Orr Reunion of Mount Vernon

 The Orr Reunion Association has met in Mount Vernon, Missouri since 1937. That year marked the 100^th anniversary of the arrival of Paul and Isabelle’s son William and family in Lawrence County, Missouri. The many cousins from all families decided that if they did not begin a regular get-together they would soon lose contact with one another. 

Because descendants of several families (those of William, George, Isabella and Martha) had settled in southwest Missouri, in Lawrence and Jasper Counties, the reunions have all been held at the Ozark Prairie Presbyterian Church, just northeast of Mount Vernon, Missouri.  Ann Orr Shirley and husband Valentine first went to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, though they also lived in Massachusetts, and James Orr and wife Jane Reed settled in Allen County, Indiana, near Fort Wayne.

 After holding the reunion for many years, the attendees decided they needed a written record of the family.  The result was Descendants of Paul Orr and Isabelle Boyd Orr, which was prepared by a committee consisting of Lettie Hickman Wilkes, Jessie Stemmons, and Harold Campbell, and published by the Orr Reunion Association, Mt Vernon, MO, 1954, with substantial contribution from Annie Agnes Shirley, daughter of George Orr Shirley.  This wonderful booklet had a number of family stories and listed most of the descendants, even those who stayed in Ireland.  While it did not contain many dates or locations of births or deaths, without the 1954 publication it would have been impossible to prepare Orr, Campbell, Mitchell and Shirley Families: Descendants of Paul Orr and Isabelle Boyd in Ireland and America.  

You can purchase a book on Orr family history at Google or Amazon. However, you do not need to buy a book to get information on your ancestors. Just be in touch with us.

You may need to cut and paste the link.

Officers and Activists as of January 2023

Mary Fran Seneker, President

Kathy Seneker Fairchild, Treasurer

Elaine L. Orr, Secretary and Historian

Pat and Mary Lou Orr, Trivia Contest Leaders

Joanna Orr, Photographer

Rana Matteson, Organist

Bobby & Margaret Samuels were named Lemonade Technicians for Life. Bobby passed in 2021 and they had trained successors. (There can never be replacements.)

**Officers may change, but we can't update that here because our web host no longer supports its older host software. Luckily we can leave the page up as long as we pay hosting fees!

Check our Facebook Group for updates.