CFH First Draft: Jasper Thomas Dobson

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

Jasper Thomas Dobson is the 114th 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. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

CFH First Draft: Flora Dobson Homan

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

Flora Luella Dobson is the 113th 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. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

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. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

CFH First Draft: Fred A Dobson

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

Fred A Dobson is the 111th 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. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

CFH First Draft: Harvey N Dobson

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

Harvey N Dobson is the 110th 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. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

CFH First Draft: Alva Grant Dobson

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

Alva Grant Dobson is the 109th 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. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

CFH First Draft: Lucina Scott Dobson

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

Lucina Scott is the 34th 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. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

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.

 - -- --- -- - 

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.

Homan Beings

 We are near the end of the long journey that began with James Callin, but not quite there, yet! His granddaughter, Sarah Callin, married John Scott in 1823, and they moved from Richland County, Ohio, to Winnebago County, Illinois around 1844. And today, we'll look at the descendants of one of Sarah's younger grandchildren.


     V. Bert J. Dobson (1875–1911) was born in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, Illinois, in 1875, when his father, Joseph, was 37 and his mother, Lucina, was 28. He died on 18 November 1911, in Rockford, Illinois, at the age of 36. His death was caused by rheumatism.

Death of Bert Dobson Tue, Nov 21, 1911 – Page 4 · The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois) · Newspapers.com



There is no indication that Bert married or had children.

   VI. Flora Luella Dobson (1877–1960)

Flora was born on 22 September 1877 in Burritt, Winnebago County, Illinois.  On 6 April 1897, she married Henry James "Jim" Homan (1876–1942), the son of Henry Alexander Homan (1851–1930) and Jane L "Jennie" Jones (1851–1929). Jim was born on 12 May 1876 in Milan, Rock Island, Illinois.

Jim and Flora lived in Mayfield, De Kalb County, where Jim farmed until sometime after 1910 when he found work as an engineer in a gas plant. The family moved to De Kalb, which is where they were according to the 1920 and 1930 Census records. Jim died on 23 December 1942 after an illness of several months. He was 66 years of age. Flora lived in De Kalb until her death at age 82 on 24 June 1960. They were buried in the Fairview Cemetery in De Kalb.

     A. Claude Carl Homan (1900–1981) was born on the auspicious date of 23 April 1900 and grew up in Mayfield, De Kalb County, Illinois. He married Olga Sophie Hegland (1903–1957) on 28 July 1920. Olga was the eldest daughter of Norwegian immigrants Ole O Hegland (1872–1950) and Anna Olson (1883–1952). She was born 5 May 1903 and grew up in La Salle and De Kalb counties.


Claude and Olga raised two daughters in De Kalb, both of whom are still living. Claude worked in a number of different jobs over the years: he retired as an employee of Nehring Electrical Works, worked as a janitor at the Moose Lodge, and as a driver. Olga was active in the local community, serving as an officer and organizer in the lodge. Olga died in De Kalb on 9 February 1957 and was honored by the community.

Claude married the widowed Mrs. Alma Stevens in DeKalb on 11 November 1957, and the following year, they opened the Homan Cafe, which they ran together for about a decade.

Claude died 13 February 1981, at age 80, at the Rockford Memorial Hospital. Alma died Sunday, July 24, 1983, at Kishwaukee Community Hospital.

     B. Gladys M Homan (1903–1993) was born on 7 August 1903 in Mayfield, Illinois. She married Robert J Bodda (1902–1963) and they had one son together, but divorced in 1925. According to the Daily Chronicle of De Kalb, Gladys cited his frequent drunkenness as the reason for wanting to dissolve their union.

Robert was born 12 March 1902, the second son of Charles R Bodda (b. 1871) and Mary Jane Ferguson (1880–1955) - as near as I can tell, no relation to our other Ferguson families. He seems to have settled in San Francisco, where he shipped out as a sailor, appearing on the roster of the U.S. Army Transport "Sea Cat" in 1944, sailing to Pearl Harbor and back. He died on 23 September 1963 in San Fransisco County, California.

