[752] Indian Office, Letter Book B. The letter is unsigned but probably was written by Dearborn.
Varnum took up his new work at Chicago the last of August. The invoice of the household furniture belonging to the factory made on this date by Jouett and Kinzie is still preserved.[753] His predecessors had not made use of the full $200 allowed for this purpose, apparently, for the invoice shows the total original cost of the equipment to have been $142.87. The appraisers estimated the present value of the articles at about 80 per cent of the original cost. The meager equipment included six chairs, one table, and one camp and two cot bedsteads; the most prominent items among the kitchen utensils being two brass and four tin kettles, valued at fifteen dollars.
[753] Department of Indian Trade, Chicago invoice book.
In 1808 it was decided to establish a factory at Mackinac. Under the impression that Varnum preferred this station to the one at Chicago the appointment was made, and Matthew Irwin of Philadelphia was designated to succeed Varnum at Chicago.[754] Varnum, too late, protested against his transfer, preferring to remain at Chicago, but the appointment of Irwin had already been made, and it was decided that the arrangement could not be altered. Irwin's salary and subsistence was fixed at $1,165, $200 less than his predecessor had been given.[755] He was expected to proceed to Chicago at once, and to arrive there in time to permit Varnum to open the factory at Mackinac the same season. This plan miscarried, however. Irwin in charge of a consignment of goods went as far as Albany; here the goods were stored and the factor returned to Philadelphia to pass the winter. In the spring of 1809 he again started for Chicago.[756] His tenure as factor lasted three years. The outbreak of war in 1812 terminated the usefulness of the factory for the time being, and Irwin proceeded to wind up its affairs. The stock of furs on hand was sent by vessel to Mackinac, only to fall into the hands of the British. On July 5 Irwin left Chicago, having closed the storehouse and delivered the keys to Doctor Van Voorhis.[757]
[754] Indian Office, Letter Book A, 196, John Mason to Matthew Irwin, August 8, 1808; Letter Book B, 436, War Department to Irwin, May 6, 1809.
[755] Indian Office, Letter Book A, 196, Mason to Irwin, August 8, 1808.
[756] Ibid., 348, Mason to Irwin, May 6, 1809.
[757] Indian Office, Letter Book C, 131, Mason to Irwin, February 9, 1813.
With the plans for the restoration of the Chicago factory after the war Irwin was again appointed factor, but before the factory had actually been established his appointment was changed from Chicago to Green Bay. His was the only incumbency of the latter factory, his service there continuing from its establishment in 1816 to the abandonment of the factory system six years later. Irwin returned to Pennsylvania, his native state, where he died in 1845.[758] He was of medium height, well proportioned, "of pleasing deportment, and quite interesting and popular in his address."
[758] For a sketch, of Irwin's life see Wisconsin Historical Collections, VII, 269-70.