My Genealogy Hound

DODSON, JAMES T., farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 27, P.O. Kane. Tracing back to some extent, the early history of the Dodson family, we find that the grandfather of our subject, Major Dodson, was a native of Virginia, and a farmer and hatter by occupation; but little can be gleaned relative to him; early in life, he learned to rely upon Him who maketh all things well, and in the maturer years of manhood, the pioneer minister, Father Clark, frequently made a stopping point at his cabin, and other pioneer ministers of note. He married Miss Amy Alderson, of Fairfax County, Virginia, by whom he had a family of thirteen children; Ely was a successful physician; Elijah, the second child, became a prominent minister; Enoch became a successful practicing physician; Ezekiel also turned his attention to the ministerial profession; Levy, entered the Mexican service of 1846, and was killed in action while a soldier under General Taylor, while Thomas, the father of him whose name heads this column, became a school teacher, and owing to limited space we now follow his fortunes to Greene County, where he became a resident in 1810. He was a pioneer of considerable learning for the period of time in which he lived, devoting much of his time to school teaching and farming; he became a consistent member of the Methodist Church, and was identified with many public orders, as the Sons of Temperance, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Masonic. He was married to Miss Sarah Taylor, a daughter of Tubba Taylor, who became one of the pioneers of Greene Co., and probably established the first blacksmith shop in this portion of the West. Going back to the thread of our narrative, this marriage occurred in 1833, and was blessed with three children. The eventful life of Thomas Dodson ended on the 25th of November, 1855, and he was laid at rest in the cemetery of old Kane, and where the ashes of his wife now repose, Mrs. D. having passed away, August 21, 1878. James T. passed his boyhood in Greene County, upon the old farm homestead. When the war broke out, he enlisted in Company C, 122d Ill. Infantry, for three years’ service, as private. Subsequently he entered the Provost Marshal’s office, assuming the duties of deputy, afterwards in the service of the Treasury Department in Kentucky, and received an appointment in the Quarter Master General’s office in the city of Washington. Since the war he has resided in Greene County, where he married Miss Addie Petit, in 1867; this lady is a daughter of Dr. A. S. Petit and Julia, and niece of the late Gov. Reynolds. Of this marriage, three children were born: Ella, Charles and Harriet. Mr. D. is the owner of 160 acres jointly with others, and is now a resident of township 9, range 12.