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On Saturday last the editor of the “Telegraph” received a telegram from Des Moines, Iowa, announcing the passing away on the previous night, of Capt. Thomas G. Orwig, at a hospital in that city. The Captain was a native of Mifflinburg, a son of the late Samuel Orwig who resided in a frame building where now stands the brick residence of Mr. Emanuel Pontius, on Chestnut Street. Many of our older people well remember the Orwig family and especially the patriotism of the sons of that family-Thomas, Joseph, Benjamin, all who took part in the Civil War. On Monday last we received a copy of the Des Moines, “Register and Leader,” of the 24th inst. containing the following: Captain Thomas Gilbert Orwig, one of the most widely known men in this city, died of paralysis last night at 10:30 o’clock at the Methodist Hospital. Today would have been his 77th birthday. Mr. Orwig was born in Mifflinburg, Pa. June 24, 1834. During the Civil War he enlisted in the 1st. Pa. Light Artillery, Batt. F, and in 1862 was promoted to captaincy as an award for valor. Feb. 6, 1864 he married and took his wife to a home in the rebel barracks at Yorktown. He remained at this station until the close of the war, when he moved to New York City. In 1868 Mr. & Mrs. Orwig set out for the west, arriving in this city June 16 of that year. Des Moines at that time was in a very primitive stage of existence and Mr. Orwig allied himself with the forces that eventually formed a city out of the struggling village of the early 70’s. In 1870 he established the first patent office west of the Mississippi. For forty years he personally supervised the business and built up an extensive clientele. He was forced to retire two years ago because of ill health though the business was continued under his name by his son-in-law, Silas C. Sweet. Mr. Orwig was also known through his journalistic work. When he first came to Des Moines he became an editorial writer on the “Bulletin,” which position he held until 1874. During that year he established a monthly patterned somewhat after the “Scientific American.” It was called, “The Industrial Motor” and devoted to the interests of mechanics. Mr. Orwig continued the publication of this magazine for several years. He was a prolific contributor to the press here and in his hometown. In a speech given two years ago before the Octogenarian Association, just before illness removed him from active life, Mr. Orwig recalled the details of the progress made by the city since 1868. “Mrs. Orwig and I landed here direct from New York City, June 16, 1868. We crossed the Mississippi at Keokuk and took cars there for Des Moines, the jumping off place. There was no railroad west from Des Moines. The thirty thriving towns now along the way to Council Bluffs indicate the development and progress made here since. I learned to know most of the people here then. Now I can stand on the street corner and see a hundred pass and not know one.” Even at that time he must have felt a premonition of the two years of suffering that were to come, for he said as he closed his speech, “I am beginning to feel the infirmities of age. But I believe the Scripture, ‘As the outward perishes, the inner may be renewed day by day,’ And as I grow older in years and weaker in body I grow younger and stronger in the spirit rejoicing in the hope of eternal life.” Mr. Orwig was a member of the Loyal Legion, Crocker Post, G.A.R., and the First M.E. Church. His church connections remain unchanged during the entire 43 years of his life in Des Moines. Upon his arrival here he was affiliated with the Old Fifth Avenue M.E. Church, which was located upon the site of the present Iowa Loan and Trust Company building. Mr. Orwig was an ardent temperance advocate and once was the candidate of the prohibition party for congress. He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Mabel Sweet, 614 West 10th Street, two brothers- Samuel H, Esq. of Harrisburg, Pa., Capt. Joseph R. of Hahatonkah, Mo., a sister, Rebecca H., of this city and five grandchildren: Edith, Grace, Clarice, and Dorothy Street. The interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery from the First Methodist Episcopal Church. © Copyright 2010 by Mifflinburg Telegraph Weekly Newspaper Top of Page |
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