Had John Irwin chosen to remain in Cincinnati with his Irwin Family, he would most likely have joined the Irwin merchant business or partnered with brother Archibald in the Irwin & Foster Steamboat Agency/Firm.  View top photo, 6th building from left with big awning.

John Irwin's Father, William Irwin as he appears in the records of The Cincinnati Directory 1819
Irwin, William (Merchant) 34 Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio (Male),
(Morgan#1114)   
Search: Cincinnati. Directory. The Cincinnati Directory,
Containing the Name (Cincinnati, 1819) Page 127.        
Search Irwin, William (Board of Directors, Farmers and Mechanicks' Bank) 34
Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio (Male), (Morgan#1114)        
Search: Cincinnati.Directory. 
The Cincinnati Directory, Containing the Name (Cincinnati,1819) Page 46.  Search Irwin, William (President, Farmers and Mechanicks' Bank) 34 Main St.,
Cincinnati, Ohio (Male), (Morgan#1114)
William Irwin Bank President Signature

William Irwin's Friends and Business Peers Were:

William Henry Harrison was a major general in the War of 1812 and returned home to Ohio a hero. He was elected to two important offices, serving in the House of Representatives from 1816-1819 and in the U.S. Senate from 1825-1828. 

James Findlay, former mayor of Cincinnati, served in the House from 1825-1833. Findlay’s brother William was Governor of Pennsylvania and then its U.S. Senator from 1821-27, while Harrison was in the same body. The Harrisons and Findlays were related by marriage, both having intertwined with a very early Ohio pioneer family named Irwin. 

Archibald Irwin Sr. had a son William, a daughter Jane who married James Findlay, and another son Archibald Jr. 

This second Archibald had two daughters who married sons of the future president: Jane Irwin married William Henry Harrison, Jr. in 1824 and Elizabeth Irwin married John Scott Harrison, his younger brother, in 1831. Jane was brought up by her aunt, Mrs. James Findlay, and remained close to her. Elizabeth became the mother of Pres. Benjamin Harrison. 

In the 1840 election, William Henry Harrison was elected President of the United States. When March 4, 1841, the time for the Harrison inauguration, arrived, the new President's wife was unable to go to Washington because of illness. So her daughter-in-law Jane, the wife of William Henry Jr., went instead, taking along her aunt, Mrs. Findlay. Thus it was that Jane Harrison served as First Lady, while her aunt lived in the White House with her. 

Their tenure there was short, as Pres. Harrison caught pneumonia at the inauguration and died April 4, only a month after he became chief executive. James Smith was a business partner of Gen. Findlay, their firm Smith & Findlay operating one of the early stores in Cincinnati. He was highly thought of, and was elected the first sheriff of Hamilton County (which includes Cincinnati). During a portion of this time he was collector of revenue in the Northwest Territory for the U.S. government. He was also captain of the first militia company raised in Cincinnati, and when the War of 1812 broke out, went to the front as paymaster of the First Regiment, to assist in paying off the troops on the frontier. He saw action in Fort Meigs when it was besieged by the British and Indians.

 In order to serve as paymaster,  James Smith was required to provide security in the form of a surety. William Irwin, brother of Archibald Irwin Jr. and Jane Findlay, acted in this capacity on his behalf. Irwin’s liability was ongoing until Smith’s account could be settled, and by 1821 the time to do that had arrived. Irwin was apparently called upon to advance money per his surety agreement and needed as much time as he could get to provide the funds. Thus he called upon his friend and future relative, William Henry Harrison, fresh from Washington and with plenty of friends and influence there, to aid him. The result is the following letter.

William Henry Harrison January 22, 1821. "You forgot to give me an answer to the application I made to you in behalf of Mr. W. Irwin of Cincinnati. The Secy. of the Treasury has referred him to you to fix the time which shall be given him to procure the vouchers necessary to settle the account of Pay Master James Smith whose security he is. Mr. Irwin is a particular friend of mine & a very worthy man. I must beg of you to indulge him with as long time as possible." P. S. "Be pleased to drop a line to Mr. Irwin on the subject."
The recipient of this letter was very likely one of the chief auditors of the Treasury Department, as a person in that position would have had the responsibility of handling matters such as this.  An interesting letter of Harrison, indicating he was not above intervening with government officials to assist his friends and relatives. William Irwin died just a few years later in 1824, perhaps of surprise or aggravation at having to actually make a surety payment on behalf of the usually-reliable Smith. Amount was $2,995.

