Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/386

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358
IRVINE
IRVINE

Canada in 1860. — John George's son, George, statesman, b. in Quebec, 16 Nov., 1826, was edu- cated in a private school in Quebec, and admitted to the bar of Lower Canada in 1848. He became a queen's counsel in 1867, and represented Megantic in the Canada assembly from 1863 till the union, when he was returned to the Dominion parliament, and continued to represent that county till the gen- eral election of 1872, when he declined re-election. He represented the same constituency in the legis- lative assembly of Quebec from the union till 1875, when he was defeated, but was re-elected in 1878. He was a member of the executive council of Quebec in 1867, was solicitor-general from that date until 1873, and attorney-general in 1873-'5. He has been professor of common law in Morrin college, Quebec, director of the Union bank of Lower Canada, gov- ernment director of the North Shore railway, chan- cellor of Lennoxville university in 1875-'8, and was appointed judge of the vice-admiralty court of Quebec in 1884. — Another son, Matthew Bell, Canadian soldier, b. in Quebec, 7 Jan., 1832. He was educated in Quebec high-school, and joined the commissariat department of the British army in 1848. He served in western Australia, Turkey and the Crimea, the West Indies, Spain, and on the Red river expedition, and for his distinguished services in the Ashantee war was awarded a medal and clasp. He was appointed deputy adjutant commissary-general in 1854, assistant commissary- general in 1865, assistant comptroller in 1870, depu- ty comptroller in 1873, deputy commissary-general in 1875, and was retired with the honorary rank of commissary-general on 1 April, 1881. He became a companion of the orders of St. Michael and St. George in 1870, was made a companion of the bath for the Ashantee campaign in 1874, and elect- ed a member of the Protestant board of school- commissioners of Quebec in 1885. — Another son, Acheson (Josford, Canadian soldier, b. in Quebec in 1837, became major in the Quebec rifles, served in the Red river expeditionary force in 1870, was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1872, and was sub- sequently in command of a provincial battalion of infantry on service in Manitoba. He became as- sistant commissioner of northwest mounted police in 1876, was commissioner in 1880-'6, a member of the executive council of the Northwest territory in 1882-'6, and served during the rebellion of 1885.


IRVINE, William, soldier, b. near Enniskillen, Ireland, 3 Nov., 1741 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 29 July, 1804. He was graduated at Dublin univer- sity, studied medicine, and was surgeon on board a ship-of-war during a part of the war of 1756-'63 between Great Britain and France. A short time before the declaration of peace he resigned his com- mission, emigrated to this country, and in 1764 settled in Carlisle, Pa., where he practised his pro- fession. At the opening of the Revolution he took part with the colonies. He was a member of the Provincial convention, which assembled in Phila- delphia on 15 July, 1774, and recommended a gen- eral congress, until he was appointed by congress, on 10 Jan., 1776, colonel of the 6th regiment of the Pennsylvania line, and ordered to join the army in Canada. He raised the regiment, led it to the mouth of the Sorel, and co-operated with Gen. William Thompson in the attempt to surprise the vanguard of the British army at Three Rivers. He was taken prisoner in that disastrous battle on 16 June, 1776, and released on parole on 3 Aug., but was not exchanged until 6 May, 1778. In July, 1778, he was a member of the court-martial that tried Gen. Charles Lee. In 1778 he commanded the 2dr Pennsylvania regiment, and on 12 May, 1779, was promoted to the rank of brigadier-gen- eral, and assigned to the command of the 2d bri- gade of the Pennsylvania line. His brigade was en- ?aged in Lord Stirling's expedition against Staten sland and in the unsuccessful attack of Gen. Wayne at Bull's Ferry on 21 and 22 July, 1780. He engaged unsuccessfully in recruiting, and at- tempted to raise a corps of cavalry in Pennsylvania. On 8 March, 1782, he was ordered to Fort Pitt, to take command of the troops on the western fron- tier, where he remained till 1 Oct., 1783. In 1785 he was appointed agent for the state to examine the public lands, and had the administration of an act for directing the mode of distributing the do- nation lands that had been promised to the troops of the commonwealth. He suggested the purchase of the tract called the " triangle " in order to give Pennsylvania an outlet on Lake Erie. He became a member of the Continental congress in 1786, and was selected, with Nicholas Gilman and John Kean, one of the commissioners for settling the accounts of the United States with the several states. He was a member of the convention for revising the constitution of Pennsylvania. In 1794 he was sent as a commissioner to the whiskey insurgents, and, when he failed in his efforts to quiet them, was as- signed to the command of the Pennsylvania mili- tia, and took part in the movements resulting in their pacification. He was elected a representative in the 3d congress, and served from 2 Dec, 1793, to 3 March, 1795. He afterward removed to Phila- delphia, and in March, 1801, was appointed super- intendent of military stores there. He was presi- dent of the State society of the Cincinnati at the time of his death. — His brother, Andrew, d. in Carlisle, Pa., 4 May, 1789, was also an officer of the Revolutionary army, holding the rank of captain. He entered the service as lieutenant, marched with his brother in the Canadian expedition, and after- ward served under Wayne, and took part in the movements that preceded the massacre of Paoli, where he was wounded. He continued in active service throughout the war, and fought in the northern campaigns and at the south. — Another brother, Matthew, physician, was a surgeon in Gen. Lee's division. — William's son, Callender, soldier, b. in 1774 ; d. in Philadelphia. Pa., 9 Oct., 1841, was appointed a captain of artillery and en- gineers in the U. S. army on 1 June, 1798, and re- signed on 20 May, 1801. On the death of his father he succeeded him as superintendent of mili- tary stores, and in 1812 became commissary of pur- chases for the U. S. army. — Another son, William N., soldier, b. in Pennsylvania, entered the U. S. army as captain of light artillery on 3 May, 1808, and resigned on 15 Aug., 1811, but after the begin- ning of hostilities with Great Britain joined the army again as colonel of the 42d infantry, on 4 Aug., 1813, and served till his regiment was dis- banded on 15 June, • 1815. — Another son, Arm- strong, b. in Pennsylvania ; d. at Fort Warren, Mass., 15 Jan., 1817, was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1811, and commissioned a lieu- tenant of light artillery. He served during the war with Great Britain on the Niagara frontier in 1812, and on the St. Lawrence the following year, took part in the capture of Fort George in Upper Canada, was commissioned a captain in his brother's regiment on 1 Oct., 1813, and was in the battle of Chrysler's Field on 11 Nov., 1813. On the reduc- tion of the army after the treaty of peace in 1815, he was retained as captain of light artillery, and was aide to Gen. Ripley in 1816.


IRVINE, William, pioneer, b. in Virginia about 1750 ; d. in 1820. He was one of the earli-