Rev. George B Orviss

Rev. George B Orviss (1845 - )

In 1873, George Orviss was elected county school director in Walker County, Texas. From 1879-1888 Reverend Orviss assumed the leadership role of the First Baptist Church in Huntsville, Texas. Orviss had pastored a church in Navasota, Grimes County before coming to Huntsville. He was also a wealthy landowner and farmer, owning 600 acres in the Hopewell area, employing a number of people in growing cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, and watermelons, produce which he sold in town. He also had a syrup mill and grinder for corn, and kept cows. The family house had two square white columns at the entrance, with double doors. There were at least six rooms, with the girls sleeping upstairs and the boys downstairs.

Rev. George B. and Mary Mosley Orviss graduated from Mary Allen Seminary in Crockett, Texas, ultimately becoming an educator. In 1888 Rev. Orviss left First Baptist Church to organize Friendship Missionary Baptist Church serving as its first pastor.

George and his wife Mary had eight children, seven girls and one boy; Vernon, Sr., Minnie (Riddle). Cornelia (Houston). Samantha (Knowles). Agnes (Riddle). Mary (Holiday). Georgia (Houston). Myrtle (Scott).

Reference: From Slave to Statesman: The Legacy of Joshua Houston, Sevant to Sam Houston (1993), by Patricia Smith Prather & Jane Clements Monday, University of North Texas Press

Also see and read book: A history of the Orvis family in America by Orvis, Francis Wayland, 1855- , Publication date: 1922, Topics: Orvis family (George Orvis, d.1664), Publisher: Hackensack, N.J., The Orvis company, inc., Collection, newyorkpubliclibrary; americana, Contributor: New York Public Library, Language: English

Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/152273269/george_orviss
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LY1L-CCQ