Edsel Jackson Orr: Farmer and Community Servant

Edsel Jackson Orr, pictured around 1950 on his 1947 Ford 2N tractor off Route 5 in Cumming, was a lifelong Forsyth County resident with deep roots in the Daves Creek community.

Daves Creek Roots

Edsel was born in 1928 and grew up on his parents' farm in south Forsyth County. He attended the one-room Daves Creek school and spent many mornings plowing the fields with a mule before heading to class.

In the early 1950s, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War era. He married Virginia Lancaster in 1954, and they raised three children in Forsyth County.

Edsel worked for General Motors for many years, but farming remained part of his life. He raised chickens and cattle and grew vegetables on the same south Forsyth property where he had grown up. Many people knew him as the "tomato man" because of his homegrown tomatoes.

His work earned recognition. Edsel received the Outstanding Broiler Grower Award in 1977 and was named Farmer of the Year in 1989. Another Heritage Forsyth story follows Eldo Grogan, one of Forsyth County's early poultry pioneers.

The Forsyth County Farmers Market

Edsel and Waymon Tate were among the founders of the Forsyth County Farmers Market. Local growers first sold their produce at Mashburn's apple house on Highway 9. The market later operated at a Methodist church on Pilgrim Mill Road before eventually moving to the Cumming Fairgrounds.

Edsel served as president of the market. In 2008, he was still selling corn, tomatoes and melons grown on the same south Forsyth property where he had grown up.

Service Beyond the Farm

Edsel's service extended well beyond agriculture. He spent more than 60 years as a deacon at Daves Creek Baptist Church. He also served 12 years on the Forsyth County Board of Education, including six years as chairman. During that time, he personally presented high-school diplomas to all three of his children.

His other service included the Selective Service Board, the Farm Bureau Broiler Advisory Committee, the Lions Club, the Shrine Club and the Masons.

Edsel died in 2020. His life stayed tied to the same few places: the Daves Creek farm where he grew up, the church where he served for more than six decades, the schools he helped govern and the farmers market he helped establish.

Sources

• Edsel Jackson Orr obituary, Forsyth County News, June 27, 2020
• Forsyth County News, March 19, 1970.
• "Fresh from the farm," Forsyth County News, June 2008
• "Market revival," Forsyth County News
• Family photograph supplied by Sawyer Orr, Edsel's grandson.