Gladys married Frank Alphonzo Howard (1904–1993) on 3 November 1928, and they raised her son, Robert, together in De Kalb. Frank was born 1 August 1904, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, the son of Edward and Etta (Elliott) Howard. He worked at the Nehring Electrical Works for over 60 years as an electrician machinist, was a member of the DeKalb Moose Lodge as a life secretary, and attended the Cortland Methodist Church.

Frank died Wednesday. 23 February 1993 at Pine Acres Care Center in De Kalb, at the age of 88. Gladys died at the age of 90 on 10 December 1993, also at Pine Acres Care Center in De Kalb.

     1. Robert Norman Bodda (1920-2003) grew up in De Kalb, Illinois, and enlisted in the U.S. Army on 5 March 1941. Thanks to numerous news bulletins in the Daily Chronicle, we know more details about his life and career than usual.

In his first thirteen months in the Army, young Robert Bodda was promoted four times, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. In May 1942, he was in Camp Forrest, Tennessee, training recruits; on 19 October that year, he graduated from Officer Candidate School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. During the war, he was stationed in the Aleutian Islands, in Alaska.

After the war, Lieutenant Bodda married Carrie Ann Concidine (1923–1993) on 12 November 1948, and they soon had a daughter - still living. In November 1949, he was sent to Japan, but when the Korean conflict began, he was deployed there with the 24th Signal Company of the 24th Infantry Division. In August 1950, he was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in Korea.

Carrie was the daughter of Stanley Roy Concidine (1891–1939) and Gladys Ava Mosher (1895–1963), and during the war, she and her baby daughter lived with her widowed mother near Elva, Illinois. She and Robert divorced at some point, and she remarried in June of 1944. She would go on to have another daughter, and to work as an administrative secretary for Vice-President Dr. Oeigle in the alumni office at Northern Illinois University.

By 1955 Robert had been promoted to Captain and was transferred from Japan to the Signal Depot near Decatur, Illinois. He married his second wife on 22 September 1956 in De Kalb County, Illinois: Josephine Hale, nee Cornish (1929–2014). Josephine's first husband, Roger Justus Hale (1928-1955) had been killed in a train accident, leaving her alone with a 4-year-old daughter.

Major Robert Bodda Sat, Aug 17, 1963 – Page 2 · The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois) · Newspapers.comMajor Robert Bodda retired from the U.S. Army Signal Corp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, in 1963, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves. By this time, he and Josephine had a son, still living, and they retired with their family to Sacramento, California. He died in Sacramento on 4 October 2003, leaving behind his wife, children, three grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Josephine died in 2014, and they are buried in East Lawn Elk Grove Memorial Park, Sacramento County, California.

     C. Chester H Homan (1906–1988) was born 6 August 1906 in Illinois. He married Dorothy Lenore Trowbridge (1908–1979), probably in 1925. Dorothy was born 4 September 1908 and grew up in Hickory Hill, Wayne County, Illinois. She was the daughter of Fredrick Raymond Trowbridge (1879–1973) and Daisy R Myers (1885–1973) - no relation to our other Myers families, as far as I can tell.

Chester and Dorothy lived in Joliet, Will County, Illinois, where Chester worked in the steel mills for many years. They had one daughter, still living, and Chester worked as a security guard in the mills during the 1940s. Dorothy died 22 February 1979 at a nursing home in Joliet. Chester died Tuesday, 27 December 1988 at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet. They were survived by their daughter, two granddaughters, and two great-grandsons.

     D. Grace Jennie Homan (1908–1999) was born 22 July 1908 in De Kalb, De Kalb County, Illinois. She married Stanley D Dreska (1902–1967) on 14 Aug 1926 in Sycamore, De Kalb County.

Born on 20 September 1902, Stanley was the son of Joseph Dresczka (1851–1938) and Magdalena Przygoda (1863–1938) and grew up in Perry County, Illinois. His parents were immigrants from Germany and Poland who came to the U.S. in the early 1870s.

Stanley and Grace had three daughters, two of whom are still living. Stanley was employed as a factory worker in De Kalb; Grace worked for Nehring Electrical Works of De Kalb and then was an operator for DeKalb-Ogle Telephone Company.

