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JAMES ERR.
The home farm of James Orr on sections 2 and 11, Homer township, constitutes one of the attractive features in
the landscape and is the tangible evidence of a well spent, active and useful life, for largely through his efforts
this farm has been brought to its present high state of cultivation. Mr. Orr was born hi Ireland in October, 1847,
and of that country his parents, John and Mary (Kirkpatrick) Orr, were also natives. The father devoted his life
to farming and both he and his wife remained residents of the Emerald isle until their life's labors were ended,
Mr. Orr passing away in 1906 and his wife in 1910.
The youthful days of James Orr were devoted to the acquirement of a public school education and to farm work in
Ireland, for he remained with his parents until twenty four years of age. Ambitious to enjoy the privileges and
opportunities of the new world, he came to America at that time and crossed the continent as far as Buchanan county.
In Homer township he was employed as a farm hand for about seven years, but it was his desire to engage in farming
on his own account and he accordingly rented land which he cultivated for five years. On the expiration of that
period he bought one hundred and twenty acres in the southern part of Homer township, which he afterwards traded
as partial payment upon his present place, comprising two hundred acres on sections 2 and 11, Homer township. His
residence is situated on the former section and near his pleasant and commodious home stand substantial barns and
sheds, so that there is ample shelter for grain and stock. The fields produce golden harvests and the work is carried
on so methodically and systematically that there is little doubt as to what the result will be. Aside from his
other interests, Mr. Orr is a stockholder in the Rowley Bank.
On the 24th of March, 1885, was celebrated the marriage of James Orr and Miss Sarah Agnew, a daughter of John and
Eliza (On) Agnew, who were natives of Ireland. Her father was likewise a farmer and carried on that occupation
throughout his remaining days in the old country, where his death occurred in 1886, while his wife survived until
1893. Mr. and Mrs. Orr have two children: John, at home; and Elizabeth, who is teaching school at Ackley, Iowa.
For four years Mr. Orr has filled the office of justice of the peace and his decisions embody both the law and
the equity in the case. Politically he is a republican and in religious belief is a Presbyterian, serving as an
elder in the church in which he has his membership His fellow townsmen among whom he has lived for four decades
have learned to know that he is a man of his word, that what he promises he will perform, and that he is thoroughly
trustworthy in all of his business dealings.
From:
History of Bachanan County, Iowa
And its People
By Harry Church and Katharyn J. Chappell
Vol II
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Chicago 1914
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