The first known Orr ancestor is Joseph, born in Ireland on December 15, 1788. His wife, Jane, was born on January 14, 1794. To date, little is known about the family before they removed to Columbiana County, Ohio about 1813 only that they were in Pennsylvania before they settled in Lisbon, Ohio. Joseph and Jane raised a family of twelve children. He is listed as one of the early tailors in Lisbon and is enumerated on the census of 1820 as engaged in manufacture. By 1828 he is listed as a householder on Section #31 in Elkrun Township in Columbiana County. Joseph farmed and ran a hotel on his property. In 1831, Joseph was elected to the post of township trustee in Elkrun. He held the post for one year. On December 28, 1847, Jane Orr died in Elkrun.
Two years later, on July 5, 1849, Joseph married Elizabeth Bowman. The marriage ended in divorce in June, 1850 with Joseph suing her for fraud. She was awarded $100.00 in alimony. Joseph married for a third time on August 27, 1850. His wife, Elizabeth Cushman sued him for divorce in September, 1857 on grounds of extreme cruelty. Joseph died one month later, on October 26, 1857, in Elkrun Township.
Both Joseph and Jane are buried in the Carlisle Cemetery in Elkrun Township near their property. Other Orr family members who are buried under a spreading old tree in the “Orr row” are:
Joseph and Benjamin Orr died in Columbiana County following discharge from Co. F 76th OVI during the Civil War. Both boys may have been engaged in the Siege of Vicksburg, were injured, and sent home where they died.
The children of Joseph and Jane Orr:
WILLIAM MORLAN ORR, born April 28, 1813 in Ohio, died February 11, 1849 in Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio married NANCY CANNON on October 15, 1835.
Family research is not done alone. There are two fellow Columbiana County Orr researchers that I would like to thank for their information and support--B. Diane Hunter and Vickie Tallent.
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