Allegany County
MDGenWeb
Westernport, Maryland Dec. 14th, 1887
Dear Parents,
As
I am doing nothing today I thought I would write a few lines to you. I
got here all right after a long tiresome ride. No one was at the depot
to meet me but I found Aunt Aseneth's daughter Maria that lives in
Westernport. She married a Kight a GrandSon of Old Enoch Kight. He works
on the tram way of the Franklin Mines which is situated up George's
Creek about 1 mile and a half towards Lanaconing. I went to town on
Saturday after I got here and got rested. While there I went to Aunt
Millys (that is Uncle Abe's wife) and took dinner. She is a Sociable old
Lady and just as spry as a cricket. She has one boy working on the B and
O RailRoad. Breaking, I think and one daughter that is married and lives
in Kayser, a town 5 miles East of Piedmont. Another boy clerks in a
store in Kayser and two smaller ones at home. I also went and seen Suzie
Seltzer and Emma Dayton. Both Uncle Andrew's girls. You will remember
Henry Dayton's father (Emmas husband, his name was Isaac Dayton.)
I was going down the River Just as soon as we butcher and that will
be tomorrow. We are going to kill 4 hogs and a Beef. Then one of the
Boys is going with me. I also saw Bill Clark in town Saturday. He is
Uncle Dan Clark's son. Aunt Aseneth's man (William Grove) is a grand son
of Old Billy Grove and his Brother (that is, Uncle Will's brother)
married Hester Ann Clark a daughter of Uncle Dan Clark and they live
just up on the side of the mountain about a half a quarter from him.
This place is on what is known as Arrow's run and probably you will
remember it by the name of "Come by Chance" and lies exactly north West
of Westernport about 3 1/2 miles.
I went Sunday morning up to
Fern Rock Church about 2 1/2 miles north right up the mountain and heard
your cousin preach a very good Sermon. His name is John Dayton a son of
Old Roland Daytons. He is holding a protracted meeting up there and he
said that his Father was going to help him this week. He is not an
educated man but I believe he is a good one. I made his acquaintance
while there. I think I will go up again tonight and all the rest are
talking of going. Probably you will remember where Fern Rock is when I
tell you that it is above the old Michael place a Stone House almost on
top of the mountain by an old grave yard. Savage Mountain is right west
of us from Uncle Will's and Savage Creek is between. Well, Tillie is
getting dinner and Aunt Aseneth is Baking Bread by the Fireplace.
Something I never saw done before. We had Huckleberry pie for Supper
last night. They have lots of them put up. When I asked Tillie for
Winter Green she didn't know what I meant but Aunt said I meant Tea
berry. I haven't seen any yet but will in a day or two. I have seen lots
of Laurel little and big.
I want to get Home by Christmas but
they won't hear to it as they are making big preparations for a
Christmas dinner. I don't know whether I will get around or not before
Christmas but will try it. Aunt Aseneth has some as fine Boys as ever I
saw in my life and all Good looking in fact better looking than the
girls although the girls are rather good looking too especially Maria
Kight.
As dinner is ready I will close for this time with Love
from All to All
I am as ever your affectionate son,
James
A. Dawson
"The circumstances under which I received L. O. Dawson's book,
Through Three Centuries With a Dawson Family, were really unusual. I
wrote to Carol Dawson asking if she had any record of my Nathan P.
Dawson. She replied that she did not and asked me to send her all the
information I had. I did, and she answered and said she had made up
hundreds of new reference cards on my family and would let me know if
she ever ran across Nathan. It was a very pleasant exchange of letters,
but she had no information for me on my family.
Then, in 1997,
her daughter, Kay, wrote to me that her mother had died and she was
cleaning out her things. On the L. O. Dawson book there was a card taped
that said to see the note inside. Inside, Carol had instructed Kay that
she wanted me to receive the book. Kay said that if I would pay the
postage, she would send me the book. Naturally, I said yes, of course,
and the book was mailed to me.
After a cousin sent me Nathan's
son James' letter and could tie Nathan to his parents Abraham and Mary
Dawson in Westernport, MD, the book became a real treasure.
When
asked to lookup information, I got the book out and remembered that
there had been folded pages of typewritten information and lots of notes
still in the book when I got it. I had made a special file for them.
