Biography of Earl H. Irvin

Earl H. Irvin, the well-known editor and publisher of the Eaton Democrat, enjoyed a thorough preparation for newspaper work. Mr. Irvin has made an unusual success in journalism and has been honored politically on several occasions.

Earl H. Irvin was born in New Paris, Ohio, May 9, 1877, the son of Harvey and Eleanor (Bowman) Irvin, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. They had three sons: Harry, of Campbellstown, Ohio; Albert, who died in infancy, and Earl H.

Harvey Irvin was born in Highland county, but was reared in Preble county. He was a bookkeeper and came to Preble county about 1844, and lived here the balance of his life. He died in New Paris in 1877, at the age of thirty-five. His wife died at Richmond, Indiana, in 1880, at the age of thirty-six. Both were active and devoted members of the Presbyterian church. The paternal grandparents of Earl H. Irvin were Thomas and Caroline (Young) Irvin, natives of Highland county. Mr. Irvin was a farmer, and died in Preble county at an advanced age. He had a small family, Harvey and Emma. The maternal grandparents of Earl H. Irvin were Robert and Margaret Bowman, who came from Indiana to Preble county and settled in New Paris. Robert Bowman was a school teacher, being one of the early teachers in Eaton . He also was a skilled mathematician and quite a noted teacher. Mr. Bowman served as a Union soldier in the Civil War. He had six children: Lydia, Addie, Elizabeth and Eleanor. Later in life he moved to Kansas, near Minneapolis, where he and his wife died at advanced ages.

Earl H. Irvin was reared in New Paris and attended the public schools there. He began learning the printer's trade in the office of the New Paris Mirror, and was with that paper from 1893 to 1896. He then went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and worked in the Chattanooga Times office. In 1897, he came back to Ohio and bought the New Madison Herald; in Darke county, publishing that paper for a year, after which he returned to New Paris and worked with the Mirror until 1902. He then bought the Eaton Democrat, a weekly newspaper which was established in 1840, and which he has published since. Mr. Irvin, in addition to publishing the Eaton Democrat,also does a general job printing business.

On April 27, 1899, while at New Paris, Earl H. Irvin was married to Jennie Boatman, of Seven Mile, Butler county, Ohio, the daughter of Reed B. and Martha (Samuels) Boatman. Seven children have been born to this union: Ruth, Martha, Anna, Marjorie, Lois, Earla and Earl, Jr.

Mrs. Irvin's parents were natives of Butler county and are still living at Seven Mile. Of their children, three are now living, Ollie, Alonzo and Jennie.

Mr. Irvin is an ardent Democrat, and while in New Paris was a member of the council and mayor of the town. He was a member of the seventy-seventh and seventy-ninth General Assemblies of Ohio, from 1906 to 1909 and from 1909 to 1913. At present Mr. Irvin is deputy collector of internal revenue for the ? Ohio district, with headquarters at Cincinnati, but his residence is in Eaton.

Mr. Irvin belongs to the Universalist church, while his wife is a member of the United Brethren church. He also is a member of Bolivar Lodge No. 82, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Eaton Chapter No. 22, Royal Arch Masons.

Mr. Irvin is held in universal esteem throughout Preble county, is a man of great strength of character and genial disposition, and is popular among a large circle of friends.

Source: "History of Preble County, Ohio" ¹⁰²