William M. Orr
William M. Orr, only child of Judge Smith Orr, deceased, was born in Baughman township, January 7, 1826. He was raised on the farm, and with his father remained until he was sixteen years of age, when he commenced teaching school. He attended the Dalton and Wadsworth Academies, and in the year 1846 entered the junior class at Washington and Jefferson College, from which he graduated in 1847.
In this class were John LeMoine, now member of Congress from Chicago; W. S. Moore, late member of Congress from Washington, Pa.; James G. Blaine, member of Congress for many years, late Speaker of the House of Representatives, and present United States Senator from the State of Maine, and other men of mark.
At the annual contest of 1846, between the literary societies of the College, he took the highest honor in debate and was valedictorian of the class of 1847.
He commenced reading law with Hon. T. M. T. McKennon, of Washington, P., once Secretary of the Interior of the United States, concluding his elementary studies with Hon. R. P. Spaulding, of Columbus, Ohio.
He was admitted to practice by Judy Peter Hitchcock, and opened an office in Wooster in 1849, where he remained until 1865, when he removed to Orrville, his present residence.
He was married on the 4th of July, 1849, to Charlotte McFarland, of Baughman township, a niece of Major McFarland, who distinguished himself at Lundy's Lane. Mr. Off has had four children, Smith, John, William and Maria. William Orr, his third son, died August 3, 1877. His oldest son is practicing medicine in Lasalle county, Ill.
From History of Wayne County, Ohio, From the Days of the Pioneers and First Settlers to the Present Time, by Robert Douglass, 1878