Irwin chronicals Vernon County history in three books

By Nancy Malcom

"I've always had an interest in genealogy," Lyndon Irwin explained with a chuckle. "I was fortunate to have grandmothers who were patient and liked to show pictures and tell stories. I was just one of those kids who liked to listen." Irwin is now a professor of agriculture at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield. He is a Vernon County native, and his parents still live in Bronaugh.

He has written three books related to genealogy and history. Two were his family history books, "From Darrtown to Fairfield and Beyond" tells of the Irwin family. His second book, "The Rogers Family of Paint Lick and Crab Orchard" continues his family story. "Many of the Rogers family people are buried in Nevada in Moore Cemetery," Irwin said.

"I had always been told that genealogy research leads a person to an interest in history, and I've found that to be true," Irwin explained as an introduction to his third book about the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and the train wreck that occurred there. "There Will be a Wreck!" is his latest book, but not his last.

His next book about the history of Moundville will soon be out and he is currently working on a history of Bronaugh.

"My parents Don and Evelyn Irwin still live in Bronaugh," Irwin said, "and people are always bringing them information about the town to give to me. They all know I'm writing the book." He has found that to be successful with genealogy research or writing a book both have some general guidelines. "Set some boundaries," Irwin advises. "I took 10 years to research my first book. I put myself on a schedule, set some perimeters and decided before I started writing the book that I would stop when I had located all my great-grandfather's siblings. I've done that with each of my books." There comes a time in the research that you have to get out into the field.

"There is some travel involved," Irwin said. "I've been to Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana six to 10 times each." He laughed and added, "My boys grew up thinking vacation meant a trip to a cemetery. My wife has always been supportive of my hobby, but she's not addicted to genealogy like I am."

Irwin's two sons were always eager to help. "My oldest son who now lives in Japan, did the illustrations for my first book," Irwin said, "and my youngest son is a great cemetery researcher."

His hobby has included all the family from his first efforts. "The first thing you need to do is ask your oldest living relatives questions. You'll regret it later if you don't find out as much from them as you can, while you can," Irwin said.

Family reunions are important times in the Irwin family. "We meet every 10 years," he explained. "It's not just a get-together, it's a highly educational, structured event. I give presentations, we have exhibit boards set up and we take field trips to the old home place, take the kids to the restored prairie that the Irwins owned ... it's a lot of fun." He paused then added, "No wonder we only have them every 10 years! It takes that long to get stuff ready." "You have to branch out from just genealogy with time," he explained. The search for ancestors naturally gets researchers interested in the times and events that their ancestors lived through.

Irwin said he has read every issue of every Nevada paper on microfilm through 1910. "I set that year as a limit," he said, "I don't include living relatives in my books."

Irwin is now involved in a film being created about the 1904 World's Fair. He is doing the writing and researching.

"This is the 100th anniversary of the 1904 World's Fair," Irwin explained."One area I've researched was of a man who had championship horses there. He was a black man named Tom Bass who was born a slave. At the time of the fair, segregation was still strong. He had to sleep in different hotels, eat at different places; but in the show ring with his horses he was the top man." Irwin explained that family research can come up with some surprises. "It's always interesting to find out medical histories of your ancestors, of course, but the other things are intriguing as well." Irwin told of his great-great-grandfather Morton Irwin in Ohio who had three wives over his lifetime. The first gave him nine children, then died, the second gave him six more children before dying and then at age 76, he married a young woman in her 20s and had one more child. That was one of the most unusual ancestors he found, he said.

A unique occurrence was when he found a first cousin of his dad's that he had never met. "It was amazing getting those two together for the first time," he said.

"Genealogy is an intriguing and satisfying hobby," Irwin concluded. "If you are going to do it, take it seriously but keep it fun. It can be a wonderful, rewarding hobby and you can meet some wonderful people and relatives you may not know you have."