Amanda Melvine McQueen, born on 19 May 1843 in Franklin County, Tennessee, was the sixth child and fifth daughter born to Milton and Susan (Simmons) McQueen. Her eldest sister, Elizabeth, was already twelve years old at her birth. Amanda was six years old when her family moved to Texas. We know little else of Amanda’s childhood, except for the fact that she was eleven years old at the time of her mother’s death from pneumonia.
On 30 Oct 1860, just before the beginning of the Civil War, Amanda married W. W. Orr in Tyler County, Texas (marriage recorded in county). On 1 March 1862 he enlisted in John Thomas Bean’s company which served in Company H, 13th Regiment of Texas Cavalry. This company participated in engagements at Fort Bisland, Bayou Teche, and near Centreville in Lousiana to name a few. Bean was the nephew of Milton McQueen and the cousin of Amanda. His parents were Jane McQueen and Leroy D. Bean.
On 7 March 1864, near the end of the war, Amanda gave birth to a son whom the couple named Charles Milton Orr. After the war, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. Amanda, W. W., and their son Charles were all buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Dallas, Dallas Co., TX. Both W. W. and Amanda have slabs over their burial, but another large monument stands at the head of Amanda’s with the words “our mother,” so it is likely there were other children in the family as well.
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| Monument for Amanda Melvine McQueen Orr Greenwood Cemetery, Dallas, Dallas County, TX found at http://www.findagrave.com/ |
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| Tombstones of Amanda Melvine Orr (left) and W. W. Orr (right) Greenwood Cemetery, Dallas, Dallas County, TX found at http://www.findagrave.com/ |
Amanda Melvine (variously spelled Melviney and Melvina) McQueen Orr had at least one other child, Johnnie Texanna Orr (b. ~1866, Tyler Cty., TX d. 1959, Lawton, OK) with William Wallace Orr.
ReplyDeleteJohnnie T. Orr married Francis Austin in Dallas Texas in ~1884. They had 5 children, William Colson Austin (b. 1DEC1886, d. 1975, Lawton, OK), Flora, Martha, Earl Conger Austin (b. 1901, 1904, 1906 depending on his mood), and Edith (Bobbie).
Francis Austin worked as a jeweler in Dallas, TX. In ~1895 they relocated to Oklahoma, living on Indian land across from Ft. Sill before participating in the founding of Lawton, OK.
I was taken aback by the imposing memorial statue of Amanda McQueen Orr, my great grandmother. W. C. Austin was my grandfather and I knew his brother Earl and his sister Edith well as a child & until my mid 20s. No one in the family had ever mentioned its existence.
My mother, Katherine Austin Lathrop, a pioneer scientist in the field of nuclear medicine, was also a genealogist, having been president of the Chicago Genealogical Society at one point. She was a careful researcher and documented all the information on her family well. Sadly, I don't have that information at my fingertips now either.
She did tell me that Amanda M Orr died relatively young (the date on the monument matches this information) and that William Wallace remarried. He and his wife had a daughter named Willie. According to my mother, W W was a relatively wealthy man, but left all his estate to his daughter Willie, excluding his other children. Allegedly, there was a protracted legal battle on their part to recover some of the money for themselves, but apparently to no avail. My mother indicated that W W died in Mississippi.
So, I was somewhat puzzled to see your picture of the grave of W W next to that of Amanda M Orr. I tried searching for his name on the Greenwood Cementery site, but could find nothing, although I easily found Amanda.
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me the source of the identification of this grave as that of W W Orr. Among other things, I would really like to know both the place and date of his birth, something my mother was never able to track down.
The only other glimmer of information about W W Orr that I have is that my great uncle Earl always said that his family was "black Irish". He and Edith did indeed have a sligtly olive complection, straight black hair, and striking blue eyes. My grandfather took after the Austin side of the family and did not have these features. No one in my family does either, although some first cousins do. I do have two pictures of Johnnie Orr Austin which I would be happy to share, although I'm not sure at the moment where to post them.
Also, are copies of your book "Metes & Bounds" still available?
Jane Lathrop Grider
jane4u2@email2me.net
Hello Jane,
ReplyDeleteIt is so good to finally hear from a descendant of Amanda's after all these years. (I have been researching the McQueens for over thirty years now.) Yes, I was quite taken aback by the imposing monument to Amanda as well. She must have been much loved by her family.
So sorry to hear of the legal battles involved in W. W.'s estate. That seems to have happened so often. As for the grave, I found the information at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27671495. I have never seen Amanda's husband's name as anything other than W.W., and this was the name given and used on the website. I always wondered what the initial stood for.
Let me think about the pictures. I am just getting started at this blog, but I'm sure others are going to have pictures to post as well.
My books are available through Gregath Publishing Company which a has a link on the front of my blog. I gave them rights years ago because I wanted to make the books available to people and I quickly sold out of the ones I initially ordered. I don't make much off of them, but the publishing company apparently has.
Too bad you don't have a picture of Amanda. I have one of her sisters Kati and Nancy, as well as brother James and one that is likely their father, Milton. It would have been interesting to see another McQueen.