Timeline for the Kirwin brothers & the Mills/Williams family ~ looking for  descendants..

This timeline is intended to help us keep track of the movements of people within a large family during a very mobile time in the history of the country. By examining "who was where when" in different but related family lines, we hope to find clues that may break down brick walls plus offer us some explanations regarding why they went where they went and who was or was not there to greet them!

WILLIAM H. KIRWIN (by the way, the "in" spelling is significant. The usual spelling of the surname is "an"... "in" in the spelling narrows the field of research considerably ;]) is the brother who seemed to lead the explorations west. He got training as a barber in Kansas before leaving and worked the rails with his brother John to California. He may have founded the Mining District of Kirwin near Meeteetse, Wyoming - today it is a ghost town that locals are trying to preserve. This has not been proved or unproved. What you read here is data collected to trace his movement, his brother's movements and the movements of other family members .....

This leaves about an 18 year gap for John (Jack) and an ending for Will....

Of interest to note is information in the town of KIRWIN, Wyoming, founded by a William Kirwin about whom little is known - is this our Will?

The Kirwin Claim in Wyoming was first made in 1885 when brother Thomas was known to be in Silverton, Colorado. I suppose between May and October of 1885, Will could have gone home after his Dad died and found that gold on his way back West. Maybe he needed a "hunting trip" to heal from the loss of his father (trying to think like a guy here... ;])? Maybe he sold his claim in Calico, CA in October 1885 knowing he had found gold in Wyoming??? We have nothing on Will between 1892-1898,  yet we know Thomas stayed  in Silverton, Colorado between 1882 and 1891 when Martha dies. Perhaps after his mother's death 1900, Will back went to Wyoming to work his "old claim..." near Meeteetse, again coming from Colorado where brother Thomas was living???  An piece written in Chapter 3 of "From Beaver to Oil" by David Wasden on the early prospecting of gold in Wyoming states: "Another mining boom occurred at the opposite end of the Basin in the Kirwin district on Wood River, starting in the 1890s. The men who made the original discoveries in this section, William Kirwin and Henry Adams, were both from Colorado..." As the article in the Meeteetse Times states, "the deposits were not exploited until 1902 because of the financial panic of the Nineties." Looks like our Will could have had Yukon Gold on his mind first? We do not know where he was exactly between 1885 and 1892, but, in 1891, he could have gone to Wyoming to stake claims and form the Wood River Mining District, as the article states... Then he is back in Tacoma long enough for the Census in 1892. Again, maybe this took so long because financing was hard? Then the Ore shipment in 1897 would have been possible, as they didn't head north until 1898... but, maybe because "the ore was not rich enough" and considering the difficulty in financing,  I would attribute Will's absence from the 1890 Census to his inability to stay put! Restlessness and "unfulfilled dreams" are also dubious family traits ;] besides BIG ears!

Last note: In 1981, a Karen L. Barfield of Las Vegas, NV posted Batch # 8107103, Sheet # 55 to the LDS Church. The data offered the marriage information on John A. Kirwin and Olive Cook and the information on William H. Kirwin and Mollie Turner. We wonder if Karen is a descendant??? I have tried to contact her but she is no longer at the address LDS has recorded. I would certainly love to hear from her! email_ghost_w.gif (907 bytes)If you can help, please send that email!

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