Gilbert R. Irish was born at Terre Haute, Indiana. He
was a very small boy when his mother took him to New York,
where both remained while the father made the westward trip
to locate a new home in Iowa. In 1840 mother and son made
the long journey to the new home, where they safely arrived
after the usual arduous experiences. Mr. Irish's first tutor
was his mother, who for ten years gave him such educational
training as she could; thereafter he had for his teacher Dr.
Reynolds, a popular pioneer educator of Iowa City. Mr. Irish
freely acknowledged, however, and with some pride, that his
education was largely the result of his own efforts, abetted
by the experiences of his early days — a training which fitted
him for the unique position which he has occupied in Johnson
county history. Answering the question as to his occupation,
Mr. Irish, in his quaint way, declared: ''Since the age of
eighteen, first and alwavs a farmer." His agricultural bent
led him into kindred lines, and at one time lie took up Horticulture as a specialty at Peoria, Hlinois. In tile distribution
of his stock, Mr. Irish made freqnent trips from Peoria to St.
Louis by boat. He is credited with the introduction of many of
the fruit trees grown in the vicinity of his Peoria enterprise.
While a resident of Illinois, from the latter part of the fifties
up to 1863, he taught school. His knowledge of school work
led to his election, on his return to Iowa, to membership in the
school board of Lucas township from district numl^er eleven.
In 1867 he was chosen secretary of the board, a position which
he held for many vears.
Probably Gilbert R. Irish held the record for continuous
service as justice of the peace in Johnson county. He held
this office for thirty-five years. In the administration of the
affairs of this position he acquired a unique reputation. He
was punctilious in rendering his annual reports. When the
peaceable character of his constituents practically left the of-
fice without any business from year to year, he would discuss
the general topics of the day in his annual reports with char-
acteristic humor. An incident showing the ready wit as well
as the innate sense of justice of the man is told by some of his
old friends: In a case wherein a citizen appeared before him
charged with a certain offense, the sympathies of the court
were strongly with the defendant on account of his general
reputation for honesty, sobriety, and good citizenship. The
counsel for the prosecution introduced volume after volume of
state and supreme court reports to establish the ruling of
other judges on the various points of testimony, and to wind
the matter up made a voluminous plea for the conviction of
the defendant on the authorities quoted. After listening to it
all with some degree of impatience, Justice Irish said : "This
court overrules the supreme court in its decisions in these mat-
ters and declares the defendant not guilty."
On October 9, 1879, Mr. Irish took for his wife Miss Jose-
phine Martha Strawbridge, daughter of Jesse K. Strawbridge,
a pioneer of Clraham township, whom he had known from
childhood. The couple made their home on the old homestead
of Frederick Macey Irish, in the outskirts of Iowa City, known
as "Rose Hill." This place is celebrated for its trees and
shrubs and flowers, many of which are the handiwork of Gil-
bert Irish and wife. One daughter, Jane Terril, horn in Iowa
City, June, 1881, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Irish. She was
educated in the public and commercial scliools and is an expert
stenographer.
Mr. Irish, in his eccentric way, said : "The only important
thing' in my life is that I have always been a democrat in poli-
tics and have never been a member of any church, society, or
club." He, of course, had reference to secret and fraternal
orders, for he was a prominent member of the Old Settlers'
Association of Johnson county for many years and its secre-
tary from 1899 to his death, June 4, 1911. His father was one
of the founders of the organization, which dates its existence
from 1861. He took great pride in the records of this society.
His presence and his ministrations will he be greatly missed by
his surviving associates.
One beautiful midsummer afternoon of June, out at
the old homestead at "Rose Hill," where Mr. Irish had lived
for nearly half a century, under the shadows of the old trees,
many of which his hands had planted and his care fostered,
there was gathered from nearly every part of Johnson county
large numbers of old friends and neighbors who had come to
pay the last token of respect to the remains of their pioneer
brother. The heat of the summer vibrated in the air and
scarcely a leaf rustled. All nature seemed to have paused,
while a sense of peace and rest "brooded like a gen-
tle spirit o'er- a still and senseless world." Among this
gathering were many men and women who had traveled along
the great highway of life and were nearing its terminus —
gray-haired pioneers, patriarchs of a period stretching into
the far-away past — soon each one of them to pass through
the portals eternal, while a new and bustling generation should
take their place. Assembled to take the last look on the face
of their departed brother, what memories must have swept
the minds of these dear old friends and neighbors — the mem-
ories of the garnered years, fragrant with the flowers that
bloom in the beautiful and ever-growing garden of God. The
day of the pioneer is passing, as the sun setting in the
west calls mankind to rest, leaving a trail of twilight to guide
the loiterer home, so these human "stars of empire," having
labored and loved and wept, having sacrificed and saved and
builded, linger beyond the sunset time to lighten the pathway
of the romping, laughing children who are even now entering
the citadels which their sires have builded. Many of them,
though dead, yet speak, and the writing angel in heaven
through all the yesterdays has written and written and in the
tomorrows will still write and write of their thoughts and
words and deeds. It may be true that the bright and morning
star shall burn out in the sky, that men may follow the seasons
into the limbo of forgetfulness, that some sad day in the com-
ing years the names of these pioneers, devoted men and
women, may be erased from human memory, but their gospel
of brotherly helpfulness and kindly influence shall live beyond
the wreck of worlds and the dismal crash of creeds.
In his loyalty to home and friends, Gilbert R. Irish dis-
played his great moral worth and won for himself the admira-
tion and love of those associated with him. His creed, ' ' What-
soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," was the strong
and enduring foundation upon which he builded his soulful
and manly life. He never sowed to the winds, neither did
immorality of any character ever find lodgment within his
pure mind. Nothing dishonorable or false was ever truthfully
charged against him, but in every department of life he
walked uprightly before God and man, guaging his actions by
the square of justice, remembering that he was traveling upon
the level of time to a better, brighter, and purer sphere than
this. He was never united with any religious society or secret
organization, yet we find in his life many of the Christian at-
tributes and virtues. His was a religion of works and deeds,
rather than of creeds and professions. He lived and died a
manly life, at peace with God, his neighbors, and himself.
These are all striking factors of immortality, and serve to re-
mind us of that imperishable part of man which bears the
nearest affinity to the Supreme Intelligence, which pervades
all nature and can never, never die. -A History of Johnson County