He was born near Lebanon County, Pennsylvania on April 22, 1817. He attended Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg for about one year and then studied law with the office of James Cooper. He entered the bar in 1839. His political career started with public speeches in 1840 supporting William Henry Harrison for president. He started as a Whig but as that party collapsed, he looked elsewhere. For a time he was the Indiana leader of the Know-Nothings (called the American Party) and later aligned himself with the Republican Party. Orth was married twice, and had a daughter and two sons.