photo by: Joselyn King

Bruce Orr, left, Kelley Moore and Mark Paul greet each other at the 250th anniversary celebration of their ancestor, Thomas Orr, settling in Ohio County. The event took place at the Schwertfeger Shelter at Wheeling Park on Sunday. A military veteran, the elder Orr settled in what is now the Dallas Pike area in 1775. He was granted 400 acres of land in the Dallas Pike area in 1787 for his service.

WHEELING — Descendants of the man who was the first to settle on land at Dallas Pike 250 years ago gathered Sunday to learn his history and celebrate his life.

Family members of Thomas Orr attended an historical-based family reunion at the Schwertfeger Shelter at Wheeling Park.

Mark Paul of Wheeling has been researching Orr, and learned his ancestor first settled at Dallas Pike in 1775. He later was granted 400 acres there in 1787 by General George Washington following his service in the Revolutionary War, and Orr was the first person to own the land.

Paul noted he found the original land grant document at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Orr’s property included the current sites of the truck stop at Dallas Pike, and the Econo Lodge Inn and Suites.

Paul has written a book about Orr, titled “A Company Of Boys In Blue.”

He was hoping that at least 30 of Orr’s descendants would show up Sunday. Thomas Orr has about 100 descendants, with about 50 still living in Ohio and Marshall counties, according to Paul.

He explained how he first came to learn about his ancestor.

In 2009, Paul — who was living in Virginia at the time — returned to Wheeling for Thanksgiving dinner at his mother’s house. While he was there, she told him a cousin had dropped off a suitcase of old letters, and she asked him if he would like to see them.

Paul found a collection of letters in the suitcase dating back to the Civil War, as well as the 1863 diary of Civil War veteran Thomas Jefferson Orr.

Also among the historical papers were references to Orr’s great-grandfather Thomas Orr who settled in the Dallas Pike area in 1775, and this led him to do research and find the original land grant.

Members of the Orr family would live there for much of the next two centuries.

“I was the seventh generation to grow up on the property, but we only had half an acre,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about it (the history). My mom was born on the property, and so was her father, dating back to the original settlers.”

None of the land, however, belongs to any Orr family member today, he continued. It is in the hands of Regional Economic Development (RED), who has plans to build residential homes there.

A nuclear engineer, Paul added that while he likes history, “it wasn’t my favorite subject in school.” He explained that over time his interest in history increased.

After living in Virginia for 40 years, Paul moved back to Wheeling three years ago. He noted the company he works for in Maryland allows him to work from home.