Benjamin G. Orr
American politician
Benjamin Grayson Orr (1762–1822) was the fourth mayor of Washington, D.C., elected by the council of aldermen in 1817 and serving for two years. He was often called Colonel Orr, but it is unclear how he obtained that title.
Orr was probably born in Virginia. He was married to Elizabeth Flood, also of Virginia, and had lived for some time in Kentucky where in 1797 he was involved in a quarrel that led to a challenge to a dual that he did not accept. In 1800, he was living in Philadelphia. He moved into the city by 1801 and took up residence in one of the "Six Buildings" on Pennsylvania Avenue. By 1802 he had become a grocer in Georgetown – which in the early 19th century was a separate town from Washington. He was elected an Alderman in 1812, but resigned one year later and became a supplier to U.S. Army brigades in Ohio and Michigan.
As mayor, Orr procured public improvements such as grading of the streets and established Washington's first volunteer fire companies, appropriating $1,000 for the purchase of four fire bells and procured apparatus for the companies. He also authorized a lottery to raise funds to build a penitentiary and city hall.
The public source identifies “Benjamin G. Orr” as american politician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Benjamin, American and politician.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4888689. VIAF identifies the subject as 309564046. The Library of Congress control number is no2014073172. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1762, 1822, 1817 and 1797.
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This entry incorporates text from “Benjamin G. Orr” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.