I got out my file and read the pages, and they include three letters
from Lee O. Dawson and two from his brother R.K. who he says in his
preface had helped him in the research on the book. Lee Dawson talks
about the research he is doing for a revision of his book, but he says
he is too old to write another book and will put all the information he
finds (and many people sent him a great deal of information in response
to his book) into a genealogical library somewhere for the benefit of
all who might be interested.
Sadly, when L. O. Dawson died, upon
the advice of the family lawyer, all 14 cartons of his revision research
were destroyed. A surviving family member said that the president of a
large national firm had taken exception to something in the book and had
called with threats of lawsuits, etc., and it was deemed in the best
interests of everyone for the material to be destroyed.
LEE O. DAWSON
1090 Twentieth Avenue
East Moline, Ill. 61244
22 June 1984
Dear Carol,
I was pleased when a letter came
from you, and am glad you are still interested in researching the Dawson
ancestry. I suppose when one spends a great amount of time on that
subject it becomes almost impossible to lay it aside for very long.
That field of thought and activity occupies much of my time and I
get much satisfaction and pleasure from it. Yes, I am working on a
revision of Through Three Centuries With a Dawson Family, but I do not
expect to publish another book. When and if I get the revision fairly
completed I expect to place the information in some Genealogical Library
for the benefit of anyone who might become interested.
The
beginning of the revision begins with Thomas Dawson who settled in
Virginia, a part that later became Maryland, and helped Claiborn settle
the Island of Kent, even before Lord Baltimore sent his people to begin
the Province of Maryland.
This Thomas's first son Ralph was born
on Kent Island in 1632 and other children came along, but I have not
been able to select all of them. I am certain that besides Ralph he had
a son John, the one with which I started the book originally, and a
daughter Elinor.
Therefore, there are others in what was the
first generation of John in the book. The descendants of Ralph who
remained on the eastern shore of Maryland for many years add much to the
revision. Then I have obtained a quite complete history of another son
of John, Charles. That addition has increased the number of people
involved a great deal.
In addition to these additions I have
received from people who bought the book additions to their families,
dates, marriages, etc. When they wrote in I filed every addition so all
of that is available and will be added as I come to the proper places. I
had a few corrections but almost none really. I do not know whether the
ones who bought the books were trying to be kind or whether they did not
know if errors were possibly there.
I wish I could help you with
your James Dawson. I have several Ravenscrafts in the family, but there
is not one by the name of Kessiah. And I do not find any James who
married a Ravenscraft nor one who was killed by Indians. If I come
across any such connections or possible such connection I will get in
touch with you. The Ravenscrafts I have are of Hampshire County, Va. or
Allegany Co., Md.
Sincerely,
Lee
LEE O. DAWSON
1090 Twentieth Avenue
East Moline, Ill. 61244
19 July 1984
Mrs. Carol Dawson
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Dear Carol,
Your letter about Robertta Slagel arrived some time
ago and I just tonight got to answering her letter which I received
recently. From her letter it was readily seen that she is one of the
Dawsons included in my book. But I had to tell her that there are no
books left. They have been gone for quite some time.
Of course
the revision I am working on now is not in any order that parts of it
could be sent to her. I referred her to DeMoines, Iowa and to Salt lake
City Libraries where there is a copy of the book. However she has about
all of the information included in the book. Just the parentage of
Nicholas is not there.
You have suggested that perhaps there are
some data I could have zeroxed and send to you that would be helpful in
your work. But really my data is not in an arrangement that I could make
copies for you. And when I get it put together it is between other data
listed in the book and, of course, the numbering is entirely different
and would not be of any benefit to you if I copied the new part.
Furthermore, the additions will be too great that I could not spend the
time to put it in shape so that copies could be zeroxed. That would be
as difficult as rewriting the book.
I am sorry to have to say
that, because I would be gland to send you anything possible. Another
thing, perhaps, I should say, I do not work as fast as I once did.
Good luck to you, and thanks for the information you have sent me
from time to time.
