Orff was born March 3, 1835, in Bangor, Maine to Edward F. Orff and Sarah (Yates) Orff. He was educated in the public schools and trained as a carpenter. However, he had other ambitions and in 1861 went to Boston to train as an architect. He is believed to have studied with Calvin Ryder, a Maine native who designed several buildings in Bangor. In 1870, he returned to Bangor and established himself as an architect, practicing there for eight years. One of his first works, the Adams-Pickering Block in Bangor, is the largest surviving project in Maine. In winter 1878, he left Bangor and moved west, settling in Minneapolis in spring 1879. He was soon joined by his brother, Fremont D. Orff, who worked as a draftsman until they formed a partnership in 1881. In the 1880s and 1890s, they employed several talented designers, including Francis W. Fitzpatrick from 1888 to 1889 and Edgar E. Joralemon. In 1893, the partnership was expanded to include Joralemon. The Orff brothers and Joralemon practiced as Orff & Joralemon until the partnership was dissolved in 1897. Fremont D. Orff succeeded to the practice, with the elder Orff being appointed a superintendent of construction for the Minneapolis public schools. In c. 1905, Orff left Minneapolis and returned to his native Bangor, where he died in 1908.[2][3][4]
