The Orr Families of Wayne County, Ohio

SMITH ORR, M. D.

The subject of this sketch, who for many years was one of the representative medical practitioners of Grant county, Oregon, is the only living representative of the Orr family for whom the town of Orrville was named, and is the only surviving child of the late Hon. William M. Orr. Doctor Orr was born in the eastern part of Wayne county, Ohio, on the 23d of November, 1849. He is the oldest of four children born to his parents, the others being: John, who was born July 20, 1851, and is now deceased; William S., who was born February 4, 1856, and is deceased; and Mrs. S. M. Brenneman, born January 8, 1858, and died January 5, 1909, leaving a husband and two daughters.

Dr. Smith Orr was reared in Wooster until he was fourteen years old, when he removed with his father to Orrville. He received his education in the public schools of Wooster and Orrville, supplementing this by attendance at the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio. Having then determined to make the practice of medicine his life work, the subject entered Rush Medical College, at Chicago, where he graduated in 1876, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He at once entered upon the active practice of his profession, locating first at Hardin, Lasalle county, Illinois, but subsequently removing to Canyon City, Oregon. He was a successful practitioner, commanding a large and remunerative patronage, and stood high among the men of his calling. In 1892, on account of the death of his father, Doctor Onreturned to Orrville and has since devoted his time to looking after his extended landed interests. The Doctor was, while engaged in the practice, considered an unusually good diagnostician and kept in close touch with every advance made in the healing art. He took a post-graduate course at the New York Polyclinic and commanded the confidence of those whom he treated.

Doctor Orr has never married, and is living quietly and unostentatiously at Orrville. He possesses a good library and is a close reader and keen observer of men and events, keeping himself well informed on the current events of the day.

The subject's paternal grandfather. Smith Orr, for whom he was named, owned one of the first houses in Orrville. This house is still standing, having sheltered three generations of the family. Judge Smith Orr died on April 1, 1865.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

ABNER G. ORR.

The people who constitute the bone and sine of this country are not those who are unstable and unsettled, who Hy from this occupation to that, who do not know how to vote until they are told, and who take no active and intelligent interest in affairs affecting their schools, churches and property. The backbone of this country is made up of the families which have made their homes, who are alive to the best interests of the community in which they reside, and who attend to their own business and are too busy to attend to that of others, who work on steadily from day to day taking the sunshine with the storm, and who rear a fine family to a comfortable home and an honest life. Such people are always welcome in any country and any community. They are wealth producers and Wayne county is blessed with many of them, among the number being the subject of this sketch.

Abner G. Orr is descended from sturdy Irish ancestry, his grandfather, Samuel Orr, having emigrated to this country from Ireland in young man-

:aviR. AND hood. He came at once to Wayne county, Ohio, and located in East Union township. At that time he had no means, but he possessed strong arms and a willing heart, and by dint of tireless energy and a wise economy he was enabled to buy a small tract of land, to which he added from time to time as he was able until at the time of his death he was the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres. He married Mary Burnett, and they became the parents of eight sons and one daughter. Of these sons, Thomas was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in East Union township on October 31, 1820, and was reared on his father's farm, which he continued to till during his active years. He married Nancy Gaddis and they became the parents of six children, two boys and four girls, namely: Martha, the wife of Albert Hughes, of Defiance county, Ohio; Mary, the wife of Abram Eshelman, of Alilton township; Abner G., the subject of this sketch; Emma, the wife of Charles Swaingart, of East Union township; William J. married Emma J.- Brenneman and resides on the old homestead in East Union township; Sarah A., who was the wife of C. M. Badger, is now deceased.

One sad accident happened in the Bechtel family. In 1837 there was a fire and the house burned, and four girls were burned to death. This affected the health of the father so that he passed away and one year later on Christmas day they l)tried him.

Abner G. Orr was born in East Union township, Wayne county, February 3, 1856, and was reared under the parental roof. He attended the common schools of his locality, supplementing this by attendance at Professor Eberly's school at Smithville. On the completion of his education he began teaching school and followed this vocation seven years. He then resumed labor on the farm and subsequently came into possession of a fine farm of his own, on which he is successfully prosecuting his chosen vocation. He has a splendid farm of three hundred and eight acres, on which he raises all the crops common to this locality, and in connection therewith he also gives considerable attention to the breeding and raising of live stock, in which also he has been successful. He is a careful and painstaking man, and the appearance of his property indicates him to be a man of good taste and sound judgment. He has a comfortable and commodious residence, substantial and convenient outbuildings and barns, and in all departments of his work he is up to date.

On h'february 27, 1890, Mr. Orr was united in marriage to Sarah M. Bechtel. She is a daughter of Jacob Bechtel, who was born on February 29,

1836, in Greene township, where he spent his entire life. Mrs. Orr was born Jnly 26, 1861, on the farm on which she now lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Orr have been born four children, as follows: Walter B., born April 16,

1894; Mary E., born Jnly 10, 1896: Emily A., born January 23, 1899; Charlotte K., born September 27, 1901; [name withheld], born March 17, 1906, died August 24, 1907.

In politics Mr. Orr is an enthusiastic Republican and is now serving as one of the trustees of Greene township, having also served as a member of the school board. In religion, he and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian church at Orrville, to which they give an earnest and generous support. Mr. Orr is an excellent citizen, quiet and unostentatious, and enjoys the respect and confidence of his neighbors and friends, who have known him from early boyhood.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HON. THOMAS W. ORR.

