George Harrison Orr

FEELEY, FOSTER, GRAY, GREEN, ORR, THOMPSON, WILSON

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 9/2/2004 at 13:09:54

George H. Orr for the past ten years has lived retired in Winterset, enjoying a life of ease made possible by assiduous labor in earlier life. He was born in Monroeville, Huron county, Ohio, on the 19th of January, 1841, a son of James and Martha C. (Thompson) Orr. The father was born in Ross county, Ohio, November n, 1811, and the mother was also a native of that county and was born in 1807. Mr. Orr farmed in Ohio, living successively in Huron, Crawford and Wyandot counties. In 1879 he removed to Madison county, Iowa, and settled upon a small farm in Scott township, where his death occurred in September, 1898, when he was almost eighty-seven years of age. His wife also exceeded the Psalmist's three score years and ten, as she passed away when seventy-five years of age. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and most worthy people. He made two trips across the plains to California and delivered horses to the wheat fields of that state, and also bought and shipped horses, cattle and hogs extensively. He was the father of five children: William C., who died in Crawford county, Ohio; Helen Elizabeth and Jennie, both of whom died in young womanhood and but a month apart; George H., of this review; and James D., a resident of Des Moines.

George H. Orr was reared upon his father's farm in Ohio and when twenty-two years of age began farming on his own account, having in his boyhood and youth learned practical methods of agriculture. For two years he operated his brother's farm and for four or five years his father's and then purchased two hundred acres of land in Wyandot county, Ohio, which he cultivated until the family removed to Madison county, Iowa. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Scott township, which was but poorly improved, and at once began remodeling the buildings and bringing the land to a higher state of cultivation. When he retired from active life in 1905 the property was one of the valuable farms of this locality, the fields were well fenced, the barns and other buildings were commodious and well adapted to their purposes, and the residence was substantial and comfortable. He found farming congenial and also lucrative and has a competence which enables him to live retired in his comfortable home on East Court avenue, Winterset.

Mr. Orr was married in Ohio to Miss Kate Gray, who was born February 22, 1840, a daughter of Daniel and Lydia (Myrtle) Gray, both of whom were born in New York. They were married in Steuben county, that state, and both passed away in Goodland, Indiana, where the father farmed for many years. In early life he took quite a prominent part in public affairs and was a representative to the New York legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Orr have seven children. Jennie is the wife of A. L. Foster, of Winterset, and they have two children: Nellie, who married Herman B. Gates, treasurer of the state of Wyoming; and Lloyd, a veterinary surgeon at Greenfield, Iowa. William C. married Myrtle Feeley and they have two children, Guy and Clifford. He and his family reside upon his father's farm. Clara is the wife of Elmer Feeley, a farmer of Scott township, and they have two children: Beulah, who will graduate as a trained nurse from the State University of Colorado at Boulder; and Josephine, who is attending the Winterset high school. Frank, a farmer in Scott township, married Miss Cora Foster and they have one child, Gerald. Edna gave her hand in marriage to Melvin Foster, a farmer of Monroe township, and they have a son, George, who is named for both of his grandfathers. Harry, a farmer of Scott township, married Miss Mabel Wilson and their children are Mildred and Claude. Robert, a stockman of Winterset, married Miss Louise Green and they have a daughter, Louise. Mr. and Mrs. Orr celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on the 12th of March, 1912, when they received the felicitations of their many friends.

Mr. Orr is a republican and is stanch in his allegiance to that party, whose principles he believes to be based upon sound conceptions of political and economic science. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and both are at all times eager to cooperate in movements that seek the moral betterment of the community. He is a man of magnificent physique, six feet tall and well proportioned, and although he is seventy-four years of age seems yet a young man. He is not only in excellent health and very active but has the spirit of youth, being intensely interested in all that is occurring and believing that the world is better than it was in years gone by.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915”