"O" is for Orr, James Lawrence [1822-1873]. Congressman. Governor. Orr’s public career began in the General Assembly. In 1849 he was elected to the U.S. Congress and served five terms. By sentiment a Unionist, he believed that a strong national Democratic Party would best protect the state’s interests. In 1857 he was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. With Lincoln’s election, he supported secession and was a delegate to the Secession Convention. He served in the Confederate Senate from 1861 until 1865. Under South Carolina’s 1865 constitution, he became the state's first popularly elected governor. In 1868 he was removed from office by federal authorities. He later joined the Republican Party and, in 1872--as a gesture of sectional reconciliation--James Lawrence Orr was appointed United States Minister to Russia.
"O" is for Orr, James Lawrence [1822-1873]
