Charles Fayette Irwin

Belle Center Lodge No. 347, F. & A.M., Belle Center, Ohio – Past Master Lafayette Chapter No. 60, R.A.M., Bellefontaine, Ohio Logan Council No. 85, R.S.M., Bellefontaine, Ohio Bellefontaine Commandery No. 61, K.T. – Past Commander Dayton Consistory, A.A.S.R.

Charles Fayette Irwin was born on November 2, 1874, in Bellevue, Pennsylvania.  Son of George Washington Irwin and Martha Anne Morse.  He received his early education in the Pittsburg public schools.  He attended Washington & Jefferson College, graduating in 1898.  While a senior at college he volunteered for service in the Spanish-American War as a Seaman and was assigned to Division C of the North Atlantic Squadron of the U.S. Navy.  He was promoted to Quartermaster and was discharged in November of 1899.  At the end of the war, he entered the Western Theological Seminary from which he graduated in the class of 1901.  He also took post graduate work in Oberlin Graduate School of Theology.

On July 24, 1901, he married Emma M. Munce of Washington, PA and the couple went on to have six daughters, Mary, Arminda, Martha, Anna, Evelyn and Barbara, and a son, Charles.

Rev. Irwin was ordained as a minister of the gospel by the Presbytery of Shenango on September 17, 1901, and was installed as pastor of the West Middlesex, PA, Presbyterian Church.  Later, he resigned this charge to take up the work of Superintendent of the Adult Division of the Pennsylvania State Sabbath School association.  Following two years of service with the state organization, Bro. Irwin held successful pastorates at Lorain and Belle Center, Ohio. 

During World War 1, in March 1918, he resigned his charge and entered the Y.M.C.A. work at Camp Sherman as their Secretary and also in a ministerial capacity, for the most part with the 322nd Field Artillery of the 83rd Division.  On June 15, 1918, he enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army.  He was sent to Camp Taylor, KY, and attended Chaplain’s Training School.  He received a commission as First Lieutenant, Chaplain on July 5, 1918.  He arrived in France in August 1918 and served until August, 1919.    Charles returned to the U.S. aboard the Northern Pacific No. 7, which departed from Brest, France, on August 2, 1919, arriving in Hoboken, NJ on August 12, 1919.  He was discharged at Camp Sherman, OH on August 28, 1919.  He was commissioned First Lieutenant Chaplain, 147th Infantry, 37th Division, Company E, Infantry for the Ohio National Guard Reserve on April 12, 1920.

Bro. Irwin was very active in Masonic clubs while in France, belonging to many Masonic Clubs: ? Montoir Masonic Club The Masonic Club Base Section No. 1 - Saint-Nazaire Bourges Masonic Club Overseas Masonic Club of Paris S.O.L. Dugout No. 6 – S.O.L. 5

He was also very active in vising and making friends with the French Masons in the area, attending banquets and rituals in French lodges and Masonic clubs.

Bro. Irwin was a prolific researcher and writer regarding Masonic lodges and clubs in France during the war and was published in many journals and Grand Lodge Proceedings.  He also authored a book “Masonry in the Trenches”.  He is also known to have been a student of ancient Masonry.

After his return from the war, he taught at Bell Center High School.  In 1920, he accepted a call to the Presbyterian Church in Eaton, Ohio, being formally installed on July 14, 1920. 

On May 8, 1921, he gave the Baccalaureate sermon to the 1921 graduating class of Monroe Township Centralized High School.  On May 30, he delivered address for the annual Memorial Day ceremonies in Dayton.  In June 2021, Bro. Irwin proposed that historic Fort St. Clair, just to the west of Eaton, be converted to a permanent memorial for five American soldiers killed in the war with American Indians in 1792.  In July, he was made President of the newly formed Preble County Council of the American Legion.  On Friday, November 11, 1921, Bro. Irwin addressed members of the Dayton Noontide club at the Masonic Temple.  He spoke of his observance of American Masonry during World War 1.  He was elected Chaplain of St. Clair Post, American Legion on November 17, 1921. 

In May of 1922, he had a surgical procedure done that required him to stay in the Miami Valley hospital for several weeks.  He was the chief speaker at the Shriners’ Arabic Club meeting on Wednesday, September 13, where he spoke about his experiences as an American Mason in France during World War 1.

On Friday, March 16, 1923, in Hamilton, OH, Bro. Irwin spoke about his soon to be published book “Masonry in the Trenches” at the Y.M.C.A.  Saturday, April 21, 1923, he officiated the wedding of Veda Albaugh and Albert Daugherty.  On October 25, 1923, he officiated the wedding of Viola Welsh and William Hiestand, both in Eaton.

After four years of service in Eaton, he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmerding, where he served for five years.  He was installed as Pastor of the Rural Valley Presbyterian Church on September 6, 1929, where he remained until his death.  He was very active in his congregation and denomination and was prominently identified with the Sunday School work and Red Cross activities.  He was post commander of Cosgrove Post No. 523 in Rural Valley.    He was treasurer and permanent clerk of the Kittanning Presbytery and always took great interest in their work.

Bro. Irwin entered into the Celestial Lodge above on Monday, August 1, 1932, at 6:30 am in the St. Retas Hospital in Lima, OH, after being in poor health for some time.  He had left Rural Valley on a vacation to Indian Lake, Ohio just the Tuesday before, but only after two days he was seized with an attack of uremic poisoning and he to be taken to the hospital on Friday.  His death was a great shock to the community.  He now rests in Highwood Cemetery, Bellevue, Pennsylvania.

Soft and safe, my brother, be thy resting place. Bright and glorious be thy rising from it.

Lest we forget…