Gibsons Orrs Pioneer Families

The descendants of Alexander & Elizabeth Votah Gibson and William Orr. Many of the descendants who settled in Fremont County, Iowa, are traced to the present, including biographies and photographs when available. Also included in the book is documentation of one branch of the William & Keziah Snead Keyser family.

The third edition of the history of the Orr, Campbell, Mitchell, and Shirley families (which in its title now recognizes that Paul Orr and Isabella Boyd's descendants went to places beyond the U.S.) is updated as of 2020. The more than 4,000 known descendants (counting spouses) of Paul Orr and Isabella Boyd went largely to the U.S., but also to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, and Scotland. Some McMurtry, Mitchell, McQuigg and Forsythe families stayed in Ireland. In the U.S., they have lived in, died in, or been married in 49 of the 50 states. Vermont must be too far north. They do tend to cluster, though, with Oklahoma being the state that drew a bunch from the Midwestern families. That makes sense, since it was opened for land sales at a time when the Orr family was on the move. Of course, California beckoned to some in each family. As they settled in, the Orrs married into families of all the other immigrants -- and of the Native American residents who were there long before Europeans. They have also married into families of other races. Truly melding into the melting pot.