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The emails below provided further information on
Moses Edgar Orr, which were received from
Michael Conlon, who is the great, great, great grandson of Moses Edgar Orr.

 

 

This is an E-mail, which was such a blessing to receive as a researcher, sent to us on
June 3, 2012 from Michael Conlon. He followed this up with two more very informative
E-mails on the history of his family, Hackensack, and the United States of America:

Is this still an active project? Moses Edgar Orr is my great, great, great grandfather. I recently visited his grave. In conducting family genealogical research I learned that his wife Helena (my great, great great grandmother) was a descendant (through her father, Samuel Smith) of at least two prominent veterans of The American Revolution.
Samuel Smith's grave marker is beside the Orr marker. Other members of the Smith line are also buried there.

Regards,
Mike Conlon

Recorded by:
Bob Meli
January 7, 2013

 

 

This is an E-mail sent to us from Michael Conlon the next day, June 4, 2012, explaining in more detail what he knew about Moses Edgar Orr and his family:

Good to hear back from you. I have some additional information on Moses Orr and his wife's family. I'm not sure what would be helpful to you.

He was born at or near Fort Ann, NY (not far from Lake George, near the Vermont state line). He was one of 12 children of Benjamin and Mary Orr of New York.  Moses Edgar Orr and his wife, Helena Doremus Smith Orr, had six children: Edgar S., Minnie, Leroy Sanford (my great, great grandfather), A. Lincoln (I believe his full name was
Abraham Lincoln Orr), Helena G., and Benjamin S.

Moses enlisted, as a sergeant in the 96th NY Volunteer Infantry at the age of 21 in November 1861. He was promoted to Lieutenant in April 1862 and then to Captain in
May 1863.

http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/rosters/Infantry/96th_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf

Moses resided in the following locations:
1850- Bolton, NY
1860- Pawlet, VT
1870- 1880- Jersey City, NJ
1890- Rutland, VT
1900- New York City, NY

In 1906, he died in Union Hill, NJ. This may be the area in Denville, Morris County, or what is now West New York and North Bergen.

Moses's wife, Helena Doremus Smith, is descended from John Morin Scott, a member of the Continental Congress from 1780-1783. He was also a Brigadier General, who served at the Battle of White Plains. He was also the first Secretary of State for the State of NY. John Morin Scott's son-in-law, Dr. Charles McKnight, was a distinguished physician and served as a chief surgeon in the Continental Army. Dr. McKnight's father, also named Charles, was a minister. He was outspoken against the crown and was held as a prisoner of war aboard the prison ship HMS Jersey.

Recorded by:
Bob Meli
January 7, 2013

 

 

Michael Conlon sent us this third E-Mail in a row on June 5, 2012 explaining more information on his family and also mentioning two more prominent people buried in the Church on the Greens Graveyard.  Michael writes “pleasure to meet you” in this E-mail because it is the first time I responded to him personally mentioning my name.  
  

Mr. Meli,

Pleasure to "meet" you. Moses's wife, Helena Doremus Smith, was born in New York City to Samuel Smith II and Gertrude Paulison. Her father, Samuel Smith II, was born in Haverstraw, NY and her mother, Gertrude Paulison, was born in Hackensack. The Church on the Green, where Helena and Moses Orr are buried, has several Paulison family plots. Beside Helena Orr's headstone is a headstone for her brother, Scott McKnight Smith and her father Samuel Smith II. 

Apart from the apparent family connection to the church, I can't really say how Moses came to be buried there.

That churchyard also holds the graves of Enoch Poor, one of George Washington's officers in the Revolution, and Richard Varick, a former Mayor of the city of New York. Were you also aware of General Poor's grave site there? Varick served in the Revolution as well.

Recorded by:
Bob Meli
January 7, 2013