Prominent in the professional life of Wooster, pre-eminently distinguished for his splendid ability in carrying to completion important public enterprises and enjoying marked prestige in many things, aside from his pronounced legal talents, far beyond the limits of the community honored by his citizenship, Hon. Thomas W. Orr stands out a clear and conspicuous figure among the successful men of a part of the great Buckeye state noted throughout the commonwealth for its high order of intelligence and business and professional talent. Characterized by breadth of wisdom and strong individuality, his achievements but represent the utilization of innate talents in directing efforts along lines in which mature judgment, rare discrimination and a resourcefulness that hesitates at no opposing circumstances, pave the way and ultimately lead to great achievements. It is not the intention of the biographer in this connection to give a detailed history of his busy, influential and interesting life, but rather to note, incidentally, his connection with various phases of the development of Wayne county and his long and worthy practice of the law and to show the marked influence he has wielded in advancing the material interests of this locality by his strict adherence to the Golden Rule and his desire to promote the general good.

Hon. Thomas W. Orr is of Scotch-Irish and German ancestry and was born February 18, 1861, in Salt Creek township, Wayne county. He is the son of John and Agnes (Lisle) Orr, the latter the daughter of Robert Lisle, the mother dying when Thomas W. Orr was nine years of age. From the age of thirteen he was compelled to fight his own battles of life. His father was very solicitous regarding the future welfare of his son, but did not have the necessary means to assist him, and in such a school of discipline, hard and regrettable, he learned the enduring lessons of fortitude and courage that have stood him so well in hand in later life. He worked on the farm during the summer months in order to obtain means, and he attended the common schools during the winter months. He was ambitious to “leave his footprints on the sands of time,” and consequently was a persistent student. He attended the high school at Fredericksburg, also the Smithville Academy, and finally took a course in the Normal Academy at Ada, Ohio. When nineteen years of age he had obtained a sufficient education to enable him to begin teaching, which he did, alternating the same with going to school until he had finished the course. He taught in Wayne, Salt and Sugar Creek townships, and for a time was principal of the schools at Sterling. The last year of his school work was spent in North Dakota, as principal of the St. Thomas schools, in Pembina county. Red River valley. He won an excellent reputation as an educator and his services were in great demand, and had he continued in this profession he would doubtless have become one of the noted educators of the state. But he. had long desired to win a name at the legal profession, and ruhen he returned from the AATst he entered the law office of Messrs. Critchfield & Critchfield, in AAToster. and there completed his elementary studies of the law, which had been undertaken some years previous, he having devoted some of his spare moments to a perusal of Blackstone prior to his going to North Dakota. In March, 1895, he w'as admitted to the Ohio bar, and in the spring of that year he opened an office in Orrville, AAMyne county, and for a number of years was actively and successfully engaged in the practice of law at that place until elected to the office of judge of the probate court, which brought about his removal to AVooster, where he has devoted his energies to the duties of that office. AAdiile living in Orrville he was a member of and clerk of the board of education of the town for six years, and for a period of five years he was employed as solicitor of it, performing the duties of each with a characteristic fidelity that has marked all his public and professional acts, stand)- ing him as a man of unquestioned aliility and integrity.

Mr. Orr was married, in 1890, to Emma J. Smith, daughter of Air. and Mrs. Cyrus Smith, of Paint township, the representative of an old and highly honored family there. This union has been blessed by the birth of the following children: Maynard S. (deceased), Lucil. AAhilter S., Ruth and Paul S.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

Fraternally, Judge Orr is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

DUDLEY S. ORR.

The record of Dudley S. Orr is that of a man who by his own unaided efforts worked his way from a modest beginning to a position of comparative affluence and influence in the agricultural affairs of East Union township, Wayne county. His life has been of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods which he has followed have won him the unbounded confidence of his fellow citizens.

Mr. Orr was born in East Union township, this county, December 20, 1874. and he has achieved success at a much earlier age than most men, being yet young in years but ripe in experience. He is the son of W. C. and Mary B. (Bott) Orr; the father was born in East Union township, Wayne county, Ohio, and he was reared here and married in this vicinity and has spent his life here. He and his wife became the parents of three children, namely; Laura, wife of Harry Jameson, of Apple Creek; Ida, who married a Mr. McCullough, is deceased.

Dudley S. Orr was reared on the home farm in East Union township, which he worked when very young during the summer season, attending the winter term of schools in that district in the meantime, but he managed to get a very good education which has since been greatly supplemented by general home reading and observation by coming in contact with the world.

When but a young man he started in life for himself and adopted farming, which line of endeavor he has always followed, and, being a hard worker and quick to see the trend of events, he has been very successful as an agriculturist and stock raiser. He now owns a neat little farm of thirty-seven acres where he lives and another ef fine soil south of his home place in East Union township, the latter farm consisting of ninety-three acres. He has a very cozy home and a good orchard and garden, — in fact, everything to make life on a farm desirable.

Mr. Orr was married to Bertha Carson, daughter of John Carson, a well-known citizen in his community, their wedding occurring in the fall of 1895, Mrs. Orr was born in the state of Pennsylvania, and when sixteen years of age she came to Wayne county, Ohio, with her parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Orr six children have been born, named as follows: Donald, Ross, Velma,

Wilbur, Cloyce and Rene.

Politically, Mr. Orr is a Republican, and he and his family are well liked by all who know them, owing to their pleasant demeanor in mingling with both stranger and neighbor.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.