Bovina Ex-Pats - the Irvine Brothers

John A. (1867-1918) and Elizabeth Richards Irvine (1866-1940) were the parents of five children, all born in Bovina on the Gerry estate, where Mr. Irvine was the superintendent of the estate.. They had four sons, William, Lester, John Clifton, and Edgar Lloyd and one daughter. The daughter was Isabell Irvine Russell, wife of Cecil Russell and long-time proprietor with her husband and daughter of Russell’s Store.

Clifton and William Irvine

I think these are the three older Irvine brothers: Lester, Clifton and William

Isabell and Lloyd Irvine

The Irvine family lived on the Gerry estate until late 1899 when John Irvine bought the Black family farm on Coulter Brook. The family had the farm for just under 20 years. John Irvine served as Bovina’s town supervisor from 1899-1907. He was the first farmer to bring his milk to the new creamery in Bovina Center in 1902. Tragically, John committed suicide on New Year’s Day, 1918, likely due to depression over health issues.

William Irvine

Three out of John’s four sons ended up moving west, settling in Washington State. William, Clifton and Lloyd (Isabell’s twin) all settled there.

William Irvine, the eldest, was the first to move west. He moved to Seattle in 1909, after graduating from New York State University as a CPA. He worked for the Fisher Trading Company, rising to the position of secretary and assistant to the president of the Fisher Flouring Mills. His obituary noted that he “occupied a commanding position in the world of business. As a personality he was no less a distinguished figure. He was interested in many things and active in many organizations. A man of unusual charm, his friends numbered legion…” In January 1922, he left the United States to travel to Japan and China and the Phillipines in his function as director of ceremonies for the Shriners. 

William became ill in 1925 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He traveled to Rochester, Minnesota twice for surgery. As reported in the Andes Recorder in December 1925, “he was on the operation table three hours and went through a very painful and trying ordeal, only a local anaesthetic being used so that he was conscious during the entire time.” Bill was well enough the following November to travel east with his wife to visit his mother in Bovina. In August 1928, Irvine was back to the Mayo clinic for a second operation. His mother made a trip to Rochester, Minnesota to see him in September. Bill, with his wife and brother Cliff made the trip back to Seattle in October.

Unfortunately, all the effort to save Bill was for naught and he died on May 7, 1929 in Seattle at the age of 41. 

 

John Clifton Irvine, born in Bovina in 1892, grew up in Bovina and when he was 21, traveled to Seattle, Washington with his brother Will. Known as Clifton, he was living in Snoqualmie Falls, Washington during World War One, working for the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company. He was drafted into service and spent time overseas, returning to Washington after the war. When he went back west, his brother Lloyd accompanied him, as did Millard Blair (Helen Thomson’s brother). He married Anne Maloney in 1921. They had one son. Clifton died in March 1978 after a series of strokes at the age of 84.

As noted above, Edgar Lloyd Irvine, Isabell Russell’s twin brother, decided to join his brothers in the west, traveling with Clifton in the summer of 1919. He worked for Fisher Flouring Mills company in Seattle. At the age of 52, Lloyd was married and had four children. He died in January 1980, the last surviving Irvine brother.

Elizabeth Irvine made at least two visits to her sons in Seattle. She made a trip in December 1920, traveling with her sister-in-law, Mrs. W.T. Black. She went again after her son William’s second brain surgery in 1928.

The one brother who stayed east was Lester Irvine. He married Marie Hood in 1913 and they had one daughter, Eleanor (Eleanor married Don Volante and became the first, and to date only, female mayor of Delhi). Lester graduated from Delaware Academy and later graduated from the U.S. College of Veterinary Surgery in Washington, DC. He worked with Dr. Hamilton in Delhi and later took a post graduate course, starting his practice in 1918. His obituary noted that at the time of his death he was the oldest practicing veterinarian in years of service in Delaware County. Lester died in 1961 at the age of 71.

The Death of John A. Irvine as Reported in the Walton Reporter

I've previously reported in my 100 years ago in Bovina blog entry about the death of John Irvine on New Year's Day 1918. John was the father of Isabell Russell. The Walton Reporter has kindly given me permission to present the article of John's death that was published in that paper in January 1918. It is the longest report I have seen on his death, with details I had not seen before.

JOHN A. IRVINE ENDS LIFE

Former Bovina Supervisor Had Been Melancholy - Hanged Himself in Barn.

(Special to the Reporter.)

Residents of Bovina were shocked to learn that John A. Irvine had taken his life by hanging himself on New Year’s Day. He had been melancholy for some days, and on Monday was in Delhi village; while there he complained to friends of having a pain at the base of his brain.

Tuesday afternoon at about four o’clock he went to his safe to get a paper, and while bending over seemed to fall backwards. His relatives thought nothing of the matter, but noticed that he took a paper from the safe and going to the stove threw it into the fire. He then proceeded to the barn; after he had been there about an hour his son-in-law Cecil Russell, thought he would go out and see what Mr. Irvine was doing. Going into the barn he did not find him. Russell surmised something was wrong and went at once to look for a coil of new rope that hung against the wall. He did not find the rope. He then felt that Mr. Irvine had taken it and feared to search, but proceeded to the next floor when a most horrible sight presented itself. There, resting on his knees was the form of the unfortunate man with the rope about his neck partly hanging from a beam above. Russell at once cut the rope and rushed to the house.

Dr. Whitcomb was hastily summoned and arrived in a few minutes. He found that life was extinct. Coroner Woods of Delhi was sent for and after investigating ordered the body removed to the house. It was found that suicide was most strangely arranged. Mr. Irvine had removed about twenty feet of the rope from the coil without cutting the cords that held it together. He then placed a barrel beside the steps that led to the upper lift, and standing about half way up the stairs, threw the rope over the beam. He then placed his arm through the coil of rope and drawing it tightly tied the end around his neck. Then he stepped off the barrel. He had not calculated properly for when the rope became taut his knees rested on the floor. He must have hugged the coil close to his body while he slowly strangled to death. Had he thrown his arm out the coil would have slipped from his arm.

John Irvine was about fifty years of age and highly respected by everyone. He was supervisor for years and was an able representative of his town. Three of his sons, Lloyd, William and Dr. Lester, were home spending the New Year. Another son, Clifton, is in the west. He is also survived by his wife and daughter, Mrs. Russell, who lived with them.

I was particularly interested in the description of his health issue and that it was a pain at the base of his brain. His son William died of a brain tumor in 1929 in Seattle, Washington at the age of 41. His other children all survived into old age. Isabell was the last surviving child of John Irvine, dying in 1985 at the age of 88.