Life span: 05/12/1822 to 05/05/1873TabsLife SummaryFull name: James Lawrence OrrPlace of Birth: Craytonville, SCBurial Place: Anderson, SCBirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: MaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: SouthOrigins: Slave StateEducation: University of VirginiaOccupation: PoliticianDiplomatAttorney or JudgeJournalistPolitical Parties: DemocraticRepublicanGovernment: Confederate government (1861-65)Grant Administration (1869-77)DiplomatUS House of RepresentativesGovernorState judgeMilitary: Confederate Army Note Cards James Lawrence Orr (Congressional Biographical Directory) ReferenceORR, James Lawrence, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Craytonville, Anderson County, S.C., May 12, 1822; attended the public schools, and was graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1842; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Anderson, S.C., in 1843; engaged in newspaper work; member of the State house of representatives 1844-1847; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1859); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Thirty-third Congress); Speaker of the House of Representatives (Thirty-fifth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1858; resumed the practice of law at Craytonville; member of the southern rights convention held in Charleston, S.C., in 1851; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Charleston in 1860; member of the secession convention in 1860; one of three commissioners sent to Washington, D.C., to treat with the Federal Government for the surrender of the forts in Charleston Harbor; Member of the Confederate Senate in 1861; served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; special commissioner sent to President Johnson to negotiate the establishment of provisional government for the State of South Carolina in 1865; member of the State constitutional convention in 1865; elected Governor of South Carolina as a Republican in 1866; president of the State convention at Columbia in July 1866; delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia in August 1866; judge of the eighth judicial circuit 1868-1870; member of the Republican State convention in August 1872; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1872; appointed by President Grant as Minister to Russia in December 1872; died in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 5, 1873; interment in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Anderson, S.C. “Orr, James Lawrence,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000104. Events Date span begin Life span End Event 12/07/1857 12/07/1857 The 35th Congress opens in Washington, DC with James Orr of South Carolina elected as Speaker 01/05/1858 01/05/1858 The 35th Congress returns from its ten day holiday recess 01/06/1858 06/13/1858 The 35th Congress is in session in Washington, DC. from early January to mid-June, 1858 06/14/1858 06/14/1858 The 35th Congress ends its first session in Washington, DC. and adjourns until December 12/06/1858 12/22/1858 The second session of the 35th Congress is sitting in Washington, DC 12/06/1858 12/06/1858 The second session of the 35th Congress opens in Washington, DC 01/04/1859 01/04/1859 The second session of the 35th Congress returns from its ten day holiday recess 01/27/1859 01/27/1859 Speaker of the House Orr and Congressman Hughes of Indiana exchange insults and almost come to blows in the U.S. Capital 03/03/1859 03/03/1859 The 35th Congress of the United States ends its term and adjourns 10/25/1860 10/25/1860 South Carolina's political leadership meets to decide on secession should Lincoln win the presidency 12/26/1860 12/26/1860 South Carolina's commissioners to the United States arrive and take up residence in Washington 12/28/1860 12/28/1860 South Carolina's commissioners to the United States present their credentials and explain their mission 12/30/1860 12/30/1860 President Buchanan replies to the South Carolina's commissioners as "private gentlemen" 07/01/1865 07/01/1865 President Johnson appoints Benjamin Franklin Perry as provisional governor of South Carolina 08/14/1866 08/16/1866 In Philadelphia, Democrats and conservatives gather for the National Union Convention. 11/27/1866 11/27/1866 Governor Orr of South Carolina calls for South Carolina's rejection of the Fourteenth Amendment. 12/20/1866 12/20/1866 In Columbia, the South Carolina legislature overwhelmingly rejects the Fourteenth Amendment. Documents Subject Docs Date Title 08/19/1857 New York Times, “Slavery in Kansas,” June 22, 1857 06/18/1859 Milwaukee (WI) Sentinel, “William H. Seward,” June 18, 1859 06/29/1859 New York Times, “Albany and Richmond,” June 29, 1859 05/01/1860 New York Times, “The Charleston Convention,” May 1, 1860 03/31/1866 George William Curtis, "The Civil Rights Bill," Harper's Weekly Magazine, March 31, 1866, p. 194. Images James Lawrence Orr James Lawrence Orr, detail Bibliography Chicago Style Entry Link Leemhuis, Roger P. James L. Orr and the Sectional Conflict. Washington, DC: University Press of America, 1979. View Record
James Lawrence Orr (Congressional Biographical Directory) ReferenceORR, James Lawrence, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Craytonville, Anderson County, S.C., May 12, 1822; attended the public schools, and was graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1842; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Anderson, S.C., in 1843; engaged in newspaper work; member of the State house of representatives 1844-1847; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1859); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Thirty-third Congress); Speaker of the House of Representatives (Thirty-fifth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1858; resumed the practice of law at Craytonville; member of the southern rights convention held in Charleston, S.C., in 1851; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Charleston in 1860; member of the secession convention in 1860; one of three commissioners sent to Washington, D.C., to treat with the Federal Government for the surrender of the forts in Charleston Harbor; Member of the Confederate Senate in 1861; served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; special commissioner sent to President Johnson to negotiate the establishment of provisional government for the State of South Carolina in 1865; member of the State constitutional convention in 1865; elected Governor of South Carolina as a Republican in 1866; president of the State convention at Columbia in July 1866; delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia in August 1866; judge of the eighth judicial circuit 1868-1870; member of the Republican State convention in August 1872; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1872; appointed by President Grant as Minister to Russia in December 1872; died in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 5, 1873; interment in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Anderson, S.C. “Orr, James Lawrence,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000104.
