Capt. Robert Orr and Rachel Chambers
Husband Capt. Robert Orr 1 2
Born: Abt 1744 - County Derry, Ireland Christened: Died: 4 Sep 1833 - Kittanning, Armstrong Co, PA 1 3 Buried:Marriage: Abt 1799
Other Spouse: Frances "Fannie" Culbertson ( - ) 2 - 1774 2
Other Spouse: Rachel Hunter ( - ) 2
• Note: This may be the same person as : [Unk] Orr.
Wife Rachel Chambers 3
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:
Father: Col. Benjamin Chambers (Abt 1708-1788) 4 5 Mother: Sarah Patterson ( - ) 6
Children
1 M Chambers Orr 7 8
Born: 6 Mar 1800 3 Christened: Died: 8 Apr 1873 3 Buried:Spouse: Hannah Dorney ( - ) 9
General Notes: Husband - Capt. Robert Orr
According to Arthur's Etymological Dic-tionary of Family Names, Orr is derived from a river and town in Scotland. Or in Welsh and Gaelic signifies a border, a boundary.
He was born in County Derry, Ireland, and came to America in 1766, and thereafter lived in Pennsylvania. He first settled east of the mountains in what is now Mifflin (then Cumberland) County, where he continued to reside until the year of his marriage to Frances Culbertson, the daughter of Squire Samuel Culbertson, for whom Captain Orr worked as farmer several years before he married the daughter. Then Mr. Orr removed to Hannastown, in Westmoreland County.
Returning to his old home in the Cumberland valley, in what is now Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on a visit, he married his third wife and they settled some years later in Sugar Creek township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
When the Revolutionary war broke out he was an earnest supporter of the Colonial cause from the very beginning, giving his personal services and enlisting others to its aid. At that time no regular troops could be spared to protect the residents in the outlying settlements from the Indians, and volunteers had to be depended upon in emergencies. Early in the summer of 1781 Gen. George Rogers Clark, of Virginia, having determined to enter upon a campaign against the Indians down the Ohio river, communicated his intention to Archibald Lochry, the lieutenant of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and requested him to raise one hundred volunteers and a company of cavalry in his county. Lochry acquainted Orr, one of his most reliable friends, with the situation, the latter being captain of a company of militia. As he did not have the authority to order these from home Orr promptly raised a company of volunteer riflemen, chiefly at his own expense, furnishing the necessary equipment to such of its members as could not afford it. Early in July he marched with his command to Carnahan's block-house, about eleven miles northwest of Hannastown, where Lochry's whole force rendezvoused the 24th of the month, consisting of two companies of rangers, commanded by Captains Shannon and Stokeley and a cavalry company under Captain Campbell, besides Captain Orr's command. They numbered about 125 men in all, and General Clark had instructed Colonel Lochry that he would await his arrival at Fort Henry (now Wheeling). On July 25th they started by way of Pittsburgh. On reaching Fort Henry, however, it was found that the General had advanced with his men twelve miles down the river, and although he had left some provisions and a boat for them there was not enough to afford subsistence for the men or forage for the horses. Though their supply of ammunition was also inadequate they proceeded down the river, expecting to overtake the main body or meet them at the mouth of the Kanawha. Again they were disappointed, Clark having been obliged to move his force in order to prevent desertions. The situation was desperate. They had no other source from which to replenish their supplies than this main body ahead of them, and the water in the river was so low that ordinary progress was impossible, but their provisions and forage were so nearly exhausted something had to be done. Lochry accordingly sent Captain Shannon ahead with four men in a small boat, hoping they might catch up with Clark and arrange for supplies. The little party was captured by the Indians, to whom the letter intended for Clark revealed the destitute condition of Lochry's forces and the fact that they had not been able to join Clark. There were nineteen deserters from Clark's army whom Lochry had arrested but afterward released, and they joined the Indians and gave them information. Taking advantage of these circumstances, the natives collected in force below the mouth of the Great Miami, placed their prisoners in a conspicuous position on the right bank, and promised to spare their lives if they would hail their comrades passing down the river and induce them to surrender. Before the little force reached that point, however, worn out and despairing of meeting Clark, they disembarked about ten o'clock on the morning of August 25th at the mouth of an inlet since called Lochry's creek, landing their horses to feed on the grass. While preparing a meal from the meat of a buffalo they had killed they were surprised with a volley of rifle balls from an overhanging bluff where a large number of Indians had gathered. Though taken at a great disadvantage they defended themselves until their ammunition was exhausted and then attempted to escape by the river. But the boats were unwieldy, the water low, and the 106 men too weak to resist successfully the band of 300 Indians who made the