Edward O.C. Ord IV

Edward Ord was born in San Francisco, California on October 22, 1930. He grew up in Berkeley, California and then attended San Jose State University graduating in 1953 with a major in Business Administration. He worked in the Can Industry for over 30 years and went on to become a General Manager over 11 can plants.

He has an unusual and very interesting family history. He is the great grandson of Major General Edward O.C. Ord, a Civil War General for which Fort Ord in California was named. Edward Ord and his wife Shirley Ord were very active in the Civil War Reenactments where Edward portrayed his great grandfather Major General Edward O.C. Ord and Shirley portrayed his wife Molly Ord who rode in a parade with president Abraham Lincoln when he reviewed the Army of the James. Edward Ord gave living history talks on the Civil War period to students and to the general public at the Civil War Reenactments.

Major General Edward O.C. Ord's family history is quite unique and of historical significance in that his father James Ord was the first born son of King George IV who married Lady Maria Fitzherbert, the Bell of London who was Catholic. However, England would not accept a Catholic Queen, so the King George's first wife Lady Fitzherbert was deposed as were several of the British Queens and Princesses and the baby was sent to the United States with a Scottish Priest by the name of Ord. The child was raised in a Catholic monastery consequently in the United States and planned to become a Priest, but then decided to marry and thus the Ord line was established carrying on the name of the Priest who brought him to the United States. Major General Edward O.C. Ord was one of James Ord's, who was the first born of King George IV, children as a result of his choice to marry.