Alexander Johnson Irwin (March 1, 1799June 14, 1847) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

merchant and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

pioneer. He represented Brown County in the Legislative Assembly of the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

during the 1st and

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

legislative assemblies.

Early life

Born in

Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city lies within the Laurel Highlands and the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau. The city is ...

, on March 1, 1799, Irwin moved with his family to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan Territory, and then to Green Bay in 1823. Irwin and his brother Robert Irwin Jr. were in the mercantile business in Green Bay. In 1827 he married Frances Pamelia Smith, with whom he had seven children.

Legislative career

In the first election after the creation of the

, in the Fall of 1836, Irwin was elected to the Territory's House of Representatives. However, his opponent in the election, George McWilliams, challenged the results of the election. Irwin was allowed to occupy the seat while a committee investigated the election challenge. Ultimately, the committee found in favor of Irwin on questions of the vote count, but highlighted the issue that at the time of the election, Irwin was also serving as postmaster. In the federal act which established the Wisconsin Territory, it was prohibited for an existing officeholder to be elected to the Legislative Assembly. Therefore, the House voted in favor of McWilliams. This same issue arose in Irwin's next election, in the Fall of 1837, when he was a candidate for the council. In that election, Irwin's opponent, Joseph Dickinson, was declared the winner and took the seat. Irwin challenged the result, pointing out that Dickinson—like Irwin in 1836—was an incumbent postmaster when elected to the council. The Council agreed with Irwin's position, and voted to remove Dickinson and install Irwin.

Land office

In 1845, he was appointed receiver of the Green Bay Land Office. The position required trips on horseback to Saint Louis, Missouri, to deposit funds because there were no banks in Green Bay at the time. His extensive travel duties led to an infection in his arm, which resulted in his death. Irwin died in Green Bay in 1847 while still in office. Elisha Morrow was appointed receiver to fill the vacancy left by Irwin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Alexander J. 1799 births 1847 deaths People from Greensburg, Pennsylvania Politicians from Detroit Politicians from Green Bay, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century Wisconsin politicians