Orrell-Yopp House

1923

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 22, 2024

1. Orrell-Yopp House Marker

Touch for directions.

Click or scan to see
this page online

Coast.

South,

South,

Tidewater.

Region,

America,

Hemisphere,

World,

Anglosphere.

Culture,

Colonies,

America,

South.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 22, 2024

2. Orrell-Yopp House Marker

John Aaron Orrell,accountant by profession, but a New Hanover County official for the last sixteen years, first as treasurer and then as auditor, was born October 13, 1875, in Wilmington. The keynote of his success in one of the most difficult and exacting positions of public trust in the state,

Paid Advertisement

has been due to his thorough competency and his genuine affability and uniform courtesy to all those who call at his offices for information or service.

By reason of unhappy circumstances, Mr. Orrell had no childhood in the usual happy acceptance of that term. His father died when he was only a month old and his mother when he was only nine years old. He was taken into the home of relatives, living in New Hanover County. He continued attending school in Wilmington, but at an early age, his education stopped and he began making his own way in life. His first job was that of office boy for the Acme Manufacturing Company, at Acme. He remained here for a period of three years when, in August, 1890, he secured a place, still as office boy, in the Wilmington offices of the Standard Oil Company. But he stayed with the Standard, on this occasion, only two months and returned to Acme. Two months later he again is found in the offices of the Standard, this time as a stock clerk.

The next several years were devoted to his duties at the Standard plant and to long, tedious hours of study in an effort to master the intricacies of auditing and book-keeping. He became proficient in handling every detail of the business reaching the position of assistant manager in the Wilmington branch and acquired an enviable reputation for accuracy and neatness. In 1905, at his own request he was transferred to Asheville, North Carolina, as salesman and traveling auditor. Six months later, or in March, 1906, he was transferred to Columbia, South Carolina, to assist in re-organizing the distributing headquarters of the company in that city. He did the work with characteristic thoroughness and, in July, of that year, he became assistant manager of the Columbia branch. He remained in Columbia a little more than two years, August, 1908, when he was sent to the Charlotte, North Carolina, branch as assistant manager. He remained at Charlotte for two years until January, 1911, when the “call of home” caused him to resign and he returned to Wilmington. Upon returning to Wilmington, he entered the employ of the Cape Fear Oil Company. The venture did not prove a success and the following January, he became associated with a local wholesale grocery concern. Three months later, March, 1912, marked the beginning of his public career.

In addition to properly handling all the duties of his office as County Auditor, Mr. Orrell has assumed and performed the various obligations of a good citizen. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of this city and active in the work of that congregation. He also is a Royal Arch Mason, affiliating with Concord Chapter No. 1, and Plantagenet Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar, being treasurer of the Commandery, Chapter and Munson Council No. 4, R. & S. M. His other lodge associations include the Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and Junior Order United American Mechanics. He also is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is President of the North Carolina Association of County Auditors, which he helped to organize in Wilmington and became its first president in 1927. During the period of the World War, he acted as secretary of the New Hanover County Selective Draft Board which was one of only five boards in the state, the members of which served without compensation. In 1926, he was appointed by Governor Angus W. McLean as a member of a commission of twelve to study county governments with a view of promoting efficiency and economizing on costs. And, in connection with this long list of official duties, the office of County Auditor provides that he also act as ex officio county treasurer, county accountant and county tax supervisor.

Mr. Orrell is of Scotch and English descent. His father was John J. Orrell, native of New Hanover County, a Civil War veteran and the son of a long line of Cape Fear forebears. His mother was Annie E. (Hewlett) Orrell, daughter of John Hewlett and a sister of Elijah Hewlett, former treasurer and sheriff of New Hanover County and prominent in this section for many years. On June 26, 1895, Mr. Orrell married Miss Mattie Powell, a native of New Hanover County and daughter of Joseph L. Powell and Margaret (Taylor) Powell. Two children have been born of the marriage. They are John A. Jr., now in the automobile business in Wilmington, and May, wife of Ensign John W. Ryssy, in United States Coast Guard Service.