Clarence E. Ord, a respected farmer in Douglas Precinct, Nemaha County, Nebraska, was born on May 19, 1858, in Cleveland, Ohio. His family is of English origin, with his father, Joseph E. Ord, emigrating from Durhamshire, England, to the U.S. in 1832. Clarence was raised in a farming environment and graduated from the Nebraska State Normal School in 1882. He taught locally before marrying Clara Richards in 1891. The couple settled on a 160-acre farm where they raised their two daughters. Active in the community, Clarence served as a county commissioner and was a dedicated member of the Methodist Church.
Clarence E. Ord, one of the respected farmers of Douglas Precinct, Nemaha County, Nebraska, is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, born May 19, 1858. The Ords are of English origin. Joseph E. Ord, the father of Clarence E., was born in Durhamshire, England, on July 15, 1830, and his father, Robert Ord, was born in Yorkshire in 1795, the son of George Ord, a freeholder, farmer, preacher, and the author of a poem entitled “Spiritual Portrait.” Robert Ord married Jane Elizabeth Laidler. With their three children, they emigrated to this country in 1832, embarking at Liverpool and landing in New York City on May 8 after an ocean voyage of eight weeks. Of their children, we record that Christopher entered the army during the Civil War with the rank of corporal and was killed in the Battle of Resaca in the prime of life. He left a widow, two sons, and a daughter. The second child of Robert Ord was a daughter who became the wife of Perriander Fish. Both died some years ago in Brooklyn, Ohio, leaving three daughters and a son. Joseph E. Ord, the youngest of the family, was six years old at the time of their emigration to America. His education was obtained in the common schools of New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and he married, on April 8, 1857, in Berea, Ohio, Miss Marie Reeder, a native of Chautauqua County, New York, born December 8, 1825, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Reeder, a Methodist minister, who was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 1789, married March 9, 1821, and died August 10, 1838. Her mother was before marriage Miss Orra Colt. In the Reeder family were eleven children, nine of whom reached adult age. Mr. and Mrs. Reeder died in Berea, Ohio, he at the age of forty-eight years and she at fifty-two. Joseph E. and Maria Ord were married on April 8, 1857, and had five children, Clarence E. being the oldest. The others in order of birth are: Joseph Franklin, at this writing in Alaska; Emma, who died June 9, 1894, at the age of thirty-two years, was a graduate of the Evanston (Illinois) University, and for some time a teacher of elocution in the Wesleyan University of Lincoln, Nebraska; Annie, wife of Charles Partridge, of Toronto, Canada, has two daughters; and Esther Myrtle, wife of Professor Duncanson, a teacher in the State Normal School at Peru, Nebraska. Joseph E. Ord has prospered in his efforts to accumulate a competency and at the same time educate and provide for his family. Though he has met with losses, he now has a fine landed estate, including over five hundred acres of land in Nebraska and other lands in Kansas. And his children are all well-to-do. His aged father died at his home in Nebraska on January 28, 1875.
Clarence E. Ord was reared as a farmer boy and received a common and normal school education, graduating from the Nebraska State Normal School in 1882, after which he engaged in teaching and taught five terms of school in Nemaha County. One of the first schools in Auburn was taught by him.
On March 31, 1891, Clarence E. Ord married Miss Clara Richards, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of J. S. and Louisa (Daigh) Richards. Mr. and Mrs. Richards were natives respectively of Virginia and Illinois, were married in Springfield, Illinois, and subsequently settled in Wisconsin. Mrs. Ord was educated in Springfield and in Peru, Nebraska, and previous to her marriage was a teacher in Nemaha County. Their happy union has been blessed with the birth of two children, namely: Gladys Ord, born February 26, 1892, and Esther Lucile, born July 11, 1894.
On their wedding day, Mr. and Mrs. Ord settled in their present home, he having bought one hundred and sixty acres of land and erected a residence, to which he took his bride as soon as they were married, he being then thirty-three and she twenty-seven years of age; and here they have since lived and prospered. Mr. Ord has a nice orchard and pleasant surroundings at his country home. He does general farming, raising a variety of crops, and has some high-grade stock.
Politically, Mr. Ord is a Republican. He has been a member of the board of county commissioners since January 1901. He and his wife and children are members of the Methodist Church.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.