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1. James Irving was born ca 1808 in Ireland. His name may originally have been James IRVINE. Around 1829 James Irving married Mary [maiden name unknown]. Mary was born about 1808 in Ireland. They had five children: Sarah Washington, Mary, Catherine W., Isabella, and James D.
2. In the 1830 US Census for Providence, Bristol Co, Rhode Island (where we know, independently, that his daughter Sarah was born) the families of Sarah’s father, James IRVINE and of possible relative Nicholas IRVING (only two houses apart) are both enumerated; the original spelling of many IRVING Families was IRVINE. It is not clear whether there was any relationship between James and Nicholas.
3. In the 1840 US Census the James IRVING family was enumerated in nearby Westport, Bristol Co., Massachusetts.
4. In the 13 Aug 1850 US Census, Fall River, Bristol Co., MA, are listed:
IRVING, James, M 42, profession “unknown,” born in Ireland
IRVING, Mary, F 42, born in Ireland
IRVING, Sarah W., F 19, born in Rhode Island
IRVING, Mary J., F 18, b RI
IRVING, Catherine, F 16, b RI
IRVING, Isabella, F 14, b RI
IRVING, James, M 9, born in Massachusetts
5. In the 31 July 1860 US Census for San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, are listed:
IRVING, James, M 50, Paper Dealer, $3,000 Personal Estate, b. Scotland
IRVING, Susan, F 37, b NY
[and immediately next door are listed:]
TAYLOR, Saml. P., M 32, Paper Dealer, $3,000 Personal Estate, b NY
TAYLOR, Sarah W., F 28, b CT
TAYLOR, James, M 4, b CA
TAYLOR, Saml., M 3, b CA
TAYLOR, Edwin, M 1, b CA
6. [G. Stevens believes that] James Irving’s first wife, Mary IRVING, may have died in MA in the mid-1850s (between her enumeration in the 1850 Census and her absence from the 1860 Census), freeing her husband to marry for a second time. Samuel Penfield TAYLOR returned to Mass from San Francisco in 1854, met James Irving’s daughter Sarah, and on 26 March 1855 married Sarah in Fall River, Bristol County, MA. In 1855, TAYLOR shipped equipment for his California paper mill from New England down to and across the Isthmus of Panama, and on by boat to Bolinas Bay in Marin County, CA. Later in 1855 TAYLOR and his new bride, Sarah Washington IRVING, also returned from Mass, likely reaching CA in late 1855 or early 1856. The demonstrated financial success of his new son in law in the gold fields of California, in the lumber-yards of San Francisco, and at the new paper mill in Marin County, CA, almost certainly induced James IRVING to leave his roots and modest prospects in Fall River MA and to journey to California where he soon worked as a bookkeeper in the San Francisco lumber yard of TAYLOR’s business associate, Henry WETHERBEE. It is not clear whether or not James Irving travelled to California together with Samuel and Sarah TAYLOR in 1855, or came a year or two later in 1856-57; but by 1858 James IRVING had arrived in California and was recorded in the San Francisco Directory as living in a boarding house on Folsom Street, near Beale. With him in San Francisco were two of his daughters (Sarah W. and Catherine W. Irving) and his son, James D. IRVING. The other two daughters (Mary and Isabella) were by this time adult women and may have remained in Fall River, MA. In 1857 Sarah’s sister, Catherine W. IRVING, married Isaac COOK, another lumber yard business partner of Samuel Penfield TAYLOR; it is not clear whether this marriage occurred in Fall River, MA, or in California. By 1859-60 James IRVING’s son, James D. IRVING, was listed in the San Francisco Directory as a Clerk, probably working in the lumber business of his brother-in-law, Issac COOK, and residing in the home of Isaac and sister Catherine Irving COOK on East Second Street, opposite Jesse Street. And it is also probable that in the mid-to-late 1850s James IRVING re-married; in the 1860 US Census for San Francisco, CA, first wife Mary IRVING (born circa 1808 in Ireland) is absent and James (then aged 50 or 52) is listed with a younger wife, Susan IRVING, 37, born in NY ca 1823. In this 1860 Census the elder (father) James & Susan IRVING are living next door to Samuel and Sarah TAYLOR; both men are listed as “Paper Dealers.” However, in the 1862-63 San Francisco Directory, both the father James and the son James D. are listed, side-by-side, as Clerks, both working in the [lumber] establishment of Wetherbee & Cook; the father’s “dwelling” is at 66 Tehama Street and the son “boards” at this same address.
