Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Hight, Orion R 1835 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com March 25, 2006, 4:28 pm

Author: Bio/Gen Record LaSalle/Grundy 1900

Orion R. Hight

The prosperous town of Morris, Illinois, has its share of enterprising 
business men, and occupying a representative position among them is Orion R. 
Hight, personal mention of whom is of interest in this work by reason of his 
being both a veteran of the civil war and a leading citizen of the town in 
which he lives.

Orion R. Hight was born in Steuben county, New York, December 13, 1835, and is 
descended from English ancestors who were among the early settlers of New 
Jersey. It was in colonial days that the Hight family was established on the 
Atlantic coast, and from New Jersey they have scattered to various portions of 
the United States. John Nicholas Hight, the grandfather of Orion R., was born 
in Bedminster, New Jersey, January 9, 1756, and died in Steuben county, New 
York, October 15, 1850. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Savidge, 
were the parents of a large family of children, including the following:  
David, Deborah, Betsey, William S., Nicholas, Annie, Susanna and Rachel S., 
and two daughters that died in infancy. William S. Hight was born in New 
Jersey. January 16, 1787, and died in New York, April 24, 1855. His wife, nee 
Phebe Wilson, was a native of Long Island. Their children in order of birth 
were as follows: Sarah Ann, deceased; Nicholas F., deceased; Jeannette, 
deceased; Nancy, deceased; Barclay, deceased; John N., of Schuyler county, New 
York; Susan, deceased; Mary C., a resident of Michigan; Orion R., the direct 
subject of this sketch; and Rachel, a resident of Michigan.

Orion R. Hight spent the first twenty-one years of his life in his native 
county in the Empire state. His educational advantages did not extend beyond 
the common schools, and when he started out in life on his own account he had 
no financial assistance. At the age of twenty-one he went to Michigan, where 
he remained sixteen years, and whence, January 1, 1873, he came to Morris, 
Illinois, which has since been his home. When a youth he learned the trade of 
shoemaker, beginning the same at the age of fifteen and becoming a fine 
workman, and after his location in Michigan he was for a time engaged in the 
shoe business and later kept a hotel.  In Morris he opened a shoe store and 
dealt in shoes exclusively from the time of his location here until 1882, 
since which time he has kept a general store. His career as a business man has 
been successful. As already stated, he started out in life a poor young mar, 
and that he has trade a success in life and accumulated a competency is due to 
his own industry and good management.

At the time the civil war was inaugurated Mr. Hight was a resident of 
Michigan.  His father had been a soldier in the war of 1812 and participated 
in the battle of Black Rock; and his grandfather, a Revolutionary soldier, had 
fought on the Princeton battle-fields; and when the civil-war cloud gathered 
and burst upon the country Orion R. Hight, with the patriotism of his 
forefathers, offered his services to the Union. He enlisted October 14, 1861, 
in Company H, Twelfth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, as a private, was mustered 
in as second sergeant; and was honorably discharged July 11, 1862. Among the 
battles in which he participated was that of Shiloh.

Mr. Hight was married July 4, 1857, at Lawton, Michigan, to Elizabeth M. 
Smith, a native of Wayne county, that state, and to them have been born, three 
children, two of whom are deceased. Their son, Orion R., Jr., was born in 1865.

Mr. Hight casts his vote and influence with the Republican party, and is 
identified with the Grand Army of the Republic. He has been a member of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows for a period of thirty-eight years and has 
been prominently identified with Oddfellowship, having passed all the chairs 
in his local lodge and served officially in the grand lodge of the state.

Additional Comments:
Source:  Biographical and Genealogical Record of La Salle and Grundy Counties 
Illinois, Volume 11, Chicago, 1900, pages 562-564

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