Orra E. Monnette was born in southern Crawford County, Ohio to Mervin J. Monnette and Olive Hull Monnette. Monnette's father was involved in farming, raising stock, and banking. Mervin J. Monnette, along with his brothers established the town of Monnett in southern Crawford County, Ohio for the purposes of shipping cattle to the markets north of their farms. His family were staunch members of the Methodist Episcopal Church (aka "M.E. Church") which is now part of the modern United Methodist Church. Monnette's great-grandfather was the Reverend Jeremiah Crabb Monnett, an itinerant Methodist Episcopal preacher who led the settlement of Southern Crawford County by M.E. Church members.