Sincerely,
Lee
L. O. Dawson had this to say in his preface about his brother's contribution to his book: "Rolla K. Dawson, brother of the author, participated in the research that made this family record possible. He not only assisted in gathering the materials but was very active in helping analyze and organize the data. His helpful criticisms and suggestions have been greatly appreciated. Our work and study and travel together for some thirteen years have been most enjoyable")
[There is no indication on the letters who "Ruth" is.]
Williamsport, Indiana
14 October 1984
Dear Ruth -- received
your letter a few days ago, and glad to hear of your visit to Denver and
your visit with your cousin there.
Concerning the Elizabeth
Dawson she has some record on. Our records of the earliest ancestor in
our Dawson Fimaily was Henry Dawson, who lived at Breedon, in present
day Leicester Co. I understand that Leicester Co. was formerly a part of
Yorkshire Co. This Henry Dawson had 4 sons and no doubt also had
daughters, but we did not get their names. These 4 sons were - John,
Thomas, William and Griffin. Griffin being the eldest. Griffin remained
in England, but Thomas, John and William migrated to Virginia. John
settled in Henrieco Co, Va., Wm. settled in Isle of Wight Co, Va. Thomas
was living in 1632 on Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay (then a part of
Va.) Thomas was with Clairborn the trader there at that date and his son
Ralph was born there in 1632. (Archives of Maryland.) Of course about
this date this part of Virginia was given to Lord Baltimore for the new
colony of Maryland. This Thomas is our first Dawson ancestor in America.
So, in our ancestry it runs like this using just first names:
Henry, of England
Thomas, of Kent Island, Chesapeake Bay
John who
married Rebecca Doyne - lived in Charles Co, Md.
Nicholas who married
Mary Done, and lived in Prince Georges Co, Md.
George, who married
Eleanor Lowe, lived in Fayette Co, Pa.
John, who married Elizabeth
Harrison (Rev Soldier) died in Urbana, Ohio.
Henry, who married Mary
Stotler, lived in Morgan Co, Va. (later W.Va.)
Thomas, (Confederate
Soldier) m. Catherine Hovermill, came to Ill, 1867.
Christian, b.
1833 - in Va. married Lucy Aulabaugh - came to Ill in 1872.
Thomas S,
b. 1860 came to Ill. 1872 - married Ellen Droke. Lived Macoupin Co.
R. K. Dawson, b 1901 - Macoupin Co Ill. married Frances Knight - came to
Ind '42.
Thomas K, b. 1930 Married Helen Dotaon, lives in Warren Co.
Ind.
Children - Robert, Ellen and Diana. All live in Warren Co. Ind.
It would seem possible, if not probable that Elizabeth Dawson b.
1595 in England might be a sister to the boys named in that family of
Henry of England. It seems that she would be of about their age, and she
did come to America evidently about the time they came. We have never
found when Thomas of Kent died, but his son Ralph married twice and
lived in Talbot Co, Md, filling up that area with a lot of Dawsons
Descendents. There are just hosts of Dawson on the Eastern Shore we
found. Also we found much mention of Talbotts there to, and they were
mainly Quakers then and did leave records in meeting records.
We
have had a gloomy damp week now, and are hoping to see the sun pretty
soon. I hope you are keeping well, and that Thomas Talbott is doing OK
now. We have heard that he was better now, and hope can continue that
way. Wilburn I believe remained much the same - and not much
improvement.
Thanks for writing - I'm glad you are still
interested in hunting your ancestors, and can visit cousins in different
places.
ALWAYS
R. K. Dawson
LEE O. DAWSON
1090 Twentieth Avenue
East Moline, Ill. 61244
1 November 1984
Mrs. Carol Dawson
1014 East Grand
Eau
Claire, Wisconsin 54701
Dear Carol,
I have been re-reading
my original notes taken through the years when I was collecting Dawson
Information. I wrote down all the Dawson information I could find and
later determined whether that information pertained to my Dawson
relationships. There was much of it I found and copied that at the time
I did not believe it applied to my Dawson line. I have been finding in
later years and further research that I had information in my note books
that should have been used.
Just recently I have reread some of
your letters and I have been wondering if I have information that
pertains to your husband's history. From what I know of his history I do
not know of any connection to my family that I have not found and his
ancestors may be among that group of persons.
If you will send me
his ancestry as much as you have I will be glad to include a research of
my data to see if I can make any connection or if I have any information
pertaining to him.
