Alfred Orendorff (20 July 1845 – 22 October 1909) was an

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Biography

Alfred Orendorff was born in

Logan County, Illinois Logan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 30,305. Its county seat is Lincoln. Logan County comprises the Lincoln, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included i ...

, on July 20, 1845, the son of Joseph Orendorff and Elizabeth (Stevens) Orendorff. Joseph Orendorff was a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

and a miller (his father, Alfred Orendorff's grandfather, Christopher Orendorff, built the first water-powered

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

in the county). Joseph Orendorff died in 1853; with his mother, Alfred then moved to Lincoln, Illinois, where he attended normal schools. Alfred Orendorff was educated at Illinois Wesleyan University. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he organized a company of the

123rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 123rd Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1863 and 1864 it was temporarily known as the 123rd Illinois Volunteer Mounted Infantry R ...

and was commissioned as the company's captain. After the war, he attended Albany Law School, graduating in 1866. In autumn 1867, Orendorff moved to

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

and began practicing law alongside William Herndon and

Charles S. Zane Charles Shuster Zane (March 2, 1831 – March 29, 1915) was a legal associate of Abraham Lincoln, an anti-polygamy judge in the Territorial Supreme Court in Utah Territory, and the first chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court after statehood ...

at their

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

, Herndon & Zane. On June 22, 1870, Orendorff married Julia Jay Williams, daughter of John Williams. Together they had three children: John, Alice, and Lydia. Orendorff also began a political career in 1870, when the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

selected him as their nominee for the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

; Orendorff lost the general election to

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Alexander Starne Alexander Starne (November 21, 1813 – March 31, 1886) was an American politician from Pennsylvania. He moved to Illinois as a young man and rose to become both Illinois Secretary of State and Illinois Treasurer. Biography Alexander Starne was b ...

. Orendorff then threw in his lot with the Democrats and was a delegate to the

1872 Democratic National Convention The 1872 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at Ford's Grand Opera House on East Fayette Street, between North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, in Baltimore, Maryland on July 9 and 10, 1872. It resulted in ...

, at which he supported the presidential candidacy of Sen.

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull esta ...

. In 1873, the Liberal Republican Party nominated Orendorff for the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

and Orendorff was subsequently endorsed by the Democrats. During this session, he was a member of the Judiciary Committed and helped draft a number of statutes necessitated by the 1870

Illinois Constitution The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...

. Orendorff joined the Oddfellows in 1873 and went on to hold a number of positions in that organization. In 1875, Charles S. Zane was elected as a judge and departed from Herndon & Zane. Orendorff assumed the role of a partner in the firm, leading to its renaming as Herndon & Orendorff. Subsequently, in 1879, Orendorff, along with James A. Creighton, established a new firm known as Orendorff & Creighton. When Creighton was elected as a judge in 1885, Orendorff entered into a partnership with Robert H. Patton, forming Orendorff & Patton. Orendorff remained active in the

Illinois Democratic Party The Democratic Party of Illinois is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the oldest extant state party in Illinois and one of just two recognized parties in the state, along with the Republican Party. It is ...

, serving several terms as chairman of the Democratic state central committee and attending several Democratic National Conventions. He was the Democratic candidate for

Illinois Treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois. Current Occupant The current Treasurer of Illinois is Democrat Mike Frerichs. He was first elected to head t ...

in 1882 and 1884, but lost on both occasions. AlfredOrendorff1900

In addition to law and politics, Orendorff was active in business, serving as president of the Sterling Life Insurance Company of Springfield and of the International Bank & Trust Company of Vinita. In 1893,

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

John Peter Altgeld John Peter Altgeld (December 30, 1847 – March 12, 1902) was an American politician and the 20th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1893 until 1897. He was the first Democrat to govern that state since the 1850s. A leading figure of the Progr ...

named Orendorff adjutant general of the

Illinois National Guard The Illinois National Guard comprises both Army National Guard and Air National Guard components of Illinois. As of 2013, the Illinois National Guard has approximately 13,200 members. The National Guard is the only United States military force emp ...

and Orendorff held this position from January 20, 1893, until January 3, 1896. Orendorff served as president of the Sangamon County Bar Association, and then, in 1897–98, as president of the Illinois State Bar Association. He was also a director of the

Illinois State Historical Society The Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) is a private sector organization, organized as a nonprofit, that edits and disseminates public knowledge of history throughout the U.S. state of Illinois. It was founded in 1899. History and functions T ...

and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Sangamon Club, and the Iroquois Club of Chicago. Orendorff died on October 22, 1909, and is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

References

''History of Sangamon County, Illinois'' (Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Company, 1881), pp. 127-128
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110723154219/http://www.sangamon.ilgenweb.net/1904/orendorff.htm Joseph Wallace, ''Past and Present of the City of Springfield and Sangamon County, Illinois'' (1904)br>List of Adjutant Generals of the Illinois National Guard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orendorff, Alfred 1845 births 1909 deaths Illinois lawyers People from Logan County, Illinois Illinois Wesleyan University alumni Albany Law School alumni People of Illinois in the American Civil War Illinois Republicans Illinois Democrats Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Illinois Liberal Republicans Adjutants General of Illinois People from Lincoln, Illinois