1862-3 Irving, James [Father], clerk, Wetherbee & Cook, dwl 66 Tehama.
1862-3 Irving, James D [Son], clerk, 23 California, boards 66 Tehama.
The elder James Irving is not listed again in the San Francisco Directory after 1862-63, nor is he again listed in the California Census after 1860. While he may have returned to Massachusetts, this is unlikely, as his son and two daughters were very much a part of the exponential economic growth of California and he is unlikely to have left them. [G. Stevens believes that] James Irving may have died in the San Francisco area, circa 1863-64. In the next year (1863-64) following the disappearance of the elder James IRVING from the San Francisco Directory, the son, James D. Irving, has moved from “boarding” with his father at 66 Tehama and is instead boarding at 522 Howard.
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7. [James Irving's daughter] Sarah Washington IRVING was born on 16 July 1830 in Providence, Rhode Island, and was later educated in the private school of George B. Stone in Fall River, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of James IRVING and Mary Emma TRIPP, both of whom were born in Ireland circa 1808 before emigrating to Rhode Island and then Massachusetts. Sarah married Samuel Penfield TAYLOR on 26 March 1855 in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts, and subsequently returned with her husband to San Francisco, CA, where she spent the remainder if her life. Sarah’s sister, Catherine (“Kate”) married SPT’s business partner, Isaac COOK, and also moved to San Francisco, as did James and Mary IRVING, the parents of Sarah and Catherine. In the 1860 US Census for San Francisco, James Irving is a “Paper Dealer” and is living with his wife “Susan” IRVING next door to Sarah Washington Irving and her husband and Samuel Penfield Taylor:
In the 31 July 1860 US Census for San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, are listed:
IRVING, James, M 50, Paper Dealer, $3,000 Personal Estate, b. Scotland
IRVING, Susan, F 37, b NY
TAYLOR, Saml. P., M 32, Paper Dealer, $3,000 Personal Estate, b NY
TAYLOR, Sarah W., F 28, b CT
TAYLOR, James, M 4, b CA
TAYLOR, Saml., M 3, b CA
TAYLOR, Edwin, M 1, b CA
8. Reports among Sarah’s descendants that she was somehow related to the famous American writer, Washington Irving, appear, thus far, to be unfounded; these reports may have arisen due to posthmous speculation about her middle name, Washington, which may have honored the first US President as easily as the famous author. It should be noted here that Sarah’s sister Kate (Catherine W. IRVING) also used he middle initial “W.” In any event Washington Irving’s family history and genealogy are well-documented (it is contained within and is accesible from the index of this software data-base) and, thus far, while a link is always possible--no link has yet been discovered. It was Washington Irving’s father, William IRVINE (1731-1807) who changed the spelling of his name fron IRVINE to IRVING, and who immigrated from the UK (he was born in the Orkney Islands of Scotland) to New York in the early 1760s (possibly in 1763). However, it should also be noted that in the 1830 US Census for Providence, Rhode Island, Sarah’s father is enumerated as James IRVINE; in the 1850 US Census for Fall River, Bristol County, Mass., he is James IRVING, born in Ireland; and in the 1860 US Census for San Francisco, he is James IRVING, born in Scotland. Should any link exist, it is most likely to be among the unknown siblings of Washington Irving’s father, William IRVINE/IRVING of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands in Scotland, or possibly among the siblings of William’s father and grandfatheer, both of whom were named Magnus IRVINE. The first person to have been clearly documented as speculating about this