My Genealogy Hound

JAMES DAWSON, farmer, post office Glenfield, was born June 21, 1811, in Pittsburgh, Pa., son of James Dawson, who was born in 1777, in the barracks of Fort Duquesne, of Scotch descent. The paternal grandfather was a specially commissioned spy, with the rank of captain, in company with Sam Smith and Sam Brady. James Dawson, Sr., was reared in the fort; he learned the trade of stonecutter, and followed it all of his life. He was foreman in the quarry and setting department of the old penitentiary, now torn down. He was married to Faithie Reed, of Ireland, and to them were born seven children: James B., Martha H., Isabella S., James, John, Harry and Eliza. James Dawson was a Seceder and died in Ohio township. James Dawson, Jr., is the only one now living. He is a carpenter by trade, and followed it until 1851, when he was taken ill, and has been an invalid ever since. He was elected supervisor and collector in 1855, and held the office off and on until 1858. He was married to Fannie Barr, of Huntingdon county, Pa., and she died in 1861, aged forty-nine years. She was the mother of the following-named children: James, a soldier in the late war, who died about four years ago; John, who was three years in the army as second lieutenant; Harry, William, Thomas, who died aged twenty-four years; Mrs. Eliza Morrow, Mrs. Mary Woods and Jennie. Mr. Dawson owns seventy-three acres of land in Ohio township, where he has lived since 1847. Politically he is a republican. He walked sixteen miles to vote for Henry Clay, and dined with him afterward.