Stanley died 11 December 1967 in De Kalb at the age of 65; Grace died on Sunday, 2 May 1999 in Sycamore, at the age of 90.  They were buried in the church cemetery of in St. Mary's Catholic Church of DeKalb.

     1. Geraine Mary "Geri" Dreska (1936–2017) was born 16 October 1936 in De Kalb, Illinois. After graduating from St. Anthony dePaula in Chicago, she was a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, Illinois.

Geri married in the 1950s, and she and her husband raised three sons and two daughters, most of whom are still living. At some point, the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where Geri worked for Total Home Health Care. She died on 9 May 2017, survived by her husband, two sons, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

     a. Patrick David "Pat" Wells (1963–2010) was the son of Geri Dreska Wells; he was born on 29 November 1963, in Aurora, Illinois, and at the time of his death, he had been a 16-year resident of Seminole, Florida. Pat graduated from Saint Leo College in Florida. He worked as a carpet installer for his father's carpet business and eventually started his own installation crew, subcontracting for Home Depot. Patrick was survived by his parents, a young son, his longtime companion, siblings, and niece and nephews.

     E. Russel Leverne Homan (1920–2002) was born 5 September 1920 in De Kalb, Illinois. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 29 September 1942 and served in the European-African and Middle Eastern theaters with the 28th Division infantry. He was able to return home to see his father in November that year, before Jim died on 23 December 1942.

Russel married Marie Antoinette Giartonia (1924–1992) on 10 November 1945 in De Kalb County, Illinois. She also went by the name Marion. They were still married in 1963, but it appears they were divorced later, and his obituary indicated that they had no children.

Russel was a machine operator for 28 years at Anaconda Wire Co., retiring in 1981. He was a lifelong resident of DeKalb. He died Tuesday, 19 November 2002, at DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center in DeKalb.

 - -- --- -- - 

We're almost there, everyone! One more post and I'll have finished all of the basic research. Then I can work on the book!

Welcome to any new cousins who are related to the James Callin descendants through this family. As always, if I've made any mistakes, or if you think I should include a story about your grandparents or parents, please reach out and let me know. There is a Callin Family History Facebook group you can join if you want to comment privately to a group of James Callin's descendants, or you can email me (I'm callintad at Gmail.com), or you can even comment below.

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.

 - -- --- -- - 

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...

Harvey Dobson's Legacy

Welcome Back!

Harvey's place in the Callin Family History

This week, we are continuing with Harvey, the second of seven children born to Joseph and Lucina (Scott) Dobson.

     II. Harvey N Dobson (1866–1905)

Harvey was born in March 1866 and grew up in Burritt Township, Illinois. He married Carrie P Ackra (1870–1935) in 1888. Carrie was born in Norway on 12 September 1870; her parents, Albert Ackra (1837–1922) and Carrie Johnson (1848–1921), brought their family to the United States around 1882.

Harvey and Carrie had two daughters and two sons in Rockford before Harvey died in about 1905, before he turned 40. I have been unable to find any record of Harvey's death to pin down the precise date or a cause of death.

Carrie remarried Walter A Holcomb (1860–1932) on 1 May 1907, and they lived in Rockford for the rest of their lives, raising the younger Dobson children and another son, Walter Holcomb, Jr. (b. 1913). Walter died on 30 April 1902, and Carrie on 7 August 1935. Walter is buried in Silver Creek Cemetery, located in Leaf River, Ogle County, Illinois.

     A. Eva May Dobson (1889–1983) was born on 19 December 1889 in Illinois, probably Rockford. She married Harland Roscoe Snyder (1881–1942), son of John W Snyder (1847–1929) and Elizabeth Thomas (1849–1937), on her 18th birthday in 1907. They lived in Stephenson County, Illinois, not far from where Harland was born in Lancaster township on 14 March 1881.

The young couple had three children: two sons and a daughter. Harland worked for the Henney Motor Company for 25 years, but he died unexpectedly on 28 January 1942, a week after having an appendectomy. Eva survived him by 41 years and remained in their home on 10 South Albert Street, in Freeport, Illinois, supporting herself by working as a laundress for the Sanitary Laundry & Dry Cleaners. She remained in Freeport until at least 1960.

