angry with his father in return. It was probably in late 1739, after sixty to seventy days at sea, that James N. Irvine—with wife Agness and infant son Joseph—arrived in William Penn’s colony with the Pattersons and his Irvine relatives. The trip across the Atlantic in a sailing ship, prior to the clipper-ship era, was a miserable experience. Gottlieb Mittelberger, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1750, described his voyage: “...bad drinking water and putrid salted meat, excessive heat and crowding, lice so thick that they could be scraped off the body, seas so rough that hatches were battened down and everyone vomited in the foul air, passengers dying of dysentery, scurvy, typhus, canker and mouth-rot.” Tradition has it, however, that the Patterson and Irvine families arrived in Philadelphia intact. They had survived the scurvy and various diseases that were so common aboard the ships of the era, perhaps by luck, but more likely because they were probably able to afford better accommodations than the average emigrant.
From the start, most of the people in Penn’s colony made their living by farming, but— unlike the pioneers in New England—they did not settle in small farming villages. As a result of the generally peaceful nature of the local Indians—except on the western frontier—newcomers tended to build their farm homes on their farms. It was the above described scenario that the Pattersons and Irvines found when their ship tied up in Philadelphia. It was a tremendous relief for the weary travelers to finally get their feet on land again. Philadelphia was a bustling city, with longshoremen unloading and loading the tall ships, and merchants hawking their wares in the crisp autumn air. It must have been an exciting scene for them, and a big contrast to the drollness and poverty of the Old World. After the long sea-voyage the Pattersons and the Irvines families were eager to begin settling in. Winter was just around the corner and there was much to do. Although William Penn had died some twenty years before, and the initial cheap land had become somewhat more expensive, the new pioneers were able to purchase tracts of undeveloped land near the growing Scots-Irish settlement in Chester County.
Frances Evans writes in “Erwins and Related Families”: The ancestors of the southern branch of the Erwins followed the trends of others. Nathaniel Irwin of Ulster, Ireland, entered this country through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, migrating down to Chester, a border county of the state. Around 1750, rumors of new land grants in Virginia and the Carolinas began to circulate, and the old wanderlust excited the Irvines and Pattersons. They had read some of Lord Granville’s advertisements, and were aware that many of their Scotch-Irish neighbors were selling out and moving south. Edward Irvine and some of the Pattersons decided to move to Augusta County, Virginia, but James Irvine preferred the raw frontier of the Carolinas. He petitioned Lord Granville for land and received a grant for two parcels along Second Broad Creek near the Yadkin River in North Carolina. Sometime between the birth of Isaac in 1750, and when James was born in Salisbury in the Province of North Carolina in 1752, James Irvine (now spelling his name E-r-w-i-n) moved his family southward on the Great Wagon Road.
James Erwin’s land was near Salisbury, in an area that would be designated Rowan County on March 27, 1753. But it was a long way and a dusty journey from Chester County in William Penn’s colony. On the march, a group of rifle-bearing woodsmen on foot took the lead; behind them came the pack animals led by the older boys; next came the wagons. A small common herd of hogs and cattle, that would form the nucleus of the livestock in their new settlement, brought up the rear. Behind the animals were men on horseback to round up strays, and finally, a rearguard of riflemen, again on foot. Though the youngest children and many of the older women would ride in the ox-drawn wagons, the journey was not a pleasant one for anyone. A few of the travelers—other than those assigned to guard the animals—would have had riding horses, but most of the able-bodied family members would have walked alongside their wagons. An average day’s travel, for this type of combination train, did not exceed ten miles.
When the travelers reached the Yadkin River, they most likely crossed the 300-yard-wide waterway by ferry at Ingles Crossing. On the opposite side of the river, the Great Wagon Road broke up into a series of trails and old Indian paths, but Salisbury was only about twenty miles further on, and the path to it was well-traveled and obvious.
