The Riel Deal

And we're back!

Now that my semester is done, I can get back to the task of revising the Callin Family History. If you recall, we were looking at the descendants of Sarah Callin Scott's youngest daughter, Lucina Scott (1847–1910) and Joseph Dobson (1838–1928) of Illinois. This is the third post about this family, following Focus on a Family and Harvey Dobson's Legacy.


     III. Fred A Dobson (1869–1964)

Fred was born on 8 September 1869 and grew up on the farm in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, Illinois. On 30 May 1892, he married Sarah Margaret Smith (1868–1943). We know very little about Sarah's family; her father's name was given as "John" on her death record in the Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 database. She was born "at sea" according to most of her census records; the 1930 Census specifies that she was born in the Indian Ocean.

Fred and Sarah had two daughters, whom they raised in Rockford, at 1038 Kilburn Ave. Fred worked as a manager in an ice plant, as an engineer for Putney Brothers, and in the 1930s as a janitor. Sarah died on 24 May 1943, at 72 years of age. Fred stayed in their home until his death on 22 December 1964.

     A. Hazel B Dobson (1899–1970) was born on 2 December 1899 and graduated from St Thomas High School in Rockford, Illinois. After high school, she married Homer McDonald (1897–1975) son of Samuel Lewis McDonald (1866–1938) and Mabel W Morse (1872–1952) around 1925. They lived in Rockford, where Homer worked as a laborer, truck driver, and painter. Hazel died 3 March 1970 and Homer died on 9 March 1975, both in Rockford.

     B. Flora Eva Dobson (b. 1905) married Cecil Dewey Evert Keagle (1898–1975) in Belvidere, Illinois, on 18 March 1925. He was the son of Wilber Eugene Keagle (1873–1941) and Marie Elizabeth Meier (1876–1940).

The couple did not last long; Flora filed for divorce in July 1928. The last we see of her is on the 1930 U.S. Census, living under her maiden name and living on Dakin Street in Chicago, where she worked as a saleslady in a dry goods store.

As far as I can tell, neither of Fred and Sarah's daughters had any children. It would be great to find out otherwise!

     IV. Alta M "Altie" Dobson (1871–1939)

Born on 11 April 1871 in Winnebago County, Illinois, Alta grew up on her parents' farm in Burritt township. She married Joseph Riel (1866–1905) on 27 November 1890 in De Kalb County, Illinois. He was born in Canada in June 1966, and his parents were Peter Riel (b. 1816) and Mary Laplant (b. 1825). The Riel family brought Joseph and his two older brothers south from Canada when he was very small.

Joseph was a farmer, and he and Alta settled in Mayfield, De Kalb County, where he died unexpectedly in late 1905 or early 1906 at the age of 39. He was buried in Mayfield Congregational Cemetery. His youngest son, Harley, was born 9 December 1906.

After Joseph's death, Alta remarried the recently widowed Edward W Jones (1860–1945) 23 October 1909 in Clark County, South Dakota. Edward had immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland in the early 1880s and had married Deborah Carpenter (1859–1908). They had three daughters and a son in Illinois before 1900, but they had migrated to Henry, Codington County, South Dakota, sometime before Deborah's death.

Eddie and Alta had one more son together and raised their large family in Clark County, South Dakota. They were in Elrod in 1910, and Eden in 1920; but there must have been some trouble in paradise because, in 1930, Eddie was listed as "widowed" and living alone in Eden. Meanwhile, Alta was either living back in De Kalb County (implied by a 12 April 1930 society notice in the De Kalb "Daily Chronicle") or in Aberdeen (as recorded in the 1935 South Dakota State Census) and using the name Alta Riel.

Alta died on 20 January 1939 in Rock Run, Stephenson County, Illinois, and was buried in the Mayfield Congregational Cemetery near her first husband, Joseph Riel. Edward died on 5 April 1945 and was buried in Lorinda Cemetery in Henry, South Dakota.

     A. Oscar Frederick Riel (1891–1981) was born 28 October 1891 in De Kalb, Illinois. He was 14 years old when his father died. Five years later, he was living in North Dakota with his sister and brother-in-law, the Fawcetts, and in 1913, when he was 21 years old, he crossed into Saskatchewan, Canada.

After moving to Canada, there are several records for men of the same name, but none of the records are definitely our Fred--and a few are definitely not!

He died on 16 November 1981, in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 90.