I have just read your letter of last June. You
mentioned that he might have come from "maybe Hampshire County,
Virginia." I have information on some Dawsons in Hampshire County and of
many Dawsons in nearby Allegany County, and of a few Dawsons who married
Ravenscrafts. If he knows the names of his Dawson a few generations
back, where they lived, or when and where they married I will carefully
review my notes and let you have any facts concerning him I may find if
any.
As I told you some time ago, my revision of "Through Three
Centuries With a Dawson Family" is being written but I am doing it very
little at a time and it pertains to many parts of the book and the
materials I am adding to the first book will be more detailed, will
include many additional persons, and those changes will be scattered all
through the old book and the data will have little meaning unless it is
read in connection with the original, little meaning to any one but
myself.
But if I can find any connection of your husband I will
be happy to make the information available to you.
Sincerely,
Lee Dawson (signature)
P.S. My wife and I just returned from
about 3 weeks out in Vermont and New Hampshire so you see I am not
rushing my genealogy interests.
LOD
Williamsport, Ind.
9 Dec 1985
Dear Ruth - your Christmas
letter and card came a few days ago. Glad to hear from you and what all
you are doing. Thanks too for sending the info on the Edward Dawson
lines, as the lady in Bloomington has in her book of records. I had
corresponded with Mrs. Audry Sanson of Frankfort, Ind, and also with
Mrs. Eileen Dawson of Decatur, Ind, some years ago and they supplied me
with their lines. Mrs Rubright of Lafayette, and also Mrs. R Booher of
Lafayette have given me the same information concerning the Edward Line.
Mr. Rex Dawson of Maumee, O gave me his recording of that family too
(he's a descendent) and they all match up very well. Rex does not say
probably that Edward Dawson was born in Dawsonville, he says he WAS born
in Dawsonville. I believe the Edward line is pretty well verified, but
of course there perhaps are a few items of contention.
Weather is
still pretty messy, isn't it? They say here that we had 10.95 inch of
rain in Nov. October was nice tho, so most harvesting was finished I
believe and much of the fall work. Its been an unusual year - the
earliest spring, perfect growing summer, record crops, lowest prices,
wettest November, and now are we to have the snowiest winter? I hope
not. Snow isn't nearly so nice as it used to be.
Louise came over
and spent Thanksgiving with us. I think she is doing well, and looks
better than for awhile. She said she will spend Christmas with her
sister-in-law Eula Rose Martin at Jamestown, Ind. I believe Eugene is OK
now too and seems to feel much better.
That was quite a flood in
Parsons, wasn't it. So many places have had floods, hurricanes, etc. and
earthquakes - so guess we have been some lucky, anyway. We were in
Parson, Thomas St. George etc. and along the Cheet River Valley a couple
times. Its a beautiful country. We went up on Saddle Back Mts and were
above the clouds. A good many of our Dawsons lived in Randolph Co, and
around Elkins. Of course western Allegany Co Md was half Dawson at one
time I believe. Have you read or seen Ruth Allman's books "In Tucker
County" or "Canaan Valley" Both give a good picture of life there. Then
the book "Annals of Blackwater" by Brown - tells of the life of the
first immigrants there when it was wilderness.
Tom and Eldora
stopped by for a few minutes visit some time ago, as they returned from
The Covered Bridge Festival, and it was good to see them. They both
seemed to feel better than when I last saw them.
Glad to have the
statistics of Berniece's death, and the names of children (twins)
belonging to son Robert. Will list them with Bernieces' page. In your 4
hours of sticking patients with that needle - you were really going
after them to get over 100 stuck. Did any of them stick back?
Hope you are keeping well, and won't get snowed in at Christmas time.
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS
R.K.D
R.K. & Tom & Helen
Notes:
When Lee wrote his letters, he was a very impressive 99 years of age. He lived to be 104. Also included on this page are two letters from Rolla Kermit Dawson, Lee's younger brother.
I have done charts on all the family members named, and they are the relatives who tie Nathan P. Dawson, of White Hall, Greene County, Illinois, to his parents, Abraham and Mary Dawson.
Transcribed and contributed by Shirley E. Winn Williams winnfam@home.com
Allegany County MDGenWeb Copyright
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