Several times during my childhood my grandmother took a yellowed sheet of tablet paper from the top drawer of her chest of drawers and read her pedigree to me. This page contained three generations of my grandmother's maternal ancestry, including names, when and where they were born and who they married. My grandmother told me that her grandmother was Mary Jane Dawson, born 1853 in Keokuk County, IA, the daughter of John K. Dawson and Sarah Bitner.

Throughout my adult years, a search for the origins of John K. Dawson and Sarah Bitner, or a record of their marriage, proved fruitless. However, on a whim in the year 2006, I Googled John K. Dawson and a wealth of information appeared in the form of a recently republished book, originally published over 120 years before and for which the copyright had expired.

In the early 1870's a man named Charles C. Dawson decided to compile and publish "Family Records with Biographical Sketches and Other Memoranda of Various Families and Individuals Bearing the name DAWSON," published by Joel Munsell, 82 State Street, Albany, NY, 1874. Charles C. Dawson invited all Dawsons in the United States to send him biographical information about their families. Rev. John Kitchen Dawson (1797-1888) of Keokuk County, IA, somehow learned of this endeavor and sent information concerning his parents (James Dawson and Jane Kitchen), his siblings, his own children and grandchildren with his wife, Sarah Bitner, whom he married on 1 September 1822 in Sevier County, TN, and the children (and some grandchildren) of his full brother, James "Jimmy" Dawson, (Jr.)* who married Lucinda Clark in 1835 in Cocke County, TN. *(The "Jr." designation by M. F. Souder).

According to the biographical information published in 1874 by Charles C. Dawson, James Dawson "was probably" born in Alleghany County, MD. James Dawson's father "died at and early age," and John Kitchen Dawson did not remember his name. However, John K. did remember "seeing, when I was a small boy, a brother of my father, whose name was Thomas." John K. Dawson also reported that his mother was Jane Kitchen.

The Dawson book also mentioned that "by a second marriage James Dawson had other children, whose names have not been communicated." The book does not mention what may be an intervening marriage to Millie Persons/Parsons, before his final marriage to Jane Shoemaker, with whom he had the other children.

James Dawson must have been a very rugged and hardy man because he fought in two American wars and lived to be 83 years old. A summary of the biographical information for James Dawson is presented below, but it does not address what brought him from Maryland to Currituck County, NC where he enlisted in the Revolutionary War at about age 26, or what brought him to Rowan County, NC, after the War.

Documents filed by James Dawson himself give varying dates of birth, ranging from 1741-1754. A date of birth of 1754 is presented in this report because the biography of James Dawson written by his son said that "he died at age 83, hence about 1837." (His actual date of death was 30 June 1838).

In addition to the material in Charles C. Dawson’s book, in which his son noted that James Dawson was a farmer and a member of the Methodist Church, much additional information is provided in James Dawson’s three pension applications for his service in the Revolutionary War and his War of 1812 Certificates. The following information is presented in chronological order:

February 1779-in his first pension application, dated April 1818, James Dawson deposed that he was "born in the State of Maryland and lost his parents (plural) at an early age and never was taught to read and wright (sic) being an orphant (sic) and is now near sixty years of age and resides at present in the County of Greene in the State of Tennessee." He stated that in February 1779 he enlisted in the Southern Continental Army at New Providence, SC (actually in NC), under Capt. William Watts, in the 3^rd regiment of Dragoons (mounted infantry). James stated that the 3^rd Regiment was commanded by Colonel William Washington and afterwards, the commander being taken prisoner at the Eutaw Springs, it was called the 1^st Regiment. He said that at the close of the war (occurring in 1783) he was furloughed on Santee (river) and never again called in to service with an organized corps.

January 1781—James fought in the Battle of Cowpens in northwestern Cherokee County, SC.

March 1781—James missed the fighting at Guilford Courthouse, NC, due to his having contracted Small Pox.