H John Irwin chose to leave the city after the death of his father, William, in 1824, and marry Hannah Combs in June of 1825 in the wilds of Adams County Ohio.  Hannah had Combs relatives living adjacent to Serpent Mound during the 1820's.  Serpent Mound is significant because it was and still is considered a sacred place by Native American People.
Hannah and her Meigs Township, Adams County, Combs relatives included Francis Combs, John Combs and Thomas Combs, all descended from the Combs family of historic Tonoloway Settlement, Hampshire County Virginia and Charles County Maryland.

Combs connections are found as early as 1608 and from there, throughout the development of the colonies.  As pioneer people, they married freely with Native people and into Native tribes, like Hannah's  Chickasaw, who were known for sheltering, indenturing and including escaped people of color into their indigenous communities.  Slavery was also the economic foundation of Charles County Maryland where the Combs were a leading Catholic, planter family.

The first Combs arriving in Maryland were Catholic.  In England, Catholics could not hold office and suffered multiple persecutions.  Combs and 200 other families were recruited by Lord Cecil Calvert, a powerful Catholic, to leave England settle the new colonial lands.  Because they refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, the Combs were forbidden to leave England and got around this problems by hiding on the Isle of Wright and boarding ship after London Harbor was cleared.  They arrived in Charles County, Maryland in 1676.

Hannah was of a multi-racial background and probably not entirely safe in Cincinnati where racial tension was high, race riots were frequent and slave bounty hunters were a daily fact of life.  Elsewhere on this blog you will read the story of her being accosted by White women on the streets of Jackson Ohio for being an obviously "Indian" woman in the company of a handsome White man, her husband John Irwin.  Hannah's reply was rapid fire.

John's Brother, Archibald Irwin

Irwin, Archibald (Merchant, Commission, Irwin Archibald) Ludlow bw 3rd and 4th, Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Cincinnati. Directory. The Cincinnati Directory for 1842. Charles Cist, Compiler. (Cincinnati, 1842) Page 185.
Irwin, Archibald (Merchant, Irwin and Whiteman) Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Cincinnati. Directory. Cincinnati Directory, for the Year 1829. (Cincinnati, 1829) Page 67.
Irwin, Archibald (Councilman First Ward, Cincinnati City Council) Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Cincinnati. Directory. Cincinnati Directory, for the Years 1836--7. (Cincinnati, 1836) Page 201.
Irwin, Archibald (Merchant, Commission, Irwin and Whiteman) Ludlow Near 4th, Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Cincinnati. Directory. Cincinnati Directory, for the Years 1836--7. (Cincinnati, 1836) Page 90.
Irwin, Archibald ( (Merchant, Commission, Irwin and Whiteman) Ludlow W Side bw 3rd and 4th, Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Cincinnati. Directory. Cincinnati, Covington, Newport and Fulton Directory, for 839-1840. (Cincinnati, 1840) Page 233.
Irwin, Archibald, Jr. (Member) Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Western Art Union. Cincinnati. Transactions of the Western Art Union, for the Year 1849. (Cincinnati, 1849) Page 26.
Irwin, Archibald ( (Merchant, Irwin and Whiteman) Ludlow bw Third and Fourth, Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Cincinnati. Directory. Cincinnati Directory for 1825. (Cincinnati, 1825) Page 53.
Irwin, Archibald (Member) Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Western Art Union. Cincinnati. Transactions of the Western Art Union, for the Year 1849. (Cincinnati, 1849) Page 26.
Irwin, Archibald (Merchant, Commission, Irwin and Whiteman) Ludlow bw 3rd and 4th, Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)	Cincinnati. Directory. Cincinnati Directory, for the Year 1831. (Cincinnati, 1831) Page 82.
Irwin, Archibald (Business, Merchant, Commission) Broadway bw Front and 3rd, Cincinnati, Ohio (Male)