Flipside: Joseph Orr and Jane Kelso Orr of Columbiana County, Ohio

I am spending many hours at work cleaning out my hard copy genealogy files and putting the important information into the cloud. I realized that I had not blogged about my maternal great great great grandparents, Joseph Orr and Jane Kelso. I had started a draft of this blog in 2022. Time to continue and finish. 😁

These maternal great great great grandparents are all the further back I have researched on this branch of the tree. Joseph Orr, born on December 15, 1788 in Ireland. Ancestry gives William Orr and Agnes Crawford as his potential parents. I have not confirmed that data.

My maternal great great great grandmother, Jane Kelso, born on January 14, 1794 in North Carolina or Virginia, was the daughter of Major Hugh Kelso and Elizabeth Carpenter. This is all undocumented information from Ancestry, except the name Jane.

1820 Ohio Census
New Lisbon, Centre Township, Columbiana County
August 7, 1820

What I do know is that Joseph and Jane Orr were living in New Lisbon, Centre Township, Columbiana County, Ohio in 1820.

Free White Males under age 10--4

Free White Males age 16 thru 25--2

Free White Males age 26 thru 44--1

Free White Females under age 10--1

Free White Females age 16 thru 25--1

Free White Females age 26 thru 44--1

Number of Persons engaged in manufacture--3

Who are the people enumerated on the census? Joseph and Jane are the ones in the 16 thru 44 age bracket. There were four known sons under age 10 in 1820. James John Orr, William Morland Orr (my maternal great great grandfather), Thomas Jefferson Orr and John Butler Orr. The two males age 16-25 are unknown. There was a daughter in the under age 10 listing, Margaret Anne Orr. The one female in the age 16 thru 25 is unknown.

The unknown people could be extended family living and working with Joseph, hired laborers or boarders. There is a Margaret Orr enumerated below Joseph in the census. More family? She is in the age 26 thru 44 age bracket. 2 young males under age 10 and one male age 16 thru 25.

History of Columbiana County Ohio
Centre Township
page 111

Joseph Orr immigrated from Ireland with a trade. He is listed in the Mack Columbiana County history book as a tailor in New Lisbon, Centre Township (Mack, 1879).

History of Columbiana County Ohio
Elkrun Township
page 132

By 1828 Joseph Orr and family relocated from the growing town of New Lisbon in Centre Township to a 162 acre property in section 31 of Elkrun Township about four miles away (Mack, 1879).

1829 Ohio Tax
Elkrun Township
Columbiana County

Joseph Orr paid taxes on a 162 acre property valued at 376 (type of currency?) in Section 31 of Elkrun Township.

1830 Ohio Census
Elkrun Township, Columbiana County

White Males under age 5--2 George Washington Orr, Henry Orr

White Males age 5 to 9--1 Joseph Milton Orr

White Males age 10-14--1 John Butler Orr

White Males age 15-19--3 James John Orr, William Morland Orr, Thomas Jefferson Orr

White Males age 40-49--1 Joseph Orr

White Females under age 5--1 Elizabeth Jane Orr

White Females age 10 thru 14--1 Margaret Anne Orr

White Females 40 thru 49--1 Jane Orr

History of Columbiana County Ohio
Elkrun Township
page 132

In 1831, Joseph Orr was elected as a Trustee of Elkrun Township (Mack, 1879).

There are tax records in Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio for Joseph Orr from 1830-1838. By 1838 the value of his 162 acres was 838 (currency ?). He was paying taxes for the canal, roads, schools and township.

1840 Ohio Census
Elkrun Township, Columbiana County

Joseph Orr

Males age 5 thru 9--1 ?

Males age 15 thru 19--2 John Butler Orr and Joseph Milton Orr

Males age 50 thru 59--1 Joseph Orr

Females under age 5--1 ?

