Glenn County
Biographies
GEORGE W. ORR
The history of California has been
one of romantic interest at an early period and of marked progress at a later
date. In the latter epoch Mr. Orr has
been a prominent factor in connection with the development of Glenn County and
is now actively connected with the mercantile and political interests of the
community, his home being in Willow, where he successfully conducts a well
equipped store. The residents of
California have come to the Pacific coast from the various states throughout
the Union and Mr. Orr is one of the worthy citizens which Virginia furnished to
this commonwealth.
He was born in Lee County, of the
Old Dominion, on Christmas Day in 1849, and is a son of John P. and Priscilla
(Winn) Orr. His paternal grandparents
were David and Rosa Orr, who spent their entire lives in Virginia, the former
dying at the age of eighty years. John
P. Orr was born in that state and became a very prominent farmer of Lee County,
where he died at the age of seventy years.
He married Priscilla Winn, also a native of Lee County, and her death
occurred in 1893, at the age of sixty-five years. In their family were eleven children, eight
of whom are yet living.
George Wesley Orr, the subject of
this review, spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his parents’ home,
remaining in the state of his nativity till after he attained his
majority. Owing to the unsettled
condition of affairs caused by the Civil War, his educational privileges were
somewhat limited, but by experience, reading and observation he became a well
informed man. In September, 1872, he
bade adieu to his native state and crossed the country to California, locating
in what was then Colusa County, but is now Glenn County. After three years he removed to Arizona,
where he engaged in dealing in stock for three years and then returned to Glenn
County, where he carried on stock raising for about ten years. On the expiration of that period he turned
his attention to merchandising and has found in this line of endeavor a
profitable source of income, for his store is well equipped with everything
found in his line and his courteous treatment and honorable dealing have
secured to him a liberal patronage.
On the 4th of May, 1882,
occurred the marriage of Mr. Orr to Miss Alice Brockman, a native of Glenn
County. They have many warm friends in
the locality and their pleasant home is celebrated for its gracious
hospitality. Mr. Orr cast his first
presidential vote for Grover Cleveland in 1884, and has since been an earnest
advocate of the Democracy. While
residing in Virginia he served as deputy clerk of the county and since coming
to the Golden state has been an active factor in political circles in
Willow. In 1898 he served as chairman of
the county central committee and his labors were most effective in promoting
the interests of the party. He is a
member of the Masonic fraternity, greatly esteemed by his brethren of the
order, and is a genial gentleman, of cordial disposition and courteous
deportment who gains friends wherever he goes.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 260-261. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Glenn County Biographies