September 1781--James fought at the Battle of Eutaw Springs on the banks of the Santee River in Orangeburg County, SC. After that battle he was furloughed (in 1782 or 1783) and was not again called for service. (Eutaw Springs on the Santee River in South Carolina was over 160 miles southwest of Rowan County, NC, where James is next found in records).

On 16 August 1786 in Rowan County, NC, James Dauson married Jane Citchen, with Hugh Gray (relationship unknown), witness. (A study of the few Kitchen families of Rowan and Iredell Counties, NC, has revealed no clues as to the family of Jane Kitchen. (A diligent study of the Citchen/Catching/Ketchin/Kitchen family of New Jersey and other locales should be undertaken).

1788—James Dawson was listed on the "1788 Tax List of Insolvents" in Rowan County, NC. Jo White Linn, p. 298. (A designation of Insolvent sometimes resulted when the individual had moved away and/or owed taxes. M. F. Souder).

1789 to 1797—According to the biography written by son John Kitchen Dawson, James and Jane Kitchen Dawson had their first four children while living in Caswell County, NC.

1799 to 1807—According to the above biography, James and Jane Kitchen Dawson lived in Wilkes County, NC, where their youngest three children were born, and where Jane died in August 1807.

20 February 1803, Wilkes County, NC—William Dawson (relationship unknown) married Susannah Durham, with Thomas Durham serving as bondsman. This couple has not been traced, but might he have been the same William Dawson who patented 80 acres in 1834 in Rush County, IN?

In 1834 one William Dawson lived only ¼ mile from Hiram Bitner whose sister, Sarah, was married to James Dawson’s son, John Kitchen Dawson. In between the two households lived James C. Clark. It should be noted that the youngest son of James Dawson and Jane Kitchen was James "Jimmy" Dawson (Jr.) who married Lucinda Clark in 1835 in Cocke County, TN. Jimmy and Lucinda named their firstborn son James C. Dawson. Additional comments about the Kitchen/Bitner/Clark families of Rush County, IN, will be presented chronologically below. (See information about William Dawson of Rush County, IN, listed below, dated September 1834).

November 1808—One James Dawson married Millie Persons in Wilkes County, NC. George G. Parsons, witness, George Y. Towns, officiant. (If the James Dawson of this study is the same person who married Millie Persons, she was surely deceased by about 1812).

1 June 1814—District Pay-Master’s Office, Washington, DC "The following transcription of a certificate in the possession of James Dawson’s son, John K Dawson" (see the Charles C. Dawson book, p. 269):

"I certify that James Dawson, born in Maryland, age sixty years, five feet 7 ½ inches high, fair complexion, blue eyes, light hair, and by profession a farmer, late a soldier in the 10^th Regiment of Infantry was discharged on the 27^th day of May 1814, by Lieut. Col. D. L. Clinch, and that his discharge is on file in my office.

(signed) Sat. Clark, D. P. M."

"The above endorsed as follows:

The discharge delivered Mr. Stephens of the Section of Bounty Land, the 25^th of March, 1820. (signed) M. Latimer, Clerk"

In 1815 James Dawson moved from North Carolina to Tennessee, as per his April 1818 Revolutionary War deposition in Greene County, TN, which stated that he had come to Tennessee from North Carolina "about three years ago." Neighbors Henry Earnest (Ernst) and Allen Gillespie accompanied James and testified that James Dawson was "a very poor man."

James Dawson was apparently not given a Revolutionary War pension based on his April 1818 application in Greene County, TN. He filed two more applications—one on 25 October 1820 and the other in April 1821. The application dated October 1820 listed his total assets, valued at $46.50, and stated that he was "aged about 76 years, a farmer and unable to labor hard (and supporting) my wife Jane Dawson aged 29 years, Nancy Shoemaker, aged 12 years, Aswell/Ashwell Shoemaker, aged 10 years, Sally Dawson aged 5 years, Lucinda Dawson aged 3 years, and Wyly Dawson aged 6 months." The last pension application, filed April 1821, was substantially identical to the one filed in October 1820, with all the names and ages of his dependents being the same. All applications were signed by James with a "X" for his signature, "James" and " Dawson" written on either side of the "X" by the writer the court document.

