Obit: Irvine, William Stephens (1851 – 1942)
Poster: Crystal Wendt
Email: crystalwendt@aol.com
Surnames: Irvine, Johnson, Crosby, Roscoe, Branst

---Source: The Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.) 26 Nov. 1942

Irvine, William Stephens (18 March 1851 – 19 Nov. 1942)

Funeral services for William Stephens Irvine, 91, a pioneer of Clark County, were held at Owen, Wisconsin, where he had lived in retirement since 1914, on Thursday, Nov. 19.

Mr. Irvine was born in Lona Cora, Md., March 18, 1851. He was the youngest son of John and Katherine (Johnson) Irvine, natives of Scotland. When he was 14 years of age, he started work on the Mississippi River, running rafts down to Muscatine, Iowa. While engaged in this work he continued to attend school during the winter months. At the age of 16 he crossed the plains and went through the Rocky Mountains to Salt Lake City, Utah, seeking for gold, but because of the Indians, the party was forced to turn back. After spending a year in Iowa, he resumed his river work.

In 1870, the young man of 19 came to Clark County to enter the employ of the W. W. Crosby Co,, as a logger and lumberman.

On August 17, 1873, Mr. Irvine was married to Eliza Roscoe, widow of Morris Loomis, the couple settling on her homestead in Beaver Township. Mr. Irvine worked on the farm in the summer and in the woods in the winter. He followed that occupation throughout the life of the lumbering industry, after which he devoted his entire time to farming until 1914, when the Irvine’s retired, and move to Loyal.

For 20 years, Mr. Irvine was a member of the school board in his district and chairman of the town board for about 16 years. In 1901 he was appointed by Judge James O’Neill to a position on the board of re-assessment of taxes in Eau Claire County. He was elected on the republican ticket to the state assembly in 1902 and re-elected to the same office in 1904. Form 1907-1913, and again in 1915 he was sergeant at arms in the same body.

Mr. and Mrs. Irvine were the parents of four children, Bertram, and Casper having preceded their parents in death. Surviving are David of Owen and John J. of Sturgeon Bay. Mrs. Irvine passed away on the sixth day of March, 1935. Mrs. Herman Brandt of this city is a granddaughter of the departed.