The Orange Family of Cincinnati, Ohio

John Baptist Orange appears to be descended from a French Huguenot family who had fled France for England. He and his wife Martha Fox lived in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England where they had several children. At least three of their sons came to America in the early part of the 19th century.

Daniel (1793-?) seems to have immigrated earlier than the other two, and settled in Edwards County, Illinois. He was involved in the founding of St. John's, a Protestant Episcopal Church there. In 1820 he had living with him at least one of his younger brothers, and in 1830 they and their families had moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Daniel was a grocer in Cincinnati in 1831, but at some point he moved back to Edwards County, Illinois where he farmed and later became a baptist clergyman.

William (1796-1862) and Benjamin (1803-1868) immigrated in the spring of 1820 on the Ship Tontine, E. Turley, master. They landed in Philadelphia and made their way to Illinois where Daniel was living. William married there in 1824 and by 1830 he and his wife and small daughter had moved to Ohio. In an 1831 city directory he was listed as a mattress manufacturor and outfitter of steamboats. Benjamin was listed as a broker in 1831. In the 1840 city directory they both were listed as upholsterers.

William appears to have prospered as an upholsterer, and by 1850 owned $20,000 in real estate. By 1860 he had $50,000 in real estate. (By way of comparison using the unskilled wage rate that's over 7 million dollars today!) .

William and his wife Barbara Tait had at least nine children. Their oldest daughter Martha married Richard D. Slevin and settled in Louisville, Kentucky. See my page on the Slevin family.

Their only son William Frederick Orange seems to have inherited the family home on Lehman Rd. He and two of his sisters, Mary and Augusta, never married and lived together until their deaths within days of each other in 1914. Throughout his life others of his sisters and their families would live with him along with orphaned nieces and nephews.

Benjamin married Elizabeth Beresford and had four or possibly five children. (A girl, named Elizabeth Martha James Orange was born to one of the three brothers in 1829, and was most likely Benjamin's.) Though he did not do quite as well as William he was still quite well off for his time, with $6,000 in real estate in 1850. (By the same index as above that's around a million dollars.)

Benjamin's only son John died in 1864 (from consumption of the bowels!) and a few years earlier John's only son Joseph had died at eight months from hydrocephalus. Between William and Benjamin they had twelve daughters and only two sons, both of whom died without any children to carry on the name of Orange...

Most of my information about the Oranges was gleaned from burial cards from Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum, which has graciously put it's records online. Thanks to them for their generosity, and to the Orange family for mostly choosing to be buried there!