     B. Kittie Pearl Riel (1892–1982) was born on 28 December 1892 in Illinois. Based on the way she appears in the records, she was called "Kittie" when she was younger, but after 1920, she preferred to be called "Pearl."

She married Joseph Ford Fawcett (1882–1964) 3 February 1909 in Ellendale, Dickey County, North Dakota. Kittie's older brother, Oscar, and younger sister, Maude, lived in their household according to the 1910 U.S. Census. Joseph (who may have been called "Ford," if only on one record), was born on 9 April 1882 in Canada to Joseph Hugh Fawcett (b. 1856) and Annie Falkner (1857–1939).  The Fawcetts moved down to North Dakota in 1883, and Annie took two of Ford's brother's back to Canada in 1913, but Ford and Kittie moved to South Dakota.

They had two daughters, and lived together in Aberdeen, Brown County, South Dakota, from about 1914 through the 1960s. Ford died there in August 1964 and Pearl died in December 1982. They are buried in Riverside Memorial Park.

     1. Luella Nettie Fawcett (1909–1998) was born 27 November 1909 in Henry, Codington County, South Dakota. She married Charles Albert Brandes (1895–1961) on 15 December 1927 in Brown County, South Dakota. He was the son of Anthony Brandes (1856–1919) and Mary Theresa Merchen (1863–1939), born 27 April 1895 in Oldenburg, Franklin, Indiana. Charles and Luella had a daughter, Vivian M Brandes, who died on  6 April 1930 at about one and a half years of age.

I did not find a divorce record, but Luella remarried on 21 September 1940 in Spink County, South Dakota, to Gilbert G Gale (1914–1966). Charles seems to have remained single in Aberdeen, running a garage during the 1950s. He died on 18 November 1961 in Batesville, Indiana.

Gilbert died in June 1966 and was buried in Riverside Memorial Park; Luella was buried with him after her death on 30 July 1998.

     2. Hazel M Fawcett (b. 1911) appears in only two records: the 1920 U.S. Census, and the 1925 South Dakota State Census. The former says she was born in South Dakota in 1911, and the latter says she was born in North Dakota but moved to South Dakota in 1913.

I found no records to suggest whether she died or married, so her fate remains a mystery.

     C. James E Riel (b. 1894) was born on 22 August 1894 in Illinois. He was nine years old when his father died, and he came of age living in his step-father's household in Elrod, South Dakota. He married Marion Grace Smith on 15 August 1916, in Codington County, South Dakota. She was born on 31 August 1898 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Robert J Smith (b. 1870) and Celia Helen Irene Simpson (b. 1879).

After their marriage, James appears in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 database, but after that, I have not been able to find any records matching this family.

     D. Hattie S Riel (1895–1912) was born in December 1895, and after her father's 1905 death, she went to live in the home of H.J. and Flora Homan in Mayfield, De Kalb County, Illinois. She died on 15 January 1913 and was buried in Kingston, Illinois.

     E. Maude May Riel (1897–1947) was born on 23 December 1897, most likely in Mayfield, De Kalb County, Illinois. Her father died in 1905, and Maude was living with Kittie and Joseph Fawcett, and brother Oscar, in 1910. Presumably, she moved back to Illinois at some point during the 1910s.

Maude married Lewis Garner Blake (1885–1944) on 5 May 1919, according to records in the Illinois, County Marriages, 1800-1940 database, but that marriage did not last very long at all. The following year, she was rooming with the Clay family of Rockford, Illinois, according to the 1920 U.S. Census, and she married Arnold Willard Wolfe (1899–1955) on 26 August 1920 in St. Joseph County, Indiana.

Maude and Arnold had two sons; one was born in Illinois, and the second in Racine, Wisconsin, where they lived until 1930, when they moved to Flat Creek, Stone County, Missouri. Around 1935, the couple divorced, and Maude remarried on 16 December 1939 in Clinton County, Iowa, this time to Clayton Carlisle Marshall (1904–1976). They lived in De Kalb, Illinois, until Maude's death on 7 March 1947. She was 49 years old.

     1. Robert Lester Wolfe (1923–1950) was born on 23 October 1923 in De Kalb County, Illinois--probably in Mayfield. His family moved to

Robert married Ruth Kristina Hutting (1926–2014) on 21 February 1947 - just a couple of weeks before his mother's death. Ruth was born 23 February 1926 in Butler County, Iowa. She was the daughter of Ray Hutting (1903–1977) and Emilie S Jensen (1901–1991).

