Alexander Irvin

The first congressman elected from Clearfield County, Alexander Irwin was born in Penns Valley, Centre County on January 18, 1800; attended common schools; moved to Curwensville in 1820; and Clearfield by 1826.  Merchant and successful lumberman, he became treasurer of Clearfield County, 1828, 1830; member of the state Senate, 1837-1838; common pleas court prothonotary, 1842; and Clearfield’s county recorder, 1842-1844.  Irvin was elected as a Whig, Thirtieth Congress, 1847-1849, but chose not to run for re-election.  He was appointed State Marshal for the Western District in 1850 and delegate to the 1872 Republican National Convention.  He passed away on March 20, 1874, interred in the Reed addition of the Clearfield “Old Graveyard.”