attack. Not one escaped. The Indians hastily massacred Lochry and several others, though this was done without the approval of their leader, the celebrated Captain Brant. Forty-two, including all those wounded so that they were unable to travel, were tomahawked on the ground, and the other sixty-four were taken captive, among them being Captain Orr, whose left arm had been broken by a shot early in the engagement; the bullet pierced the rim of his hat and then broke his arm. The prisoners, regardless of wounds and fatigue, were taken through the woods to Lower Sandusky. After several months there Captain Orr was taken to the military hospital at Detroit, and thence during the late winter or spring to Montreal. His wound not having been properly treated, he was becoming such a care that the Indians were going to dispatch him on the road to Montreal as an incumbrance, when a Frenchman saved his life by buying him from the savages, for a gallon of whiskey and two fox skins. Years afterward this Frenchman visited him at Kittanning, and the Captain gave him $100 in gold-a large sum in those days-as a substantial mark of his appreciation. The man at first refused to take the money, but the Captain insisted on him accepting it, feeling that he owed his life to him. In his later years the Captain's grandchildren used to joke him about not being "worth more than a gallon of whiskey and two fox skins." His fellow prisoners were exchanged early in the spring of 1783 and returned to their homes, and he was one of the few of Lochry's men who managed to get back. He arrived at Hannastown, where he had long been mourned as dead, in the summer of 1783, having come on foot from Montreal. On July 13, 1782, the town had been attacked and burned by the Indians, and his house and property were destroyed. Soon after reaching home he raised another company to serve two months in the defense of the frontier, and they advanced to the mouth of Bull creek, on the right bank of the Allegheny, where Tarentum was later situated, building a blockhouse there under his direction. In the autumn of 1783 Captain Orr was honored with election as sheriff of Westmoreland County. He took part in the subsequent Indian wars of that region. By act of Assembly, March 30, 1821, the State treasurer of Pennsylvania was authorized to pay Captain Orr or his order, immediately thereafter, $750, in consideration of his services and losses during the Revolutionary war, which was to be full compensation for such services and losses, including all his claims for military service.
From the time of his settlement prior to 1800 in Sugar Creek township, Armstrong County, until about 1812 Captain Orr resided at what was known as the McDonald-Monteith-Dinsmore-Wilson tract, thence removing to the place in Sugar Creek afterward owned by his sons Robert and Chambers Orr, half brothers. In the history of Armstrong County published in 1883 was found the following account of this property: "Next south of the Moore-Adams tract is a square one, 300 acres, on which Robert Orr, Sr., settled, and with 197 acres, one horse and five cattle, he was assessed in 1805 and 1806 at $146.80. The patent for the entire tract was granted him Feb. 16, 1815; 140 or more acres of the northern part he conveyed to John Conly, July 4, 1816. Robert Orr, Sr., continued in the occupancy of the southern half of this tract until he leased it to Solomon Rumbaugh about 1825, about which time he moved to Kittanning. He conveyed this parcel to his sons, Chambers and Robert Orr, May 7, 1831." In 1818 or 1819 Captain Orr laid out north of his residence on this tract, and west of the present Kittanning and Brady's Bend road, the town of Orrsville, the plan of which is not on record. Its first separate assessment was listed in 1819. The names of Robert Orr, Sr., and of his sons, John, Robert and Chambers Orr, appear in the record of various real estate transactions in the vicinity.
When Armstrong County was organized for judicial purposes, in 1805, Captain Orr was one of three associate judges appointed to preside over its several courts, and he served as such continuously until his death, which oc-curred at Kittanning, when he was in his eighty-ninth year. He was buried in the old graveyard between Jefferson and High streets with military honors, the Armstrong Guards, under the command of Capt. John Reynolds, having obtained permission to pay this last mark of respect to one whose life and deeds had brought honor to his community. The medical profession, the local clergy, the officers of the courts and members of the bar also took part in the funeral procession, and a large number of citizens attended the burial of this venerable patriot. [HAC 1914, 308]
1 Robert Walter Smith, Esq., History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins, & Co., 1883), Pg 539.
2 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 308.
3 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 310.
4 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 272, 625.
5 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 181.
6 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 4.
7 —, History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Newark, OH: J. A. Caldwell, 1880), Pg 508.
8 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 310, 325.
9
—, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 311.
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