Many colonists, during the years of the French and Indian War, left their homes and retreated to the more pacified areas along the coast. James N. Erwin and his family, however, were products of a determined Scottish heritage, and it did not take them long to become established in the rugged frontier area. They initially built a large fortified log house and two mills along the Yadkin River northeast of where Salisbury would be, and cleared fields for planting. They experienced occasional raids by roving bands of Indians, but these were minor distractions to the well-armed family, and they were soon harvesting crops of corn, wheat and indigo. It is recorded that James purchased several additional tracts of land to add to the ones obtained from Lord Granville.
With so many families passing through Salisbury during that time, inns and taverns were really needed. Travelers wanted suitable lodging for themselves and a place to stable their livestock, and Salisbury innkeepers were quick to fill the need. It is a matter of record that in 1755, James Erwin was issued one of the first licenses to operate an “ordinary,” or public inn. James called his establishment the “Red Raven Inn,” and it was in operation as late as 1772.
As it is with all families, sons and daughters grow up, marry and start their own families. Joseph, the eldest, born at Drum in 1738, traveled with his family from Pennsylvania to Rowan County in 1752, but in 1755, he returned to Chester County, Pennsylvania to marry Agnes Reed, his childhood sweetheart. He brought her back to Rowan County where, it is believed, his father helped him acquire land of his own.
Caroline Cradle includes maps showing where the Erwin lands were located. It appears that these Erwin-Irvine families were related, and all came from the same part of Ireland to Chester County, Pennsylvania, and then moved on to the same part of Rowan County, North Carolina. Rowan County, North Carolina, was formed from parts of Anson County in 1753, and included most of the western part of the present states of North Carolina and Tennessee, covering the valley of the Yadkin and extending to, or even beyond, the Mississippi, according to the Rev. Levin T. Reichel, author of “The Moravians in North Carolina.”
WILL OF JAMES ERWIN, SR., FEBRUARY 27, 1770 – ROWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA:
In the name of God, Amen. February 27, 1770, I, James Erwin of Rowan County in the province of North Carolina Senior, being very sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be given unto God for it: Therefore calling unto mind ye mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my Last will and Testament that is to say principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul unto ye hands of Almighty that gave it and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried in decent Christian burial at ye direction of my executors nothing doubting but at ye General Resurrection, I shall receive ye same again by ye mighty power of God and as touching such worldly estate wherewith has pleased God to bestow me with in this life, I give demise and dispose of ye same in the following manner and form:
First, I give and bequeath to my dearly beloved wife Agness, the one-third of all my moveable effects besides one young sorrel horse. And likewise one bed and furniture and spinning wheel. And she I likewise constitute and ordain, with Andrew Neil of ye county and province aforesaid, to be my sold executrix and executor of this my last will and testament.
And likewise give and bequeath Alexander Erwin, my eldest, two hundred and fifty acres of land including his own improvements with a free patent. And likewise one cow and calf.
And to my son William Erwin, I give and bequeath the sum of five pounds—to be raised and levied out of my estate.
And to my son James, I also give and bequeath ye sum of ten pounds to be raised and levied out of my estate.
And to my son Joseph, I give one tract of land lying between John Lowrance and widow Morrison with a free deed to the said tract.
To Isaac, my son, I give two hundred acres of land lying on second Broad River with a free patent and also twenty pounds in money (symbol) to be raised out of my estate.
And to my son John, I give and bequeath three hundred acres of land which I bought from John Erwin with a free deed for the same, with twenty pounds in money, and it is likewise my will that my wife Agness lives on said place of my son John’s ‘til he come of age if she continue in her widowhood with ye care of my young children.
I likewise give and bequeath to my four younger daughters, Agness, Mary, Isabella, and Jane, five and twenty pounds to each, if the estate admit. Only my just and lawful debts is to be discharged and paid first. And to my daughter Elizabeth, I give ye sum of five pounds to be raised and levied out of my estate.
