Orchard Family

The Orchard individuals in the line described here are primarily from the following locations, in the approximate order of their movement: England, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, Washington D.C.

Orchard Names in Database

Orchard Descendant Tree - 1757 to Present

Orchard Family History

Some earlier research on the Orchard family origins was done by other family members, and that work formed the beginnings of my own further research.

I am able to trace my Orchard lineage back to a Reverend Isaac Orchard, born about 1757, who married Anne Rex in Devizes, Wiltshire, England in 1778. Their son was also named Isaac Orchard (1785-1865), and he was born in Bath, England. He married Elizabeth Shuter (1787-1863) from Belfast, Ireland in 1807, in Lambeth, Surrey, England.

Isaac the son was also a Minister of the Gospel. The Isaac Orchard family migrated to America sometime in the 1820's or 1830's and settled in New York City. One census record shows Isaac to be a Methodist Minister, another indicates that he was a Baptist Minister. All records indicate that he lived in New York City until his death. The couple had ten children, all born in England. One son was William Henry Orchard, born in 1811. He is my 3rd great-grandfather.

William Henry Orchard moved to South Carolina, and married Helen Zubly Williams in 1836. William apparently made his living teaching music to the young ladies of South Carolina. He is listed as being on the faculty of Limestone Springs (SC) Female High School at it's founding in October, 1845, his position being "Instructor in Music-Piano, Guitar, Organ, and Harp". By the time of the 1850 Census, he and his family were living in Columbia, SC, where his occupation was shown as " Professor of Music-Female Institute". He was a co-founder in 1854 of Columbia Female College, a private college for women which is still in operation today as Columbia College. This interesting story is related on the history page of the Columbia College web site:

"The College continued to grow until it was forced to close its doors in 1865 when General Sherman's Union troops marched on Columbia. It was saved from being torched only because Professor of Music W. H. Orchard, having heard that all unoccupied buildings would be burned by a certain hour, left his home to stand in the doorway of the College where he could be seen by the troops."

William H. Orchard's family is found in the 1850 through 1880 Census lists for Columbia, SC, and the names of the children and their ages do not necessarily track from one Census to the next as one would expect. Therefore I am still uncertain as to how many children William Henry had. He may have had related Orchard children staying with him at times. One of William's sons was Henry M. Orchard, who served with the 15th South Carolina Regiment of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. I have a picture of Henry Orchard, taken just prior to his Civil War service.

Another of William's children was Francis Belton Orchard, my g-g-grandfather, born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1844. Francis Belton served in the Confederate Army with the Sixth South Carolina Cavalry during the Civil War. See a newspaper article about Belton Orchard with Civil War picture. The article states that Belton was a captain, but his service record shows his highest rank to be corporal.

After the war he returned to South Carolina where in 1867 he married Augusta Bedell (or Bedelle?). Augusta Bedell is the "French Connection" in my family tree, the first person I have discovered as I go back in my history who doesn't have an English or Irish sounding name. Belton apparently worked as a "Dry Goods Clerk" in Columbia, according to the 1870 Census. They had four daughters, one of whom was named Wiley Augusta Orchard, born in 1877. Wiley was my great-grandmother.

The family was found in the 1880 Census living in Augusta, Georgia with Belton's occupation listed as "Book Agent". Augusta died in 1897, and in the 1900 Census, Belton was living alone in Atlanta, occupation, "salesman", shown as a widower. His widowed mother Helen, a sister and a brother were also found living in Atlanta at that time. He later moved to Washington D. C., where I believe he worked for the Federal Government. He was found in the 1920 Census at age 75, living in Washington with his daughter Pauline. He died in 1921.

Wiley Augusta Orchard married Alfred Charles Jones (1868-1943) in 1897 in Kentucky. Her name was Wiley Tilton when she married Charlie Jones, and the Tilton name is a mystery. Possibly she was briefly married before, but in subsequent census reports she indicates only one marriage. A family story tells of Wiley being a circus performer when she met Charlie, but I have no details. I have a copy of their marriage certificate, which states that both are residents of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Charlie and Wiley Jones lived in Washington, Indiana at the time of the 1900 census, along with two daughters. Kathleen Anna Augusta Jones, my grandmother, born there in 1899, was their second daughter. Sometime around 1905 the family moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. There Kathleen met Leonard William Ferguson, who she married in 1916. Their daughter, Ruth Evelyn Ferguson, was my mother.

Revised: 16 Jul 2006

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