Anderson in Anderson County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
1. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House Marker
Inscription.
Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House. .
National Register , South Carolina Department of Archives And History Marshall Orr House , of Historic Places .
National Register
South Carolina
Department of Archives
And History
Marshall Orr
House
of Historic Places
Erected 1973.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Buildings.
Location. 34° 29.983′ N, 82° 39.667′ W. Marker is in Anderson, South Carolina, in Anderson County. Marker is on West Market Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 809 West Market Street, Anderson SC 29624, United States of America. Touch for directions.
1. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House. Constructed in 1885 by Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr, this two-story Greek Revival style clapboard house has a front façade of four massive fluted columns supporting a broad, plain entablature with low-sloped, boxed cornice pediment. (Submitted on April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)
2. Marshall Orr House. The Marshall Orr House was built in 1885 by Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr, as a smaller replica of the home of his father, Governor James L. Orr. Gov. Orr's home, known locally as "Forest Home" and "Arlington" was demolished in 1956. (Submitted on April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)
Additional commentary. 1. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House - National Register Nomination Form (1972) Description
Exterior: Constructed in 1885, this two-story clapboard house has a northern (front) facade of four massive fluted columns supporting a broad plain entablature with low-sloped, boxed cornice pediment. Cornices of the hipped tin-covered roof, pediments, and shed roofs of side porches are adorned with modillions. Eight evenly spaced sash windows adorn the front, with first floor windows of northern, front eastern, and front western facades
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
2. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House Marker
being floor length. All windows have louvered shutters. Front entrance consists of double doors surrounded by a pilaster molding that supports a paneled entablature. Directly above the front entrance a double casement window flanked by single casements opens onto a small balcony with wooden balustrade. Symmetry is maintained throughout with eastern and western facades being identical. Pizzas extend halfway along each side facade and terminate at side entrances which have three-length transoms. Rear rooms of the house are broader than those of the front, and there are two one-story wings to the south (rear) of the house.
Interior: The basic plan of the house is four rooms over four with a central hallway and stairway. An additional rooms is provided by each of the rear wings. At the southern end of the first floor hall a divided open-string stairway with ornamental brackets rises to a landing and proceeds to the second story along a reversed single stairway. Other noteworthy features include the hand carved wooden mantles in the various rooms which exhibit interesting column designs.
Significance Industrial and Commercial Significance: Though he practiced medicine in Anderson for twenty-five years Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr was also active in progressive civic and industrial affairs. He was director of the first building and loan association
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
3. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House Home of the Anderson Womens Club
in Anderson, chairman of the medical board at the hospital, and president and treasurer of Orr Cotton Mills and of the Anderson Water, Light and Power Company. Concerning the last of these, the historians of Anderson County, Louise A. Vandiver, notes that Dr. Orr "greatly improved and extended the system, and soon Anderson was using electricity for many of her enterprises which before had been dependent upon steam power." Dr. Orr's faith in the ability of electrical power to make Anderson a manufacturing center played an important part in the growth of this textile city.
The Marshall Orr House is a replica of the home of James L. Orr, father of Dr. S.M. Orr and member of Congress (1848-1859), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1857-1859), and Governor of South Carolina (1865-1868). Gov. Orr's house stood in another section of Anderson until razed in 1959. The Marshall Orr House is representative of the rural plantation style brought to an urban setting, a style indicative of the civic importance of the owner. Increasingly interested in preserving and restoring the representative elements of their heritage which remain, the citizens of Anderson are hopeful in preserving this house as a local landmark.
— Submitted April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
4. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House
2. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr Biography Samuel Marshall Orr, M.D., was one of the sons of Governor James L. Orr, whose record is reviewed elsewhere, and while his two brothers, James L. and Christopher H., adopted the profession of the law, Samuel Marshall became one of the eminent physicians and surgeons of the state, though for many years he also handled extensive business interests.
Dr. Orr was horn at Anderson June 5, 1855, and spent all his life in that city. He attended private schools, the King's Mountain Military School at Yorkville, completed a literary course in Furman University, and began the study of medicine under the late Dr. W.H. Nardin, Sr., at Anderson. In 1879, he graduated from Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, and returning to Anderson was devoted with all his talents and splendid abilities to professional work for a quarter of a century. For a time he was associated with his preceptor Dr. Nardin. His abilities and experience made him esteemed as a consulting practitioner, and Governor Richardson appointed him a member of the first Board of Medical Examiners for the state. He also served as president of the Anderson County Medical Society and vice president of the State Medical Society, and was surgeon for the Charleston and Western Carolina and the Blue Ridge Railroad Companies.