Eva died on 21 October 1983 in Sacramento County, California, and was buried near Harland in Oakland Cemetery in Freeport, Illinois. She was 93 years old.

     1. Ralph H Snyder (1909–1987) was born on 4 September 1909, in Freeport, Illinois. He married Margaret F Strohacker (1903–1982) on 26 February 1938. Margaret was born on 3 November 1903 to the late William Strohacker (1872–1936) and Matilda Neberman (1875–1935).

The couple lived in Freeport where Ralph worked as a machine operator for the Fairbanks Morse Engine company. Margaret died in December 1982 in Freeport at the age of 79, and Ralph died in June 1987 at the age of 77. They are buried in Oakland Cemetery in Freeport.

Seabees recruits · Wed, Aug 25, 1943 – Page 4 · Freeport Journal-Standard (Freeport, Illinois) · Newspapers.com
     2. Clarence Albert Snyder (1913–1991) was born in Freeport, Illinois, on 4 December 1913. After he graduated from Freeport High School in 1932, he worked as a file clerk in Freeport. After the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Seabees from 27 August 1943 to 25 November 1945.

After the war, he lived with his widowed mother on 10 S. Albert, and worked as an inspector, specializing in gauges. In 1960, he was a foreman at the Micro Switch company.

Clarence died in Sacramento, California, on 15 May 1991. I found no evidence that he married or had children, but it's possible that he did. He and his mother likely moved to California together during the 1960s or 1970s. He is also buried in Oakland Cemetery, back in Freeport, Illinois.

     3. Helen Dora Snyder (1918–2001) was born on 12 February 1918 in Freeport, Illinois. She graduated from Freeport High School in 1936 and took a trip to Bermuda that year. After high school, she worked as a bookbinder in Lancaster, Illinois.

Helen married Harry Bernard Kintzel (1920–2003) on 15 March 1941. He was the son of William Henry Kintzel (1887–1927) and Harriett Dorothy "Hattie" Boetker (b. 1891). William died when Harry was seven years old, and Harry grew up in his step-father's house.

Records are sparse, but based on what I have found, Harry and Helen had at least one son and a daughter (still living) before they divorced. Helen remarried Walter Weis (1913–1955) on 26 May 1951. Walter died after being struck by a car in December 1954. Harry married Lillian Schulze (1920–1985) on 18 November 1955 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lillian died on 20 October 1985 in Neshkoro, Wisconsin; Harry died 16 May 2003 in Freeport.

Helen Weis moved out to Sacramento, California, possibly around the same time her mother and brother did. She died in Sacramento on 24 August 2001.

     a. Kary Kaye Kintzel (1944–2002) was the son of Harry B. and Helen D. (Snyder) Kintzel. He was born on 15 January 1944 in Freeport, Illinois, and he attended Freeport High School. He lived in Milwaukee for a time and died there on 12 January 2002.

     B. George W Dobson (1892–1977) was born on 22 February 1892 and raised in Rockford, Illinois. After his father, Harvey, died in 1905, and his mother married Walter Holcomb, George probably lived with them until setting out on his own. He was 18 years old in 1910, and he may be the hired man who appears in the Census in De Kalb, Illinois, in the household of Fred Munson.

George enlisted in the U.S. Army on 25 May 1916 and served as a private during World War I. He was discharged on 20 February 1919 and went back to Rockford, where he was listed in the Holcomb household with his two younger siblings in 1920. I suspect that during his time in the Army, George was probably stationed in Oklahoma, as that's where he married Ruby B Maddox (1905–1991) on 20 January 1926. She was the daughter of James Edgar Maddox (1878–1956) and Lydia M Gilliland (1887–1966) born on 20 March 1905.

George and Ruby lived in Fort Gibson and Muskogee, where George worked as a driver and laborer. They raised two daughters, both still living. George died in Muskogee on 6 March 1977 and was buried in Fort Gibson National Cemetery. Ruby died on 1 November 1991 and was buried near her husband.

