Bliss Ezekial Loy (1887-1969)

From the April 3, 1936 edition of the Patoka Register.

   The vast annals of the Illinois General Assembly have produced many unusually named figures profiled here, and in addition to those elected, there are an innumerable amount of men and women who weren't, including the man profiled today, Bliss Ezekial Loy of Effingham County. A farmer and dairyman of prominent standing in that county, Loy was a past director of the Sanitary Milk Producers for Effingham and was a two-time candidate for the Illinois legislature, running for the house of representatives in 1930 and the senate in 1936.

   Born in Watson, Illinois on May 18, 1887, Bliss Ezekial Loy was the son of James H. and Minnie Avery Loy. A dairy farmer and large landowner in Effingham County, James Loy would serve as a state representative from 1904-05. Bliss Loy was a student in schools local to Effingham County and later undertook a two-year teacher's course at Austin College. For several years he followed a career in teaching in Dietrich, Illinois, and later moved to Chicago for a time. being employed as a commission warehouse cashier.

   Bliss E. Loy married in Chicago in June 1909 to Ida Cronk (1885-1981). The couple were wed for sixty years and their union produced at least six children, Doris Cronk (1910-1992), Dale Bliss (1911-1991), Faye Lorita (1912-2005), Evelyn Elizabeth (1915-2002) Marcella Mae (1918-1936) and Burl Avery (1922-1980).

   Following his marriage, Loy moved back to the "old home farm" in Watson township, where he would raise his family. In the succeeding years, he established his name as a leading farmer in the county, being a breeder of Holstein cattle and a founder of the Watson Farmers Exchange. Loy would also maintain a longstanding affiliation with the Effingham County Farm Bureau, serving as its president for several years in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

  Active in Republican party circles in Effingham County, Loy was a member of the County Republican Central Committee for two decades and a former township supervisor of Watson. In 1930 he entered into the race for state representative for Illinois' 42nd district and in that year's Republican primary placed third in a field of five candidates, polling 3,721 votes to winning nominee R.J. Branson's total of 14,854.

From the Patoka Register, March 1930.

  In early 1936 Loy again entered the political forum, this time hoping to win the Republican nomination for state senator from the 42nd senatorial district. His candidacy received a substantial write-up in the Patoka Register in April 1936, which noted that

"Mr. Loy's long activity in the Republican Party and in farm organizations has given him a large acquaintance over the District, and if nominated in the April Primary he will be a strong candidate in the November election."

   One of three Republicans vying for the senatorial nod in the April primary, Bliss Loy placed second on April 8, 1936, with 2,896 votes, over two thousand votes behind winning candidate Harry M, Henson. Henson, in turn, would go on to lose the general election that November to incumbent Democrat William L. Finn, who had represented that district since 1928.

From the Patoka Register, April 3, 1936.

   In the early 1930s, Bliss Loy was named as a director of the Board of Sanitary Milk Producers, representing Effingham County. This co-operative organization could boast of over ten thousand members and supplied the city of St. Louis, Illinois with its "daily milk needs". He continued work on that board into the 1940s, chairing its committees on Sales and Transportation, and during WWII would hold the chairmanship of the War Meat committee of Effingham County, being appointed in 1943.

   After many years of prominence in Effingham County Bliss Loy died at age 82 on August 19, 1969, at the St. Anthony's Hospital in Effingham, Illinois. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Oakridge Cemetery in that city.

Pence Billings Orr (1883-1947)

Portrait from the 1928 History of Will County, Vol. I.

   The life of longtime Joliet, Illinois attorney Pence Billings Orr is highlighted today, and in addition to practicing law, Mr. Orr made a name for himself in public service, being a high-ranking figure in the Illinois chapter of the American Legion, an assistant attorney general of Illinois, and a two-time candidate for the Illinois State Senate in 1914 and 1922.
   A resident of Indiana for the first two decades of his life, Pence Billings Orr was born in Bartholomew County in that state on March 9, 1883. The son of local Judge John C. and Rose Billings Orr, Pence B. Orr graduated from the Columbus, Indiana High School in the class of 1901. Shortly afterward he began the study of law at the University of Indianapolis, earning his law degree in 1905. Admitted to the bar in May 1905, Orr soon removed to Joliet, Illinois, where he spent several months of further study in the law office of Judge George L. Cowing. Orr later established his own law practice in Joliet which he operated until enlisting for service in the First World War. He underwent training at Camp Gordon in Georgia and upon completion joined Company D., 2nd U.S. Infantry. During his service, Orr attained the rank of sergeant and was honorably discharged in January 1919. Within a few weeks of his leaving the Army Pence Orr married to Edith V. Johnson (1896-1996), with whom he would have one daughter, Emilia Rose. 

   Following his marriage, Orr returned to practicing law in Joliet and during the early 1920s served as assistant attorney general of Illinois under Edward Brundage (the state attorney general from 1917-25.) Before serving in the attorney general's office, Orr had made his first step towards elective office, becoming a candidate for the Illinois State Senate in 1914. Running on the Progressive Party platform, Pence Orr was one of four candidates from the 41st district, and on election day polled a respectable 7,069 votes, placing second to Republican nominee Richard L. Barr's total of 9, 569.

Pence Billings Orr, from the March 5, 1930 Farmer's Weekly.

   Eight years after his unsuccessful bid for the state assembly Pence Orr made another run for the state senate, running in the April 1922 primary. Orr's opponent in that year's primary was incumbent senator Richard J. Barr, the same man who had defeated him several years earlier. On election day (April 11, 1922) it was Richard Barr who again emerged the victor, besting Orr by over 5,000 votes. Barr would go on to serve a total of 48 years in the Illinois legislature, retiring in 1950 at age 85.

   Following this second defeat Orr returned to practicing law and for a time served as an assistant commissioner on the Illinois Commerce Commission. A longstanding member of the Knights of Pythias fraternal organization, Orr served a one-year term as Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of Illinois from 1924-25. He maintained memberships in several other fraternal groups, including the Joliet Commandery of the Knights Templar, No.4., the Loyal Order of Moose, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Joliet Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.

   In early 1934 Pence B. Orr reemerged on the political stage when he announced that he'd be seeking the Republican nomination for Judge of Will County, Illinois. His record as a lawyer was highlighted in a campaign advertisement in the March 28 1934 Farmer's Weekly, which touted Orr as having "never held public office" whilst also noting that he had:

"A keen perception of human nature. He understands Children and has made an intensive study of the Delinquent Child Problem, which is the major problem of the County Court. He is HONEST, FAIR, PROGRESSIVE and HUMANE."

An Orr campaign notice from the March 28, 1934 Farmer's Weekly.

   Little could be found on the outcome of the 1934 election in regard to Orr's candidacy. What is known is that Orr was unsuccessful in his bid, victory instead going to Democratic nominee George N. Blatt Sr., who took office as Judge in 1935. 

   The remainder of Pence B. Orr's life saw him continue with his Joliet-based law practice, as well as activity in the American Legion. As a veteran of WWI, Orr had attended the "organizing caucus" of the American Legion in 1919 and from 1919-20 served as a member of the American Legion of Illinois' executive committee. He was a charter member of the American Legion's Harwood Post #5 and was named as its commander in 1923. After many years of prominence in Joliet, Pence Billings Orr died at age 64 on September 3, 1947. He was shortly thereafter interred at the Elmhurst Cemetery in Joliet and was survived by his wife Edith, who died on August 19, 1996, just eleven days shy of her 100th birthday.

Pence Orr's death notice from the Sept. 5, 1947 Chicago Tribune.