M. W. Brother Horace A. Irvin was born in the city of Morrow, Warren County, Ohio, February 17, 1855. When one year old, his parents, James B. and Ellen S. Irvin, brought him to Dayton, where he has since resided. He attended the public schools in Dayton and completed his education at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in the Class of 1874. He was a member of the Alpha-Delta-Theta and Theta-Beta-Kappa Fraternities. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Miami University since 1895.
He was engaged in the manufacturing of paint, and was President of the Irvin, Jewell and Vinson Co., one of the leading paint companies of Ohio. He was also a Director of the Merchants National Bank and the First Savings & Banking Company.
For more than twenty years he was a trustee of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, and by faithful and self-sacrificing service was an all-important factor in its marvelous development and growth. It would be difficult to enumerate the many fields of endeavor, which enlisted his enthusiastic devotion to the social and civic enterprises of the city. His personal charm, rugged honesty, and earnest optimism brought abundant success in all his undertakings, and won for him the plaudits of its many people.
Brother Irvin was initiated an Entered Apprentice, June 14, 1878; passed to the degree of Fellow Craft, June 29, 1878; and made a Master Mason, July 20, 1878, in Mystic Lodge, No. 405, at Dayton, Ohio. He was Worshipful Master of Mystic Lodge in 1902. He was President of the Ohio Masonic Veterans’ Association in .1912-13. He received the York Rite Degrees in Unity Chapter, No. 16, October 17, 1878, and Reese Council No.9, November 1, 1878, in Dayton, Ohio. He was created a Knight Templar in Reed Commandery, No.6, January 7, 1879. He received the Scottish Rite Degrees in the Bodies of the Valley of Cincinnati in the Reunion Class of February 1879.
In 1880 he became a charter member of Gabriel Lodge of Perfection, Miami Council Princes of Jerusalem, Dayton Chapter Rose Croix, and Dayton Consistory of the Valley of Dayton. He served five years as Potent Master Gabriel Lodge of Perfection and two years as Most Wise Master Dayton Chapter Rose Croix. He has been a Trustee of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Dayton since June 5,1907, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Masonic Temple Company since April 11, 1911. He received the Honorary 33-Degree in the Supreme Council A. & A. S. R., Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in 1896, at Pittsburgh, Pa. He was crowned an active member of the Supreme Council Northern Masonic Jurisdiction at Boston, Mass., in September 1906. He served three years as Marshal of the Camp and was appointed Grand Prior in October 1912.
In the Grand Lodge of Ohio he served as Grand Orator in 1903, Junior Warden in 1904, Senior Warden in 1905, Deputy Grand Master in 1906, Most Worshipful Grand Master in 1907. He has been Grand Treasurer since 1919.
M. W. Brother Irvin departed this life on Wednesday, May 13, 1925 at his home in Dayton, Ohio. Internment was May 15, 1925 in Woodlawn Cemetery, Section 121, Lot 177, Dayton, Ohio.