Maynard Irwin, Publisher -- and Ethel

Fairfield was the origin of several important people in its long history, and many of them had an impact elsewhere. This blog covers some of them, although there are others who won't seem important unless we say they are.

This one is about Maynard Irwin, who was born in Fairfield in 1859.

Irwin is a somewhat prominent name in Franklin County for a variety of reasons, although it's more about their sustainability than their actual achievements. 

The name is also linked to the Buckley, name and a short trip into the late 19^th century will reveal that importance.

Again, sustainability. (At right, a photo of Maynard Irwin that appeared in the June 23, 1932 edition of the Brookville Democrat, a paper he owned and managed.)

Maynard Irwin grew up probably as any other kid and was associated with his father, Thomas Irwin, in running a general store in town. Thomas Irwin died in 1912. The Irwins are also related to the Dares, who populated Springfield and Bath townships. That tends to expand their family in a lot of directions.

Maynard eventually took over the Brookville Democrat as its publisher and editor and held that position of prominence until his death in 1932. The newspaper WAS a big deal, modifying the conversation, changing the topic, allowing businesses to thrive and people to be heard. News was printed and it was durable.

Maynard Irwin held sway over public opinion.

The man's obituary says he had suffered a stroke in 1926 and hadn't been overly active in his last years. His daughter, Ethel, eventually took over as publisher. I've found very little that suggests her promotion was anything but acceptable in Brookville and the county.

A woman running a newspaper probably shook some cabinets in Boston or Chicago. In Brookville, she was just the owner of the business. She didn't hold the position long, eventually selling out to other interests.

Maynard Irwin sustained his ties to Fairfield throughout his life, as a member of its lodges. The obit claims he was a Universalist, which didn't have a denomination in the town itself. BLOG ITEM ON CHURCH HERE.

A eulogy says Maynard was “fair and fearless in conducting his business, built on the conception of right and wrong that has won the respect and admiration of an entire community.”

Maynard Irwin was 72 at his death. He is interred in Maple Grove Cemetery.

ETHEL IRWIN

Known to be a quite talented vocalist, Ethel did all the right things early on but as we learned, she didn't amount to much as an accomplished singer. She stayed around Brookville, dabbled in social events and quietly owned the newspaper. She did sing at events in Indianapolis, Connersville, Cincinnati and Richmond. 

In an era before “rock stars,” she was well known. As far back as 1896, Ethel amazed audiences and was even tutored by the fabled Tecla Vigna, an Italian-born music aristocrat who dominated the Cincinnati opera scene for many years.

A Feb. 22, 1906, issue of the paper said Ethel had been “highly praised by Prof. John S. VanCleve, the widely known musical critic.” VanCleve, who also published a popular magazine in the city, had heard some of Madame Vigna’s students, Ethel among them. He offered high praise.

“Miss Irwin appeared as Margarita in the excerpt from Gounod’s ‘Faust,’ the entire third act, and so rich and even was her voice, so sure and clean her pronunciation, so vehement and animated her reading of the music, that one could scarce believe one was listening to a student, a novice, for the qualities of the artiste were so completely displayed.”

Sometime after that, she married George Rendigs and her career appears to have stalled. Divorcing him in 1917 (yes, it made news!), the news item said she was “well known as a singer.” After that, she seems to have begun dabbling in club work around Brookville, singing solos at annual social gatherings. A 1922 Women’s Club report said this:

“A musical program was given by Miss Ethel Irwin (she took back her maiden name after the divorce), a most gifted and talented musician, who has a soprano voice of unusual range and sings with distinct enunciation and precision.”

She did sing frequently at Methodist Church gatherings and by 1938, she was involved in community charity and arts programs in Brookville and remained active in those groups until she sold the Democrat to Ernest Showalter and Whitewater Publications in 1943. Showalter was owner of the Brookville American at the time.

She held a public property sale on June 9, 1945. She was 81 when she died in 1966, living in Madison, Ind. Ethel's downfall: She was an alcoholic.