There is little record of his early life. He is 10 years old and living with his family at Drumbathie in the 1851 Scotland Census. He doesn't seem to be listed in the 1861 Census, however on 25 Aug 1865 at Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland he married 22-year-old Agnes Gemmell "after Banns according to the forms of the Church of Scotland." Both were single and he was a "saw-mill worker". The marriage record also shows his current residence as "Motherwell Parish Dalziel."
Matthew and Agnes had at least ten children the first three (Jessie, Madaline and John) were born between 1864 and 1869. Birth records show that Matthew was in Scotland at the birth of Madaline (10 Mar 1867) and John (21 Jun 1869) and that the family lived on Main St., Pollockshaws, Eastwood Parish, Renfrewshire at both births. After these three children there is a gap before the birth of Agnes in 1876. Part of this gap is explained by the fact that Matthew travelled to the U.S. as he is living with his brother Peter in Jasper Co., Missouri in the 1870 Census. Tree number 20213987 at ancestry.com has a brief bio of Matthew and states the following.
"To earn money to bring his family to America, Mathew worked on the ships transporting Arabian horses to the New England States. He made many trips to and from Scotland to America, each time purchasing wagons, horses, equipment and supplies he would need to move West when he would eventually bring his family to America."
That he was a dealer in horses at other times in his life is evident from other information I will subsequently relate. I have not found corroboration of his work on the ships but nothing to dispute it either.
The fourth known child, Agnes Gemmell Orr, was born 23 Feb 1876 at Avonhead, New Monkland Parish, Lanarkshire. Matthew was again present.
The fifth known child, Maggie, was the last born in Scotland. I can find no statutory birth record for her. Tree number 15060678 claims a birth date of 27 Mar 1878 but I have no proof on that. That same tree indicates that she died young in Kansas on 28 Aug 1881.
One more note before we proceed. The first child, a daughter named Jessie, may have been born before the recorded marriage. The Winnipeg Tribune of 30 Dec 1937 prints an article on page 5 about Jessie's (a.k.a. Mrs. William Baxter's) 73rd birthday party being on Christmas Day of that year. This would make her birthday 25 Dec 1864. I have nothing to corroborate nor dispute that date.
Immigration
Whatever preparations happened, the Matthew Orr family (and his brother-in-law Andrew Gemmell) immigrated to the U.S. in 1878 aboard the Anchor Line ship Anchoria. The ship, under Captain Hedderwick, left Glasgow on 29 Aug, stopped at a port on Lough Foyle in the north of Ireland on the 30th and then sailed for New York. This was the normal route for Anchor Line's weekly service to New York for which steerage passage cost £6 and 6 shillings. They arrived on 09 Sep 1878 as listed on the clipping below from the ship's passenger list which shows "Mr. Gemmell", "Mathew Orr", "Mrs." (that would be Agnes), "Marie" (which must be Minnie/Madaline), "John", "Agnes" and "Maggie" (at 5 months old). You will note that the oldest daughter Jessie did not immigrate with the family. She stayed in Scotland with relatives and later married William Baxter and then they immigrated to Canada in the early 1900's.
The 1880 US Census (see Figure 2) shows the family settling in Big Creek Twp., Russell Co., Kansas
This lists matches the passenger list above with the addition of another child, Jane, listed at 6 months old being born in Dec 1879.
Life in Kansas
Matthew did not stay long in Russell Co., Kansas. It is probably due to in part to the following setback. |
| Figure 3a: Russell Independent; 18 Dec 1880; page 5, col 4 |
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| Figure 3b: Russell Independent, 29 Jan 1881, page 4 col 1 |
Matthew next shows up in 1882 "three miles east" of Osage City, Kansas. Note that he is in the business of selling horses.
Figure 3c: Osage City (KS) Free Press, 10 Aug 1882
The "Klingberg ranch" likely refers to Dr. Andrew Klingberg a Swedish immigrant that ran a drug store in Osage City and (according to his will) owned lots in Osage City in Osage County and land in sections 26 and 35 of township 15 South, Range 13 East in Lyon County.
The above two clips seem fairly mundane so perhaps life was stable for a while. By the 1885 Kansas Census, two more children were added to the family -- Matthew Jr and James -- but sadly Maggie is not listed and as mentioned above probably died young. The family is listed as living in Waterloo Twp., Lyon Co., Kansas which tracks with the presumed location of the Klingberg ranch.
Getting Out of Kansas
The following set of clips pretty much speak for themselves and need little expansion. Matthew seems to need to raise some capital and so he holds a sale of some stock. F.Y.I "Waushara" was a post office from 1863 to 1895 in the northeast part of Lyon County, Kansas but no longer exists.
Perhaps he didn't raise enough money in the sale or some other issue arose, but by November he felt the need to "get out of Dodge" (or Waterloo Twp in this case.)
Some of Matthew's creditors were not amused and tried to collect on debts owed.
At least one of the other "gentlemen in that neighborhood" who were upset by his rapid departure was W. Y. French who tried to recover $284.29.
I have not been able to find any mention elsewhere of the Waterloo Horse Company . Perhaps it didn't exist for any length of time.
Life in Oklahoma
I believe Matthew had escaped from Kansas to Missouri for a brief time and then settled in Oklahoma, or more precisely Indian Territory for it wasn't a state yet. He was not the first to seek the frontier to start over again. The stay in Missouri was probably around Exeter, Missouri in Barry County. The WWII Draft Registration form for Matthew's son Andrew states he was born 1Jan 1888 in Barry County, Missouri. Matthew's obituary says that he moved to Edmond, OK in 1889. This all seems to be corroborated by fhe following clip. |
| Figure 9: Edmond (OK) Sun, 21 Nov 1889, pg 3, col 3 |
Another article from the Sun-Democrat of 17 May 1895 shows a school program for the "Chisholm Creek school, 4 miles southwest of the city" (i.e. Edmond, OK?) in which Matthew Jr., Jeanie and James participated.
The 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census shows the family in "Township 13 R 3, County No. 2". The page is very difficult to read but shows the family with two additional children, William and Andrew. The 1900 US Census confirms that William was born Feb 1886 in Kansas, and Andrew Jan 1888 in Missouri. It further shows that they now lived in Kickapoo Twp, Lincoln Co., OK. and that Minnie, John, Agnes and Jane (a.k.a. Jennie/Jeanie) had moved out of the house.
Things seem to have stabilized and there was an unexpected windfall.
I have not researched how many nieces and nephews there were so I don't know how much of that money his wife received.
Matthew continued to operate in the horse business, being part of the Wellston Coach Horse Company.
His Death
Matthew died 27 Dec 1906 in Chandler, Oklahoma survived by his wife and 9 children.
At his death Matthew was a member of the Anti Horse Thief Association as is confirmed in the following tribute. The A.H.T.A was similar to other vigilance groups but predominantly stuck to legal means of bringing criminals to justice. They provided intelligence and manpower for posses to track and capture criminals not limited to those who stole horses.
