William Irving (August 15, 1766 – November 9, 1821) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and the eldest brother of author

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

Early life

Irving was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on August 15, 1766. William was the eldest surviving son of eleven children born to William Irving Sr. (1731–1807), originally of

Quholm Quholm () is a hamlet in the northeast of Shapinsay, in the islands of Orkney, Scotland. William Irving, the father of Washington Irving, noted American author, was born in Quholm. Innsker Beach is situated very close by at the northwest edge o ...

Shapinsay Shapinsay (, sco, Shapinsee) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. Balfour Castle, ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, Scotland, and Sarah (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Sanders) Irving (1738–1817). Among his surviving siblings were four brothers and three sisters, including: author and a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

Peter Irving Peter Irving (October 30, 1771 - June 27, 1838) was an American physician, author, and politician who was the brother of Washington Irving, William Irving and John T. Irving. Early life Irving was born in New York City on October 30, 1771. He ...

, Ebenezer Irving, John Treat Irving, diplomat and author

, Ann Irving (wife of Maj. Gen. Richard Dodge), Catherine Irving, and Sarah Irving.

Career

After completing preparatory studies, Irving Joined his father in the mercantile business. From 1787 to 1791, he was a

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

r with the Indians along the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...

, residing at Johnstown and Caughnawaga. In 1793, he returned to New York City and, along with his brothers Peter and John, joined the Calliopean Society, a literary club for young men. He married, and in 1814 was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the Thirteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Egbert Benson Egbert Benson (June 21, 1746 – August 24, 1833) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician, who represented New York State in the Continental Congress, Annapolis Convention, and United States House of Representatives. He served as a membe ...

. He was reelected to the Fourteenth and

Fifteenth Congress The 15th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washington, ...

es and served from January 22, 1814, to March 3, 1819. Irving, a close friend of

James Kirke Paulding James Kirke Paulding (August 22, 1778 – April 6, 1860) was an American writer and, for a time, the United States Secretary of the Navy. Paulding's early writings were satirical and violently anti-British, as shown in ''The Diverting History of ...

, the

U.S. Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the sec ...

under

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

, supported the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. Irving contributed several essays and poems to ''

Salmagundi Salmagundi (or salmagundy or sallid magundi) is a cold dish or salad made from different ingredients which may include meat, seafood, eggs, cooked vegetables, raw vegetables, fruits or pickles. In English culture, the term does not refer to a s ...

'', written primarily by Washington Irving and James Kirke Paulding.Jones, p. 57.

Personal life

In 1793, Irving was married to Julia Paulding (1768–1823), the daughter of William Paulding Sr. (one of the first members of the Provincial Congress), and sister of his friend

and

William Paulding Jr. William Paulding Jr. (March 7, 1770 – February 11, 1854) was a United States Representative from New York and the 56th and 58th Mayor of New York City. He was the Adjutant General of New York for two non-consecutive terms. Early life Paulding ...

(a U.S. Representative,

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

, and

Adjutant General of New York The Adjutant General of New York is the highest-ranking military official in the New York National Guard as the state adjutant general. The adjutant general is part of the state government's executive branch, and serves as head of the New York ...

). Together, they were the parents of: * Lewis Graham Irving (1795–1879), who married Maria Carleton Hale (1797–1869) in 1823. * Oscar Irving (1800–1865), who married Catharine E. C. Dayton (1800–1842) in 1827. After her death, he married his first cousin Eliza Dodge (1801–1887) in 1844. * Pierre Munro Irving (1802–1876), who married Margaret Ann Berdan (d. 1832) in 1829. After her death, he married his first cousin Helen Dodge (1802–1885), sister of Eliza Dodge, in 1836. * Julia Irving (1803–1872), who married fellow U.S. Representative

Moses Hicks Grinnell Moses Hicks Grinnell (March 3, 1803 – November 24, 1877) was a United States Congressman representing New York, and a Central Park Commissioner, Commissioner of New York City's Central Park. Early life Grinnell was born in New Bedford, Ma ...

(1803–1877). * Henry Ogden Irving (1807–1869), an 1833 Columbia graduate. Irving died in New York City on November 9, 1821.

Descendants

Through his daughter Julia, he was the grandfather of Julia Grinnell Bowdoin (1838–1915), the mother of prominent banker

Temple Bowdoin Temple Bowdoin (July 14, 1863 – December 2, 1914) was an American businessman. While an associate of J.P. Morgan & Company, he was elected a member of the New York Stock Exchange in 1909. Early life and education He was born at Wolfert's Dell ...

, and Fannie Leslie Grinnell (1842–1887), who married society man

Thomas Forbes Cushing Thomas Forbes Cushing (December 19, 1838 – June 6, 1902) was a prominent American member of Boston, New York, and Newport society during the Gilded Age. Early life Cushing was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 19, 1838. He was third so ...

, son of

John Perkins Cushing John Perkins Cushing (April 22, 1787 – April 12, 1862), called "Ku-Shing" by the Chinese, was a wealthy American sea merchant, opium smuggler, and philanthropist. His sixty-foot pilot schooner, the ''Sylph'', won the first recorded American yac ...

Notes

References

* Jones, Brian Jay. ''Washington Irving: An American Original''. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, William 1766 births 1821 deaths Politicians from New York City Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Washington Irving