James Lawrence Orr
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| James Lawrence Orr | |
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| In office December 7, 1857 – March 4, 1859 |
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| Preceded by | Nathaniel P. Banks |
| Succeeded by | William Pennington |
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| In office 1853 – 1859 |
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| Preceded by | Armistead Burt |
| Succeeded by | John D. Ashmore |
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| Born | May 12, 1822 Craytonville, South Carolina |
| Died | May 5, 1873 Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Political party | Democratic |
James Lawrence Orr (May 12, 1822 – May 5, 1873) was an American politician who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in the United States Congress. He later served in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War and was a postbellum Governor of South Carolina.
Orr was born at Craytonville, South Carolina. He graduated at the University of Virginia in 1841 and became an attorney. He served as a Democratic Congressman from South Carolina from 1849 to 1859, serving as the Speaker of the House from 1857 to 1859. Congressman Orr was an advocate of States rights who used his position of power to assist those persons who promoted the continuation of slavery. He foresaw the dreadful consequences of the decision by South Carolina to attempt to secede from the Union, but he remained loyal to that State. He was one of the three commissioners sent to Washington, D.C. to effect the transfer of property to the State of South Carolina.
Afterward, he organized and commanded Orr's Regiment of South Carolina Rifles, which saw little action before he resigned in 1862 and entered the Confederate Senate. Ironically, the regiment continued to bear his name throughout the war and fought in some of the most prominent battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. In the Senate, he remained a strong proponent of states rights.
At the end of the war, Orr was elected governor in 1865 of the state of South Carolina and served until 1868 with the passage of a new state constitution. He died in St. Petersburg, Russia shortly after being named Minister to Russia by President Ulysses S. Grant. He is interred in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Anderson, SC.
| Preceded by Nathaniel P. Banks |
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives December 7, 1857 – March 4, 1859 |
Succeeded by William Pennington |
| Preceded by (none) |
Representative to the Provisional Confederate Congress from South Carolina 1862 |
Succeeded by (none) |
| Preceded by (none) |
Confederate States Senator from South Carolina February 18, 1862 – May 10, 1865 Served alongside: Robert Woodward Barnwell |
Succeeded by (none) |
| Preceded by Benjamin Franklin Perry |
Governor of South Carolina November 29, 1865 – July 6, 1868 |
Succeeded by Robert Kingston Scott |
| Preceded by Andrew G. Curtin |
United States Ambassador to Russia December 12, 1872 – May 6, 1873 |
Succeeded by Marshall Jewell |
| Speakers of the United States House of Representatives |  |
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| Muhlenberg • Trumbull • Muhlenberg • Dayton • Sedgwick • Macon • Varnum • Clay • Cheves • Clay • Taylor • Barbour • Clay • Taylor • Stevenson • Bell • Polk • Hunter • White • Jones • Davis • Winthrop • Cobb • Boyd • Banks • Orr • Pennington • Grow • Colfax • Pomeroy • Blaine • Kerr • Randall • Keifer • Carlisle • Reed • Crisp • Reed • Henderson • Cannon • Clark • Gillett • Longworth • Garner • Rainey • Byrns • Bankhead • Rayburn • Martin • Rayburn • Martin • Rayburn • McCormack • Albert • O'Neill • Wright • Foley • Gingrich • Hastert • Pelosi |
| Confederate States Senators |  |
|---|---|
| Alabama: Clay • Jemison • Walker • Yancey • Arkansas: Garland • R. Johnson • Mitchel • Florida: Baker • Maxwell • Georgia: Hill • H. Johnson • Lewis • Kentucky: Burnett • Simms • Louisiana: Semmes • Sparrow • Mississippi: Brown • Phelan • Watson • Missouri: Clark • W. Johnson • Peyton • Vest • North Carolina: Davis • Dortch • Graham • Reade • South Carolina: Barnwell • Orr • Tennessee: Haynes • Henry • Texas: Oldham • Wigfall • Virginia: Caperton • Hunter • Preston |
| Governors of South Carolina |  |
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| J. Rutledge • Lowndes • J. Rutledge • Mathews • Guerard • Moultrie • T. Pinckney • C. Pinckney • Moultrie • Vanderhorst • C. Pinckney • E. Rutledge • Drayton • J. Richardson • P. Hamilton • C. Pinckney • Drayton • Middleton • Alston • D. Williams • A. Pickens • Geddes • Bennett • Wilson • Manning I • Taylor • Miller • J. Hamilton • Hayne • McDuffie • Butler • Noble • Henagan • Richardson II • Hammond • Aiken • Johnson • Seabrook • Means • J. Manning • Adams • Allston • Gist • F. Pickens • Bonham • Magrath • Perry • Orr • Scott • Moses • Chamberlain • Hampton • Simpson • Jeter • Hagood • Thompson • Sheppard • Richardson III • Tillman • Evans • Ellerbe • McSweeney • Heyward • Ansel • Blease • Smith • Manning III • Cooper • Harvey • McLeod • Richards • Blackwood • Johnston • Maybank • Harley • Jefferies • Johnston • R. Williams • Thurmond • Byrnes • Timmerman • Hollings • Russell • McNair • West • Edwards • Riley • Campbell • Beasley • Hodges • Sanford |
Categories: 1822 births | 1873 deaths | Confederate States Senators | Deputies and delegates of the Provisional Confederate Congress | Governors of South Carolina | Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina | Speakers of the United States House of Representatives | People of South Carolina in the American Civil War
