Clayton House Family History Series

Joseph St. Cloud Irwin to present Family History Series at Clayton House April 26

Joseph St. Cloud Irwin will share details of his family’s history in Fort Smith, reaching back to 1900, at the April 26 “Family History Series” at the Clayton House.

Irwin’s paternal grandfather, J.C. Irwin, moved to Fort Smith with his family in 1900 and worked for the Missouri-Pacific railroad. Irwin’s maternal grandfather, Angus McLeod, born in Scotland in 1847, became a Fort Smith resident in 1904. He owned the Fort Smith Contracting Company and supplied railroad ties to the railroads. McLeod built a massive and ornate Neo-Classical home near the city’s downtown, using many imported materials and featuring a third-floor ballroom. Completed in 1905, the home was featured in the 1982 movie, “The Blue and the Gray.” The home burned in 2010.

“It was a different time, how much people were willing to spend on a home,” Irwin says of his grandfather’s home. “And being an old Scotsman, that was really something.”

A Fort Smith Trolley Museum volunteer conductor since 2003, Irwin has enjoyed gathering Fort Smith history details for the tour he provides.

“One of my favorite things to share with young folks is how the trolley was the school bus, before there were school buses. That really opens their eyes,” he says. “The track routes ran by all four schools, so for five cents a day, they could ride to and from school.”

The trolley cars in Fort Smith today are the city’s actual restored electric trolley cars that transported citizens beginning in 1893.

Irwin’s father, J.C. Irwin, III, was twelve years old when his family moved to Fort Smith in 1900. Upon graduation from the University of Arkansas, he became one of “Teddy’s Diggers” of the Panama Canal. A civil engineer, his career included serving as the highway department district engineer in Fort Smith in the 1920s and ‘30s and then working as one of four resident engineers on the creation of the Lake Fort Smith dam beginning in 1936.

The Fort Smith Heritage Foundation, operator of the Clayton House, promotes the city’s heritage through the preservation of the authentically restored circa 1882 home of U.S. Attorney William H. H. Clayton and through citizen-led history programs.  Refreshments will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the home’s parlors, followed by Irwin’s presentation at 1:30 p.m. in the servant quarters. Because seating is limited, reservations are required and can be made by calling 479-783-3000. Admission is free for members of the Fort Smith Heritage Foundation or a $10 donation towards the preservation and programs of the Clayton House. Membership donations can be made on the museum’s website, www.claytonhouse.org.