Echoes & Rhymes

As you might know, I'm working on the manuscript of the revised Callin Family History. (Replicas of the original are still available on Lulu and Amazon.)

This project has already taken a year longer than I expected it to take, mainly because I found the family of Sarah Callin and John Scott (and yesterday was the anniversary of THAT post!). But I'm not complaining! After all, filling gaps in the record is what this hobby is all about.

The point is, as I'm putting together several years' worth of research, I'm seeing new clues that I missed before, and learning new things that may add even more people to the tree. And just this morning, I found a clue to another missing branch of the family.

For those of you who may be new to this project, here's what we know:

Detail from 1820 Census of Milton Twp
(Note the two Burget men here)

The original Callin Family History told us about two men, James and John Callin. They were brothers who settled in "Ashland County, Ohio" in 1810 and 1816, respectively. Their father was James Callin, a Revolutionary War soldier who lived in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

George Callin, who wrote the original Callin Family History, was the grandson of John Callin, and as I've researched the people he listed as John's children, I've found that the information about them he put in his book was fairly complete and accurate. If you refer to my earlier post, The Brothers Callin of Ohio, I included my analysis of John's family as it appeared in the 1820 and 1830 Census records for Milton Township, and James's family in 1820. (And in the process of drafting this post, I made a minor update to that one to reflect some of what we're talking about here.)

But when it came to James Callin's family, George's record was less complete. He listed only three sons of James and Mary, but the Census in 1820 showed that there were three more children in their family that we did not know about. Of course, there is always the chance that the younger people in a census record might not be related to the head of the household, and there is very little information in the 1820 Census to base a record search on, but we do what we can.

Thomas:

I don't have a lot to add about Thomas, except to note that he married Nancy Burget in 1823. We talked about their family in more detail in Tragic Thomas and there are some great Find-A-Grave photos collected in the update to that post.

Alec and James:

Just a quick recap of what little we know about Alec and James (the youngest son) - you can read a bit about them in The Pull of the West. But the thing I wanted to refresh everyone's memory on with regard to Alec is that the Callin Family History said that he took his mother (Mary) to Iowa with him and that she is buried in Muscatine in a grave that shares a marker with Callin Rayburn. (As discussed in this post.) We know he bought at least three parcels of land in Iowa, but haven't found him in the 1850 Census, as we should have expected. His fate and his descendants remain a mystery.

Hugh:

Detail from 1830 Census of Milton Twp.
(Note the surname "Montgomery" here)

If you don't want to click over and review, I can tell you here that the 1820 Census record for James Callin shows three children - one boy and two girls - who George did not list in his book. As I mentioned in that earlier post, I found Hugh in the 1830 Census in Milton Township, with a wife and two children under 5 years: one boy, and one girl. I also found his 1840 record in Louisa County, Iowa; they have two more daughters and one more son in that record, and the ages are close enough that I can believe this to be the same family. I also found several references to Hugh in the History of Louisa County by Arthur Springer.

Again, there is nothing there that proves he is the son of our James Callin, but Louisa County adjoins both Des Moines and Muscatine Counties, which is where Alec Callin purchased land in the 1840s and 1850s. I would have expected to find more records of Hugh - his marriage in Richland County, an appearance on the 1850 Census, or a death record of some kind - but to date, I have come up empty.


The New Kid:

Okay - now that we've got all of that background in place, here's what I found this morning:

Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958

Name:	Caleb Montgomery
Spouse's Name:	Elizabeth Callen
Event Date:	13 Aug 1822
Event Place:	Richland,Ohio

This is exciting and a little embarrassing. Obviously, it's exciting to find a clue - and this Elizabeth Callen is the right age to be the older of the two daughters in James Callin's 1820 Census record. It's embarrassing because it never occurred to me to go looking for her! I only ran across this record because I was hoping to find a marriage record for one of her brothers. And after all the fuss I've made about the way we erase women from history, I should have thought of doing that particular search years ago!

But there's more.

