Person:Margaret Irwin (12)

Margaret Irwin died in Ireland in the 1830's, leaving her two young daughters, Margaret and Jane Whitaker, orphaned. Jane's older sister, Margaret Whitaker, also died young at the age of 19 while still residing in Ireland.

Margaret's sister, Ellen Irwin, took custody of her neice, Jane, and together with brothers William and John Irwin, the family emigrated to the United States around 1850. After settling in America, Ellen Irwin married into the Tapper family raised seven children of her own. Aunt Ellen Tapper, Jane's surrogate mother and the heroine of her life story, died in 1912 at the age of 98.