Fountain County IN Archives Biographies.....Orr, James 1805 - 1876
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 26, 2007, 10:53 pm

Author: H. W. Beckwith (1881)

   Judge James Orr (deceased), Attica, was born June 2, 1805, near the town of
Franklin, Warren county, Ohio. He was reared a son of toil, and learning the
wheelwright's trade engaged himself for many years in the business of making
wagons. It should be observed that he was born and reared on the frontiers of
civilization, which were pressed well up to the possessions of the turbulent
Indians, and which were kept in nearly constant perturbation, either by their
open hostility or threatening attitude. While he was but a lad the second war
with England occurred, and it is well known with what savage ferocity and
sickening barbarity hostilities were carried on by the British commanders and
their hardly more inhuman Indian allies. These conditions were not such as to
promote the arts of peace and the diffusion of knowledge, where the paramount
objects were to make homes in a desolate wilderness, secure a simple existence,
and maintain the public defense. Truly life was earnest. Men grew strong in body
and in sense. It was in such a school as this, stripped as well of the
superficial ornaments of our modern education as the more substantial and
essential principles, that Mr. Orr received that training whose wholesome
effects marked with singular distinctness the whole course of his life. In the
mold of industry and integrity was his character formed, and when brought
conspicuously forth in the discharge of the duties of public station he was not
found wanting in any of the qualifications for a comprehensive usefulness.
Little of the early history of the Orr family can be rescued from the gathering
shades of the past. It is known that they emigrated from the north of Ireland,
and were of Scotch-Irish birth. The first records of the family in this country
are contained in a deed of property executed in the township of Yorke,
Pennsylvania, in 1770. Mr. Orr himself was a pioneer settler of Fountain eounty.
He came to Indiana on a tour of observation in 1827, and in 1629 returned
permanently to reside here, fixing his home three miles south of Attica, where
he lived till the date of his death. His popularity with the people made him, in
1837, a commissioner of the county, which position he filled with so much
satisfaction for one year that on the recommendations of his numerous and
prominent admirers he was appointed to the responsible dignity of associate
judge of the circuit court, and discharged the duties of that office fourteen
years, and until displaced by the new constitution of the state. He was the
choice of the people of his township for trustee several terms, and at intervals
filled various minor offices. Mr. Orr celebrated his first marriage in 1847,
with Miss Jane Miller, a daughter of one of the very early settlers of the
county. She made him the father of five children, one of whom is dead. He
enjoyed her companionship little more than a decade, when she was taken from him
by death, and in 1862 he married, for his second wife, Miss Susan Schermerhorn,
sister to Maj. Schermerhorn, of Delphi, this state. By this union three children
were born to bless and inspirit their home. Mr. Orr was not a negative man, and
in the changing scenes and issues of passing time he could not have been in
harmony with the opinions of all others; but his social demeanor and public
conduct were regulated by candor, honesty, and dignified respect. He was not
biased by sectarian views, but heeding at all times a well-disciplined
conscience, acted toward others as he hoped they would act toward him. His days
were crowned with the golden sunset of a mature, cheerful and happy age. Withal
declining years beget infirmities, of whose increasing weight he was forever
relieved January 22, 1876. He left to his family both a goodly record and
inheritance.

Additional Comments:
Shawnee Township

HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY,

TOGETHER WITH
HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY,

GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS
PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST
PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES.

BY H. W. BECKWITH,
OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF
WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO.

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS.
1881.


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