Rev. William Irvin, 1744-1809. This is the son of John Irvin, pioneer founder of the Hat Creek Presbyterian Church, in present Campbell county. (old Brunswick/Lunenburg) William preached at Hat Creek, but like most of the early ministers, traveled much to different congregations. He moved to Albemarle, where his children were born. From “Albemarle County in Virginia,” by Edgar Woods IRVIN. Rev. William Irvin was one of the early Presbyterian ministers of the county. He received his education in part at the school of Rev. John Todd in Louisa. He was received by the Presbytery of Hanover in 1769, and settled as pastor of the Cove and Rockfish Churches in 1771. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Holt, who served in the Revolution as First Lieutenant in the Fourth Virginia, and who purchased land from Colonel Charles Lewis on the Staunton Road west of Ivy Depot, where he resided until 1794. Mr. Irvin bought part of this land from his father-in-law, but sold it in 1783, and the same year purchased from Charles Martin a farm on the south fork of Hardware, where J. Goulet Martin now lives, and where he made his home until his death in 1809. His relation to Rockfish Church was dissolved in 1776, and he then devoted his time to preaching at the Cove, D. S., and Mountain Plains. In July 1793 his old preceptor, Rev. John Todd, met with a tragic death on his return from a meeting of Presbytery at the Cove. The road on the east side of Persimmon Mountain passed then, as it does still, along the bed of the South Hardware for a short distance; there the venerable minister was found, lying in the stream with life extinct. Whether he was smitten with an apoplectic stroke, or whether his horse took fright, and starting suddenly threw him, was not known. It is said, he was accustomed to ride a spirited horse. Mr. Irvin had ten children, some of whom attained a degree of eminence in the world; Joseph Holt, Margaret, Elizabeth, the wife of Dabney C. Gooch, Nancy, the wife of Thomas W. Gooch, Sarah, the wife of Robert Sangster, John, William W., James, Thomas and David. Joseph was admitted to the Albemarle bar in 1796, married Elizabeth, daughter of William Cole of North Garden, and died in 1805, leaving two daughters, one of whom, Susan, was married first to Colonel Thomas Wood, and was the mother of Dr. Alfred Wood and Mrs. Jeremiah A. Early, and secondly to John Fray. John lived on the old place, was a magistrate of the county, and died in 1828, leaving a number of children, all of whom removed to Campbell and Prince Edward Counties. William became a member of the Albemarle bar, but emigrated to Lancaster, Ohio, where he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, and elected to Congress in 1828. Thomas joined his brother William in Ohio, and became Judge of the Lancaster Circuit. David was also a lawyer, received the appointment of Governor of Wisconsin Territory, and afterwards settled in Texas, where he was left by the war with only the shreds of a large fortune, and where he shortly after died.