Clinton Woodward "Jack" Orrill
Vital Information
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Clinton Woodward Orrill | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Also Known As | "Jack" | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Born | 17 Mar 1900 | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Birthplace | Wilmot, Cowley County, Kansas | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Died | 13 Mar 1926 (age 25) | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Death Place | Independence, Jackson County, Missouri | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Cause of Death | Burns from tar still explosion, Standard Oil refinery, Sugar Creek, MO | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Father | Frederick Thomas Orrill (8 Jul 1869, Pike, IL; d. 4 Jun 1926, Arcadia, CA) | WikiTree Orrill-26 |
| Mother | Mary Alvira Woodward (16 Jul 1866; d. 3 Aug 1950) | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Wife | Sybil_Dora_Holt_Fulghum (m. 24 Nov 1920, Wichita, KS) | WikiTree Holt-14739 |
| Biological Child | Leo Eugene Orrill (9 Mar 1922 - 15 Mar 1922; died at 6 days) | WikiTree Orrill-25 |
| Custodial Child | Gale Fulghum (b. 19 Feb 1923). Born "Infant Lloyd" to Clara Lloyd per birth certificate File No. 916; no father listed. Raised by Clinton and Sybil as their own. Whether Clinton was Gale's biological father is unknown. | Birth certificate (2026) |
| Siblings | Alice Ada Orrill Parsons (b. 30 Nov 1896, Wilmot, KS; d. 29 Nov 1966), Price Vinton Orrill (b. 2 Aug 1898, Wilmot, KS; d. 26 Dec 1990, Blue Springs, MO) | WikiTree Orrill-27, Orrill-28 |
| Occupation | Lineman (1920); engineer, Standard Oil Company | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
Biography
Clinton Woodward Orrill, known as "Jack," was born March 17, 1900 in Wilmot, Cowley County, Kansas, the youngest of three children of Frederick Thomas Orrill and Mary Alvira Woodward. He grew up on the family farm in Richland Township alongside his older siblings Alice Ada (1896) and Price Vinton (1898).
On November 24, 1920, Clinton married Sybil Dora Holt in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. Their first child, Leo Eugene Orrill, was born March 9, 1922 but lived only six days, dying March 15, 1922 in Wichita. He was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery, Wichita (Section EC, Lot D, Grave 124).
On February 19, 1923, a child was born at General Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri and registered as "Infant Lloyd," son of Clara Lloyd (maiden name), with no father listed (birth certificate File No. 916). Clinton and Sybil subsequently took custody and named the child Aura Gale Orrill. Whether Clinton was the biological father is unknown; the birth certificate is blank on this point, and Gale himself later expressed uncertainty ("maybe on Jack," per Gary Fulghum). The name "Aura" follows the Woodward family naming convention (from Mary Alvira Woodward's brother Aura Clair Woodward), suggesting the Orrills chose the name. By this time the family had moved to the Independence/Sugar Creek area of Jackson County, Missouri, where Clinton worked as an engineer at the Standard Oil refinery.
On March 13, 1926, a tar still exploded at the Standard Oil refinery in Sugar Creek. Clinton, 25, suffered severe burns and died later that day at the Independence Sanitarium. His son Gale was three years old.
Clinton's father Frederick Thomas Orrill died less than three months later, on June 4, 1926, in Arcadia, California, at age 56.
After Clinton's death, Sybil sent Gale and Bob to live with her uncle and aunt, John William and Clara Holt, on the Holt farm near Wilmot. By 1928, Sybil had remarried to Fred Fulghum, who gave the boys the Fulghum surname. Gale's birth name, Aura Gale Orrill, was replaced.
The "Jack" Nickname
WikiTree lists Clinton's aka as "Jack," resolving the long-standing discrepancy: Gale's memoir identifies his father as "Jack Orille," which is Clinton "Jack" Orrill. The memoir was correct about the name; only the spelling was off.
Orrill Family in Cowley County
The Orrill family settled in Richland Township, Cowley County, Kansas, the same township as the Holt family. Frederick Thomas Orrill farmed there from at least 1895 through the 1910s. All three children were born in Wilmot. Clinton and Sybil's marriage connected two neighboring farm families.
The KSGenWeb page, written by a descendant of Clinton's brother Price, confirms the depth of these connections. The Orrill, Holt, and Adams families all attended the same rural schools (Prairie View, Summit) and Prairie View Methodist Church. A school class photo identifies Sybil Holt, Alice Orrill, Vada Holt, and Eunice Adams as classmates. The families intermarried extensively: Clinton married Sybil Holt; his brother Price married Edith Adams; his sister Velva married Edith's brother Tom Adams; his sister Alice married Alva Parsons; and Edith's sister Eunice married Jim Deichman, who appears alongside Clinton in a hunting photo. The hunting photo (c. 1914-1917) shows Clinton as a teenager, alongside Alva Parsons, Jim Deichman, Tom Adams, and Price, all of whom would marry into each other's families.
Clinton's brother Price Vinton Orrill moved to Blue Township, Jackson County, Missouri by 1930 and lived in the Blue Springs/Independence area until his death in 1990. Price was buried at Mount Washington Cemetery, Independence. He and Gale lived in the same area for decades.
Document Sources
| Document | Type | Vault Note |
|---|---|---|
| WikiTree Orrill-24 | Online family tree (tertiary) | wikitree.com/wiki/Orrill-24 |
| WikiTree Holt-14739 | Online family tree (tertiary) | wikitree.com/wiki/Holt-14739 |
| WikiTree Orrill-25 (Leo) | Online family tree (tertiary) | wikitree.com/wiki/Orrill-25 |
| WikiTree Orrill-26 (Frederick) | Online family tree (tertiary) | wikitree.com/wiki/Orrill-26 |
| WikiTree Orrill-27 (Price) | Online family tree (tertiary) | wikitree.com/wiki/Orrill-27 |
| WikiTree Orrill-28 (Alice) | Online family tree (tertiary) | wikitree.com/wiki/Orrill-28 |
Photographs
Orrill Family, c. 1917
!Orrill-Family.jpg Orrill family. Back row standing left to right is Clinton (Jack) Orrill, Velvalie (Velva) Orrill, and Price Vinton Orrill. Front row seated is Alice Orrill, Mary Alvira Woodward Orrill (Mollie, aka Doll) and Nina Leta Wells Orrill. (Father Frederick Thomas Orrill rarely had his picture taken.) Abt 1917. Source: KSGenWeb Cowley County.
Hunting at the Orrill Farm, c. 1914-1917
!hunters.jpg Taken beside the house on the Orrill farm after a day's hunting. Left to right: Alva Parsons (he married Alice Orrill), Jack Orrill (name was Clinton Orrill, a brother to Price Orrill), Jim Deichman (married Eunice Adams), Tom Adams (brother to Edith and Eunice Adams, and he married Velva Orrill) and the last is Price Vinton Orrill. (1914-1917.) Source: KSGenWeb Cowley County.
Note on "Sybil Holt" in School Photo
The Students photo from KSGenWeb identifies a "Sybil Holt" in the back row of a school class photo (see Price_Vinton_Orrill). This is almost certainly Sybil Dora Holt, Clinton's future wife, photographed as a schoolgirl in Cowley County before their 1920 marriage. This confirms the Holt and Orrill families shared the same rural school community near Wilmot.