Females ages 5 thru 9--1 Mary Elenor Orr

Females ages 10 thru 14--1 Martha Caroline Orr

Females ages 20 thru 29--1 Elizabeth Jane Orr

Females ages 40 thru 49--1 Jane Orr

3 persons employed in agriculture

Elkrun Township map in 1841 showing the piece of section 31 owned by Joseph Orr. Lindsey Cannon's, my maternal great great great grandfather, property is also shown. Lindsey Cannon's daughter,

Jane

Wife of

Joseph Orr

Died

Dec 28, 1847

at age

53 years

11 months

15 days

Jane Kelso Orr died on December 28, 1847 in Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio at age fifty-three. She was buried in the Carlisle Cemetery, Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio.

On July 5, 1849, sixty year old Joseph Orr married Elizabeth Bowman in Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio. T.B. Cushman (Thomas Branch Cushman) a Methodist Episcopal minister married the couple. I have not been able to follow Elizabeth Bowman Orr. I do not know if Bowman is her maiden name or if she was married to another man first.

On June, 1850, one month less than one year, Joseph Orr filed a petition for divorce against his second wife, Elizabeth Bowman Orr. The court found Elizabeth guilty of committing fraud against Joseph and the marriage became null and void. Joseph had to pay $100.00 alimony and the court costs.

At age sixty-one, Joseph Orr married forty-two year old Mrs. Elizabeth Cushman on August 27, 1850 in Columbiana County, Ohio. The minister who performed the ceremony was Presbyterian minister A.O. Patterson (Reverend Andrew Oliphant Patterson).

1850 Ohio Census
Elkrun Township, Columbiana County
August 31, 1850

Joseph Orr, age 60, male, hotel keeper, value of real estate owned $4,000, born in Ireland

Elizabeth Orr, age 42, female, born in New Jersey

Elizabeth, age 24, female, born in Ohio

Martha, age 18, female, born in Ohio

Mary, age 16, female, born in Ohio

Jas Reed, age 21, male, laborer, born in Ohio

In the 1857 September Term Elizabeth Cushman Orr filed a petition for divorce from Joseph Orr for extreme cruelty. The court ruled that Joseph had to pay $175.00 in alimony for each of the seven years they were married and court costs.

Last Will and Testament of Joseph Orr
October 3, 1857

Joseph Orr

Died

Oct 26 1857

Aged

Joseph Orr died on October 26, 1857 at age sixty-eight in Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio. He is buried beside his wife Jane Kelso Orr in the Carlisle Cemetery, Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio.

1860 Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio

Joseph Orr's property marked for his heirs

Children of Joseph Orr and Jane Kelso Orr

James John Orr born August 25, 1812 in Pennsylvania; died September 20, 1885 in Madison Township, Columbiana County, Ohio; married Nancy Florence Frederick.
William Morland Orr born April 28, 1813 in Ohio; died February 11, 1849 in Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, Ohio; married Nancy Agnes Cannon. (my maternal great great grandparents)
Thomas Jefferson Orr born April 25, 1815 in Ohio; died after 1857
Margaret Anne Orr born January 20, 1817 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died July 22, 1852; married Samuel Ramsey.
John Butler Orr born January 25, 1819 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died April 21, 1897 in Ohio; married Mary Jane Frederick.
Joseph Milton Orr, born March 20, 1822 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died September 17, 1890; married Jane Gaskill.
Henry Orr born November 29, 1824 in Columbiana County, Ohio.
Elizabeth Jane Orr born August 22, 1826 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died April 13, 1909 in Cook County, Illinois; married William Porter Ellison.
George Washington Orr born June 26, 1828 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died March 8, 1904 in Ohio; married Adeline Sphar.
Martha Caroline Orr born April 12, 1831 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died October 24, 1865 in Alliance, Stark County, Ohio; married Isaac Denson Ellison.
Mary Elenor Orr born June 12, 1834 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died September 19, 1924 in Ohio; married Benjamin Dawson Fisher.
Franklin Orr born March 16, 1837 in Columbiana County, Ohio; died August 16, 1839 in Columbiana County, Ohio.

Sources

Mack, Horace. History of Columbiana County Ohio, D.W. Ensign & Co., Philadelphia, 1879, page 111, 132.

Joseph Orr--Tombstone Tuesday

Jane Kelso Orr--Tombstone Tuesday

Orr Family Bible Records

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