James was granted a pension in May of 1821 for $8.00 per month payable semiannually, plus arrears. His first payment was for $129.83, and was Claim Number S9657.

June 1823—June Sessions, State of Tennessee, Green County

James Dawson made a deposition for Richard Porterfield on 21 June 1823, relating what had to have been a huge embarrassment for the British army:

"On 4 December 1780 William Washington compelled Col. Henry Rugeley and more than a hundred other Loyalists to surrender from a fortified barn at Rugheley’s Mill by threatening them with a pine log mounted to resemble a cannon. The Colonial army had zero men wounded, killed or taken prisoner. The Loyalists had zero men wounded or killed, but 114 men were captured."

July 1823—July Sessions, State of Tennessee, Green County

This day James Dawson personally appeared in open Court and made oaths (sic) that in the fall sometime of the year of 1777 to the best of his knowledge he became acquainted with Richard Porterfield at a place called New Providence North Carolina in the third Virginia Ridgment (sic) of Cavellre (sic) commanded by Col. William Washington. I then enlisted under Col. Washington and march (sic) on in the said Redgment to the taking of Colo Rugely (Col. Henry Rugeley) with a pine log supposed to be a cannon, thence marched to Packlet (Pacolet, SC) and joined general Morgan Riflemen (sic). I then left the Ridgment (sic) but said Porterfield still Remained in the service of the United States & further this deponent saith not. Said service was for more than nine months in succession. Sworn to in open Court 29^th July 1823.
James (his X mark) Dawson

There was a Kitchen’s Mill in Greene County, NC, mentioned in an 1836 legal description as "beginning where Russellville road crosses the County line of Bays mountain, Thence with said road to the road that turns to Kitchen’s Mill, near John Hauns* Thence with said road crossing Lick Creek. . . to the Kentucky Road. In 2016 an online search of Kitchen’s Mill in Greene County, TN, shows several addresses which mention Kitchen, such as the "Farm on Kitchen Branch," located at 485 Kitchen Branch Road, Greenville, TN. The founder and owner of the Kitchen mill in Greene County needs further investigation. *If the above John Howser (who lived near John Bitner) and John Hauns who lived near Kitchen's Mill are the same person, then it seems likely that one of Jane Kitchen’s close male relatives lived very near James and Jane Kitchen Dawson. Unfortunately, there are no census records in Greene County, TN, until 1830.

April 1833—John Kitchen Dawson, son of James and Jane Kitchen Dawson, and husband of Sarah Bitner, patented 80 acres in Rush County, IN. Four of Sarah Bitner’s married siblings also made the move from Greene and Sevier Counties, TN, to Rush County, IN, in the 1830’s.

In September 1834 one William Dawson (relationship unknown) patented 80 acres in Rush County, IN, only ½ mile from Hiram Bitner, brother of Sarah Bitner who was married to John Kitchen Dawson. In between, and adjoining both William Dawson and Hiram Bitner lived James C. Clark. Only ¾ mile on the other side of Hiram Bitner lived one James Kitchen who patented land in 1833, and is perhaps the same James Kitchen who patented land in adjoining Fayette County, IN, in 1834. (And might he also have been the same James Kitchen who founded Kitchen’s Mill in Greene County, TN)?

It would be an extreme coincidence if this William Dawson and this James Kitchen* were not somehow related to the James Dawson of this study, born 1754, and his wife Jane Kitchen, born ca. 1768 NJ. Additional Rush County, IN, patents included William Kitchen in 1822, CLARK Kitchen in 1830, who patented 160 acres, and Stephen Bitner, another brother of Sarah Bitner Dawson. The chance that these Dawson, Kitchen and Clark families were unrelated defies all odds of probability. However, at this time the relationships are not obvious. The number of Kitchen and Dawson families who immigrated to eastern Indiana in the 1830’s appears to be far greater than would be expected, given the frequency that these surnames appear in the general population, suggesting that communities (and relatives) may have moved to the region together.

