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.
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.
I will post on Facebook and email story of Bridgett Anne Youngs.
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