     C. Clarence A Dobson (1896–1977) grew up in Rockford, raised by his mother and step-father. He enlisted in the U.S. Army National Guard on 23 June 1916 and was assigned to Company H, 129th Infantry. The unit shipped out from Hoboken, New Jersey, on 10 May 1918 aboard the ship President Lincoln. He was wounded in action on 11 November, as the 129th was still engaged in fighting up to 30 minutes before World War I ended. Clarence remained in France until he was shipped back from Brest on 15 May 1919, likely to allow him time to recuperate. He was discharged from active duty on 6 June 1919, but he seems to have remained in the Guard.

Clarence married Norma Elizabeth Nelson (1897–1960), the daughter of Swedish immigrants, Nels Nelson (b. 1867) and Tilda Christine Anderson (b. 1865), and they had two daughters. Norma was born on 7 July 1897 in Rockford. The family seems to have lived with Norma's mother, as Clarence and Norma are listed as living at 123 Regan St. in 1925 and 1926, and Norma and the girls were listed as living there on the 1930 and 1940 Census records.

Clarence was listed in 1930 as a soldier residing at the Fort Sheridan Military Reservation in Lake County, Illinois, and in 1940 as a divorced boarder living in Lyndon, Juneau County, Wisconsin. Records don't show when they might have divorced, but Clarence did remarry. His second wife was Amanda Ethel Stratton (1894–1992), daughter of William Arthur Stratton (1869–1933) and Emma E Cooper (born 1864).

Norma died on 24 December 1960 in Winnebago County, and Clarence died on 11 January 1977 in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois. Clarence and Ethel were buried in Sunset Cemetery in Quincy.

     1. Ruth Elizabeth Dobson (1920–2005) was born on Boxing Day, 26 December 1920, in Rockford, Illinois. She grew up in a household with her grandmother, Tilda Rehn, her aunt Della, and her mother and sister. She married Howard Glenn Allen (1916–1991) in Rockford on 2 May 1942.

Howard was born 29 January 1916 in Rockford to William Allen Jr (1885–1963) and Katherine E Ott (1889–1963). He was enlisted in the U.S. Army from 12 June 1943 through 21 February 1946 and was a city firefighter in Rockford during the 1940s and 1950s.

Howard died on 5 October 1991 and was buried in the Scandinavian Cemetery in Rockford. Ruth died on 27 May 2005 and was buried with him. Their marker indicates that they were parents, but I have found no sources to say how many children they had or who they were.

     2. June Alberta Dobson (1922–1991) was born on 27 August 1922 in Rockford and graduated from East High School in 1942. She worked for many years as a clerk and notary public before she married Wilferd Otinius Benson (1920–1991), the son of Ole Benson (1872–1956) and Laura Andrea Peterson (1880–1948). According to other researchers, their wedding was on 27 April 1963 in Rockford, Illinois; however, I have not been able to corroborate that fact with available records.

Wilferd was born 17 February 1920 in Boscobel, Grant County, Wisconsin, and he worked at home on the family farm until his enlistment in the U.S. Army on 24 September 1942. After World War II he lived in Rockford, where he worked as a gas fitter for the Central Illinois Electric & Gas company.

June and Wilferd both died on 27 August 1991 in Wisconsin, but aside from the Wisconsin Death Index and Social Security records, I have not found any documents or obituaries that explain what happened. They are buried together in Scandinavian Cemetery in Rockford, and I presume they left no children behind.

     D. Jessie Marie Dobson (1903–1999) was born on 13 October 1903 in South Grove, De Kalb County, Illinois, but she grew up in the Rockford home of her mother and step-father. She was listed in Rockford in 1918 at the same address as her brothers, George and Clarence, who were both serving in the Army at the time.

After the 1920 Census, Jessie left few records to help me tell her story. We know from the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 that she was married, and that her married name was registered as Jessie Marie Hamlin in 1977 and 1987. That document also lists her parents' names, her date and place of birth, and her death on 14 March 1999. The Social Security Death Index tells us that her last benefit was paid in Chula Vista, San Diego County, California.

Working backward, there is a 1993 record in the U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002 database which places Jessie M. Hamlin at 2674 Woodmar Road in Rockford; and in 1950 she is listed in Rockford at 634 Johnson Avenue with Raymond S. Hamlin.