In 1836 James and Jane Shoemaker Dawson lived a short time in Knox County, TN as per her July 1870 widow’s pension application.

1838—James Dawson died at age 83 in Anderson County, TN

On 7 July 1870 Meade County, KY, Mrs. Jane Shoemaker Dawson Ford applied for a pension based on the Revolutionary War service of James Dawson. One important thing she needed to do was to prove her marriage to James Dawson. She obtained an affidavit dated 9 April 1870 from John Grisham, County Clerk of Washington County, TN, certifying that some 52 years previously, she James Dawson and Jane Shoemaker were married on 10 March 1823 in Washington County, TN, by John Link, J. P.

It seems possible that the year of the actual marriage of James Dawson and Jane Shoemaker presented in her pension file (1823) was not correct. In October 1820 in his re-application for a military pension, James Dawson testified that he was (already) married to Jane Shoemaker, mentioning that he was age 76 and his wife Jane was age 29. James listed her two older Shoemaker children and three children already born to them: Sally Dawson, age 5 (born ca. 1815), Lucinda Dawson, age 3 (born ca. 1817), and Wyly Dawson, age 6 months (b. 1820). Was Jane his common law wife until 1823?

The chronological listing of marriages in Washington County, TN, is handwritten in beautiful penmanship, all in the same handwriting. It seems possible that this was a recopied list of marriages in Washington County, TN, and that the actual marriage occurred in 1813 (not 1823). A photocopy showing other marriages on the same page as the Dawson-Shoemaker marriage (all dated in 1823) shows the word "here" written in the margin beside the Dawson-Shoemaker marriage, as though to insert that marriage "here." This was the only marriage with such a designation.

Alternately, perhaps James Dawson and Jane Shoemaker had a common law marriage for several years due to scarcity of available ministers. This may be supported by the testimony of James Dawson’s neighbor, Adam Painter, who in his own 1832 Revolutionary War pension application in Washington County, TN, stated that "there is no [indecipherable word] minister of the Gospel in his vicinity who can testify as required by the regulations of the war Department." (It was common for the local minister to attest to the character of the applicant).

Jane Shoemaker Dawson Ford stated that she and James Dawson had lived in Washington, Knox, and Anderson Counties, the latter in which James died on 30 June 1838. She stated that James had received $96.00 per year as a Rev. War pensioner, and that as his widow she had collected about $30 due up to the date of his death "as well as I can remember." (A different paper on file in Washington stated that the arrears due to James Dawson were paid to his widow, Jane Dawson, in the 4^th quarter of 1838 in the amount of $30.90).

Jane appointed C. H Barkley of LaGrange, Kentucky, to act as her attorney on her behalf, and she requested a Land Warrant. Mr. Barkley made at least two requests. He stated that he had first met Jane in 1854 while her last husband Mordecai Ford was living, and he has since attempted to locate Ford, but can only learn "almost vague information that he is supposed to be dead. . . and I respectfully request that you make her case a special one if you can – She has nothing to live on except as given to her by the charity of her neighbor – and you will see that the Justice sets forth good reasons why her care should be made special. . ."

On 1 April 1871, Jane signed an affidavit that C. H. Barkley had delivered into her hand her Land Warrant Number 112143 for 160 acres, and that C. H. Barkley had in all respects made with her a satisfactory settlement in this behalf.

The Charles C. Dawson book listed seven children for James Dawson and his first wife, Jane Kitchen: Ailsaba (presumed female) Dawson, Edmond Dawson, David Dawson, John Kitchen Dawson, Margaret Dawson, James "Jimmy" Dawson, Jr., and Esther Dawson. The book listed Ailsaba as "now deceased," so it is not known if she married and had any children. However, precise dates of death were given for four more children who died in their youth, and only John Kitchen and James Jr. survived.