Ruth and Robert had a daughter before his death on 3 March 1950. He set out to cut wood that morning, and when he didn't come home for lunch, Ruth went to her neighbors' and mounted a search. Robert had fallen under a collapsed tree and froze to death long before Ruth found him about 3 o'clock.

Ruth remarried James R. Stone (1928-1999) in 1951, and they had four sons. Ruth Stone died on 8 September 2014 at age 88, at the Rosewood Care Center in Rockford, Illinois. She was survived by a brother, 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

     2. Donald Ray Wolfe (1926–1998) was born 9 June 1926, in Racine, Wisconsin. He was a WWII U.S. Army Air Corp Veteran and he married Betty L Ainsworth (1929–1979) on 27 March 1948 and worked on the railroad. They were together until at least 1955 but apparently divorced after that.

Donald later married Dorothy Hubbard on 12 October 1957. They were married in the Federated Church in Sycamore, De Kalb, Illinois. He was employed by the Sycamore Park District for many years. Born 11 July 1933 in Sycamore, Dorothy was the daughter of Richard F Hubbard (1905–1958) and Sadie M Gardner (1904–1978). She lived in Sycamore all her life except for a few years in Galesburg. She was a Bible school teacher and worked for the accounting department of Duplex Corporation.

Donald died Thursday, 23 April 1998, at his home. Dorothy died Saturday, 3 June 2000, at Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb. They were survived by ten grandchildren; three great-grandchildren (or, if you go by Dorothy's obituary, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren). They are buried in the Fairview Cemetery in De Kalb, Illinois.

     F. Mabel A Riel (b. 1899) was born in Illinois in December 1899 and appears in the 1900 and 1910 Census records. In 1910, she was 11 years old and living with her mother and step-father in Elrod, South Dakota. It seems likely that she may have married and moved away before 1920, and there are no records to indicate that she might have died during that decade, but so far I have no more information about Mabel.

     G. Walter G Riel (1902–1995) was born in Illinois on 16 November 1902, and he was three years old when his father died. He appeared in the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census records living in the Jones household, and in 1930 he was listed as a servant in the Eden, South Dakota, household of the Christianson family.

Walter married Martha Bradke (1910–2006) on 14 July 1932 in Langford, Marshall County, South Dakota. She was the daughter of Edward Paul Bratke (1868–1936) and Louise Johanna Reimann (1874–1952) - immigrants who came from Ellsnig, Prussia, which is located near the southern border of modern Poland.

Martha and Walter had a daughter, who is still living. They were divorced by 1940, and Martha appeared in the 1940 Census with her daughter, living in the Lundt household in McPherson County, South Dakota. Walter married his second wife, Esther Hakanson (1911–1997) on 2 December 1947. He died in Aberdeen on 16 August 1995; Esther died 19 March 1997.

Martha married her second husband, Henry (Hank) Meier, on 26 November 1947 at Webster, South Dakota. They lived in Aberdeen until 1956 when they moved to Sandpoint, Idaho. They then returned to Aberdeen in 1975. Hank died on 17 December 1985. Martha died on 11 January 2006 in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota.

Walter and Martha's grandson, Raymond Shatzka, was born on 1 December 1954, in Aberdeen, and died 9 February 2017, in Spokane, Washington. Raymond served in the military for nine years. He was survived by his wife, daughter, and grandson, as well as his mother, and two sisters, two stepchildren; and six step-grandchildren.

     H. Alice M Riel (1903–1980) was born in North Dakota on 23 July 1903, not long after her family moved from Illinois. She married Arthur Wayne Kimball (1899–1976) on 3 Oct 1922, and they lived in Henry, Codington County, South Dakota. He was born to parents George Henry Kimball (1862–1934) and Ermina "Minnie" Mcnitt (b. 1866) on 3 October 1899 in Harmon, Lee, Illinois.

After having their first child, Alice and Arthur moved to Missouri. Their second child was born there in 1930, and they moved back to North Dakota, where they were living in rural Bowman County in 1935. In July 1943, Arthur was baptized into the North Dakota Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church; after that, records are sparse until his death on 15 April 1976 in Milaca, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. Alice died there on 22 January 1980. They are both buried in Borgholm Cemetery in Bock, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota.

