Grandma Mary's siblings: Affable Amanda

What I remember most about my dad’s Aunt Mandy is that she was—well, fat. That’s the word we used in the 1950s. Today, that word seems to be out. The word obese is in. It’s somehow more polite.

But Mandy wasn’t always obese. The eighth child of Eli and Rachel Waggoner was born in Smyth County Virginia on March 20, 1895, and named Amanda.[1] At age 5 in 1900, Mandy, a happy little girl, we hope, was living with her family at Broadford, Virginia. When the family moved to Mexico, Missouri, in 1909, she was included in that grand adventure. She had attended school there in 1910[2] most likely her first year of high school, which was the extent of her formal education.[3]

The picture below was taken in Missouri when Mandy was about 16 or 17. The family lived there from 1909 until sometime during 1912 when, according to her mother’s obituary, they moved to Nebraska. The two children with her in the picture are her nephew and niece, James Gordon Troutman, born in 1911 and named for his mother’s favorite brother, and Neville America Troutman, born in 1910 and named America for her paternal grandmother. They were the two oldest children of Mary and Clint Troutman, my grandparents. The  first three of the Troutman children were born in Missouri. The third, Carl Justin, was not included in this photo, so he was either not yet born or very young.

James Troutman, age 1, Amanda Waggoner, age 17, Neville Troutman, age 2.

In 1920, Mandy was living with her parents and her brother Jake on a farm in Brenna precinct, Wayne County, Nebraska.[4]

Mandy is on the right with two unidentified friends. Comparing to the picture below, I'd say the man could be Dallas Orr, Mandy's future husband.
This was probably taken in Nebraska in about 1920.

 About 1922, Mandy married Moses Dallas Orr (1883-1946), son of Moses and Mahala Love (Cline) Orr.[5] This family had also migrated from Smyth County, Virginia, to Nebraska sometime during the first decade of the 20^th Century. In the 1900 census, Dallas, as he was commonly called, was enumerated twice, once with his family at Broadford, Virginia, the same town where the Waggoner family lived at that time, where his occupation was recorded as “Office boy,”[6] and once living on his own in Rich Valley, where his occupation was recorded as “Salesman, General Store.”[7] By the 1910 census, the Moses Orr family was living in Dodge County, Nebraska; however, Dallas was not with them,[8] and I haven’t found him in the 1910 census. When he registered for the World War 1 draft in 1918, he was living in Thurston County, Nebraska.[9]

By 1930, Dallas and Mandy were living on a rented farm near Winnebago, Thurston County, Nebraska. They had four children: May, age 7; Reba L., age 6; James, age 5; and Geneva, age 2.[10] In 1940, they were still living on the same rented farm, and they had a fifth child, Charles, age 3.[11]

Dallas and Mandy Orr about 1940 with four of their children:

l. to r. Geneva, James, and Reba, with little Charles in front.

Mandy’s life surely took a difficult turn when Dallas died in 1946, at age 62, leaving her with young Charles, age 9, still at home. What did widowed women do who had never been employed outside the home, never owned land, and had little education? Many of them relied on older children for their support. Or perhaps there was a pension of some sort. One can only guess how Mandy supported herself and her son during the ensuing years. By this time, Mandy’s older children were out of the home and married, even her youngest daughter, Geneva, who married at about age 18.

The loss of Dallas was not the worst blow to Mandy, however. In 1950, Geneva’s husband murdered her and their three children. Next week’s story. 

Click to find Dallas Orr’s memorial and Amanda Orr’s memorial on findagrave.com.

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[1] Bland County, Virginia, Record of Births, 1861-96: 333, database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 June 2013), entry for Amanda Waggoner, 20 March 1895.

[2] 1910 U. S. census, Salt River, Audrain County, Missouri, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 11, p. 7-B, dwelling 140, family 140, Manda Creelman [Waggoner]; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 October 2013); NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 767.

[3] 1940 U. S. census, Winnebago, Thurston County, Nebraska, population schedule, enumeration district 82-17, sheet 16-A, visit no. 278, Amanda Orr; digital image Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com ; accessed 15 October 2013); NARA microfilm publication T-627, roll 2082.

[4] 1920 U. S. census, Brenna Precinct, Wayne County, Nebraska, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 218, p. 5-A, dwelling 87, Amanda Waggoner; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2013); NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 1003.

[5] Smyth County Virginia Births, 1879-1884, database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 03 November 2013), entry for Moses Orr, 21 May 1883.

[6] 1900 U. S. census, Broadford, Smyth County, Virginia, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 84, sheet no. 3-B, dwelling 45, family 45, Dallas Orr; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 November 2013); NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 1728.

[7] 1900 U. S. census, Rich Valley, Smyth County, Virginia, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 85, sheet no. 2-B, dwelling 28, family 28, Dallas M. Orr; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 November 2013); NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 1728.

[8] 1910 U. S. census, Ridgely township, Dodge County, Nebraska, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 109, p. 2-B, dwelling 32, family 32, Moses Orr family; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 November 2013); NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 842.

[9] “U. S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” images Ancestry.com (http://www. Ancestry.com, accessed 13 August 2013), card for Moses Dallas Orr, serial number (blank), Local Draft Board, Pender, Thurston County, Nebraska.

[10] 1930 U. S. census, Winnebago, Thurston County, Nebraska, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 87-17, p. 4-B, dwelling 83, family 83, Amanda Orr; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2013); NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1294.

[11] 1940 U. S. census, Winnebago, Thurston County, Nebraska,  population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 82-17, sheet 16-A, visit no. 278, Dallas Orr family; digital image Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com ; accessed 6 November 2013); NARA microfilm publication T-627, roll 2267.