From: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Embracing an Authentic and 
Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events in the History of the State and a Record of the Lives 
of Many of the Most Worthy and Illustrious Families and Individuals. Vol. 1. Chicago: Goodspeed 
Publishing Company, 1891.  pp. 535-536


"Dr. T. T. Orendorff, a physician and surgeon of Rolling Fork, Miss., was born in Breckinridge 
county, Ky., on the 11th of April, 1847, and is a son of M. and Mary (Cain) Orendorff, natives 
of  Virginia, born in 1822 and 1826, respectively.  Both families removed to Kentucky in an 
early day, where the young couple was married in 1840, in Breckinridge county, and where 
Mr.Orendorff died in 1853; his wife still survives him.  She is a daughter of Thomas and Ona 
(Meador) Cain, natives of Virginia, and long since dead; the former was a son of Micajah and
Elizabeth (Wilkerson) Cain, and the latter a daughter of Benjamin and Mary H. (Morris) Meador.  
The Orendorffs were originally from the lower Palatinate, Germany, and were descended from 
noble ancestry.  They were driven from their native country of the Rhine nearly two centuries 
ago by Louis XIV on account of their religious opinions.  They fled to England and eventually 
made their way to America, the future land of the free and home of the brave, prior to the 
Revolutionary war.  Members of the family settled in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and 
the tradition goes that many of the male members became active soldiers in the war for indepen-
dence .  From these pioneers, representatives have penetrated half the states of the Union, as a 
family reunion, held at Blooming, Ill., in October, 1886, found representatives present from 
seventeen states and territories.  This fraternal gathering developed many family traits, 
characteristics and peculiarities, one of which is worthy of note: in all this prolific family not 
a member of it has ever been known to have been tried in court for a criminal offense.  Dr. 
Orendorff, the subject of this sketch, is the fourth in a family of seven children, five sons and 
two daughters, all of whom, except the youngest son, Thomas Jesse, are living.  He was brought up 
on a farm and received the benefits of the common schools, finishing off a good English education 
at the Brandenburg (Kentucky) academy.  After leaving school he was for some time employed in a 
country store, during which time his evenings and leisure hours were occupied in reading 
medicine.  Thus, by energy and perseverance, he was qualified to enter the Kentucky school of 
medicine at Louisville, in the fall of 1868, attending his first course of lectures.  He then 
spent eighteen months in one of the city hospitals, after which, in 1871, he graduated from the 
Kentucky school of medicine.  Immediately after being graduated he went to Mississippi and 
located in the Deer Creek valley, Sharkey county, where he has practiced his profession ever 
since and where, by that courtesy and politeness which are his strongest characteristics, and 
a close attention to his patrons, he has won flattering success.  In 1880 he made a trip to 
Europe and spent the year in visiting the hospitals of Edinburgh, London, Paris, Berlin, etc., 
and in making a tour of most of the countries of the old world.  In 1882, in addition to his 
medical practice he engaged in cotton planting, and is now the owner of some two thousand acres 
of fine land in the Deer Creek valley, in Sharkey county, on the cultivated portion which he 
raises about eight hundred bales of cotton annually.  He is also the owner of some valuable 
property in Memphis, Florence, Ala., and in El Paso, Tex.  All of his possessions have been won 
by his own individual efforts and persevering industry.  Although he has often been urged to 
run for office, he has invariably refused, party politics having no charms for him.  
Dr. Orendorff's brothers and sisters are as follows: Prof. Henry, who is a practicing
 physician, holds a chair in the Kentucky school of medicine, from which he graduated in 1871,
 and in which he has been a professor for twelve years; Capt. C. C. is connected with the South
ern Palace Car company in Memphis, Tenn.; Edmonia B. was educated at Bethlehem convent in 
Kentucky, and is a cultured and accomplished lady.  She is the wife of Col. W. H. Perrin, 
connected with the Louisville Courier-Journal and one of the ablest writers; William A. is a 
cotton planter in Sharkey county, s was Thomas J. until his death, which occurred in March, 
1891; Lena, who married the late Dr. Edward S. Crosier, of New Albany, Ind., an accomplished 
scholar, scientist and physician, and for seventeen years in charge of the surveyor's office 
in the United States customhouse at Louisville, Ky., and also for years a professor in the 
Louisville Medical college.  Dr. Orendorff is one of the most progressive and public spirited 
men in Sharkey county, and makes an intelligent and judicious use of his means and ability.  His 
knowledge of matters in general is broad and comprehensive, and, being a close observer, his 
extensive travel in this country and Europe has been of material benefit to him.  He is a member 
of the Mississippi State Medical association, and of the fraternity of A. F. & A. M., of the 
Knights of honor and of the American Legion of Honor."