Wanda Bennent, granddaughter of Thomas Doss, was told my her mother, Ruth Doss, that Thomas Doss was half Cherokee Indian, and that his mother from the WOFFORD line was full blooded Native American. The DOSS family in AR were Episcopalian in religion. She also said that Thomas DOSS worked for the RR, in some type of Inspection Division, and that he was always well-dressed. The main RR line through Benton/Washington/Crawford Counties in Arkansas, north to south, was the St. Louis & San Francisco - Wells Fargo Co. line. The east/west line was primarily in Benton Co., AR., called Wells Fargo & Co. - The Arkansas & Oklahoma RR. One other branch off the north/south line was the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Pacific. An 1898 map of railroad lines in Arkansas and other states can be found at this website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/rrmap.html. The light colored flaw in the map is on the original.

Wanda thought Thomas died around 1912. She has a copy of a marriage record for Wm. Thomas DOSS to Bettie GIDEON of Alma, Crawford Co., AR 25 Dec 1879. Bettie was 15 years of age and her parents consented to the marriage. He was 25 years old. It is still a mystery as to whether or not Thomas had a first name and was it John or was it William? If you can help with this question, please write to me

.............thanks, Janice Mauldin Castleman 2002.

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1898 Map of Arkansas RR lines
in the counties of interest:
Benton, Washington, Crawford & Madison

Rand McNally Map




Related Links
Adventures of Wells Fargo
The Wild, Wild West

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