The Story of James Irvin & Family in Montana

by Bill Irvin
Farmington Hills, MI

     Although I was 11 when my father died, he did not speak of his childhood.  What I know of my paternal great-grandfather, James Irvin, comes almost exclusively from research.

     A great part of that research was done by John Birkholz for the Great Falls Genealogy Society.  I owe John a great debt for his efforts.

     The bio-facts for the people named here are at the end of this article.

     James Irvin, a native of Scotland, moved to the Great Falls area from Schuylkill County Pennsylvania in or shortly after 1890.  In Pennsylvania he was a coal miner, and later "boss".  He married Ida C. Westervelt and had four children.

     After having made a will in Pennsylvania (crucial to the information I have) James set off to Montana on his own to establish himself on the two farms that he had purchased and to prepare for the arrival of his family.

     He may have some connection to the establishment of the mines in Stockett, according to his obituary.  In Great Falls he established the James Irvin & Company business that dealt in real estate and insurance.

     James died in Great Falls on September 17, 1912.  Ida died in Great Falls on August 26, 1933.  James and Ida were certainly Catholic.  Their son's were baptized in St. Ann's Cathedral in Great Falls, and James and Ida were buried from there.

     Ida and all four children where in Great Falls by 1900.

     James' children were:

     William Francis, my grandfather.  In 1900 he was a laborer on his paternal Aunt Maggie's farm in White Sulphur Springs.  He married in 1902 to Helen Jane Bartleman, who was living in Wapheton, ND at the time.  Helen's father, at the time, was a traveling auditor for the Great Northern Railway.  William's job around that time was a "railway postal clerk".  This may be how they meet.  My grandparents lived in Great Falls until about 1909 and had three sons there.  Joseph William (my father), James Francis and Frederick John.  By 1909 they had a daughter, Ellen Grace, and were living in Butte.  In 1913 Helen took the children to live with her parents to Sandwich (now part of Windsor), Ontario.  I believe this was due to William's abuse of alcohol and Helen's strict Baptist upbringing.  Although Helen predeceased William she listed herself as a widow in the Sandwich city directories, and it seems she did not allow William any visits with the children after the split.  William died in Butte, and was a laborer with the railroad at the time.  He is buried in Great Falls.

     Anne (Annie) Elisabeth Irvin married William Charles Woods in 1899.  They lived in Great Falls for a time, but lived resided in different Montana locations.  Annie died in White Sulpher Springs in 1917.

     Annie and William had at least seven children (from the 1920) census.  The eldest born in 1899, the youngest in 1910.

     Jennie Cecila Irvin married Reazin (aka Robert) Matthews around 1898.  They lived in Great Falls in 1900.  By 1910 they were in the Seattle/Tacoma area of Washington state.

     They had seven children, six of whom are known to be born in Montana.  The eldest born in 1899, the youngest 1910.

     May (born Margaret May Irvin) took over her father's business until she retired.  She remained a lifelong spinster.  Her obituary stated that she was Great Falls’ only woman Real Estate agent.

     Montana also drew James' sister Maggie and Ida's sister Annie.  Maggie Irvin married John Jenkins in 1883 in Schuylkill County Pennsylvania.  He died in 1924 from a 60 foot fall, while driving a horse drawn wagon.  He lived in While Sulphur Springs at the time.  Maggie died in White Sulphur Springs in 1938.  They had a son, William, born in Meagher County in 1888 and died in 1912.  My grandfather, William Francis, is found in the 1900 census as a "farm laborer" on their farm.

     Annie McNamee (nee Westervelt), the wife of Emery McNamee, died in Red Lodge in 1942.  She had been a resident of Red Lodge for the last 12 years of her life.  She was survived by her husband, son Henry McKeone, and three daughters.  Only one daughter was living in Montana at the time of Annie's death.

     So, if would seem that my father had quite a few cousins in or near Great Falls when he was a child. I wonder if they would be playmates.

BIO-FACTS

     James Irvin (b. Scotland, 7-24-1848, d. Great Falls, 7-17-1912, buried Calvary Cemetery (Catholic), Great Falls) married around 1876 in Schuylkill County, PA) Ida C. Westervelt (b. Brooklyn, NY, 4-1-1854, d. Great Falls, 8-26-1933, buried Calvary Cemetery (Catholic), Great Falls)

     William Francis Irvin (b. Shenandoah, PA, 1-7-1875, d. Butte, 10-22-1935, buried Calvary Cemetery (Catholic), Great Falls) married 8-21-1902 in Great Falls Helen Jane Bartleman (b. Leith, Scotland, 8-21-1877, d. Sandwich, ON, 4-9- 1934) Four Children.

     Anne E. Irvin (b. Mahony Plane, PA, 8-10-1878, d. White Sulphur Springs, 4-25-1917) marred 4-21-1899 in Great Falls William Charles Woods (b. Pickering, ON, 4-12-1868, d. Great Falls, 12-29-1947) Seven Children.

     Jennie Cecilia Irvin (b. Schuylkill County, PA, 2-24-1880, d. Seattle, WA 7-24-1958) married about 1898 Reazin Matthews (b. Canada, 7-1877, d. unknown) Seven Children.

     May M. Irvin (b. Schuylkill County, PA, 12-24-1894, d. Great Falls, 4-8-1949, buried Calvary Cemetery (Catholic), Great Falls)

     Maggie Irvin (b. PA, about 1861, d. White Sulphur Springs, 6-2-1938) married unknown John Jenkins (b. Wales, 4-10-1850, d. Brewer, 4-17-1924)

     William Jenkins (b. MT, 4-1888, d. Meagher County, 2-2-1912)

     Annie Westervelt (b. Harlem, NY, 9-14-1857, d. Red Lodge, 4-8-1942) married unknown Emery McNamee (b. unknown, d. after 1942)