It didn't take long to start looking into Caleb Montgomery's family, and I learned a lot about them very quickly. The easiest way to share it all with you is to quote the relevant bits from the biographical sketch of Caleb and Elizabeth's son, Theodore (which can be found in the Fulton County, Indiana Handbook,  published by Tombaugh House, and available on the Fulton County Public Library's website):

Theodore "is a native of Richland County, Ohio, where he was born September 12, 1826. He is the son of Caleb and Elizabeth Montgomery, the former a native of Virginia, the latter of Pennsylvania. Caleb Montgomery, a pioneer from birth and a sturdy son of toil, was born June 23, 1799, in Virginia... His father, Benjamin Montgomery, was a native of Virginia, and a miller by trade. His mother, Nancy, was a native of the State of Delaware. They left Virginia when Caleb was a small boy, and settled in Richland County, Ohio, where they died, and where Caleb grew from a mere boy to a man of family. ... In 1820, he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Callen, a native of Pennsylvania, as before stated, born August 7, 1798 and a native of the same county as her husband. To these parents were born five children--Mary, now deceased; Sarah, now the wife of Henry Davidson, living in Halsey, Oregon; Theodore, of whom this sketch is concerned; Porter, deceased at Vicksburg, Miss.; and Callen, now interested in the mining business in Coloma, Cal. In 1834, Mrs. Montgomery deceased, leaving a mourning husband and family, and in 1836 he married Sarah L. Mercer, a native of Ohio, born in 1812."

The circumstantial evidence is very tantalizing. That 1798 birthdate makes Elizabeth just the right age to be the daughter of James and Mary, and their family would have still been in Pennsylvania at the time. This isn't proof, but it makes a strong case. Well, that and the fact that we aren't aware of another Callin/Callen family living in Richland County that she could belong to.

And then there are all of the historical "rhymes" - things that aren't quite proof of anything, but make up the fabric of a community like the one we have been researching in Milton Township.

It's worth commenting on the fact that Elizabeth and Benjamin named a son "Callen Montgomery." Remember that her theoretical mother, Mary, was buried in Muscatine, Iowa, next to a "Callin Rayburn"? Callin Rayburn's mother was Eleanor "Nellie" Callen, the daughter of Patrick Callen of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, and sister of the Hugh Callen who founded Callensburg in Clarion County, PA. We still don't know what the connection is between our Callin family and Patrick, but my hunch is that Mary Callin could have been born a Rayburn, or that her husband, James Callen, could be a cousin of Eleanor Callen Rayburn. With all of these coincidences, I keep hoping they will add up to something!

The Benjamin Montgomery described in Theodore's biography was the original settler of the town of Olivesburg, which he named for his daughter (Caleb's sister), Olive. Olivesburg, of course, is located in Milton Township, and the Montgomery family deeded land to the town for the Old Olivesburg Cemetery, which is where several of our Callin ancestors are buried.

And if you look again at that detail from the 1830 Census above, you can see a Jonathan Montgomery and a Levi Mercer listed above Hugh Callin. Coincidentally, Benjamin Montgomery and Sarah Mercer named their first child Levi M (for "Mercer"?) Montgomery.

Also, Olive Montgomery was married twice: once in 1812 to John Farrell, and again in 1843, to Boston Burget--quite possibly the same Boston Burget I theorized was a brother of Nancy Burget, the wife of Thomas Callin.

So, What Now?

If you happen to be a descendant of Caleb Montgomery and Elizabeth Callen, you might be able to help me prove our family connection with DNA. I am on FTDNA, and you can find my family tree here. Same goes for any Iowa descendants of these missing Callin boys, or their Rayburn cousins!

And, of course, you can always subscribe to this blog, or join our Callin Family History Facebook group if you want to be updated as I go.

Happy Hunting!

My Sixteen No. 10: Sarah Jane Bellamy

My Sixteen refers to my great-great grandparents. Or, to put it another way, the sixteen grandparents of my four grandparents.

Sarah Jane Bellamy was born in 1837 in Cabell County, Virginia. She died on 22 May 1920 in Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky. According to The Bellamys of Early Virginia, Sarah Jane was the daughter of Bennett Bellamy (1810-1867) and Jane West (1810–1858). They were married in Cabell County in about 1831, and Bennett appears as a head of household in that county on the 1840 U.S. Census. Bennett and Jane appear in the 1850 Census in Greenup County, with children Matthew (18), Nancy (16), Elizabeth (15), Sarah (13), Jesse (12), Thomas (10), Columbia (9), Joseph (7), Eliza (3), and "Claspa" (Cleopatra, age 1).

Cabell County was located on the western edge of Virginia, sitting just across the Ohio River from Lawrence County, Ohio. Boyd and Greenup Counties were located in Kentucky, on the other side of Lawrence County. By 1850, Bennett Bellamy's family was living in Greenup County.

Sarah married Joel Clark, a native of Lawrence County, in Greenup County on 17 October 1859, according to the Kentucky, Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900. They set up their home near Catlettsburg in Boyd County, just a couple of miles south of Ashland. This is where they were in 1860.

Kentucky was a key Union border state during the Civil War. Most of the fighting took place in the center of the state, far to the west of the Ashland area, but in the summer of 1861, Union troops under General George McClellan drove off Confederate troops, which essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own. This rift led to the formation of a separate state, West Virginia, made up of 41 Virginia counties that had voted against secession--including Cabell County.

After the war, Joel and Sarah were living near Bellefonte Furnace in Greenup County in 1870, where they raised their family. In 1900 and 1910, Joel and Sarah were living in Oakview, Boyd County, and their eldest daughter, Hannah Fraley, lived with them in 1910. Joel died on 15 May 1915, and Sarah went to live with their son, Amos, and his wife, Effie, in Pollard, also in Boyd County. She died on 22 May 1920.

The Known Children of Joel and Sarah Clark

  The 1900 and 1910 Census collected information from women about the number of children they had given birth to, and how many of those children were still living. Sarah stated that she had given birth to 12 children, 11 of whom were still living in 1900; the same was true in 1910. The first four children below appeared in the 1870 Census; four others were identified in Kentucky and Ohio vital records which listed the names of the parents.

1. Hannah Elizabeth Clark Fraley (1860–1947) was born on 7 June 1860, probably near Catlettsburg, Boyd County, Kentucky. She married Samuel Rufus Fraley (1853–1940) on 8 May 1882 in Greenup County, Kentucky. They had two sons: Charles Monroe Fraley (1883–1967) and Isaac Joseph Fraley (1891–1968). Hannah died 30 April 1947 in Fayette County, Kentucky.

2. John Thomas Clark (1862–1954) was born 5 February 1862 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky. He married Temperance "Tempa" Lake (1871–1937) on 31 July 1890 in Lawrence County, Ohio. They had two sons: Luther George Clark (1891–1973) and Cecil A Clark (b. 1904). John died 1 April 1954 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky.

3. Julia Ann Clark Hughes (1863–1963) was born in Kentucky in February 1863. She married
John William Hughes (1852–1927) on 8 August 1883 in Greenup County, Kentucky. They had six children: Naaman Hughes (1884–1912), George Washington Hughes Sr (1886–1970), Sherman Hughes (1892–1970), Clara Ethel Hughes (1895–1958), Bessie Ann Hughes (1898–1996), and Theodore Roosevelt Hughes (1902–1988). Julia died 13 April 1963 in Athens, Ohio.

4. Joseph Bennett Clark (1867–1953) was born 15 September 1867 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He married Caroline Stanley (1876–1935) 21 February 1892 in Greenup County, Kentucky. Their children were Edgar James Clark (1893–1957), Kelly Clark (b. 1896), Earl D Clark (b. 1899), Tempa Clark (1902–1995), Stanley Albert Clark (1904–1950), Virginia Gross Clark (1909–1913), Hortense C Clark (1912–2001), and Lucille Clark (1914–2005). Joseph died on 20 June 1953 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky.

5. James Sylvester Clark (1868–1960) was born 27 December 1868 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He married Mary Ann Arthur (1876–1954) in 1897. They had two sons: Chester Leon Clark (1901–1983) and Arthur Harold Clark (1905–1981). James died 6 January 1960 in Portsmouth, Scioto, Ohio.

6. David Ulysses Clark Sr (1873–1948) was born in Greenup county, Kentucky, in 1873 (probably in June). He married Mary Ann Viceroy "Vicie" Reynolds (1879–1957) on 4 September 1898 "at the home of John Clark in Oakview" in Boyd County, Kentucky. The marriage was witnessed by John and Joel Clark. David and Vicie had many children: Opal Clark (1899–1932), Traxel Clark (1901–1961), Alma Clark (1903–1988), David Clark, Jr. (1905–1966), Sallie Clark (1908–1932), Thomas Ray Clark (1910–1933), Jennie May Clark (1911–1975), Jerry M Clark (1913–1996), Floyd Morris Clark (1915–1916), Victor F Clark (1918–1995), and my grandfather, Russell Hudson Clark (1920–2002). David died 9 January 1948 in Pulaski County, Arkansas; he was my great-grandfather.

7. Bertha Clark May (1875–1952) was born in June 1875 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky. She married Francis Marion May (1870–1946) 4 June 1892 in Boyd County, Kentucky. They had five children: Leonard Victor May (1894–1942), Joel DeWitt May (1897–1986), Verna May (b. 1901), Julia May (b. 1903), and Bettie M May (b. 1915). Bertha died 4 June 1952 in Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio.

8. Amos Clark (1877–1962) was born 19 February 1877 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He married Letitia Effie May (1880–1924) on 6 August 1899 in Lawrence County, Ohio. They had eight children: Rusie Clark (b. 1900), Nannie Ethel Clark (1901–1993), Charles Warren Clark (1905–1969), Golden Cecil Clark (1907–1929), Amos J Clark Jr. (1909–1981), Addie May Clark (b. 1911), Eugene Vernon Clark (1913–1985), and Doris Clark (1916–1999). Amos died 25 February 1962 in Pierce County, Washington.

9. Jennie Clark Smith (1878–1975) was born 29 September 1878 in Chinnville, Greenup, Kentucky. On 26 March 1899, she married William Thomas Smith (1876–1953) in Lawrence County, Ohio. They had seven children: Goldie A Smith (1900–1989), Myrl Raymond Smith (1901–1978), Roy Clark Smith (1904–1984), Dwight Avery Smith (1908–1978), Xelia Smith (1911–2000), Orville Edwin Smith (1912–2000), and Rebecca Jane Smith (1916–1995). Jennie died 15 December 1975 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky.

My Sixteen No. 9: Joel Clark

My Sixteen refers to my great-great grandparents. Or, to put it another way, the sixteen grandparents of my four grandparents.

Joel Clark was born on 13 December 1828 in Ohio and died in Oakview, Boyd County, Kentucky, on 8 May 1915 at the age of 86 years, 4 months, and 25 days. His parents were named on his death certificate in the Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 database as Amos Clark (place of birth unknown) and Sarah Stumbo (born in Virginia).

According to this record in Ohio, County Marriages, (1789-2013), Amos Clark and Sally (which is a common nickname for Sarah) Stumbough were married on 8 April 1824 in Lawrence County, Ohio. Amos appears as head of his household on the U.S. Census, recorded in Perry Township in 1830 and 1840.

This map shows modern day Perry Township—one of twenty-six townships of that name in Ohio!—which lies in the central point at the bottom of Ohio.





As you can see, Perry Township sits across the Ohio River from Ashland, Kentucky.

I have also found 1850 and 1860 Census records for an Amos Clark from Perry Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, but Montgomery and Lawrence Counties are about 160 miles apart, and this Amos's wife's name is given as "Mary," so I am reasonably sure these records do not match our Amos. (I've marked those Ancestry hints as "Maybe" for now.)

There is also evidence of more than one Amos Clark living in the Boyd County/Lawrence County area: the local newspaper in Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio, ran several notices in the spring of 1853 advising potential heirs and creditors of the death of Amos Clark, and later had to run an additional notice reassuring everyone of the vitality of Amos B. Clark:

Amos Clark - still alive and kicking. Tue, May 31, 1853 – Page 2 · Spirit of the Times (Ironton, Ohio) · Newspapers.com

Unfortunately, I do not have enough definite information about Amos and Sally/Sarah to figure out where they were born or what happened to them after 1840. There is a Joel Clark listed in the 1850 Census; he and three others are listed as living in Upper Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. The head of the household is a Sarah Clark (age 28), and two other boys, Jackson (age 12) and George W. (age 4) are there--all born in Ohio. It's possible that this is our Joel and three of his siblings, but I don't say that with high confidence.

[Update: after a close examination of the image of the census record, and comparing notes with other researchers, I think that this 1850 record does show our Joel, two brothers, and his mother, Sarah; I think the first digit in her age was too faded for the transcriber to read correctly; she might have been "38" and not "28".]

Joel Clark married Penina E. Baywell on 14 April 1853 in Lawrence County, Ohio (see this record). Other than this marriage, I have not found any other records that name her. My assumption, for now, is that she died not long after their son (Jackson, named for his brother) was born.

Joel then married Sarah Jane Bellamy (1836–1920) on 17 October 1859 in Greenup County, Kentucky. Joel and Sarah appear in the 1860 Census living in Boyd County, Kentucky, near the Catlettsburg post office. The record includes two children, Jackson S. (age 6, born in Ohio) and Hannah E. (age 4/12, born in Kentucky).

On 14 July 1863 Joel enlisted for twelve months in the Union Army at Ashland. He served as a private in the 45th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry. First organized as a Battalion for service in the Eastern Counties of Kentucky and on the Virginia border, the 45th served until October 1863. They went to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, and covered the front from Cumberland Gap to Louisa until March 1864. They saw action at Salyersville, Kentucky. They moved to Flemmingsburg in March 1864, and then to Irvine, Kentucky, operating south of that point until July. Joel seems to have re-enlisted at some point, as he was discharged in December 1865, after 2 1/2 years.

The 1870 Census showed the Clark family living near the Bellefonte (written on the census as "Belle Fonte") Furnace post office in Greenup County. Joel's occupation was listed as teamster; he and Sarah had four more children: John (8), Julia (6), Joseph (4), and James (2). There is a big gap in our story where the 1880 Census should be; I don't know why the family doesn't show up in any of the searches I've done, but we don't see them in online records for thirty years. In 1890, Joel appears on the Census Veterans' schedules, listed in Cannonsburg, Princess Township, Boyd County, but that database only lists the head of household.

In 1900, Joel and Sarah were living in Oakview, and operating a grocery. Their eldest daughter, Hannah (Fraley), was living with them in 1910; Joel was working as a real estate broker. He died on 8 May 1915 in Ashland and was buried in Ashland Cemetery. In 1920, Sarah was living in the Ashland, Kentucky, home of her son, Amos, with his wife, Effie, and their children; she died on 22 May 1920.

According to the 1910 Census, Sarah had a total of 12 children, 11 of whom were still living in 1910. I've only identified nine of them in the records mentioned here. One of those 12 children was very likely David Ulysses Clark Sr (1873–1948). Because I haven't been able to find the Clark family in the 1880 Census, I don't have any direct evidence confirming that he was the son of Joel and Sarah; I do have some indirect clues, though.

David married Mary Ann Viceroy "Vicie" Reynolds (1879–1957) on 4 September 1898 in Boyd County. According to their marriage record, their wedding took place "at the home of John Clark in Oakview" and was witnessed by John and Joel Clark. This John Clark appeared in Oakview in the 1900 Census and has a Kentucky death record which names his parents as Joel Clark and Sarah Bellomy.

David, Vicie, and Opal (their eldest child) appeared in the 1900 Census living in Oakview—and on the same page as an Amos Clark (age 23; wife, Effie, and daughter) and James Clark (age 30; wife, Mary). Amos and Effie May were married in 1899 in Lawrence County, Ohio, and their marriage record names his parents: Joel Clark and Sarah Bellamy.

None of this is concrete proof, but that much evidence is very persuasive. Unless I find some reason not to, I will conclude that David is the son of Joel, and grandson of Amos. My grandfather, Russell Hudson Clark (1920-2002), was the youngest son of David and Vicie.

End of the Line

At long last, we have arrived at a destination.

It's not the LAST destination, because human populations have a funny way of going on and on. When you think about the number of James Callin descendants who have been born, married, and died in the three years I've been working on this project, you can't escape the fact that a family history is never really done. My hope is that I've done a good enough job to claim that we know everything we can up to about 2015.

But before I can get started on the book, you need one last post. And this week, we're looking at:

     VII. Jasper Thomas Dobson (1881–1968)

Jasper Dobson was born 20 November 1881 in De Kalb County, Illinois. His parents were Joseph and Lucina (Scott) Dobson. He grew up on the family farm and went to live on his brother Fred's farm in Cherry Valley, where he appeared on the 1900 U.S. Census.

Jasper married Anastacia Cecilia "Anna" Leary (1885–1957) daughter of Moses Leary (1856–1913) and Bridget Ann Markham (1857–1921) in Chicago on 30 September 1903. Anna was born 27 December 1885 in Ogle County, Illinois. After they married, Anna and Jasper lived in Rockford, where he worked as a carpenter, and she began to raise the fourteen children they had between 1904 and 1929. Anna died on 22 December 1957, and Jasper on 13 January 1968; they were buried together in Calvary Cemetery, Winnebago County, Illinois.

     A. Earl P Dobson (1904–1970) was born on 26 January 1904 and grew up in Rockford, Illinois. At age 27 he was married to Ruth E Houdeshell (1915–1969), and they had three children, two of whom are still living. Ruth was the daughter of Emmett Aaron Houdeshell (1874–1939) and Emma Brower (1874–1941), born on 14 October 1915.

The couple married in 1931 and divorced after about 1949. Ruth remarried in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1954; she and her second husband lived in Rockford until 1967, when they moved to Phoenix. Ruth died there on 16 July 1969.

Earl died on 8 February 1970 in Loves Park, Winnebago County, Illinois. They left behind their three children and nine grandchildren, as of 1969.

     1. Earl Dudley Dobson (1941–1995) was born 18 December 1941 in Rockford and served in the U.S. Army from 12 January 1960 through 11 January 1963. He died 26 October 1995 in Rockford and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Winnebago County, Illinois.

     B. Bernice Cecilia Dobson (1907–1952) was born on 5 September 1907. She graduated from St. Thomas High School in Rockford in 1924 and went to work as a bookkeeper. She lived in Rockford for at least five years.

She married Lyle Edward Hawthorne (1907–1952) son of Edward Hawthorne (1871–1934) and Fannie May Killey (1878–1933) in 1931. The Hawthorne family ran a filling station they opened in Hebron in 1930, but after a few years, Lyle's fortunes turned. In 1935, Bernice filed for divorce, citing Lyle's frequent drunkenness and cruelty. In September 1936, Bernice filed for divorce again, and Lyle's relatives filed several legal affidavits resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest. Details were not available, but the affidavits ran in the Daily Sentinel of Woodstock, Illinois.

It isn't clear that they did divorce, though. They moved briefly to Elmira, New York, where they had a second daughter before Bernice moved back to Rockford with her daughters. In 1949, Bernice appeared in city records as "wid of Lyle," so he either died around that time, or they were divorced by then. (Sometimes, divorced women reported they were "widowed" on public listings and census records.)

Bernice died on 4 Sep 1952 in Winnebago County. I haven't been able to find more information.

     1. Patricia Anne Hawthorne Lameyer (1932–1995) was born 30 March 1932, in Woodstock, Illinois. She graduated from Aquin High School in Freeport and married in May 1951. She and her husband, still living, had a son and two daughters, also still living; the couple later divorced.

Patty lived in Jacksonville, Florida; Rockford, Freeport, Dixon and Kewanee, Illinois; and Mankato, Minnesota, before moving to Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1967. Patty graduated from Southeast Area Vocational Technical School (now Southeast Technical Institute), in 1974 as a computer operator. She married in 1974 but later divorced again.

Patty worked at Lewis Southgate, the Southway Cafe, and the Lester Steakhouse before working as banquet supervisor at the Ramkota Inn for 20 years. When she was unable to work during her battle with cancer, her co-workers donated nearly 900 vacation hours so she could continue to receive paychecks. She died in Sioux Falls on 12 August 1995. In addition to her daughters, she is survived by a son, a sister, and five grandchildren.

     C. Harold Dobson (1909–1992) was born on 30 March 1909 in Winnebago County, Illinois. His birth record says his name was Thomas Harold Dobson, but most of his other records were either for Harold T or Harold F Dobson.  He grew up in Rockford and lived with his parents until at least 1934.

Harold married Agnes May Jordan (1915–1993), the daughter of Joseph William Jordan (1877–1933) and Georgine Hebel (1884–1966). They had one son, Harold Thomas Dobson (1936–1942), who died at age five and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, according to the Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947. In September 1938, they also had a little girl who only lived one day; her name was Mary Ann.

Harold and Agnes lived at 843 Merrill Ave in Rockford until at least 1960. Harold died on 13 September 1992 and Agnes on 29 May 1993; both in Loves Park, Winnebago County, Illinois.

     D. Mary Eunice Dobson (1910–1997) was born in Rockford on 20 March 1910, and grew up there, living with her parents into her 30s. She married Charles Kenneth Gear (1913–1967) on 18 June 1942 in Pierce County, Washington.

Charles was the son of Vincent George E Gear (1891–1944) and Edna E Kundert (1895–1961). He was born on 2 October 1913 in Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, and his parents divorced when he was small. His mother remarried Merle C Allen, and Charles grew up in their household, enlisting in the U.S. Army at Chicago on 27 June 1941. He was probably stationed in Washington state when he and Mary married, and he was in New Guinea in 1944 when his father, Vince, died.

After the war, Charles and Mary lived in Rockford. He worked as a machinist, and they raised their daughter, still living. Charles died on 13 January 1967 in Loves Park; Mary survived him by 30 years, dying on 27 July 1997. They are buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Winnebago, Winnebago County.

     E. Clement Cyril Dobson (1911–1991) was born on 27 March 1911 and grew up in Rockford. He married Ellen Josephine Hildebrand (1911–1988) in Boone County, Illinois, in 1933. He and Josephine were together and living in Rockford as late as 1942, but in 1948, she was living in Los Angeles City, California, with her second husband, Thomas Henry Tilson (1916–1997), whom she divorced in May 1969.

Josephine died in Tucson, Arizona, on 17 December 1988, at 77 years of age. She was survived by two sons and a daughter, Judie Ann Porter (1940–2008). Judie may have been Clement's daughter, but I have not been able to find records to confirm this.

Clement died on 17 September 1991 in Pomona, Los Angeles County, California, at 80 years of age. Judie died 25 February 2008 in San Jacinto, Riverside County, California, survived by four children.

     F. Catherine Fern Dobson (1912–1967) was born on 6 December 1912 and grew up in Rockford. She married her first husband, Ellsworth Robert Porter (1910–1983), after 1930, and they had four children--two sons and two daughters--before 1940.

Ellsworth was a son of David Ellsworth Porter (b. 1873) and Charlotte Ann "Lottie" Tatham (1881–1953), born 28 August 1910 in Furman, Nebraska. In 1917, he was living in Rockford with his mother and step-father. After he and Catherine married, they lived in Rockford, where they raised their children. They were there in 1942, but in November 1945, Ellsworth is shown in passenger records returning to the U.S. from France. This suggests to me that he went overseas to be involved in the war effort, but I don't see any military records. I'm not sure what happened to him between 1945 and January 1983, but that's when he died in Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois.

On 20 April 1946, Catherine married her second husband, John George Nacvich (1910–1960) in Winnebago County. They had a son together and remained in Rockford through at least the mid-1950s. John died 28 January 1960 in Richland Center, Richland County, Wisconsin. After that, Catherine must have gone to live with their son in Kansas, because she died in August 1967 in Oskaloosa, Jefferson County, Kansas.

     1. David Robert Porter (1933–2002) was born 22 December 1933 in Rockford, Illinois. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on 22 January 1953 and made that his career, retiring 31 March 1980.

David died at age 68, on 14 September 2002 in Von Ormy, Texas. He was survived by his wife, nine children, 25 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, three sisters, two brothers and many extended family members and friends. He was buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

     2. Dorla Catherine Porter (1934–2004) was born 26 December 1936 in Rockford, Illinois. She was a licensed practical nurse and retired in 1999 from Memorial Hospital, in Corpus Christi. She moved from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Dunedin, Florida in 2003. Dorla C. Sheffield died at age 69 in Dunedin, Florida, on Wednesday 17 November 2004 at the Sunset Point Rehabilitation, Clearwater. She was Catholic. Survivors included a son, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

     5. James P Nacvich (1947–2008) was born 19 September 1947, and he lived in Topeka, Kansas. He died 27 September 2008 in Mayetta, Jackson County, Kansas.

     G. Francis Loretta Dobson (1914–1935) was born on 4 March 1914, in Rockford, Illinois. She died on 29 March 1935, at the age of 21, and was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery.

     H. Brigetta Ann Dobson (b. 1916) was born on 17 July 1916 and grew up in Rockford. She married Clifford Elliot Youngs (1916–1988) in about 1936. He was born on 8 March 1916 in Vesper, Wood County, Wisconsin, to Theodore M Youngs (1871–1941) and Lucy Anna Colburne (1865–1934).

Clifford and Brigetta were living at 840 Grand Ave. in Rockford as recently as 1945, but I estimate that they divorced soon after. Clifford remarried Barbra Fern Grant (1924–2012) and they had a son together in 1947. Clifford and Barbra were living in Springfield, Missouri, when he died on 11 April 1988.

After 1945, I have been unable to find any trace of Brigetta; no records, no newspaper articles, and limited clues offered by other researchers. My guess is that she also remarried, but hopefully one of the Dobson cousins will reach out and help me fill in the blanks!

     I. Elizabeth Dorothy "Betty" Dobson (1919-2010) was born 23 March 1919, in Rockford. Betty married Raymond Anthony McCrea (1912–1999) on 11 June 1938, in Rockford. Raymond was born on 18 July 1912 to James McCrea (1865–1922) and Augusta Fritz (1870–1947).

Raymond worked as a machinist for the National Lock Company. After their son was grown, Betty worked as a receptionist at Zuckeaton Office Co. for 20 years, retiring in 1980. Betty enjoyed golf and bowling and bowled well into her 80s.

Raymond died on 25 January 1999 in Rockford. Betty died at age 91 on Monday, 14 June 2010, in the Alpine Fireside Health Care. They were survived by their two grandsons, daughter-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.

     1. Richard Raymond "Dick" McCrea (1949–2006) was born on 15 September 1949 in Rockford. He married in 1980 and divorced in 1989 after having two sons together. He died on 22 May 2006.

     J. Bernard Joseph Dobson (1920–1986) was born on 7 May 1914 in Rockford, Illinois. He was married from 1941 to 1946, and in 1951, went to work for the Chicago and North Western Railroad. He died in Port Allen, West Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on 29 September 1986.

     K. Joseph Edward Dobson (1922–1954) was born in Rockford on 18 December 1922 and enlisted in the U.S. Army on 17 October 1942. He was honorably discharged on 27 November 1945 from the 96th General Hospital. He lived with his parents in Rockford, at least in 1948, and died on 27 August 1954.

     L. Leary L. Dobson (1923-1984) was born 1 September 1923. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 1 December 1942 and served at Camp Grant in Winnebago County. After the war, he married Betty Jane Johnson (1925–2002) on 3 September 1947, and they had one son. He died on 27 September 1984; Betty Jane died in Rockford in September 2002.

     1. Larry Lawrence Dobson (1949-2004) was born 4 May 1949 in Rockford and served in the U.S. Army from 17 June 1966 to 19 May 1970. He married in 1996, at age 47, and died 21 August 2004 in Madison, Wisconsin.

     M. Margaret Rose Dobson (1925–1976) was born on 12 August 1925 and lived in her parents' home in Rockford until at least 1948. She died in Loves Park on 30 March 1976.

     N. William Patrick Dobson (1929–1997) was born on 29 August 1929 in Rockford. He was married to his first wife right after World War II when he was still only 17 years old. He did eventually enlist in the U.S. Army on 6 April 1953, and he was discharged on 23 February 1955.

He married his second wife in Weber, Scott County, Virginia, on 6 April 1966; her name was Louise Rosa McIlvoy (1932–2002). I think they had at least one daughter together, though it is hard to tell from her obituary. Mrs. Dobson was a food and beverage manager for Holiday Inn for 25 years. Born in Parkin, Arkansas, she moved with her parents to Ogle County, Illinois, when she was small. She moved to the Central Florida area in 1971, though it is not clear whether she and William were divorced by then.

William died in Rockford on 16 August 1997; Louise died Thursday, 6 June 2002 at Kindred Hospital in Tampa Bay, Florida.

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So there you have it. As much research as I can do on my own. Hopefully, some kindly distant cousins related to these Dobson families will find this blog and reach out to fix my mistakes and ommissions.

The usual methods are available - comment in the comment section below, email my Gmail address, or join the Callin Family History Facebook Group.

Next chance I get, I will begin the process of editing the book. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out soon how long it will take to get publication-ready.