While in active practice and more particularly
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
5. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House
after retiring from his profession he gave evidence of his marked qualifications as a business man. He entered the drug business at Anderson in 1883, was prominent in connection with the first building and loan association at Anderson, and after the death of his brother Col. James L. Orr in 1905 he succeeded him in the presidency of the Orr Cotton Mill at Anderson. He held that position at the time of his death, and he had also been vice president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank at Anderson, and president and treasurer of the old Anderson Light and Power Company. He was one of the original trustees of the Anderson graded schools, and served many years as a vestryman of the Episcopal Church.
In 1875 Doctor Orr married Miss Charlotte Alethea Allen. Mrs. Orr, who still survives her honored husband, is the mother of four children: Harry A., Mary Orr, Samuel M., Jr., and Lydia. Both sons have achieved distinction as electrical engineers. Mrs. Orr is a granddaughter of Dr. Charles Louis Gaillard, formerly of Charleston, of French Huguenot origin, while her paternal grandfather was Banister Allen of Abbeville County and of English ancestry. (Source: History of South Carolina Volume 3 by Yates Snowden (1920), pgs 111-113.)
— Submitted April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
6. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House Main Entrance
sectionheadg>3. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr Obituary Anderson, April 15 – A telegram received in this City early this morning announced the death of Dr. S.M. Orr, which occurred at 8:45 o'clock last night at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. It had been known for some time that his condition was steadily growing worse, and the hosts of friends and admirers here were prepared for the announcement. While expectant for the worse all in Anderson are pained over the loss of such a good, great and true gentleman, and not a person here heard the sad news without a pang of sorrow.
Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr was a son Of Governor James L. Orr, and his wife was Mary Jane Marshall. He was born in Anderson on the 5th day of June, 1855, and spent his entire life in this place. He had two brothers, Col. James L. Orr, who died February 28, 1905, and Christopher Hugh Orr, who died in 1888. They were both lawyers.
Dr. Orr had two sisters who lived to be grown, Mrs. Martha Orr Patterson, who died in California a few years ago, and who was a very brilliant woman, being the founder of the present Industrial school for boys in this State. His other sister, Mrs. Mary Orr Earle, is now making her home In Greenville.
The subject of this sketch went to school to the Rev. Edw. R. Miles while he lived in Anderson, then to Prof. W.J. Ligon, the most noted educator at
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
7. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House West Porch
that time In the Piedmont section of South Carolina. He afterwards went to King's Mountain Military School at Yorkville under Col. A. Coward. He finished his literary course at Furman University. He began the study of medicine under the late Dr. W.H. Nardin, Sr., and graduated In March, 1879, at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He practiced medicine in Anderson energetically and successfully for 25 years. His practice was not only large, but extensive, he being called frequently in consultation with the physicians of Abbeville, Greenwood and Walhalla, and all the other nearby towns. He was a lecturer on anatomy and physics in the Home School and in the Patrick Military Institute, was president of the Anderson County Medical Association, member and delegate of the American Medical Association, and surgeon for the C. & W.C. and Blue Ridge Railway companies.
His life was a very active one. He made a success of everything that he had ever undertaken, and the key note to his entire success was energy and horse sense, coupled with honesty.
In 1875 he married Miss Charlotte Alathea Allen, the granddaughter of Dr. Charles Louis Gaillard, formerly of Charleston, and daughter of Han Allen, of Abbeville County.
Dr. Orr leaves four children: Harry Allen Orr, electrical engineer, president and treasurer of the Savannah River Power Company and vice president
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
8. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House Central Balcony
of the Anderson Water, Light and Power Company; S.M. Orr, Jr., electrical engineer and superintendent of the Abbeville water and electric light system, and two daughters. Misses Mary and Lydia Orr, who live with their mother. – Keowee Courier, April 21, 1909.