John Kitchen Dawson and Sarah Bitner were the parents of eleven children: William Riley Dawson, Minerva Jane Dawson, Elizabeth Dawson, James Beckley Dawson,* Violet Dawson, Mary Jane Dawson, Louisa Catherine Dawson, Rachel Eddy Dawson, John Marion Dawson, Sarah "Ellen Dawson," and Benjamin Franklin Dawson. The only son who lived to adulthood and married was William Riley Dawson, born 26 May, 1823 and a teacher, who married Elizabeth R. Taylor and had a son and a daughter. The son, John William Dawson, married and had only one daughter, so there is no living male Dawson descending from John K. Dawson to participate in a Dawson Y-chromosome study.

"It seems possible that the above son, James Beckley Dawson, might be named for someone in the family of Charles W. Bickley who married Marie "Mary" Hatler on 19 August 1788 in Washington County, TN. Mary Hatler was the sister of Elizabeth Hatler who married John Bitner, parents of Sarah Bitner who married John K. Dawson.

Genealogical Abstracts from Reported Deaths
The Southwestern Christian Advocate 1838-1846
By Jonathon Kennon Thompson Smith
Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2003 24 August 1839: Charles Bickley, born Va, July 27, 1753; went to western Va. to protect his sister, Mrs. Carter, whose husband had been killed by Indians near Blakemore’s Fort, Clinch River. That sister died about 1821. He married Mary Hatler (died April 11, 1801), Green Co. Tenn., Sept. 23, 1788; seven children; married Delilah Wigfield, Scott Co., Va., and had six more children. He had been a militia captain; died Russell Co., Va., June 1, 1839. (Charles W. Bickley and Mary Bickley Carter were allegedly children of John James Bickley and wife Mary Hurt – M. F. Souder.)

John K. Dawson stated in the Charles C. Dawson book (p. 270) that his "early educational advantages were small. In 1812 his father and two older brothers were serving in the War of 1812, and John himself lived in Wilkes County, NC, where in that year he joined the Baptist church. In 1813 he went to Wythe County, VA, and worked in the lead mines there. He returned to North Carolina in 1814 (perhaps his two older brothers had died in the War of 1814 and his father had recently been discharged from the War of 1812). He moved to Greene County, TN, in 1818, and spent a short time in school. He apprenticed himself to the cabinet making business, which, as well as the trade of a carpenter and joiner, farming and other branches of business, he has since followed."

"In 1826 he became a licensed preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but on account of objections to the Episcopal form of government, left that connection and united with the Methodist Protestant church in 1842, in the ministry of which he has since labored. He married in 1822 Sarah Bitner who was born 3 May 1802 in Greene County, TN . . . They removed to Indiana in 1829, and thence to Iowa in 1848."

The following publications list the church pastored in Rush County, IN, by James K. Dawson in Rush County, IN. These accounts attribute the formation of the church one year apart and the church bears slightly different names in each account, but the legal descriptions are the same so this was surely only one church. The two accounts are found in:

1."Centennial History of Rush County, Indiana," A. L. Gary and E. B. Thomas, Rushville, 1921, Volume 1, Historical Publishing Company, Indianapolis, pp. 436-37.

2. "St. Paul United Methodist Church 1824-1974 Rushville, IN," 1974.

1."Balls Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church in Posey township (now defunct), above mentioned, was organized in the summer of 1831 by John K. Dawson, a local preacher . . . with the development of larger churches and the dwindling of population the congregation became so depleted that in the late 90’s the church was abandoned. The church was on the east side of Little Blue River near the east line of the southeast quarter of section 9, township 14, range 9."

