John Henry Dawson was born in 1845 in Itawamba County, Mississippi to John Dawson and Mary Ann "Polly" Webb Dawson. He was their fourth child, their third son, and he spent his youth in Itawamba and Monroe County, not far from many of his other Webb relatives. When the Civil War began, he enlisted and served in the 2nd Mississippi Cavalry, Company C. He lived through the war and married a few months after it ended to Nancy Ann Wacaster. They married on October 20, 1865 in Marion County, Alabama, just across the state line.
In the Spring of 1868, just a few short years after their marriage, this couple left Mississippi by covered wagon and headed for the undeveloped West...Texas. The reason is unknown, but after the war it may have seemed that more doors and possibilities were open to a young family out West than they could find in the relatively heavily settled Itawamba bottom lands. Their cow was led behind the wagon and a coop of chickens were taken along to be used as food along the way. They worked along the way and made friends as they went... who provided them with fresh vegetables and other things which made the young couple feel proud that they had decided to take this great step and find a new life in the West.
When John Henry and Nancy Ann Dawson reached Belton, Bell County, Texas, they purchased 100 acres of land which was filed for record on April 17, 1868, 4:00 p.m. and signed by County Clerk James Leach. A deed for this land is in possession of one of the daughters of John Henry Dawson. This deed indicates the land was sold by John Beal of Milam County to William R. Light of Bell County. The deed was recorded in Book K of the Records of Deeds in and for Bell County on page 209 on April 30, 1868 at 11:00 a.m. It is thought that William R. Light was acting in the interests of J.H. Dawson and when the deed was transferred to him should in the Records of Bell County. The deed describes this land and the location is what we now know as the Dog Ridge Community.
The census passed through in 1870 and found the couple in Bell County:
After arrival in Texas, to the union of John Henry and Nancy Ann Dawson was born fourteen children, ten of which lived to maturity, all except three spent their entire lives in Bell County. Nancy died in 1918, at the age of 67. John supposedly died of a cerebral hemorrhage, of eleven days duration. He passed away in 1924 at the age of 78. They were both buried in McDowell Cemetery in Belton, Bell County, Texas.1870 Belton, Bell County, Texas
Dawson, J.H. 24 Male White Born MS
Dawson, Nancy 20 Female While Born MS
Dawson, Samuel 15 Male Black Born MS
Submitted May 27, 1962 to Dog Ridge Community Organization by Estella Cordelia Dawson Leatherwood.
Children of John Henry and Nancy Ann Dawson
Mary Frances Dawson (died before she reached the age of one year)
Della Dawson (md. Louis
H. Robinson)
Children of Louis H. Robinson & Della Dawson (25 Jan 1871
- 29 Jun 1984):
1.1 Louis Dee Robinson (14 Nov 1893 - 1971) & Sylvia Traylor
Early
Dawson (md. Jessie Mae Malear; born, married, and died
in Bell County, Texas)
Children of Early Dawson (13 Apr 1873 - 12 Mar 1912) & Jessie Mae
Malear (17 Jun 1876 - Dec 1963):
1.1 Wesley L. "Dick" Dawson (4 Oct 1896 - Apr 1979) & Ada
1.2 Pearl Dawson (10 Nov 1900 - 30 Jul 1980) & Jeff Winne
1.3 Hulen B. Dawson (25 Aug 1905 - 6 Nov 1991) & Estelle
Wood
1.4 Albert Earl Dawson (9 Sep 1907 - 17 Sep 1983) & Ruby
Ladonia Stewart
1.5 Marvin Gordon "Whitey" Dawson (15 Jul 1909 - 17 Sep 1983)
& Willie Lucille Bishop
1.6 Curtis Alvin Dawson (8 Aug 1911 - 27 Dec 1998) & Alice
Thelma Taylor (29 Apr 1920 - )
Oley Dawson (md. Alice
Eveline Givens)
Children of Oley Dawson (9 Sep 1874 - 19 Aug 1933) & Alice Eveline
Givens (16 Nov 1882 - 30 Aug 1953):
1.1 Emmett Levi Dawson (9 Feb 1901 - 16 Jan 1965)
1.2 Thomas Lester Dawson (12 Aug 1902 - 9 May 1983) & Katie
Lee Collier & Jennie Lorene Smedley
1.3 Bertha Emmabell Dawson (9 Apr 1904 - )
1.4 Turner Earline "Johnnie" Dawson (20 Feb 1916 - ) & Robert
Hoyt Reames
Louella Dawson (md.
John Edward Malear)
Children of John Edward Malear & Louella Dawson (20 Aug 1876
- 16 Jul 1946):
1.1 Herman Malear
Leona "Lee" Dawson (md.
James Presley Givens)
Children of James Presley Givens (11 Apr 1877 - 20 Mar 1963) &
Leona "Lee" Dawson (20 May 1878 - 22 Aug 1958):
1.1 Hubbard Givens
1.2 Johnny Givens & Willie
1.3 Orbie Givens & Polly
1.4 Opal Givens
1.5 Jewel Givens
1.6 Pearl Givens
1.7 Howard Eugene Givens & Alice Louise Bishop
Willie Alice Dawson
(md. William Henry Wiseman)
Children of William Henry Wiseman (20 Nov 1875 - 4 Nov 1957) &
Willie Alice Dawson (14 Nov 1881 - 6 May 1954):
1.1 Henry Archie Wiseman (2 Jan 1903 - 29 Oct 1963) & Vivian
Jewell Johnson (20 Apr 1907 - )
1.2 Nannie Beulah Wiseman (23 Sep 1904 - 30 Nov 1992) & Oscar
E. Lee (25 Jul 1897 - 13 Feb 1986)
1.3 Ruby Alene Wiseman (5 Nov 1905 - 2 Nov 1981) & William
Lorell Kirby Sr. (10 Feb 1905 - 13 Feb 1991)
1.4 Annie Lou Wiseman (22 Mar 1910 - 9 Apr 1987) & Norman
A. Briden (5 Jul 1910 - 24 Mar 1971)
1.5 Private
1.6 Private
1.7 Private
1.8 Roy Dee Wiseman (7 Apr 1920 - 16 Jun 1977) & Mayre Lena
Tubbs (7 Jul 1920 - )
1.9 Private
Henry Jackson "Jack" Dawson
(md. Myrtle Palmer)
Children of Henry Jackson "Jack" Dawson (14 Jan 1883 - 25 Sep 1966)
& Myrtle Palmer :
1.1 Hyldred Dawson & Ruth
1.2 Neil Dawson
Katie Mertice Dawson
(md. Malcolm Lee Toliver)
Children of Malcolm Lee Toliver (26 Nov 1883 - 28 Aug 1973) & Katie
Mertice Dawson (16 Mar 1886 - 30 Sep 1959):
1.1 Noel Oley Toliver ( - 7 Jan 1970) & Emma
1.2 Anna Nadyne Toliver ( - After 1957) & Cecil Reavis (
- 2 Apr 1984)
Bessie Lillian Dawson (md. Benjamin Franklin Palmer; no children known to me)
Estelle Cordelia "Cordye" Dawson
(md. W. Lee Leatherwood)
Children of W. Lee Leatherwood & Estelle Cordelia "Cordye"
Dawson (20 Apr 1891 - 30 May 1973):
1.1 Wilbur Leon Leatherwood ( - 9 Jan 1968) & Ruth ("Rita"?)
Sell
1.2 Private
1.3 Private
1.4 Private
1.5 Private
1.6 Private
Unknown Dawson (died in 1894)
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