Matthew Thomas Orr, son and oldest child of William Morlan Orr and Nancy Cannon, was born on September 8, 1936 in Columbiana County, Ohio. He worked on the family farm until the outbreak of civil war at which time he mustered into the 104th Regiment, Company C OVI, on August 2, 1862, at East Palestine, Unity Township, Columbiana County, Ohio, at age twenty five. Matthew was appointed to the rank of sargeant on August 25, 1862, however when he mustered out is was listed as a private. Matthew suffered a gunshot wound during the war. There is a death notice for him in the Lisbon, Ohio newspaper which lists Matthew Orr, 5th sargeant from Elkrun Township, as killed in action in Atlanta, Georgia. Obviously, the newspaper was wrong! He mustered out of service in Greensboro, North Carolina on June 17, 1865 and returned to Columbiana County, Ohio.
On December 30, 1869, Matthew married Mary Ellen Smith, born on April 25, 1845 and eldest daughter of J.L. Smith, Esq of Columbiana County, in Columbiana County, Ohio. The newlyweds remained in Columbiana County. They had four daughters before Mary Ellen Orr died on December 13, 1879 at age thrity-five from dysentary.
On page 28 of, “History of Columbiana County, Ohio, written by Horace Mack in 1879, when the new county courthouse was built in Lisbon, Ohio, “Matthew T. Orr was appointed janitor on October 22, 1872 at a salary of $500.00 per annum.” Sometime following the 1880 census enumeration, Matthew married Elizabeth Keck. The family continued to live in Lisbon, Ohio. Matthew and Elizabeth Orr had three children.
Matthew died on December 22, 1909 at age seventy-three in Lisbon, Ohio. He and his first wife, Mary Ellen Orr, are buried in Section 4 Southside, Row 26 of the Libson Cemetery, Lisbon, Ohio. Matthew’s gravesite is marked with a Civil War veteran marker and when I last visited at Christmas, there was a wreath.
Children of Matthew Thomas Orr and Mary Ellen Smith:
Children of Matthew Thomas Orr and Elizabeth Keck
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