Raymond (1908-1982) was the younger son of longtime Rockford firefighter and fire captain Edward Adams Hamlin (1882–1958) and Estella Shearer (1882–1955). He died on 6 June 1982 in Chula Vista, San Diego County, California. Because he was married previously, I estimate that Raymond divorced his first wife around 1943 when he enlisted in the Navy during World War II, and he clearly married Jessie by 1950.

I suspect that Jessie married sometime between 1920 and her marriage to Raymond since I found no 1930 or 1940 records for a Jessie Dobson, but I also found no marriage record for Jessie and Raymond, which would normally tell me her married name from her previous marriage. There is certainly time between 1920 and 1950 for her to have raised a family, had a career, or done any number of interesting things.

Perhaps one day we'll learn more.

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School is back in full swing for me, so time to work on the remaining Dobsons is limited for now. I expect I won't be able to post much during the months of April and May, and we still have five more of Harvey's siblings to review!

As always, if you recognize any of these families and spot missing or incorrect information, please let me know! You can drop a note in the comments below, or email me at "callintad" at Gmail dot com. If you're descended from this family, you're welcome to follow the link above to the Callin Family History Group on Facebook; it's a private group, so you'll see a couple of brief questions to answer to make sure you're family, but once you're in the group, anything you say will be between other members of the family (and whomever Facebook sells us out to, naturally).

Until next time, happy hunting!

Focus On A Family

If you recall the very first post on this blog and my reasoning behind the title Mightier Acorns, you know that I don't put a great deal of stock in chasing famous names. But that doesn't mean it isn't interesting to look into possible connections to well-known people with shared surnames. That's not why I do family history, but it's an interesting part of family history.

That's why, when I saw that our next subject married a man named Dobson, I immediately wondered whether that meant this branch of the family was related to the founder of Focus on the Family, Dr. James C. Dobson. When I was a kid, I was an avid listener of his radio program, and while both Dr. Dobson and I have changed over the years, he's still someone I consider to be prominent.

Based on the information in his Wikipedia page, I traced Dr. Dobson's parentage, and I'm pretty sure that there is no connection between the North Carolina Dobson family he is descended from and the Dobson family in this post.

Of course, I'm fond of pointing out that we're all related if you just go back far enough, so a more distant relationship is still possible!

That said, let's look at this week's family:

Lucina Scott was born in May 1847 in Winnebago County, Illinois. She was the youngest daughter of John and Sarah (Callin) Scott. She was raised on their farm in Harrison Township. She married Joseph Dobson (1838–1928) on 5 May 1863, in Winnebago, Illinois.

Joseph was born on 16 November 1838 in New Brunswick, Canada; the son of Amelia (b. 1819) and Andrew Dobson (1815–1910). Andrew Dobson was born on 26 January 1815, in Providence or Baie Verte, New Brunswick, Canada. He married Amelia (last name unknown) around 1836, and they had three children in Canada before relocating to Winnebago County, Illinois in about 1844. Joseph was the middle of those three children.

Andrew enlisted in Company E, Illinois 52nd Infantry Regiment on 23 November 1861, and while he appeared to still be married to Amelia according to the 1860 U.S. Census, his service records in 1863 show him as unmarried. We know from later census records that they divorced, so that may have happened around the time he enlisted. Andrew married Acsey Sargent and had a son (John) with her after the end of the war. They moved to Arvonia, Kansas, where they had another son (Elmer); and they moved to Nebraska sometime after the 1880 Census.

After their divorce, Amelia appears in the 1870 and 1880 Census living in Burritt Township with her daughter, Sarah Ann Trenholm (or Trueholm). I have not been able to determine when she might have died. Andrew died on 23 June 1910, in Plainview, Nebraska, at the impressive age of 95, and was buried there.

Joseph was enlisted in Company C, Illinois 45th Infantry Regiment, but not until 10 April 1865. He may have been part of the occupation of Raleigh, North Carolina, and the March to Washington D.C. via Richmond, Virginia. He mustered out on 12 July 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky - the day after his first son's birth.

