WINFIELD McILVAINE, of Taylor & McIlvaine, one of the prominent law firms of Washington, is a native of Somerset township, born January 30,1856. He is the eldest son of S. B. McIlvaine, a substantial farmer and one of the leading citizens of the eastern part of the county. His mother's maiden name was Catherine Hill, a very extended family name in the southwestern quarter of the county. Their other children are Arabelle, married to William M. Irwin, and now a widow; Ella Laverne, intermarried with Josiah Thomas; Lena, U. G., Julia, and Edwin L. The subject of this sketch received his first educational training in the public schools. Later he attended Canonsburg Academy for two years, and in the winter of 1876-77 taught in the public schools of Somerset township. In the fall of 1877 he entered the sophomore class of Washington and Jefferson College, and in June, 1880, was graduated with honors from that institution. Previously, in June, 1879, he had registered as a law student with his cousin, now the Hon. J. A. McIlvaine, president judge of the Forty-seventh Judicial District of Pennsylvania, completing his legal studies under his direction. The two years immediately following his graduation were spent partly on his father's farm, recuperating his physical powers, and partly in teaching. In the fall of 1882 he entered politics, serving as secretary of the Republican County Committee during the campaign of that and the three succeeding years. At June term, 1883, he was admitted to the bar of Washington county. in the fall of the same year he purchased from E. F. Acheson an interest in the Washington Observer, and from 1886 was manager of the paper. During all this time, he still took an active part in politics, and his paper was the recognized exponent of Republican principles in Washington county. In October, 1890, however, he sold his interest in the Observer to his partner, Mr. Acheson, and, on January 1 of the following year, entered into partnership with J. F. Taylor in the general practice of the law, at Washington. In religion Mr. McIlvaine is a Presbyterian, being a member of the first Presbyterian church of Washington. On October 19, 1892, he married Miss Elizabeth S. Stewart, daughter of the late Galbraith Stewart, of Washington, and they now reside on Wade avenue.

Text taken from page 201 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Karen Souhrada of Pittsford, NY as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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