And also, it is my will that my two mills and negro with ye land whereon ye mills stands three hundred acres more or less with ye rest of my movable effects be sold at publick vendue and ye money to be equally divided among my children. But if the mills come not to their full value, they are to be rented out annually and the rent is to go to the support of my wife and small children while she continues in her widowhood or till John comes of age, and then the mills is to be valued by four men and invested in my son John who is to pay an equal portion to ye rest of ye value of said mills. Likewise the children is not to get their money till the vendue money is collected.
And I do hereby utterly disallow and revoke and disannul all and every other former testaments wills legacies and bequests and execution by me in any ways before named willed and bequeathed ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written.
Signed, sealed, published, pronounced: James Erwin Sr. And declared by the Said James mark Erwin as his last will and testament, Alexander McCorkle In the presence of the subscribers Richard King and Agnes McCorkle
Name: Joseph Erwin ï€
Birth: 1738 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland ï€
Death: AFT June 20, 1793 in Rowan County, North Carolina ï€
Marriage: Agnes Reed, Born ABT 1731 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, died 1803
Married: 1755 in Chester County, Pennsylvania ï€
Children: 1. Isabell Erwin, born 1758, probably in Pennsylvania, married John Johnston 2. Margaret “Peggy” Erwin, born October 1759 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., North Carolina, died 1806, married James Todd 3. Agnes Nancy Erwin, born 1760, married Alexander Dobbin 4. William Erwin, born 1761, died 1815, married Elizabeth Cowan 5. Mary “Polly” Erwin, born August 14, 1764 in Rowan Co., North Carolina 6. Joseph Erwin, Sr.., born February 4, 1769 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., North Carolina, died 1846, married Catherine Nancy Cowan
7. Greasel Erwin, born ABT 1772, married William Hugh Dobbins
Name: Joseph Johnson Erwin, Jr.
Born: 14 Feb 1769 in Salisbury, Rowan Co, NC.
Married: Catherine Nancy Cowan May 1792 in Salisbury, Rowan Co, NC, daughter of Captain Thomas Cowan and Mary Barkley. Catherine was born 14 Oct 1774 in Salisbury, Rowan Co, NC, and died 06 Jul 1839 in Paris, Henry Co, TN. Buried in the Palestine Cemetery. Joseph died at the home of his third son, James P. ERWIN in Oktibbeha Co.(Lowndes) Mississippi, near Mayhew, in 1848.
Married: May 17, 1792 in Rowan Co., N.C. ï€
​
Children: 1. Thomas Barkley Erwin, born September 16, 1792 Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1868, married Agnes “Nancy” McLarty, and Elizabeth S. Owens 2. Joseph Erwin Jr., born February 2, 1794, Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1879, Married Nancy Rebecca Davis 3. James Polk Erwin, born March 7, 1796 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1858, married Susannah Catherine Goff 4. Agnes W. “Nancy” Erwin, born January 25, 1798 in Salisbury Rowan Co., N.C, married Andrew Haynes 5. Elijah G. Erwin, born November 4, 1799 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., NC, died 1826, married Mary Cook 6. John Johnston Erwin, Sr., born September 11, 1801 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1872, married Sarah Maria Allison 7. Squire Cowan Erwin, born February 8, 1803 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1878, married Sarah (Sallie) Goff 8. Catherine L. Erwin, born April 17, 1805 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1839, married ? Wilson 9. Mary B. Erwin, born January 3, 1807 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1859, married ? McCaorkle 10. William Barkley Erwin, born February 6, 1811 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1837, married Eveline Simmons 11. Hezekiah Franklin Erwin, born February 6, 1811 in Salisbury, Rowan Co., N.C., died 1859, married Mary Johnston Winston
12. Margaret Clementine Erwin, born August 1813, probably in Tennessee, died 1838, married ? Callahan 13. Abel Alexander Erwin, born October 18, 1814 in Giles Co., Tennessee, died 1898, married Elizabeth (Eliza) Francis Ashford 14. Michael Lincoln Erwin, born May 21, 1819 in Giles Co., Tennessee, died 1887, married Martha Ashford.
The story continues with:
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