Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/632

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
592
OROSZ
ORR

meritorious service at the battle of Gettysburg. His widow entered the sisterhood of the Sacred Heart.


OROSZ, or OROS, Ladislas (o-rosh'), Hungarian clergyman, b. in Hungary, 18 Dec, 1697; d. in Tyrnau, Austria, in the latter half of the 18th century. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1716, embarked for South America in 1726, and labored in Paraguay, where he converted some Indian tribes. He was afterward rector of the College of Buenos Ayres, subsequently provincial of the Jesuits, and returned to Europe in 1768. He wrote " Decades quinque Virorum Illustrium Paraguarise S. G. ex Historia Provinciae et aliunde depromp- tae" (Tyrnau, 1759). He brought with him from Paraguay the materials for several other volumes on the history of that country, and prepared a sec- ond part for the press, but on his submitting it to the heads of his order they suppressed it, as its publication would give offence to the Spanish au- thorities. Father Orosz wrote accounts of his mis- sionary labors and of the manners and customs of the natives of South America, beginning in 1726 and ending in 1741, all of which are published in Stocklein's " Neue Weltbote " (Gratz).


OROZCO Y BERRA, Manuel (o-roth -ko-e- ber'-rah), Mexican historian, b. in the city of Mexico, 8 June, 1816 ; d. there, 27 Jan., 1881. He entered the College of mines, and in 1834 was graduated as a topographical engineer. He after- ward studied jurisprudence in the seminary at Puebla, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. " He was sent to the city of Mexico in 1851 to defend a lawsuit for the state, and in the next year ap- pointed director of the national archives. He was secretary of public works from 1857 till the fall of the Liberal government, and in 1860 was professor of geography and history in the military college. On the return of Juarez to Mexico in 186*1, Orozco became assistant secretary of public works, and in the next year took charge of the portfolio, and after the abolition of that office he was commis- sioned to write a memoir on native languages. In May, 1863, he was appointed associate judge of the supreme court, and when the government aban- doned the capital before the French army he re- mained in Mexico to work for a living. He refused a seat in the junta de notables, but later, when many distinguished Liberals thought it their duty to assist the new imperial government, he accepted office. In November, 1865, he became assistant secretary of public works and director of the Na- tional museum, and in August, 1866, he was ap- pointed professor of national history in the College of mines. On 25 Sept. of that j'ear he was appointed councillor of state, and in the conference at Orizaba in November he was one of the few frankly to express the opinion that the empire could no longer be maintained. After the capture of the capital by the Republican forces, Orozco was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, but in November of the same year the sentence was commuted. He was pardoned in 1868, and. obtaining through his friends a post in the mint, devoted himself to scientific studies, and was soon an acknowledged authority on ancient Mexican history and hieroglyphics. He became a member of the Royal geographical society of Madrid and numerous foreign and Mexican scientific associations. He was one of the principal editors of Jose M. Andrade's " Diccionario Univer- sal de Historia y Geografia Mexicana" (7 vols., Mexico, 1853-'5), and chief editor of the appendix to that work (3 vols., 1855-'6). He wrote " Noticia historica de la Conjuracion del ]Marques del Valle, 1565 a 1568 " (1853) ; " Memoria para la carta hidrografica del valle de Mexico " (1864) ; " Geo- grafia de las lenguas y Carta etnografica de Mexi- co, con apuntes para la immigracion de las tribus " (1865); "Memorias para el piano de la ciudad de Mexico" (1867) ; "Materiales para una cartografia Mexicana " (1871) ; " Historia de la Geografia en Mexico " (1876 and 1880) ; and '• Historia antigua de Mexico," his most famous work (1880-'l), in four parts : " Civilization," " The Primitive Man," " Ancient History," and "Conquest." — His brother, Fernando, Mexican poet, b. in San Felipe del Obraje, 3 June, 1822 ; d. in Mexico in 1851, went in early life to the city of Mexico with his parents, and in 1836 entered the seminary, studying Latin and beginning a course of medicine ; but his father died and his family went to Puebla, where he was graduated in medicine in 1845, and began practice. In 1848 he published a theatrical review, " El En- treacto," but his satirical criticisms and his liberal religious ideas made him unpopular, and he was obliged to return to Mexico. There he took part in editing several papers. About that time he finished his novel " La Guerra de 30 afios " (Mexico, 1850). At his death he was editor of the " Siglo XIX." He also wrote " La Tienda de Modas," " Tres Patriotas," and " Tres Aspirantes," comedies of three acts in verse, and " Amistad," a comedy of iive acts in prose. He left in manuscript " El Novio y el Alojado," and other comedies, and the articles " Ensayo Dramatico," " La Politica," " Primeras Impresiones," " Costumbres Provinciales," and " La China," which were published in a collection of liis works (Mexico, 1886).


ORR, Hugh, inventor, b. in Lochwinoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, 13 Jan., 1717; d. in Bridgewater, Plymouth co., Mass.. 6 Dec, 1798. He emigrated to this country in 1737, and, after residing a year in Easton, Pa., settled in Bridgewater, where, having been educated as a gun- and locksmith, he built a scythe and axe manufactory, and erected the first trip-hammer that was set up in that part of the country. For several years he was the only maker of edged tools in that section of New England. About 1753 he invented a machine for dressing flax, and became an exporter of flax-seed. Previously, in 1748, he had made 500 stand of arms for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and they were deposited in Castle William, but were nearly all carried away by the British when they evacuated Boston. At the beginning of the war of the Revolution, Orr became a warm adherent of the popular cause, and was again employed in the manufacture of arms. In concert with a French gentleman he erected a foundry for casting. Here a great number of iron and several pieces of brass ordnance varying from 3- to 42-pounders were made, besides a vast quantity of cannon-shot which proved of the utmost value to the patriots. In 1786 he employed two brothers, named Robert and Alexander Barr, from Scotland, to build for him three carding, roping, and spinning machiTies. The legislature voted a grant of £200 to insure their cojnpletion, and subsequently awarded the Barrs six tickets in the state land lottery, in which there were no blanks, as a reward for their " ingenuity " and " public spirit." Mr. Orr was allowed to use the machines as compensation for his trouble. They cost £187, and are believed to have been the first " jenny " and " stock-card " machines that were made in the United States. Mr. Orr was for several years a state senator. — His son, Robert, was the inventor of an improved method of making scythes with the trip-hammer, and was the pioneer in New England in the manufacture of iron shovels. In 1804 he was master-armorer at the U. S. arsenal at Springfield, Mass.