John Orr
John Orr, for many years a representative business man of Steubenville, O., extensively engaged in the wholesale grocery trade, was born in Ireland, in 1827, and came to America in 1846, locating at Steubeuville, where his uncle, John Orr, was already established in the grocery business. John Orr, the elder, left Ireland in 1818 and in 1822 started a store at Steubenville, having been to some degree trained in mercantile business, as that was the family occupation in Ireland.
Five years after coming to Steubenville, in 1851, John Orr, the younger, started his grocery at Steubenville, and when his uncle, John Orr, died in 1860, he succeeded to the latter 's business, and, with few intervals, the family has continued in this same line of industry here, the present firm being known as John Orr's Sons. For a short period, Mr. Orr was interested in the operation of oil refineries at Steubenville and Pittsburgh, but the main business of his life was merchandising. In 1882, in partnership with his son, Robert H. Orr, Mr. Orr went into the wholesale trade, under the firm style of John Orr & Son, and in the same year erected the substantial business house on the corner of Market and Fifth Streets. Additions have been made subsequently, as the business increased yearly in volume. Mr. Orr died in 1891, leaving behind him a reputation not only for business sagacity; but for commercial integrity, upon which he had built as upon a stone foundation. He was a faithful member of the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was a trustee. For many years he was identified with the Masonic fraternity, and was a recognized supporter of all movements for the advancement of our city's interests.
John Orr, Jr. (our subject) married Miss Mary J. Orr, the daughter of his uncle, John Orr. Their three sons, Robert H., John F. and William M., make up the firm of John Orr's Sons.
From 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, by Joseph B. Doyle. Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910