William Irving (August 15, 1766 – November 9, 1821) was an American politician who served three terms as a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

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

from 1814 to 1819. He was 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 wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

Early life

Irving was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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

Shapinsay Shapinsay (, ) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of , it is the eighth largest island in the Orkney archipelago. It is low-lying and, with a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone overlain by bo ...

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, Scotland, and Sarah (

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

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 Ass ...

Peter Irving, 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 ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

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 (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...

, 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.

Congress

He married, and in 1814 was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

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, politician and Founding Father who represented New York State in the Continental Congress, Annapolis Convention, and United States House of Representatives. He ...

. 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 Washingto ...

es and served from January 22, 1814, to March 3, 1819. Irving, a close friend of James Kirke Paulding, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy under

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

, supported the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Irving contributed several essays and poems to ''

Salmagundi Salmagundi (alternatively salmagundy or sallid magundi) is a cold dish or salad made from different ingredients which may include meat, seafood, Egg as food, eggs, cooked and raw vegetables, fruits, or Pickling, pickles. In English culture, the ...

'', 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 James Kirke Paulding and William Paulding Jr. (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 Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

, and Adjutant General of 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 (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, and Fannie Leslie Grinnell (1842–1887), who married society man Thomas Forbes Cushing, son of John Perkins Cushing.

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 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives