Ventura County Republican Project: History and Genealogy

Ventura County Republican Project: History and Genealogy

"A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura, California" (1891), page 314.

John Irwin

John Irwin is one of the business men of Santa Paula. A brief sketch of his life is as follows: Mr. Irwin was born in Cherry Tree, Venango county, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1841. His father, William Irwin, was a native of the same place, and his grandfather was one of the early settlers of that county, and lived to be eighty-seven years old. His great-grandfather, Richard Irwin, was born in County Armagh Ireland, in 1740, and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1761, at the age of twenty-one years. In 1809 John Irwin built the first grist-mill in Cherry Tree, and the first saw-mill in the township was built by Ninian Irwin in 1823. Both John and Ninian Irwin were appointed justice of the peace and held the office for years. Most of this early history was obtained from Judge John Irwin, a judge and prominent citizen of Cherry Tree for many years in the early history of the county of Venango. Mr. Irwin's mother's maiden name was Eliza Stewart. She was a native of the same State, and was a daughter of Elijah Stewart, who was also born in Pennsylvania. When the subject of this sketch was nineteen years old his father died, and upon him devolved the care of the farm and his mother and six children. His early educational advantages were limited, and he is evidently a self-made man. He remained with the family until twenty-eight years of age. When John was quite a small boy his father kept a dairy, and the boys early learned to take charge of the stock. Mr. Irwin says that when he was only eleven years old he both bought and sold cows. he was thus inured to hard work in early life and also learned something of the management of the farm and stock; although he was a slight lad, at twenty-one weighing only 100 pounds. His birth-place was only four miles from the first producing oil well in the oil regions of that State, the Drake, which was opened in 1859. When his farm work was done, Mr. Irwin often worked at the oil wells for wages, and after a time purchased an outfit and took contracts to sink wells. The owner of the well furnished the boiler and engine and wood rig; the other material was furnished by the driller. After working in this way for twelve years, he took an interest in wells and became an oil-well owner. In speaking of productive wells, Mr. Irwin says the most productive well he had anything to do with was the "Old Sherman." It flowed 1,200 barrels per day, and it was estimated that it flowed 1,900,000 barrels, and it was then pumped for twenty years. This well was 600 feet deep.

Mr. Irwin had always taken an interest in stock-raising and in 1883 came to California, prospecting. Mr. Lyman Stewart came at the same time and together they looked the oil region over. After looking the country over they decided that there was a good opening for development. Mr. Stewart telegraphed Mr. W. L. Hardison, and at once they began to make roads to the localities of this work, of which Mr. Irwin was superintendent. Mr. Hardison came out and arrangements were made, and in May, 1883, he went back for machinery and men. Mr. Irwin made the preliminary preparations for the wells at Newhall and then came to Santa Paula Canon and engaged in preparations to drill and develop. When a man goes into new fields in this way, such work is called by oil men wild-cating. Mr. Irwin has done much of this work. He continued at Santa Paula until 1887, when he went to Sespe Canon, eighteen miles east of Santa Paula, where they now have wells, with a pipe line to the refinery. Mr. Irwin is superintendent of field work, having a complete supervision of the whole business of sinking the wells, of their production and of making the roads to them. This is the Sespe Oil Company. Thomas R. Bard is president and W. L. Hardison is general manager.

Mr. Irwin was married in 1868, to Miss Caroline B. Canfield, of Niagara County, New York. They have one son, Ralph, who was born in Cherry Tree, Venango county, Pennsylvania, September 9, 1874.

Mr. Irwin cast his first presidental vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has been a Republican ever since. He is the owner of property in Santa Paula and a nice cottage near the center of the town. Mr. Irwin is a well informed man, and has had a long experience in the oil business. His efforts in that direction in Ventura County have been crowned with success, and are resulting in the growth and upbuilding of Santa Paula.


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Ventura County Republican Project: History and Rootsweb Genealogy posted by Jon Miller and Tony Larson.