US Congressman. He was born on of ten children to John Irvin and Ann Nancy Agnes Watson Irvin in Linden Hall, Centre County, Pennsylvania. He was educated locally in public schools. He later engaged in mercantile, milling, mining, agricultural, and ironworks, and successful manufacturing businesses in Oak Hill, Pennsylvania, Milesburg, Pennsylvania, and in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. On September 4, 1822, he married Juliann Gregg but they had no children. After there marriage, they were the first occupants of the Irvin Mansion in Oak Hill, Centre County, Pennsylvania. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Member of the Whig Party, he then served Pennsylvania's 14th District (Twenty-Seventh Congress) in the United States House of Representatives from 1841 to 1843. After his term in the United States Congress expired on March 3, 1843, he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Alexander Ramsey. He then decided to run for another seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Member of the Whig Party, he then served Pennsylvania's 17th District (Twenty-Seventh Congress) in the United States Congress from 1843 to 1845. After his term in the United States Congress expired on March 3, 1845, he was succeeded in office by United States Representative John Blanchard. He was then an unsuccessful Whig Party Candidate for the office of the Governor of Pennsylvania losing the election to the incumbent Governor Francis Rawn Shunk in 1847. In 1855, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chartered the Farmer's High School. The school's trustees decided to build the school on 200 acres (0.81 km2) of Centre County, Pennsylvania, land donated by Irvin. That Farmer's High School is now The Pennsylvania State University. Irvin Hall, one of Penn State's oldest residential halls, was named in his honor. His wife Juliann passed away on July 4, 1856, at the age of 59, and he married for the second time on January 1, 1859, to Mary Anne Kinney but they had no children either. He was then a United States Naval Storekeeper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1857. During his earlier life, he had also participated in the Pennsylvania Militia and earned the ranks of Brigadier-General and Major-General. After leaving politics he continued with his many business pursuits in the Centre County, Pennsylvania, area. Throughout his life, he had become known for his generosity towards friends, family members, and to the poor and needy. He passed away following a protracted illness in Hecla, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1862, at the age of 62. He was buried in the Union Cemetery in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. His wife Mary Anne passed away on August 4, 1878, at the age of 76, and was buried with her husband. One of his newspaper obituaries of the time said of him, "A man of strict business habits, enterprising and liberal-the friend of the poor and needy, and ever ready to dispense of his wealth with a munificent hand, and hence, beloved by all who knew him. His memory will long be revered by the citizens of Centre County." The Oak Hall Historic District, associated with his dwelling in College Township, Pennsylvania, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Also on the Register is the Monroe Furnace, which he established in 1847. His nephew was the United States Representative and Governor of Pennsylvania Andrew Gregg Curtin.