Willard “Skunk” Orvis, who we met last week, may have enjoyed his life just fine…or maybe he felt some sibling inadequacy because of the success of his younger brothers. Today, we touch on the lives of two of those brothers: Charles Clarence and Elmer Victor.
Charles Clarence, who went by Clarence in this vicinity, was one year younger than Skunk. Born in 1869, he married his first cousin, Flora Mabelle Sanborn, who went by Mabelle, at Geneva Lake in Wisconsin in 1896. Clarence’s mother, Levina Sanborn Orvis, was the sister of Mabelle’s father, John Winthrop Sanborn.
Clarence studied law and the couple soon moved to Iowa where he became a city attorney in Oskaloosa. In Iowa, he went by Charles C. When their first child, a daughter, was born in 1901, they sentimentally named her Geneva Lake Orvis. And surprisingly, their son, born four years later was named John Winthrop Sanborn Orvis. This was a surprise as Charles’ father-in-law, John Winthrop Sanborn, hated his father, Sam Orvis, and feelings were mutual…
Soon, another son was born, Charles Campbell, on April 8, 1908. Two years later, when he was playing around the supper table, he pulled over a tea urn filled with scalding fluid, burning himself around the head and neck. Shockingly, he died the next day. At the time, four-year-old John Winthrop, was seriously ill with typhoid fever and was not expected to live. And on top of that, Mabelle was four months pregnant with their future son, Robert Walker Orvis. Fortunately, John Winthrop survived his illness, although he only lived until age 35. Geneva and Robert both lived long lives. Charles died in 1933 at age 64 and was buried in Oskaloosa with Mabelle who died in 1942 at age 69.
Brother Elmer V. (E.V.) Orvis, born in 1874, was a veteran of the Spanish-American war in the Philippine Islands and traveled the world. He was a graduate of Iowa State University and became a Waukegan city attorney, a city Commissioner and the Sergeant Commander of Battery C, an artillery organization in Waukegan. A half page article in the Chicago Tribune written about him in 1904 described him as the most enthusiastic member of Battery C who wanted the organization to be “top notch in drill, accouterment, and military behavior.” To be ready for active duty, he felt there was no room for any entertainment or “serious regard for woman”. He eschewed the men to quit getting engaged and married! They promised dutifully to obey, but their promises came to naught. And soon afterward, the drilling lawyer-sergeant fell for cupid’s arrow himself and fell in love with his secretary, Ella Ahart. He knew how his battery would react after his lectures on the affairs of love, so instead of publicly announcing his engagement and wedding, one night he and Ella were quietly married, and left for parts unknown on an extended wedding trip.
They had a happy life in Waukegan where they raised two daughters. He was popular among the militiamen as well as all who knew him. He died at the age of 63 at the Veterans hospital in North Chicago after an illness of about three years. He and Ella, who died in 1965, are buried in Northshore Garden of Memories in North Chicago.
Next week, one more Orvis sibling to learn about – Frank Orvis, editor of the Spring Grove Journal.
Story by Laura Frumet
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