Nellie B. Irwin (née Bonser, 1864-1913) and John Ferguson Irwin (b. 1850s, d. unknown) were a star-crossed couple who owned a 27 acre farm here. “Irwindale” was apparently coined, c. 1895, for a Southern Pacific train station built on their land; the community soon adopted the name. As for the Irwins, Ferguson was a Pittsburgh carpenter and Nellie was born in Denver. They married in Dakota Territory around 1880 and moved to L.A. by 1888. After a few good years growing berries and vegetables, the two divorced in 1905. According to newspapers, Ferguson was a drunk who wanted to sell the farm, but the property was in Nellie’s name and she refused, so he pulled out a pistol and threatened to blow her brains out. Ferguson vanished after the divorce while Nellie remained in the area with their kids Carl, Leola, and Leila (or Lelah) and lived off her own income. Leola Irwin would have her own marital woes: her first husband was arrested in the middle of their 1909 honeymoon for forging checks! She remarried in 1918 and moved to Utah.
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