     1. Elda Kimball (b. 1928) was born in South Dakota, according to the 1930 U.S. Census - the only record I have found on which she appears. She was listed as two years old, living with her parents and infant sister in Flat Creek, Stone County, Missouri. Most likely, Elda died in Missouri during the 1930s, but I have not been able to find any evidence of this.

     2. Artis Marie Kimball (1930–1999) was born on 22 February 1930 in Galena, Stone County, Missouri. Her family moved back to North Dakota by 1935 and lived in Rhame, Bowman County.

She married John William Dodds (1928–1987), son of  Fred C Dodds (1877–1968) and Mary Ada Boyce (1892–1956), in Rhame, probably after John's enlistment. He served in the U.S. Navy from 19 June 1946 to 9 April 1948. They spent most of the 1950s living in Marshalltown, Iowa, where John worked for the Borden Company. They had four children, three of whom are still living.

By 1986 John and Artis were living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. John died there on 29 September 1987. Artis died on 21 May 1999, also in Baton Rouge; both of them were buried in Tuttle Cemetery in Rhame, North Dakota. They were survived by two sons and a daughter.

     a. Fredrick Arthur Dodds (1962–2008) was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on 7 December 1962. He lived in Laurens, South Carolina, and died on Thursday, 17 April 2008, at age 45. Services were held at Thomas More Catholic Church and was buried in Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

     3. Chester Eugene Kimball (1936–1997) was born in Rhame, Bowman, North Dakota, on 30 October 1936. He married in 1963, in Minnesota, but divorced in 1987. He died in Crosby, Crow Wing County, Minnesota, on 28 December 1997, survived by his ex-wife and their son.

     I. Harley Russell Riel (1906–1970) was born in North Dakota on 9 December 1906, almost a year after his father's death. He grew up in the home of his mother and step-father, Edward Jones, in Elrod, South Dakota. In 1930, he was lodging in Brainerd and working as a farm laborer.

Harley married Pearl Evelyn Melcher (1916–2006) in Aberdeen, South Dakota, on 17 August 1939. Pearl was born 2 January 1916 in Aberdeen to Rueben E Melcher (1891–1975) and Edna Pearl Fox (1892–1928). She graduated from Aberdeen Central High School, Class of 1936, and remained on the family farm until she was twenty years old and she moved into Aberdeen to begin working at a nursing home in West Hill in Aberdeen.

Harley and Pearl had two sons and a daughter before the second world war broke out, and Harley enlisted in the U.S. Army on 27 Mar 1944. He served at Fort Snelling, in Minnesota, and was discharged on 27 December 1945.

Harley worked as a carpenter and a truck driver, and the family lived at 417 N. Main in Aberdeen from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, when they moved to 607 S. Congress. Pearl worked at Taylor Laundry for several years, then became involved with the Foster Grandparents program for 10 years. Harley was only 64 when he died on 4 December 1970. She continued to live in Aberdeen until October 2004, when she became a resident at Beverly Healthcare in Ipswich. She died in Ipswich at the age of 90 on 8 February 2006.

When Pearl died, she left behind 32 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, two daughters, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

     1. Edna Pearl Riel (1941–2001) was born on 8 February 1941 in Aberdeen, South Dakota. She married Dennis J Frey (1938–2010) on 14 February 1960. Dennis was born 4 March 1938 to Fred and Theresa (Lockner) Frey in Lemmon, South Dakota, where he graduated from Lemmon High School in 1956.

Dennis was employed with the White Drug in the Super City Mall and the Sears Store for several years. He pursued his interest in electronics and started his own business called Frey's Electronics, which he owned and operated for many years. The business is still owned and operated by the Frey Family.

Edna died on 3 September 2001 and was buried at Riverside Memorial Park in Aberdeen. Dennis died Sunday, 22 August 2010, at Aberdeen Health and Rehab, and was cremated and buried with Edna. They were survived by two daughters and a son; one daughter, Theresa Marie Frey, died young.

     2. June Kay Riel (1944–1945) was born while Harley was away at Fort Snelling, and died in January 1945.

     3. Mary Alice Riel (1955-2015) was born on 25 April 1955 and would have been 15 years old when her father died. As far as I know, she lived in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and was married; she died under the name Mary Alice Rappe on 1 December 2015 and was buried in the Riverside Memorial Park. (There is an obituary on the local Aberdeen newspaper's website, but they have a rather steep paywall - considering that I can't tell whether the information in it would be worth the price of a whole subscription. I will hope that I can find a surviving relative with a clipping.)

