Irwin Home
Springfield Journal Register, date of paper which originally published the following is unknown.
"HISTORIC ROBERT IRWIN HOME, NOW OWNED BY LATHAM SOUTHER--
This pretentious residence, one of the oldest and most striking in Springfield,
now stands at 1825 5th street (note the house has been moved in the last several years
and now stands on the northeast corner of Cook & Seventh streets and is being restored) but for
many years it was located on the southeast corner of 6th and Cook, present site of the
First Christian Church. Patterned after an architectural design which was then popular in the
Southern States, it was built by Maj. Elijah Iles, one of Springfield's most noted pioneer residents, in
the middle Eighteen Thirties. . . The tradition is that Major Iles selected wood for this house
with great care and left it on the ground to season for more than a year. The timber, mostly 10x12s, was cut
with an adz and put together with wooden pins. The weatherboarding and trim were of black walnut, also the
door and interior woodwork, while the floors were of ash. . . . Major Iles sold the house and the entire
block bounded by Sixth, Lawrence, Seventh and Cook Streets in 1841 to Robert Irwin. In his early
business experience, Mr. Irwin was a partner of Col. John Williams in a dry goods establishment, and later was
identified with the Springfield Fire & Marine Insurance Company (now the Springfield Marine Bank),
first as secretary, then as cashier, up to his death March 8, 1865. In the rear of the home were a large
barn and carriage house and other outbuildings. The rest of the block was used for vegetable and flower gardens.
It was a fine property indeed. . . . Mrs. Irwin continued to live in the home until her passing, November 23, 1884,
after which it remained in the estate, unoccupied, until about 1893, when it was sold to Edward A. Hall, of the clothing firm
of Hall & Herrick, and later a vice-president of the First National Bank. . . . In 1910, when Mr. Hall sold
the site to the church, he sold the house itself to Latham T. Souther, trust officer of the First National Bank,
who had it moved in two sections to its present location at 1825 South 5th Street. A very remarkable job was done
in the restoragion of the house, and it now rpesents the same impressive appearance as on its original site. It is one of the
most distinctive homes in the city, its charm, of course, being enhanced no little by the history centering about it. . . .
It was undoubtedly visited often by Abraham Lincoln in the years prior to his election as President, for Robert Irwin,
a prominent Whig, was his close friend and financial adviser. In the Hall era, when this picture was made,
it was also the scene of many social gatherings. Needless to add, the Southers have well maintained these hospitable traditions during
their occupancy.
Submitted by: Jeanie Lowe.
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