Clarendon AR: Where We've Been: Orr Murder

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Orr's Death

That same morning, Ernze Mabel Orr died on her cot in the jail. Many people thought she was still alive, having been spirited away to an unknown place during the night. To put that rumor to rest, the sheriff took the corpse and put it on public display at the court house. Hundreds filed through to view the remains.

The actual cause of Mrs. Orr's death remains a mystery, although the official ruling released to the press was suicide by morphine poisoning. Dr. Robert M. West, who attended her remains, said the direct cause of death was inflammation of the brain. Whether it was caused naturally or a symptom of the poison, he didn't know. There was only one symptom of morphine or opium poisoning, and that was the contraction of her pupils, West noted. All other symptoms she exhibited - accelerated respiration, high fever, and a pulse rate that reached 180 a half hour before her death - were the exact opposite of morphine poisoning.

"It is very possible the woman died a natural death," said Dr. West. Still, it was generally accepted by the authorities and the public that Mrs. Orr had indeed died by her own hand.

"We are very glad she committed suicide," said Deputy Milwee. "I don't know how she got the drug. Her friends were going in to see her all the time. They could have passed a drug to her very easily. We did not care if they did."

Letter Arrives From Ohio

At the post office, a letter arrived addressed to Rilla Weaver. It was taken to Deputy Milwee, who opened it. Its contents proved a portion of Rachel Morris' testimony in which she claimed that Mrs. Orr had been corresponding with different men in faraway cities using Rilla Weaver's name as a cover, and one of the men was supposed to visit her soon.

The letter was from Arthur O. Archer, the mayor of Caldwell, Ohio. (He also had enclosed a recent photograph of himself):

Caldwell, Ohio, Aug. 6, 1898
Dear Lorilla:
Enclosed you will find a picture of me as I am on the second day of August, 1898. Another matter has been brought to my attention since I wrote you last, and that is that our common pleas court convenes on September 5, and I hardly see how I can get away in the month of September. Perhaps it would suit you to defer until October. Let me hear from you in regard to this matter. However, if you cannot defer until October I think I can arrange matters all right. But if it would be more convenient to you to defer it until October I could stay longer with you, as I would have all my court affairs attended to for the September term. Trusting that you will be pleased with Ohio's real kid mayor, I am still yours,
Arthur O. Archer

Deputy Milwee sent Archer a telegram telling him, "Your Dear Lorilla was lynched last night. What disposition shall we make of her remains?"

Later in the afternoon Mayor Archer, who at 23 was already a member of the Noble County Bar Association, replied - "Must be some mistake. Know nobody by the name of Lorilla." An Associated Press correspondent hearing of Archer's alleged involvement requested a statement regarding the letter to Mrs. Orr. Archer stated he knew nothing whatsoever about the affair referred to and he was in no way connected with it, having never heard of any of the parties before. The reporters, dissatisfied with Archer's blanket denial, pressed him further. Finally, Archer relented and issued the following statement - "I have had some correspondences with Lorilla E. Weaver, whose name I secured through a correspondence bureau of Cincinnati. She represented herself to be a French lady of wealth and leisure, and I never heard of the name ORR until I saw it in the press in connection with the terrible tragedy at Clarendon, and I am dumfounded that my name was connected with it in any way. The manner in which the correspondence began is this: A number of young men were in mv office one evening and one of them had a circular from this correspondence bureau and it was suggested that, for the fun of the thing, a correspondence be opened up with some one."

"A letter was written to the bureau and the name and description of the person representing herself to be Lorilla F. Weaver was secured in this way which information I now have in my possession, together with all letters received from her, three in number. Your correspondent has read these letters, and there is nothing in them suggestive of any wrong doing in anyway and all appear to have been written by a lady of education and refinement."

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