Kings County Biographies

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

ROWEN IRWIN
 
was born in Putnam County, Indiana, in 1858.  His father, Isaac A. Irwin, a 
Baptist minister, moved to Johnson County, Nebraska, in 1868, and there followed 
an agricultural life.  Rowen obtained his education in the common schools of 
Nebraska, and at the age of twelve years evinced a taste for the law.  To him 
the court room was so attractive that he would frequently steal in and give up 
his meals in order to remain and listen to a legal argument.  At the age of 
fourteen he began reading law, and at eighteen entered the law office of Irwin & 
Selby, Tecumseh, Nebraska.  After remaining there about two years the close 
confinement began to tell on his constitution, and for the benefit of his health 
he came West, locating in Josephine County, Oregon, where he mined and taught 
school about one year.
            In 1879 Mr. Irwin came to California and located at Hanford.  Here 
he continued the study of law until 1882, when he was admitted to the bar.  
Since that time he has been located at Hanford, but his business has by no means 
been confined to the county in which he resides.  He is a devotee of his 
profession and engages in no side issues.  Beginning with general law, his 
business is leading into a criminal practice, in which his successes are proof 
of his marked ability.
            Mr. Irwin was married in Hanford, in 1884, to Miss Mary B. Deardorf, 
a native of California, and their union has been blessed with two children � 
Florence and Edgar Brutus.
 
Memorial and Biographical History of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, 
California
Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892  p. 521-522