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         JOSIAH J. ORR, an honored resident and one of the old settlers of Louisa County, now living on section 33, Union Township, was born Aug. 26, 1812, in Blount County, Tenn. and his parents, William and Mary (Walker) Orr, were also natives of that State, though of Irish descent. Our subject was reared upon a farm, and in the common schools of his native State received his education. At the age of eighteen years he went to Athens, in East Tennessee, and was apprenticed to the saddler’s trade, where he served a term of three years. Having mastered his trade, he then went to Madisonville, Monroe Co., Tenn., where he embarked in the saddler business, continuing in that line for fifteen years, when, in 1839, he was elected County Recorder of Monroe County, and served in that position for four years, proving an efficient and faithful officer. At the expiration of his term of service, in 1844, he visited Louisa County, Iowa, where he remained for a few months, and in the meantime purchased eighty acres of arable and twenty acres of timber land. Returning to his native State during the following fall, he made it his home for two years, when, in the autumn of 1848, he again visited Louisa County, remaining for a few months, and in 1851 made it his permanent place of residence. Settling on section 3, Union Township, he entered a claim of 160 acres of land, which he improved and made his home until 1882, at which time he sold his farm and moved to the town of Clifton, where he lived a retired life, and after three years removed to the home of his son-in-law, T. A. Raymond, in Union Township, where he is still living.

In 1851 Mr. Orr was united in marriage with Mrs. Margaret A. Johnston, a native of Blount County, Tenn., widow of Samuel Johnston, and a daughter of Francis Shaw, who was born in the North of Ireland. They were the parents of three children: Mary Aletha, wife of Thomas Patton, a farmer of Monroe County, Iowa; Hester Ann, who died at the age of two years; and Emma Ellen, wife of T. A. Raymond, of Union Township. In 1859 Mr. Orr was called upon to mourn the death of his wife, who died on the 31st of August, at the age of thirty-five years. She was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Orr belongs to the Associate Presbyterian Church. For a number of years he has held the office of Clerk in Union Township, and since the organization of the Republican party has been one of its supporters. Before the Civil War he strongly advocated the abolition of slavery, and is now prominent in the promotion of temperance principles, believing in the strict enforcement of the prohibitory laws of the State. After many years of labor both for himself and in the interests of the community in which he resides, he is now living a retired life.

Timothy A. Raymond, one of the enterprising, progressive farmers of Union Township, residing on section 33, is a native of New York, and a son . . .

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. . . of Henry and Lydia (Kent) Raymond. He grew to manhood on a farm, and has followed the occupation of farming through life. He now owns 150 acres of well-improved land, which pays a tribute to his care and cultivation, and everything about the place denotes industry and thrift. In the month of March, 1880, Mr. Raymond and Miss Emma Ellen Orr were united in marriage, and to them has been born a family of five children—Cora Ann, Aletha and Laura A. (twins), William A. and Emma E.