Son of Andrew Irvin [ no "e" ].

A biography of this William's son Robert, published in a Blair County history book, claimed this William's father Andrew had immigrated from North of Ireland in 1790 and settled with his wife in Lancaster County where they supposedly lived out their remaining days. However, other accounts and DNA tracking shows Robert's grandfather Andrew, father of this William, to have been the man murdered at the Huntingdon/Clearfield county line area. That family lived in the Pennsylvania Furnace area at the time, which also is where this William was from.

Most of this William's family spelled the surname IRVIN [ no "e' ] while William and his descent line all spelled it Irvine. Also, while ost accounts refer to the THREE pioneer Irvin brothers William, John and Guyan who loved from Lewistown, Mifflin Co. PA to the border of Centre and Huntington counties, it appears that they were joined by yet another, younger, brother: The same Andrew who was father of this William. Evidently, he immigrated from Northern Ireland in 1797, slightly after his other brothers got to Lewistown in 1784. Andrew wasn't naturalized until 1840, not long before his death, according to county papers.

During Andrew's lifetime, William and his brother Richard both went to work at Lyon-Shorb iron furnace, William eventually as furnace master. Andrew's brothers and their families (sometimes sons in law) also included ironmasters in Centre County (such as Lyon-Patton, reflected in Centre Mansion, parallel to Lyon Mansion of Huntingdon where this William was associated).

William was married, according to some accounts, at Warrior's Mark to Anna E. Coffee, but inherited family Bible pages from this William's son Henry "Lloyd"'s wife, report the couple married in Pittsburgh PA before moving to Duncansville.

After William left furnace work, he ran City Hotel at Tyrone, built just as the railroad was coming. William later retired to farming, instead.

The couple had eleven children: Oliver Mayberry, Henry Lloyd who went by H. Lloyd or just Lloyd, Alfred Coffey, William Porter, John Forsythe, Robert Christy, Adaline (who married IrWIN), Hannah Mary (Owen), Emma Eliza, West Anna and Sarah Margaret who was reported in censuses as Margaret (Higgins). The full names come from inherited family Bible reports.

(Margaret Irvine Higgins' father-in-law was Gen. Jacob Higgins who commanded at the 125th PA in Civil War battle of Antietam. That unit also included two of Margaret's brothers, Henry "Lloyd" and Alfred C. All of them survived that bloodiest battle of the Civil War.)

Two of William and Ann Elizabeth's other sons also served the war, but more indirectly: Mayberry as recruiter of troops, and William as transportation assist.

Sons Mayberry, Henry, Alfred, William P. and John all worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Alfred and William P. were stationmasters in D.C. and Altoona, respectively. H. Lloyd followed his brother Alfred to D.C. sometime in the late 1880s. Alfred had gotten there in the 1870s.

This William's widowed sister, Margaret Irvine McClellan, lived with the family in Blair County for decades and is buried with her brother's family. It is not yet clear which McClellan she had married or where he is buried. Censuses indicate Margaret was separated or widowed very early. Her death notice does not reference him, just survivors.

The extended family are largely buried together at Carson Valley Cemetery of Duncansville. The exceptions: Hannah was buried in nearby Tyrone, Robert C. in nearby Hollidaysburg and Alfred and Henry Lloyd in the Washington, D.C. area.

Two of William's sisters, Isabelle and Jane Irvine (with the "e") lived in Newville, Cumberland County, in 1870 -- the census shows William's son Alfred living with them that year. Their exact burial places are not yet confirmed. There were at least seven other siblings, including a "Mrs. John Cox of Washington, D.C.," listed in Margaret Irvine McClellan's obituary as a still-surviving sister. Her full name and location relative to her two nephews there, too, is not yet known.

The family is profiled in Twentieth Century History of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens, by Jesse C. Sell, pages 559-560, as part of a profile on son Robert.