The Miner

The son of Hugh Orr the cattleman, and father of Hugh Orr the athlete, is Gaylord A. Orr, my great-grandfather on my paternal grandmother's side.

Gaylord was born in 1866 in Nebraska, as his Irish family migrated slowly west, finally settling in Cripple Creek,Colorado.

A dapper young Gaylord

If these photos had not been annotated, I might not have guessed they were all of the same person. Gaylord's looks seem to significantly changed over the years, not least his hair styles. (For more hair nostalgia, see this week's Sepia Saturday post.)

Of a marrying age

Coming up in the world

Papa Orr

Gaylord purportedly did some prospecting and blacksmithing; this combination of interests seems possible given his patenting of the four devices below, a pneumatic rock drill, a drill chuck, a window sash fastener, and a tire filler!

I have not perused a lot of patents, but I think this last one proves to an interesting read.

GAYLORD A. ORR, OF CRIPPLE CREEK, COLORADO.
TIRE-FILLER.
Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Uct. 22, 1918.
Application tiled February 9, 1918. Serial No. 216,270.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, GAYLORD A. 0RR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cripple Creek, in the county of Teller and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful improvements in Tire-Fillers, of which the following is a specification.
This invention relates to fillers for tire casings and it has for its object to produce a filler of simple and improved form by the use of which the casing may be constantly maintained in a properly expanded condition for successful operation.
A further object of the invention is to produce a filler composed of a plurality of sections or units molded or otherwise made of rubber or other suitable material, said sections being assembled in annular form by means of rubber tubing and said sections or units being, furthermore, socketed for the reception of a connecting member made of fibrous material, such as ordinary rope which, by wetting the same, is expanded, thereby expanding the sections or units and causing the same to fit snugly and compactly within the tire casing.
A further object of the invention is to produce means whereby the fibrous core may be maintained in a moistened condition.
A further object of the invention is to produce a construction whereby the fibrous core will be free to contract longitudinally when expanded circumferentially by wetting by the same.
With these and other ends in view which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.
In the drawing:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheel and tire casing, the latter being equipped with the improved filler, parts having been broken away to illustrate the construction.
Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view of one of the filler units or sections showing also portions of the anchoring tubes and of the fibrous core.
Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a wheel including a rim, casing and filler constructed in accordance with the invention.
Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.
For the purpose of properly illustrating the invention, an ordinary automobile wheel has been shown, the same including a hub 15, spokes l6, rim 17, and tire casing 18, which latter may be of the clencher or any other well known type.
The filler within the tire casing is composed of a plurality of units or sections 19, of any desired length and of proper cross section to fit reasonably snugly within the casing, said units being also of acute form lengthwise so as to fit properly within the casing in connection with which they are used. The ends of each unit, indicated at 20, are tapered in the direction of the axis of the tire casing so that while the said units may abut on each other at the outer circumference, they will be spaced apart along the inner circumference producing wedge-shaped interspaces 21. This construction adapts units of standard form and size to be employed in connection with casings of different diameters, it being evident that when the units are used in connection with a casing of small diameter, the end faces of the respective units will more nearly approach each other along the inner circumference while, when the units are used in connection with a casing of large diameter, the end faces of the units will become further spaced apart along the inner circumference.
Each unit is provided with sockets of approximately circular cross section formed lengthwise therein, one of said sockets, 22, being formed in the inner face portion thereof which in practice lies adjacent to the rim of the wheel, the two remaining sockets 23 being formed in the side faces of the unit adjacent to the outermost portion hereof. Fitted in the sockets 23 are tubes 24 of rubber or other material whereby any desired number of units may be assembled to form an annulus that will sit within the tire casing 18. The ends of each tube 24 are connected together by a plug 25 which is cemented or otherwise secured in the ends of the tube. Fitted in the socket 22 is a core of fibrous material such as an ordinary rope 26. The rim 17 of the wheel is provided with a slot 27 through which the ends of the rope 26 may extend, the slot 27 being covered by means of a patch 2S which may be bolted or otherwise secured on the rim.
The rim 17 of the wheel is equipped with a plurality of cups or containers 29 connecting at their inner ends with the sockets 22 of some of the filler units, said cups being adapted to contain water whereby fibrous core 26 may be saturated causing circumferential expansion and longitudinal contraction thereof. In assembling the parts of the device together, the fibrous core is inserted in a perfectly dry state and the ends thereof are permitted to project through the slot 27. After placing the tire on the rim but before securing it in position by the usual clamping means, the wheel is placed or rotated in a tank or vessel containing water until the core has become thoroughly saturated and expanded, thereby expanding the filler units within the easing. The casing will thus be thoroughly expanded to a condition for most efficient service. To compensate for loss of moisture by evaporation, the cups 29 may be filled with water whereby the core will be maintained in a saturated condition as long as may be desired.
What is claimed as new is:
A filler for tire casings, comprising plurality of resilient units assembled in annular form, said units having longitudinal sockets in their inner faces and a fibrous core seated in said sockets, said core having free inwardly projecting ends to compensate for longitudinal contraction of the core; in combination with means for saturating the core to produce circumferential expansion and longitudinal contraction thereof.
In testimony whereof I affix my signature.
GAYLORD A. ORR.
Copies of this patent may be obtained for 50 cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

