Irish, Loomis P., capitalist; born at Ripley, N. Y., Jan. 15, 1856; educated in common schools. Began in banking business, 1882; owner of the Bank of Pine Island, Goodhue Co.; also proprietor of the Pine Island Roller Mills, the Peoples’ opera house, brick yards and electric light plant. Address: Pine Island, Minn. (The Book of Minnesotans, A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the State of Minnesota, A. N. Marquis & Company, Chicago, 1907, Page 254)
Page 806. Loomis F. Irish, president of the State Bank of Pine Island, was born in New York state, January 15, 1856, son of Joseph and Evelyn (Newton) Irish, natives of New York, who in 1865 came west to Minnesota, locating at Rochester, where the father engaged in farming and also ran a distillery. In 1867 he moved with his family to Goodhue county, and engaged in farming for one year, after which he went to Dodge county, remaining five years, also spending five years in Olmstead county. In 1878 they came to Pine Island, where the mother died the same year. The father died in 1900. They had a family of five children: Loomis, the subject of this sketch; Augustus, Julia, Rush (deceased), and Riley. Loomis F. received his education in the public schools of Dodge county. For ten years he manufactured brick and also operated the Pine Island roller mill, which he built in 1899. He built the first block in the village in 1895. The block known as the Opera House Block is a model of beauty and usefulness. In 1882 he established a private bank, which he conducted for twenty-four years. In 1907 this bank was incorporated as the State Bank of Pine Island. Mr. Irish was married in 1877 to Lura S. Hawkins, daughter of J. F. and Mahalia (Phelps) Hawkins, natives of Canada and Wisconsin, the former of whom was a brickmason by trade. They came to Pine Island in 1862 and both are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Irish have had five chil-
Page 807. dren: Blanche, who married V. E. Parker, of Pine Island; Caryl and Ruth, who live at home; Basil and Hilda (deceased). In politics Mr. Irish is Republican. Fraternally he affiliates with the I. O. O. F. and M. W. A. He and his family attend Grace church. (History of Goodhue County Minnesota, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., Chicago, 1909)
IRISH, LOOMIS F., banker, b. in New York state, Jan. 15, 1856; came with his parents to Minnesota in 1865, and to Pine Island in 1878; engaged in brick making and in milling; established a private bank in 1882, which he conducted for twenty-four years; organized the State Bank of Pine Island in 1907, and is its president. [56.] (Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume XIV, Minnesota Biographies 1655-1912, Compiled by Warren Upham and Rose Barteau Dunlap, Published by the Society, June, 1912, St. Paul, Minnesota, Page 363)