CFH First Draft: Alta M Dobson Riel

 This post is part of an ongoing series, sharing the first draft of my Revised Callin Family History. 

Alta M Dobson is the 112th person in a descendant report beginning with the earliest known ancestor of our Callin family, (1.) James Callin. This descendant report uses the Register Style of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. 

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Fifth Generation

112. Alta M "Altie" Dobson (Lucina Scott-4, Sarah Callin-3, John-2, James-1) was born on 11 Apr 1871 and grew up in Burritt, Winnebago County, Illinois.

Alta married Joseph Riel on 27 Nov 1890 in Dekalb County, Illinois. Joseph was a son of Peter Riel (b. 1816) and Mary Laplant (b. 1825), was born in June 1866 in Canada. 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, DeKalb County, where he died unexpectedly in late 1905 or early 1906 at age 39. He was buried in Mayfield Congregational Cemetery in Kingston, DeKalb County, Illinois.

Joseph Riel and Alta M Dobson had the following children:

                      i.   Oscar Frederick Riel was born on 28 Oct 1892 in Dekalb County, Illinois. Oscar lived with his sister, Kittie, and her husband in Riverdale, Dickey County, North Dakota in 1910, but he emigrated to Canada in 1913. He lived in Kincaid, Saskatchewan, Canada in Aug 1918, when he registered for military service. He died on 16 Nov 1981 at age 90 in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada.

       340         ii.   Kittie Pearl Riel, born 28 Dec 1892, Illinois; married Joseph Ford Fawcett, 3 Feb 1909, Ellendale, Dickey County, North Dakota; died Dec 1982, Aberdeen, Brown County, South Dakota.

       341        iii.   James E Riel, born 22 Aug 1894, Illinois; married Marion Grace Smith, 15 Aug 1916, Codington County, South Dakota.

                    iv.   Hattie S Riel was born in Dec 1895 in Mayfield, DeKalb, Illinois. When the rest of her family moved to South Dakota, Hattie stayed with the family of her aunt, Flora Homan (Alta’s sister), in Mayfield. Hattie died on 15 Jan 1913 at age 17 and was buried in the Mayfield Congregational Cemetery in Kingston.

       342         v.   Maude May Riel, born 23 Dec 1897, Dekalb County, Illinois; married Lewis Garner Blake, 5 May 1919, Winnebago County, Illinois; married Arnold Willard Wolfe, 26 Aug 1920, Saint Joseph County, Indiana; married Clayton Carlisle Marshall, 16 Dec 1939, Clinton County, Iowa; died 7 Mar 1947, Dekalb, Dekalb County, Illinois.

                    vi.   Mabel A Riel was born in Dec 1899 in Illinois. She last appeared with her mother and step-father in Elrod, Clark County, South Dakota, in 1910.

       343       vii.   Walter G Riel, born 16 Nov 1902, Illinois; married Martha Bradke, 14 July 1932, Langford, Marshall County, South Dakota; married Esther Hakanson, 2 Dec 1947, Brown County, South Dakota; died 16 Aug 1995, Aberdeen, Brown County.

       344      viii.   Alice M Riel, born 23 July 1903, North Dakota; married Arthur Wayne Kimball, 3 Oct 1922, Codington County, South Dakota; died 22 Jan 1980, Milaca, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota.

       345        ix.   Harley Russell Riel, born 9 Dec 1906, North Dakota; married Pearl Evelyn Melcher, 17 Aug 1939, Brown County, South Dakota; died 4 Dec 1970, Aberdeen, Brown County, South Dakota.

Alta married Edward W Jones on 23 Oct 1909 in Clark County, South Dakota. Edward was born in Ireland in May 1860 and came to the United States in his early twenties. He married Deborah Carpenter (1859–1908), another recent Irish immigrant, on 28 Oct 1884 in DeKalb County, Illinois. They had four children before 1900, and lived in South Grove, DeKalb County, Illinois. The family moved to Henry, Codington County, South Dakota, where Deborah died on 1 Oct 1908. She was buried in Lorinda Cemetery in Henry.

Eddie and Alta had one more son together, Eddie, Jr., 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 trouble in paradise because, in 1930, Eddie was listed as "widowed" and living alone in Eden. Meanwhile, Alta was either living back in DeKalb County (implied by a 12 April 1930 society notice in the DeKalb "Daily Chronicle") or in Aberdeen (as recorded in the 1935 South Dakota State Census) and using the name Alta Riel.

Alta lived in Rock Run Township, Stephenson County, Illinois in 1939, and she died there on 20 Jan 1939 at age 67. Alta was buried in Mayfield Congregational Cemetery in Kingston, DeKalb County, Illinois, with her first husband.

            Eddie stayed in Clark County, South Dakota, living with Eddie, Jr. in Day, Clark County, in 1940. He died on 5 Apr 1945 at age 84 in Elrod, Clark County, South Dakota, and was buried in Henry, Codington County, South Dakota, with his first wife.

Edward W Jones and Alta M Dobson had one child:

       346         x.   Eddie J. Jones, born 17 Jan 1913, Codington County, South Dakota; married Mary Eliza Anderson, 11 Oct 1931, Clark County, South Dakota; died 16 Feb 1988, Rapid City, Pennington County, South Dakota.