     J. Eddie J. Jones (1913–1988) was the youngest son of Alta Dobson Riel and Edward Jones, born 17 January 1913 in Codington County, South Dakota. He was the youngest among his 13 half-siblings, the closest in age being Harley Riel, who had a little more than five years on Eddie. His eldest half-brother, William T. Jones, was 27 years older!

Eddie married Mary Eliza Anderson (1913–1992) on 11 October 1931 in Clark County, South Dakota. Mary was the daughter of Alfred Martin Anderson (1884–1954) and Margaret E "Maggie" Brown (1893–1963).

Eddie and Mary farmed in Clark County until they moved to Rapid City in 1954. He worked in construction before becoming co-owner of a commercial garbage service. He retired in 1978, then worked part-time for Black Hills Refuse Service until 1987.

Eddie died on 16 February 1988 at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Mary remained in Rapid City, and died there on 22 August 1992. Of their eleven children, they were survived by six daughters, four sons, 27 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

     1. Betty Ione Jones (1932–1990) was born on 13 February 1932, in Elrod, South Dakota, when her father, Eddie, was 19, and her mother, Mary, was 18.

Betty was married to Denman P Gabbard (1923–1993) and was divorced from him in Yolo County, California, in August 1968. I was not able to determine when they married or whether they had any children.

Betty married Miller Ruh "Mike" Atherton in 1985. Mike was a management analyst on the State Personnel Board. She died unexpectedly on 31 December 1990, in Sacramento, California, at the age of 58. Mike died from complications associated with congestive heart failure on 25 July 2011.

     2. Edwin Martin Jones (1933–2003) was born on 8 July 1933, in Clark County, South Dakota, and was raised on a farm near Elrod. He was married in November 1952, in Henry, SD.

Edwin was an iron worker and in the upholstery business, and eventually retired from the Rapid City Area Schools in 1998, where he was head custodian at Dakota Middle School. He died Saturday, 8 February 2003, at his residence in Rapid City. He was preceded in death by an infant son, Douglas, and a son-in-law, Ted Parks. He was survived by his wife, a daughter, three sons, three brothers, 8 grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson.

     4. Allan Dale Jones (1936–1943) was six years old when his clothes caught fire while he was playing around a fire. His clothing was burned from his body and his legs were badly burned. He died at a Clark hospital Saturday morning 2 October 1943 at 7 o'clock.

     6. Robert Joseph "Bob" Jones (1940–2005) was born 17 July 1940 in Clark County, South Dakota, and received his education in Rapid City. Bob enjoyed being a truck driver for various companies, including Pete Lien and Sons. He was also fond of collecting brass.

Bob died Monday, 29 August 2005 at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Bob was married in 1963, and is survived by his wife, two sons, his daughter, and one grandson.

     7. Carol Joyce Jones (1942–2016) was born on 12 January 1942 in Clark County and was raised in Rapid City. On 31 August 1968, she married LeRoy Clare Schaffer (1936-1988), son of Theodore "Ted" Schaffer (1901–1975) and Ruth Wilhelmina Hilgemann (1907–1991). LeRoy was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in Okinawa, Japan, from 1953 to 1958.

They lived in a mobile home in Kennedy Trailer Court off South Valley Drive, which was inundated by the Flood of 1972. LeRoy, Carol, and their baby daughter survived the flood on a raft.

LeRoy died on 18 May 1988, and was buried at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, South Dakota. After his death, Carol began working at Black Hills Refuse, then she worked at Black Hills Gold by Coleman Frizzel; she retired at age 65. Carol enjoyed western books written by Louis Lamour. She also enjoyed western television shows and movies. Carol's hobby was embroidery.

Carol died peacefully on Tuesday, 30 August 2016 at age 74 with family by her side. She was buried with her husband; they were survived by her daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great-grandson, and her beloved dog, Marie.

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This was a longer post than I was expecting - I guess you could say that Alta Dobson left a Riel legacy?

As always, I hope to hear from anyone who might be related to the folks in this post. I don't post information about living people, as a rule, so I'm sure there are ommissions and mistakes here. Please let me know so I can correct them!

I expect one more post will finish up the Dobson family, and bring us to the end of the known descendants of James Callin. What a long journey it has been - and there is still a lot of work to be done if I'm going to publish a revised Callin Family History.

Until next time...