Born in Northumberland County on December 15, 1792, to Irish immigrants John and Mary Fullerton Irvine, Guy C. Irvine arrived in Brokenstraw Township in 1817. A dynamic entrepreneur, he earned the nickname "Napoleon of the Lumber Business," ultimately owning more timberland and sawmills along the Allegheny River than anyone else. Philip Tome's "Pioneer Life" (1854) praised Irvine's generosity and reputation from Olean to New Orleans, noting his concern for employee welfare even as he built his fortune.
In 1822, Irvine married Mary "Polly" Cotton, settling in a log cabin called "Castle Comfort", likely in Brokenstraw Township, PA. As his industrial interests expanded into Pine Grove Township, he and his brother-in-law, Rufus Weatherby (Polly's sister's husband), began constructing a grand residence in 1831. Designed by Irvine and influenced by his travels in the Deep South, the two-family Greek Revival brick home—about 1.5 miles south of Russell—was completed in 1835 following Weatherby's death.
Upon Irvine's passing, Polly inherited half the house, the garden, and a small potato plot. The remaining half went to their daughter, Rachel Irvine Bachop, and her five children, under the condition that she sever ties with her husband, William Bachop—a stipulation left unexplained in the will.
The last of the Irvine descendants to live there were Rachel's daughter, Louisa Bachop Briggs, and granddaughter, Alice Briggs Higgins, whose family left the house in poor condition—chickens even roamed upstairs. In 1940, publisher Will A. Walker acquired and restored the property, renaming it "The Locusts". The Walkers used it as a summer home until 1962, when their daughter Jane and her husband, Robert Kopf, moved in and made it their year-round residence.
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1.5 miles south of Russell, PA 16345