After the war, Joseph returned to his Burritt Township farm to meet his newborn son, and to raise his family. Lucina and Joseph had seven children in the following 16 years:

     I. Alva Grant Dobson (1865–1955)
     II. Harvey N Dobson (1866–1905)
     III. Fred A Dobson (1869–1964)
     IV. Alta M "Altie" Dobson (1871–1939)
     V. Bert J. Dobson (1875–1911)
     VI. Flora Luella Dobson (1877–1960)
     VII. Jasper Thomas Dobson (1881–1968)

The Dobsons farmed until the turn of the century when they moved into Rockford. They lived at 1720 Second Avenue together until Lucina died on 21 July 1910, at the age of 63. Joseph stayed in Rockford and worked as a carpenter until his death on 27 February 1928, when he was 89.

Their children all lived to see adulthood, and left many descendants behind, so we'll be taking a few weeks to go through them all. This week, we begin with the eldest:

     I. Alva Grant Dobson (1865–1955)

Alva was born on 11 July 1865 - the day before his father mustered out of military service. He grew up on the farm in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, Illinois, and he would be a lifelong farmer, as well. He married Nellie J Glover (1874–1961) daughter of John William Glover (1831–abt. 1900) and Georgianna B Mariner (1840–1924) on 18 September 1895. She was born 11 June 1874 in Rockton, Illinois.

Alva and Nellie raised four sons on their farm in Harlem, Illinois, relocating to Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania in 1921 with the two younger boys. They spent many years there, farming and spending time with their grandchildren. Alva died on 18 April 1955, age 89, and Nellie six years later on 23 December 1961, age 87. They are buried in Wesleyan Cemetery in Sugar Grove.

     A. Ernest Leroy "Ernie" Dobson (1896–1964) was born in Winnebago County, Illinois, on 22 December 1896. He grew up a farmer in Harlem, Illinois, and when his parents moved to Pennsylvania in 1921, he remained there.
Audrey injured in fall · Fri, Jun 21, 1929 – Page 2 · Republican-Northwestern (Belvidere, Illinois) · Newspapers.com

Ernie married Emma Fassett Moore (1903–1988) the daughter of Frank Fassett Moore (1880–1933) and Claire A Runyard (1880–1963), on 4 June 1926.

Emma had attended Northern Illinois Teachers College, and she was employed as a teacher by various schools in Winnebago County.

Ernie and Emma had a daughter they named Audrey Claire on 24 June 1927. She died on 24 June 1929, just over a week after she fell 18 feet from her grandfather's hayloft onto a cement floor.

The couple did have another child, a son whom they named David Donald and raised in Roscoe Township.

Ernie died on 22 December 1964, at exactly 68 years of age. Emma continued to teach, spending her last 13 years at Marquette School. She lived most of her life in Roscoe, but she did spend seven years in Georgia, one year in Florida and seven years in Machesney Park. She died at age 85 on 3 June 1988, in Rockford Memorial Hospital after a long illness. They are buried in Roscoe Cemetery.

     i. David Donald Dobson (1937–1996) was born on 16 April 1937 in Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin, and lived most of his life in Rockford. He graduated Hononegah High School in 1955 and married Janet Olivia Webster (1943–2017) in Roscoe on 1 September 1962. She had graduated from Harlem High School in Machesney Park, Illinois in 1961.

David was employed by Woodward Governor in Loves Park and was a member of Riverside Community Church. He played the organ for 34 years for various churches. Janet worked in the billing department at Hamilton Sundstrand for 25 years. They had three daughters and a son, all still living.

David died 8 February 1996, at his residence with his family by his side after a long illness. He was only 58. Janet survived him by twenty years and died on 11 August 2017 after a short battle with cancer. She was survived by a brother, her children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She and David are also buried in the Roscoe Cemetery.

     B. Everett Glover Dobson (1899–1965) was born on 29 September 1899 and he was raised to be a farmer in Roscoe, Illinois. When he grew up, he worked as a grocer and married Madeleine Hough (1900–1997), the daughter of William Henry Hough (1867–1946) and Katie Dowman (1866–1947). Madeleine was born on 8 December 1900 in Chicago.