There is a terrific site containing photos of Cripple Creek ephemera called mtgothictomes.com, including Mining Directories

The Athlete

This week's Sepia Saturday theme features sports paraphernalia, and so I present for your delectation my grand-uncle Hugh Nelson Orr, grandson of last week's featured cattleman, Hugh Nelson Orr. Among other things, young Hugh was a consummate athlete. There was only one photo of him in the old family album (handed down by Hugh's sister Jessie Orr Bentley, my paternal grandmother), but it provided such a good likeness that I was easily able to spot him in the following photos from the 1911 (his junior year) and 1912 (senior) annuals from his alma mater, Cripple Creek (Colorado) High School.

From the album: Hugh's senior portrait

Cover photo of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, near Cripple Creek

Hugh is on the far left, looking revolutionary.

Hugh in back row, third from left

If it didn't say "Bob Stevens," I'd swear the middle front player was a girl

Hugh in the middle row, far left

Hugh front left. I love the Wild West setting, complete with what appears to be a cowboy on a horse-drawn buggy in the background.

Hugh seventh from right; "sweaters presented by Association for not losing a game." More delicious frontier architecture!

Hugh in cryptic but less sweaty endeavors, back row, far right

Cub reporter Hugh, Junior year, back row, second from right

Editor Hugh, Senior year, upper center

A sampling of pages

The next I hear of Hugh is twelve years later in the Oakland Tribune:  he is a lawyer in Oakland, and his wife is "Attacked by Six Gangsters"!

The story continues, "When questioned by the police, Mrs. Orr gave her name as Miss Lucile Webster, 1825 Allston Way, Berkeley, and said she was a sister-in-law of Hugh Orr. Later, however, she was identified by her husband, who said that she and the sedan had been missing since Saturday morning. VICTIM AND SPOUSE REFINE STATEMENT. When one of the suspects picked up at Ninety-eighth Avenue was brought before the woman at police headquarters, she became hysterical and slapped him in the face. Later, when she collected hei[?] she declared that he was not one of the men. Mrs. Orr is the mother of a 5-year-old son [Gaylord Orr II], who was at [home] with his father in Berkeley."

The following day, the Oakland Tribune has this follow-up (scanning of the article is not perfect):

"The Oakland police reported no new developments today in the search for the six thugs responsible for the attack upon Mrs. Agnes Orr, wife of Hugh Orr, Berkeley attorney, 1727 Channing Way, and her escort, William J. Jackson, 9520 Sunnyside Street, as they were sitting in an automobile parked on Mountain Boulevard at 3 a.m. Sunday morning. Two men arrested Sunday as suspects were released. Both Mrs. Orr and Jackson failed to identify them as members of the gang. A third, Manuel Perry, was detained on a charge of carrying concealed weapons. The police reported that when arrested he had an automatic revolver and 5 rounds of ammunition. Orr declared yesterday that there had been no uouuie[?] him and his wife and that he did not anticipate any. He said his [wife] had been to a party at Jackson's house and that on their way home they were obliged to stop the car on account of a blow-out. Jackson had just changed tires, he said, when the six men in a touring car drove up and attacked them. Jackson [was] kicked into unconsciousness and thrown to the side of the road. Mrs. Orr was carried off in the gangster’s automobile and later abandoned in an isolated part of the city."

And interestingly, three months later, on July 14, this article appears:

"Charging cruelty, Mrs. Agnes Orr of Berkeley, who was named defendant in a divorce suit recently filed by her husband, Hugh N. Orr, an attorney, today brought counter-suit in Superior Court, asking that she be awarded the decree, custody of a child and all of the community property. The cross-complaint was filed in the office of the county clerk, shortly after noon. Mrs. Orr, among other allegations, declares that her husband lived in their Channing Way home in Berkeley with another woman from October 26 to December 27 [1923] while she was visiting her mother in Colorado. Orr's petition for divorce, which [was] filed more than a month ago, followed an alleged attack upon Mrs. Orr and a man [who] gave the name of Jackson, as they were sitting in the Orr automobile in a lonely spot in the Berkeley hills. In her cross-complaint Mrs. Orr denies charges of her husband that she would take the family automobile and absent herself from home without his permission."

Hugh subsequently married again and adopted his new wife's son from a previous marriage, as well as fathering a son with her in 1937.

The Cattleman

When I recently received the family photograph album, I was thrilled to see pictures from my father's mother's side, the Orrs, Daniels, and Hales, in a spectacular collection of Daguerrotypes and other mostly formal portraits. 

This week I present my great-great-grandfather Hugh Nelson Orr.