family connection was Mrs. Bertha Stadman Rothwell (granddaughter of Robert Steadman, a Lagunitas carpenter who may have worked for S.P. TAYLOR and may have helped him build his paper mill), who grew up in Taylorville and had a personal memory of some of the Taylors. She researched and wrote a 1958 Biographic Sketch of Samuel Penfield TAYLOR, now held in the Anne T. Kent California Room of the Marin County Free Library in San Rafael, CA. In this 30+ page sketch (on p 6), Mrs. Rothwell flatly states that Sarah Washington Irving “was a direct descendant of William Irving, born 1731 and died 1807, of the family of Irvines of Drum, from Shapinsha, on one of the Orkney Islands, Scotland. William Irving came to New York in 1763, married Sarah Sanders and reared a family of eleven children. His youngest son was Washington Irving, the famous American author.” While Mrs. Rothwell’s recitation of Washington Irving’s descent is largely correct (Wm. married Sarah Sanders in Falmouth, Cornwall, UK, before coming to NY), however, she nevers actually tells the reader how, specifically, Sarah’s Farher, James Irving could possibly be William’s son (direct descendant). None of his eleven children was named James, and none born as late as 1808, and the Irvines of Shapinsha had long lived in the Orkney Islands of Scotland rather than in Ireland. However, it is at least possible that the children or other relatives of William’s father, Magnus IRVINE, might have somehow been born in Ireland, circa 1808, before coming on to Massachusetts, as did Sarah’s father James Irving. Mrs. Rothwell’s speculation may have been abetted by her awareness that Sarah’s brother, James D., stated in the 1880 CA Census that both of his parents had been born, not in Ireland but, in Scotland, by the fact that Sarah’s father, James, in the 1860 CA Census stated that he had been born in Scotland (although in the 1850 MA Census he said he was born in Ireland), by the fact that Sarah on at least one occasion (the 1880 Marin County CA Census) stated that her mother (not her father) was born in Scotland (in all other Census enumerations Sarah stated that both of her parents were born in Ireland). In contrast, Sarah’s sister Kate (Catherine W. Irving, Mrs. Isaac Cook) consistently stated to each US Census enumerator (1880 CA & 1900 CA) that both of her parents were born in Ireland. Sarah also may have been a Presbyterian [Church of Scotland] and with friends helped to conduct a Presbyterian Mission (circa the 1860s) in San Francisco to rescue Chinese slave girls smuggled into California to work as prostitutes.
9. In the 1830 US Census for Providence Rhode Island the families of Sarah’s father, James IRVINE and of Nicholas IRVING (only two houses apart) are both enumerated; the original spelling of many IRVING Families was IRVINE. It is not clear whether there was any relation between James and Nicholas.
10. In the 1840 US Census the James IRVING family was enumerated in Westport, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
11. In the 13 August 1850 US Census for Fall River, Bristol Co., MA, are listed:
IRVING, James, M 42, profession “unknown,” born in Ireland
IRVING, Mary, F 42, born in Ireland
IRVING, Sarah W., F 19, born in Rhode Island
IRVING, Mary J., F 18, b RI
IRVING, Catherine, F 16, b RI
IRVING, Isabella, F 14, b RI
IRVING, James, M 9, born in Massachusetts
12. In the 31 July 1860 US Census for San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, are listed:
IRVING, James, M 50, Paper Dealer, $3,000 Personal Estate, b. Scotland
IRVING, Susan, F 37, b NY
[It is possible that Susan IRVING, 37, b in NY, is the second wife of James IRVING. Mary may have died.]
TAYLOR, Saml. P., M 32, Paper Dealer, $3,000 Personal Estate, b NY
TAYLOR, Sarah W., F 28, b CT [In all other US Censuses Sarah is listed as born in RI].