2. "It is said that the Carters Society was organized in 1830 by John D. (sic) Dawson, a local preacher. On 20 March 1830 Elijah Carter* and his wife Susannah, deeded to Henry Glendenning, Andrew Elswick, Benjamin Walker, George Burton, and John K. Dawson, Trustees, part of the SW ¼, Sec. 9, Twp 14N, Range 9 East, containing 1 acre for the Methodist Episcopal Church. . . A meeting was held of the Board of Trustees for Carters meeting house held at Jonathan Balls August 11, 1842 . . . and William L. Reed was appointed to take the place of John K. Dawson, removed. . . On 2 December 1899, Cyrus B. Ball, George W. Glendenning, and Dayton Bitner (nephew of Sarah Bitner Dawson), Trustees of Balls Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church of Rush County, IN, deeded the above described real estate to Emily F. Roberts of Marion County, IN, for $100. *Elijah Carter married Susanah Cassell on 15 August 1811 in Greene County, TN. A Study of the Carter surname and any previous relationship to the Dawson or Kitchen family is recommended.

On 1 August 1839 "John Kitchen Dawson" made a cash purchase of 160 acres in Daviess County, IN. (This is the only known document that gives the full name of James K. Dawson). The family must not have planned to farm this land because in 1840 they were enumerated living over 60 miles away in Jefferson Township, Putnam County, IN. In March 1844 the County Commissioners of Putnam County, IN, appointed John K. Dawson, John Reel, Francis Dunlavy, William Arnold and Norval F. Kennedy to a committee to prepare plans and receive bids for the material and for the construction of a court house.

In September 1847 John K. and Sarah Dawson sold the Davies County, IN, property to Lewis Vails, it being the SW ¼ NE ¼ and the W ½ SE ¼ of Sec. 5N, Twp. 5N, Range 5N. See Deed Book G, p. 147.

In 1850 the family of John R. (sic) Dawson, a carpenter, and wife Sarah, ages 52 and 48, respectively, were enumerated in Keokuk County, IA. On 24 April 1854 John K. Dawson and wife Sarah gave on acre to establish a cemetery, and on the same day gave ½ acre to build a Methodist Episcopal Church in Steady Run Township, Keokuk County, IA. John K. Dawson died in 1888 and Sarah Bitner Dawson died in October 1896 in Keokuk County, IA, and both are buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery, Section 2 North, Row 18, Keokuk County, IA, in the plot adjoining that of Sarah’s nephew, Hosea F. Lotspeich and five of his young children.

James "Jimmy" Dawson (Jr) was painter by trade, but for 27 years was a dry goods merchant in Newport, Cocke County, TN. James married Lucinda Clark on 31 August 1835 in Cocke County, TN. Lucinda was one of nine children born to James Baynard Clark, born 1785 in Virginia, and his wife, Elizabeth Daniels, born 1787 in Virginia. James "Jimmy" Dawson, Jr., died in 1858, and his death left Lucinda with eight children: James C. Dawson, Mary Carter Dawson, Sarah E. Dawson, Rebecca J. Dawson, Laura A. Dawson, Ellen A. Dawson, Florida E. Dawson, and John Kitchen Dawson, II,* who was only three years old when his father died.

*In 1949 the son of John Kitchen Dawson, II, applied for a delayed birth certificate. In it he named his parents, John Ketchin Dawson and Sarah Virginia Abernathy. (This is document that proves identifying the middle name of John Ketchin/Kitchen Dawson, II).

James C. and John Kitchen Dawson, II, both married and had children.

James C. Dawson, born 20 July 1838, married Mary A. Garrell, as reported on the 1971 Wichita County, TX, death certificate of their daughter, Viola Dawson Bryan, who died at age 94 in Wichita Country, TX. James and Mary Dawson had four daughters and one son, John K. (or R) Dawson, born July 1874. The females in this family have been followed to Texas, but James C. and his son John K. (or R.) Dawson, born 1874 have not been located.

John Kitchen Dawson, II, born May 1855 and son of James "Jimmy" Dawson, Jr., and Lucinda Clark, had three daughters and one son. This son has three living Dawson great grandsons.