The facts on Hugh are scattered and circumstantial... noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the census in 1851 in St. Patrick Parish, Charlotte County, N.B. as a 16-year-old New-Brunswick-born son of Samuel and Jane Orr

• He appeared on the census in 1870 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, as a 34-year-old, wealthy retired farmer with a wife and 3 children.

• He appeared on the census in 1880 in Laramie, Wyoming, as a 46-year-old, with the same wife, 4 daughters, and 1 son. His occupation was listed as stock grower [i.e., rancher] and he listedhis parents as born in Scotland  [they had been in Ireland for at least a couple of generations].

 

The obituary of a “Grandma” Annie Vallery Wright (b. 1846), of Fruitdale, South Dakota, reads in part: “a friend wrote her [in Plattsmouth, Nebraska] from Deadwood [Wyoming territory, now South Dakota] and urged her to “come west.” Within 24 hours after she received the letter she had a chance to ride to the Black Hills with Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Orr in their covered wagon. When the Orr train reached Fort Laramie it was stopped by soldiers. When the waiting group of travelers numbered 100, they were allowed to proceed. The Orr wagon reached its destination in 1876.”

Railroad building on the great plains / drawn by A.R. Waud 

A note from the Web reads:

“Gilbert A. Searight came from the area of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Burnet County, Texas, about 1859 and acquired through the courts land left by an uncle, Peter Kerr, to the county for the building of a school. Searight operated a ranch there before and after the Civil War. In 1876 he began his first cattle business, Searight and Orr, with Hugh N. Orr, in Laramie County, Wyoming Territory.”

Another reads:

The November 1, 1878, issue of the Cheyenne Daily Leader newspaper noted doctor Elisha Graham's arrival: "Dr. E. B. Graham, late of Albany, New York, arrived yesterday and will at once enter into the practice of his profession. ...Two of Elisha's new patients were Cheyenne Mayor Hugh N. Orr and former trader John (nicknamed "Portugee") Phillips,10 who owned ranches in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. They advised Elisha to invest in cattle and locate them on a bend in the Niobrara River in northwestern Nebraska, where the grass was lush and water abundant... In the spring of 1879, John Phillips and Hugh Orr guided Graham to the site of Agate Springs on the Niobrara River. That summer, Graham followed Orr and Phillips's advice. On August 1, he purchased from Orr 500 head of cattle driven north from Texas on the Western and Jones and Plummer trails to the shipping station at Ogallala, Nebraska. All were marked with the "04" brand, recorded at Sidney, Nebraska.

Around 1863, Hugh had married Emma Erway, who was born in 1846 in Michigan.

Thanks to Howard Emery, an Orr descendant, for much of this textual material. For glimpses of more antiquity, please visit Sepia Saturday!


Below is Hugh's obituary from the Cheyenne Daily Leader. From it I can now guess that the medallion he's wearing in the top photo must be a Templar (Masonic) cross.

Here is an 1874 article listing Hugh as a candidate for county commissioner.

Two years after his death, his family sold his ranch on Chugwater Creek (tributary of the Laramie River), including 320 acres and 220 head of "meat cattle," 65 horses, 440 tons of hay, 8 miles of wire fencing, and various equipment. The copy is hard to read but the price looks like $30, 556.00.

Sister Alice

This week I manage to fulfil the Sepia Saturday theme of Sisters. Alice E. Daniels, known as Allie, was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1870. She was the younger sister of my great-grandmother Louise, whom I spotlighted in my last Sepia Saturday Eff-Stop post.

 I believe that of these three girls, the far-right one is Allie (there's a telltale birthmark on the bridge of her nose) and the far-left Louise, born in 1868. I have not as yet determined the identity of the older girl. The picture thus would have been taken around 1873, a few years before the family moved a tad south to Lenawee County, Michigan.

Here's Allie with what must be a favorite doll. She has some sort of adornment on her head, unless it's a hairdo of some sort, and appears to be in front of a painted backdrop.

A couple of years later, Allie (left) has a very similar dress -- perhaps the same one but let out -- and a different collar. The backdrop is rather sickeningly tilted! Interestingly, her sister appears in a similar photo wearing the same dress, though without the necklace.

 

Here is what appears to be a teenage Allie -- looking, I have to say, rather wistful, though I think she's the more beautiful of the sisters.

One mystery is that in the 1900 census, there is a Harry Daniels, aged 6, living with his grandparents Henry and Martha Daniels, along with Alice. Alice, now 30 (although being listed as 25), does not have a married name. Harry, noted as a grandson, not a son, is not the son of Louise, who was by this time married to Gaylord Orr, with her own children. He is listed as being born in Arkansas -- a state the Danielses never lived in, as far as I know. Was he born out of wedlock? Did Alice marry, move to Arkansas, and then divorce and return home?

For more about Louise and the Orrs, see The Irish Side.

Riviera Pavement

In April we took a trip to the south of France (which is of course adjacent to the northwest of Italy). Among the glorious postcard-worthy views I became also quite taken with the variety of common pavement painting.

(For some slightly more picturesque shots from this trip to France and Italy, hop over to The Eff-Stop!)