— Submitted April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
4. Arlington The sketch was made from a picture of this once elegant house about 1959 shortly before it was town down to make way for the U.S. Army Reserve Center on East Whitner Street. The palatial old home had been neglected for some time and though friends of historic preservation grieved, no way was found to keep it from going. Of magnificent proportions, it was built in the 1850s by the distinguished James L. Orr, with stately columns and classical pediment. In the cupola was a bell which was rung to alert Andersonians in times of emergency.
Having build his fine house which the Orrs called "Forrest Home," James Orr found little time to enjoy it, spending most of his adult life in the service of his state and country. It was said of him that "loyal, generous and patriotic, he died a poor man, after having filed every office in the gift of his people." A grandson of Jehu Orr, a Revolutionary soldier who had migrated to Pendleton
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
9. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House East Porch
District, and a son of Christopher Orr, he was born in Craytonville in 1822. After a fine education and admission to the S.C. bar, he was soon elected to the state legislature and in 1849, only 26 years of age, to the U.S. Congress where he served until 1858, the last two years as Speaker of the House. He had strongly opposed secession for sixteen years, as he feared it would ruin the South, yet when the war came he stood by his own people, organized Orr's Rifles and was colonel of his regiment until persuaded to serve in the Confederate Congress. After the war he was South Carolina's first elected governor until military rule did away with the office. He was elected a judge and served until 1872 when he went to Russia as envoy extraordinary but died in St. Petersburg the next year, leaving a widow, the former Mary Jane Marshall of Anderson, and a number of children.
The the following years Arlington was successively the home of Mr. O.H.P. Fant, Mr. Will Brown, his son-in-law, and Mr. M.C. Dicken, who, coming to Anderson to take charge of Chiquola Hotel, fell in love with the beautiful old place, bought it, and gave it the name "Arlington." After painting and freshening up, installing modern conveniences, and furnishing it throughout, he continued to live at the hotel, keeping the place shut up except when he chose to entertain parties of his friends there. After a few
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2011
10. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House East Facade
years Mr. Dicken returned to Virginia, his home state, and about 1900 sold Arlington to W.R. Osborne. Mr. Osborne was a member of the firm of Brown, Osborne and Co. whose establishment was on the corner where Fleishman Company has been located many years. After his death his two sisters, the Misses Irene St. Clair and Clara Osborne continued to live there until their deaths in the 1950s. (Source: Anderson County Sketches.)
— Submitted April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
5. National Register of Historic Places: Constructed in 1885 by Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr, this two-story Greek Revival style clapboard house has a front façade of four massive fluted columns supporting a broad, plain entablature with low-sloped, boxed cornice pediment. The cornices of the hipped tin-covered roof, pediments, and shed roofs of side porches are adorned with modillions. The front entrance consists of double doors surrounded by a three-light transom, four-light rectangular sidelights, and a pilaster molding that supports a paneled entablature. Directly above the front entrance a double casement window flanked by single casements opens onto a small balcony with a wooden balustrade. Piazzas extend halfway along each side façade and terminate at side entrances which have
Photographed By Brian Scott, April 17, 2012
11. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House Gardens
three-light transoms. The basic plan of the house is four rooms over four with a central hall and stairway. The divided open-string stairway with ornamental brackets rises to a landing and proceeds to the second story along a reversed single stairway. Dr. Orr practiced medicine in Anderson for twenty-five years and was also active in civic and industrial affairs. He served as director of the first building and loan association in Anderson, chairman of the medical board at the hospital, and president and treasurer of Orr Cotton Mills and of the Anderson Water, Light and Power Company. Listed in the National Register April 13, 1973. (South Carolina Department of Archives and History)
Orr, Dr. Samuel Marshall, House (added 1973 - - #73001673)
809 W. Market St. , Anderson
• Historic Significance: Person
• Historic Person: Orr, Dr. Samuel Marshall
• Significant Year: 1885
• Area of Significance: Industry, Commerce
• Period of Significance: 1925-1949
• Owner: Private
• Historic Function: Domestic
• Historic Sub-function: Single Dwelling
• Current Function: Domestic
— Submitted October 6, 2012.
Photographed By Brian Scott, March 6, 2012
12. Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr Tombstone Old Silver Brook Cemetery White Street, Anderson SC
Photographed By Brian Scott, circa 1959
13. Arlington (Gov. James L. Orr House)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on April 23, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,318 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on April 23, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 3. submitted on April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on April 23, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. submitted on April 24, 2012, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