The couple married around 1927 and raised six children in Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin - four daughters and two sons, all still living. Everett died on 6 April 1965, at 65 years of age; Madeline died at 96 on 10 January 1997. They were survived by their children, fifteen grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren. Both died in Beloit, but are buried in the Rockton Township Cemetery in neighboring Winnebago County, Illinois.

     C. Ellsworth Alva Dobson (1903–1984) was born on 20 October 1903 in Roscoe, Illinois, and he was about 18 years old when he moved to Sugar Grove, Warren County, Pennsylvania, with his parents in 1921. Six years later, he married Beulah Florence Loomis (1906–1977) on 19 June 1927 at the Sugar Grove Odd Fellows manse. Beulah was born in Sugar Grove on 1 December 1906, the daughter of Elmer Albert Loomis (1885–1957) and Maude Olive Trask (1886–1957).

They raised two daughters in Sugar Grove: Margaret and Florence. When Florence married she moved to nearby Chautauqua County, New York. Margaret and her family moved to Alaska in 1969, and I suspect that Ellsworth and Beulah moved to Panama, Chautauqua County, around that time to be closer to Florence's family. Beulah died there in Panama on 15 January 1977. Ellsworth died there in May 1984. They were both buried in the Wesleyan Cemetery in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania.

     1. Margaret Lua Dobson (Martin) (1929–2013) was born in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, on 25 April 1929. She attended grade school in Lottsville, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Panama Central School in Panama, New York, Class of 1947.

She was married on 1 January 1949, and she and her husband (still living) resided in Bear Lake, Pennsylvania, where they raised five children. They moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1969 and then retired to Sequim, Washington, in 1984.

Margaret was a member of Sequim Bible Church and taught Sunday school there for many years. She traveled extensively with her husband, visiting China in 1987, standing in Tiananmen Square two years before the historic massacre. Margaret visited England and "the Continent" in a 1983 tour of Europe, went on a "mission to work" project in Spain in 1986 and, while there, took a side trip on the ferry across the Mediterranean Sea to Morocco. She took another mission work trip in 1999 to Japan, where she stayed near Mount Fuji.

She died on 29 July 2013 and was survived by her husband, sister, son and four daughters, as well as 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

     2. Florence L Dobson (Frank) (1934–2013) was born in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania on 7 January 1934, and she was a 1952 Graduate of  Panama High School, Panama, New York. She was married in Panama on 6 February 1953.

Florence was employed by Jamestown Mutual Insurance Company and the original JCPenny store in the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood.  She was heavily involved with the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and often headed up their membership drives. She was also active as a Sunday school teacher, and member of the Friendship Circle at the Lakewood United Methodist Church.

She died on 4 November 2013 at WCA Hospital and was survived by her husband, son, and daughter.

Sandra Dobson King - fatal car crash · Tue, Feb 24, 1970 – Page 1 · Warren Times-Mirror and Observer (Warren, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com
     D. Harold John Dobson (1914–1976) was born in Illinois on 20 June 1913 and was nine years old when his family moved to Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania. Harold and Helen Margaret Hitchcock (1916–1971) were married on 19 August 1939. Helen was born in 1916 to Ward Park Hitchcock (1885–1967) and Florence M Babcock (1888–1941).

The couple was close with their family, and their social engagements frequently appeared in the local newspaper, the Warren Times-Mirror and Observer. Judging by the frequency with which he received headlines, Harold was one hell of a bowler.

They raised one daughter together, who died at age 22, just as she left the nest. Helen followed on 9 July 1971 at the age of 55; Harold died in November 1976 at 63.

     1. Sandra Kay Dobson (King) (1947–1970) was born on 22 May 1947 in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York. She had recently married when her car went off the road at 2 a.m. on 24 February 1970, throwing her from the vehicle. She died later that morning.

Sandra and her parents are all buried in Wesleyan Cemetery in Sugar Grove.

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We'll pick up next time with Harvey N. Dobson - as always, if you are related to this family, that means you're descended from my ancestor, James Callin. I'd love to hear from you, either in the comments below, or at the Callin Family History Facebook link above.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if I've made any mistakes or omissions!