Frank and Sarah moved to Little River County, Texas near Winthrop with six children in 1904. Those children were Jesse, John Franklin, Trilby, Violet, Benjamin Lawrence (Red), and Jefferson Claude (Buck). They also had another child, Freddie, but he died at birth.

Frank had been a fruit grower in North Arkansas, and after finding the soil at Winthrop too low and wet for raising strawberries, he looked for better land. A year later he and two of his boys walked up the railroad track and found the land near Horatio to be just right. He then moved his family to a farm east of Horatio. It was located not too far from where the Irvan Home was built in 1910.

By this time the family had grown by three more children: Henry Stewart (Bunder), Mary (Bob), and Leonard Noah (Brick). Sarah Rachel Irvan was the first child born in the Irvan House. Myrtle Irvan was born Oct. 29, 1915 , only lived about a month. Her mother Sarah died a short time after the birth of malaria and phelibitis in 1915.

Frank married Eva Nora Chewning-Sutherland, a widow, on Nov. 2, 1916. Together they had five children: Verna Viola, Russell Leroy, Sybel, Wilma Evelyn, and Della Mae. The house they lived in is presently owned by one of the daughters, Sybel Irvan-Young, and is kept with its furnishings as a memorial to the family (written in 2000). Russell Irvan bought the land around the house.

Frank is said to have been the first man to put in a strawberry field in Horatio. He also raised a large variety of peaches, apples, pears, plums, corn, cantaloupes, radishes, beans, peas and cotton. Eva always had a very productive garden. There was always food for the family and many guests who visited the hospitable home. "Papa raised hogs, and when we were hungry we could always find meat and bread in the warming oven of the big wood cookstove." Chickens and cows also provided food and eggs for the growing family. The full proch was used as a table and the people stood in the yard when they had big family gatherings.

The children of Benjamin Franklin Irvan learned to work at an early age. Their father believed in work, but he believed in play also. Once a year they had a big camping trip along with a number of good neighbors. Frank was a great hunter and always kept hunting dogs. The boys were taught to handle guns at an early age. He was an honest man whose 'word was his bond' and he raised his children to be law abiding. He often played jokes on his family and friends and had a love being in the woods. He was known to pick wild flowers and put them under the dinner plates as a surprise.

He only owned one truck, a Model-T Ford, but he never drove it. Leonard was the driver. Frank preferred the wagon and team. He also didn'e believe in modern conveniences. The home had no electricity until about 1947 (they used coal oil lamps), no running water (they used the well water) and no indoor plumbing (the outhouse wasn't too far out back and the "slop jar" worked fine at night).

Frank past away in 1961 and Eva continued to live in the home until she past away in 1983. They are both buried in Clear Creek Cemetery along with many of their relatives.

Many, many relatives of Benjamin Franklin Irvan still live in Sevier County. A family reunion is held each year at the Irvan home around the end of March (around Papa's birthday). The food is still placed on the porch and they eat in the yard and the children still swing from the old cedar tree.