TAYLOR, James, M 4, b CA
TAYLOR, Saml., M 3, b CA
TAYLOR, Edwin, M 1, b CA
13. Sarah is enumerated with her husband in the 1870 and (twice) in the 1880 US Census (both in San Francisco and again in Marin County), in California. See notes for Samuel Penfield Taylor for the exact Census citations.
14. Bertha Steadman Rothwell, in her 1958 biographic sketch of Samuel Penfield Taylor stressed the fact that Sarah Washington Irving Taylor had been educated, was a teacher before marrying, had lots of bookshelves filled with books in her Taylorville CA home, enjoyed reading good literature, and enjoyed loaning her books to others. While living in San Francisco “in the early days” (perhaps in the 1860s) she learned that “smuggled on board the boats coming in from China were many young Chinese girls who were being shipped to San Francisco for placement in houses of ill-repute in Chinatown. She made it her faithful duty to meet every boat arriving from China and with the co-operation of the ship’s captain she had these girls placed in her care. She and other public-spirited women conducted a Presbyterian [Church of Scotland] Mission where they kept them until they were legitimately married to men of their own choice.”
15. In the San Francisco, California Directories, 1889-90, published by W.H.L. Corran in 1889 and the subsequent directory for 1890-91, published by Painter & Co. in 1890, are listed:
Name: Mrs. S. W. I. Taylor
Location 1: 414-416 Clay [probably the business offices]
Business Name: Taylor S. P. & Co.
Occupation: proprietors Pioneer and San Geronimo Paper Mills and agents South Coast Paper Mills
Year: 1889
City: San Francisco
State: CA
Name: Mrs. S. W. I. Taylor
Location 2: r[esidence]. 1203 Devisadero
Business Name: S. P. Taylor & Co.
Year: 1889 and 1890
City: San Francisco
State: CA
16. In the 5 June 1900 US Census for San Rafael, San Anselmo Precinct, Marin Co., CA, are listed:
TAYLOR, Sarah, Head, WF 69, b July 1830, widow [scratched out is “married 45 yrs,” i.e.
1855], Rhode Island Ireland Ireland
TAYLOR, George, Son, WM 38, b Dec 1861, single, CA RI Ireland
17. After Taylor’s 1886 death his widow, Sarah W. (Irving) Taylor became President of his enterprises and their fourth son, “Pen,” continued to superintend operations at Taylorville. Five other sons ran the paper store, warehouse and junk yard in San Francisco. Business continued at a fairly brisk rate for seven years until the financial panic of 1893. At that time still outstanding loans for the cost of the new mill together with increased operational and business expenditures, the cost of supporting five families, and growing competition from several new paper mills in Oregon led to foreclosure of several mortgages, a shutdown of the mill, and eventual transfer of Taylor’s several properties and assets. Sarah bought and moved to a new home in nearby San Anselmo (Marin County), where she lived with her son George McCullen Taylor; George never married and served as Postmaster there. Many of Sarah’s children and their families also lived near her in San Anselmo, where she remained until her death on 5 April 1907. The new owners of the Taylorville property, however, refused to allow her to be buried next to her husband, and so she was buried in Oakland, CA.
18. Since Sarah was born in Providence on 16 July 1830, and since the family of James IRVINE is enumerated in Providence in the 1830 US Census, it is likely that they arrived from Ireland prior to 1830. It also is not clear whether James met and married Mary [mnu] in Ireland, aboard ship, or after arriving in Rhode Island. The subsequent move to nearby Fall River, Bristol County, MA, occurred after the birth of Isabella (1836) and before the 1840 Census, when the family is listed in Fall River, MA. The fifth and last child, James D. IRVING, is the only one of the five to have been born in MA; the other four were born in RI.
19. You can see that I have little idea of where in Ireland James & Mary IRVINE/IRVING may have come from or how they came to Providence in Bristol County, Rhode Island. Any help you can provide that will help me to discover their roots in Ireland (or in Scotland) will be greatly appreciated.
Yours sincerely, George H. Stevens
Fort Washington, Maryland
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