Irwin, Samuel (1834-1879)

IRWIN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 7/5/2021 at 14:26:42

Samuel Irwin
(June 1834 - August 9, 1879)

History of Warren County, Iowa; Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns & Etc., by Union Historical Company, 1879, p.609

IRWIN, SAMUEL, farmer, Virginia Township, Sec. 32; P. O. New Virginia, where he owns 320 acres of her finest soil; is very comfortably fixed, with house, barn and all the necessaries of a first-class farmer; he was born in June, 1834, in the north of the Emerald Isle; in the year 1842 his father and family came to the United States and settled in Harrison county, State of Ohio; here the boy was developed into manhood; true to the instinct of an aspiring disposition, Samuel conceived the idea that the gold fields of the golden State of California offered better inducements to young and true men than did the clay banks of old Ohio, and his mind was soon made up to peril the hardships of crossing the great desert of the West; in spring of 1853 the start was made, and after leaving the Missouri River they toiled on o'er plain and mountain till five months and twenty days brought them to the place for which they started, the mines of California; two years of incessant toil and economy was sufficient to fill his desire for gold, and in 1855 he returned to this township, where he bought and began the improvement of his present home. Here he toiled on till the breaking out of the late war; in May, 1861, he enlisted in Co. G, Third Iowa Infantry, as a private; he was promoted to Second Sergeant, and to First Sergeant on May 26, 1862, at Cold Water Creek, Mississippi, and again promoted, to First Lieutenant, April 3, 1863, by Gov. Kirkwood, for meritorious conduct before the enemy; on the 12th day of July, 1863, he was taken prisoner at Jackson, Miss., and sent to Libby prison, where he remained nine months; when Grant began his campaign of the Wilderness the rebels got scared and sent their prisoners to Macon, Ga., him with the rest, where he remained for two months, and was then removed to Charleston, S. C., and there again fed corn meal for two months, when they were again moved, to Columbia; from here he, with two comrades, escaped from prison, on the 26th of October, 1864; their flight, however, was soon discovered, and they were hotly pursued and overtaken; one of his comrades was shot in the thigh and his leg broken, and he fell into the hands of the enemy, while the brave Irishman and his other comrade redoubled their energy, and at last eluded the pursuit; on and on they tramped, only by night, for twenty-six days, trusting only in God and the dusky negro as friends and for food, which it seemed really at times as though it was almost as manna from heaven, so intense was their hunger; during the time they were out they traveled 240 miles, and finally, when they were within twelve miles of our lines and forces, they came to what they supposed were friends, but alas! how those brave hearts throbbed and ached when they realized that all their fond hopes of liberty and friends were dashed to the ground as by one fell swoop, and they themselves were again surrounded by the coats of grey, and given orders to countermarch for Ashville, N. C., where, on arrival, they were placed in the jail over night and then put en route for Salisbury, N. C., and, on arrival, placed in the penitentiary for two days, and then sent to Danville, Va., where they remained during the winter, and in the spring sent again to Libby for exchange, and after remaining there two days, were exchanged and sent to Annapolis, Md., where he remained about one week and was then forwarded to the city of Washington for discharge, and was mustered out on March 3, 1865, when he returned to friends and home after suffering all the tortures of the damned at the hands of the rebels for twenty long and weary months. After returning home he began to realize that it was not well for man to be alone, and to look about him for one who should share his fortunes through life; in this he was successful, as in his former undertaking, and on the 28th of September, 1865, he married Miss Isabella Steel, of Winterset, Iowa; from this union they now have six children: Alexander, Mary, William, Anna, Cory and James, all living. During the war he participated in the battles of Shelbino, Mo., Blue Mills Landing, Mo., Shiloh, Tenn., first siege of Corinth, Miss., Metamora and Vicksburg. He has often held offices of trust, conferred by the people of the town and county of his adoption; was Assessor of the town in 1860; since the war was seven years of the Board of Supervisors of the county, and elected to the Legislature in 1874 and 1876, but declined a re-election, as the duties of his farm and private affairs were of more importance to him than the empty honors of the Legislature. Thus have we traced the ups and downs of a man who has scarce reached the meridian of life, and whose life has been full of romance and thrilling incidents, and only hope that in the future, as in the past, he may continue to be of usefulness to the community in which he lives and an honor to the county and State where he may reside. *Since the above was put in type Mr. Irwin has passed away. He died at his home in August, 1879.