McMurdy Family

THE McMURDY FAMILY are among the descendants of one of the early settlers of Irwin. Isaac McMurdy and his son George came to Irwin township in the spring of 1797. They selected a tract of land containing five hundred acres in Venango and Butler counties, three-fourths of it in Venango. They cleared a patch and planted it with potatoes, built a log cabin, and returned to Huntingdon county, from whence they had come. In the fall they came back, dug the potatoes, planted wheat, and again returned. In February, 1798, they returned, bringing the family, moving their worldly goods on a wagon drawn by a pair of oxen, which is claimed to have been the first in this section of the country. Isaac’s family consisted of his wife, Ellen, and four children: George; Isaac, Jr.; John, who remained in Huntingdon county, completed his trade of carpenter, and subsequently came to Venango, and one daughter, who married Jacob Izel, and remained in Huntington county, Pennsylvania. Isaac, Sr., was a tailor by trade and lived in Baltimore, Maryland, before settling in Huntingdon county. He remained on the place of settlement in Irwin until within a year of his death, when he went to Butler county, and died at the home of his sister in 1849, his wife having died a few years previously.

GEORGE McMURDY, who made the settlement with his father, bought in 1819 one hundred acres of a settlement of four hundred, and subsequently purchased the entire tract. This land now forms a part of the village of Barkeyville and the balance is in the possession of his sons, John and James. He built one of the early hotels, which was opened in 1812, and built the first distillery in this part of the county. It was located close to the hotel, which stood where Beatty’s store is now located, at McMurdy’s Corners. George married Polly Martin, daughter of David Martin; they had thirteen children, six of whom lived to maturity: John; Isaac; Polly, who married Michael McFadden; Nancy, married to James McFadden; Mattie, wife of Craft Walter, and James.

JOHN McMURDY was born on the homestead November 25, 1809. He spent his early life on the farm. In 1832 he built a distillery on the homestead farm, which he operated for a few years. He then engaged in farming upon a part of the old place, where he has spent his life. He married in 1836 Jane Gilmore, who died in 1845, by whom he had five children: George, deceased; Nancy, deceased; Isabella; Sarah, Mrs. Robert Shaw, and Joseph, deceased. His second wife was Nancy, daughter of Francis Vogus, who is deceased. By this marriage he had two children: Annie, Mrs. Thomas Shaw, and Martha, Mrs. Daniel Joseph. Mr. McMurdy is the oldest living representative of the pioneer settlers of Irwin. He is a Democrat, having cast his first and last vote for that party. He has filled the offices of school director and road commissioner.

JAMES McMURDY was born December 25, 1818. He resides on part of the homestead. He was married in 1843 to Miss Elizabeth Porter, and they are the parents of eight children: Louisa, Mrs. Thomas Kimes; Adaline, Mrs. Isaac Yard; Nancy J.; Margaret, Mrs. James Enfield; Martin; Ambrose; Calvin, and Curtis.