Lucinda Clark Dawson and her children were enumerated in census records in Cocke County, TN, in 1860 and 1870, but by 1880 she and five of her children had moved to Giles County, TN. She and three of her daughters lived with her unmarried son John K. Dawson, and their house was listed next to that of her married older son James C. Dawson and wife, Mary A. Garrell. Lucinda Clark Dawson may have returned to Cocke County, TN, because she and James Dawson (Jr.) are allegedly buried in the Wolfe Creek Cemetery, aka Allen Family Cemetery in Cocke County, TN.

Information concerning the grandchildren of James and Lucinda Dawson can be found in "Dawsons in the Revolutionary War (And Their Descendents)," by Carol Ruth Anderson Dawson, Graphic Printing Co., Eau Claire, WI, 1974, pp. 64-5.

James Dawson (who married Jane Kitchen and Jane Shoemaker) has been approved as a Patriot of the American Revolutionary War, and as of 2016 ten women have joined the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution through his two sons by Jane Kitchen.

James Dawson and his wife Jane Shoemaker had four children together: Sally, Lucinda Sabrina, Wiley George, and Minerva Jane Dawson. It is through son Wiley George that this Dawson Y-Chromosome Study was undertaken.

Wiley’s was age 18 when his father died in 1838. Wiley’s name on his marriage license, dated 29 January 1843 in Meade County, KY, has been transcribed as Wm. Wiley DANSON to Nancy COONWND (sometimes transcribed as Coonrod). The marriage file listed her name as Kinrod.

In 1850 Wiley and Nancy Dawson lived in New Albany, Floyd County, IN, with their first three children. The 1860 census shows Wiley and Nancy Dossin living in Northwest Township, Orange County, IN, and the parents of six children.

On 31 July 1861, Wylie Dawson enlisted as a Private in Company B, 24^th Indiana Regiment at Vincennes, Knox County, IN. He was killed on 16 May 1863 at Champion Hill, Baker’s Creek, 20 miles below Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi. His death left Nancy with seven children, five of whom were minors. W. G. Dawson is buried in the Vicksburg National Memorial Park Cemetery, Vicksburg, MS.

The children of Wiley and Nancy Conrad Dawson were Philissa Ann Dawson, Melinda Dawson, Isaac William Dawson, James Wiley Dawson, Jinsey Elmira Dawson, William Enoch Dawson, and Margaret Abigail Dawson.

On 16 January 1864 Nancy applied to the United States government for a Civil War widow’s pension, based on the service and death of her husband Wylie G. Dawson. Her application was Civil War Widow’s Pension file # 46568, and her pension was in force until her death. One can see that the precise spelling of the name of Wyly/Wiley/Wylie G. Dawson has varied, probably depending on the writer of legal documents.

Nancy never remarried and can be found living in Coles County, IL, in 1880, 1900, and 1910. She died 10 March 1911 at Charleston, Coles County, IK, and is buried in the Mound Cemetery. Participant # 508701 is a great, great grandson of Wiley George Dawson and Nancy Conrad.

It is with deep affection and gratitude that I acknowledge those who assisted with the study of the Dawson family: Addie May McCorkle Vanpool; Fannie McCorkle Wagner; Robert and Grace Larson; Kenneth Larson, Betty Williams Steele, Marilyn Clark, E. D. Wagner, K. P. Loving; Jodine Bergen, and the following historians: Gretchen Witt, librarian at the Edith Clark Library, Rowan County, NC; Don Miller, volunteer at the T. Elmer Cox Library in Greenville, Greene County, TN; Ginger at the Jonesborough Public Library in Washington County, TN; Meschelyn of the Stokeley Memorial Library in Cocke County, TN; Clara Jones, family historian, formerly of Rush County, IN; Mary Ann Higgins, Rushville, Rush County, IN; Ginny at the Rushville Public Library, Rush County, IN; Sharon Baldwin of Putnam County, IN; Stephanie Sueppel, Sigourney Public Library, Keokuk County, IA; and Jean at the Keokuk County, IA, Historical Society.

The Y-chromosome Study for all Dawson males can be found here: http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/dawson/results.