Biography

05/08/1737 - 09/11/1816

Captain Nathaniel Irish, Jr. Conventionalists (Democratic-Republican19) Allegheny, Beaver and Butler Counties 1808-1809

Early Life:

Captain Nathaniel Irish, Jr., born May 8, 1737, Saucon, Bucks County, Province of Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; son of Nathaniel Irish, Sr.; manager, Union Furnace, Hunterdon County, New Jersey; making cannons there from wrought iron during the early part of the Revolution, British expedition destroyed the furnace; captain, Revolutionary War 1777-1783; settled, county of Allegheny, 1790; elected, Commissioner, Allegheny County, 1796; elected, Commissioner, Allegheny, Beaver and Butler Counties, 1800; Unsuccessful campaign, United States House of Representatives, 1805; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate, Special Election, 1808-1809; founding member, State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania; married, Elizabeth Thomas Irish, 1758 (d. 1789), remarried, Mary Irwin Irish, children, children, William B., Ann McCully, Mary Smith; died, September 11, 1816 (aged 79), Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; interment, Trinity Church Graveyard, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Raised a company of artillery, entered, Continental Army, commissioned captain, February 7, 1777, regiment commanded by Colonel Benjamin Flower, active service until January 1, 1783.

Received from the State of Pennsylvania for his services, Revolutionary War, land grant, five hundred acres, settled on a tract of land on Plum Creek, Westmoreland (now Allegheny) County, 1790.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Commissioner, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1796.

Elected, Commissioner, Allegheny, Beaver and Butler Counties, Pennsylvania, 1800.

Unsuccessful campaign, Assessor, Pittsburgh Borough Pennsylvania, 1803. 

Unsuccessful campaign, United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania 11th district, Special Election, 1805.

Elected, Conventionalists (Democratic-Republican), Pennsylvania State Senate, 19th district, Special Election, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler Counties, 1808-1809; James Martin resigned his seat prior to the beginning of the session, replaced by Nathaniel Irish.

Legacy:

Great grandson, Elias Hicks Irish, Pennsylvania State Senate, Allegheny County, 1860-1862.

Elias Hicks Irish  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Cited:

Cox, Harold. Senate Members "I" (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

PA Society of the Cincinnati | Capt. Nathaniel Irish

Capt Nathaniel Irish (1737-1816) - Find a Grave Memorial