Here is information from the 2-vol. Dodson book regarding a Richard Dotson whose ancestry is not factually proven. It is believed that he descends from a Samuel Dotson who immigrated from England and married a Sarah Smoot, sister of William Smoot, Sr. Many have tried to find a connection between Dorothy (Smoot???) Durham whose descendants married into the Dodsons. Dorothy could be a daughter or other relative of William Smoot, Sr. We still aren't sure. Now we have another early Dotson-Smoot marriage that brings on more questions. Does anyone have any further ideas on this? Glenn Gohr ggohr01@mail.orion.org _________________________________ On pp. 1176-1177 of the Dodson book is this information: "Richard Dotson of Shenandoah Co., VA and Tyler Co., WV "I Richard Dotson was born 23 Oct 1752 in Shenandoah Co., VA and died after 1847 in Doddridge Co., VA [now WVA]. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving a tour of duty under Lord Dunmore against the western Indians in 1774, at which time he was a resident of Greene Co., PA. He had moved to Greene Co., PA when he was about twenty years of age (about 1772). He returned to Shenandoah Co., VA and in the spring of 1777, volunteered in Capt. Minor's Co. of Virginia Militia. He also served six months of each year, 1778 and 1779 with Capt. Minor. "After the war he remained in Shenandoah Co. for a few years, then moved to Louden Co., VA for about two years, then to Hampshire Co., VA, for six years, then to Wood Co., VA and lived alternately in Wood and Tyler Counties up to 1832 when he applied for a pension [Rev. pension S5364]. There are some other papers in Richard Dotson's pension file which may be of interest to descendants. There is a deposition of Ann Reddick, taken in Tyler Co., WV on 7 May 1833 by personal appearance before James Stealey, JP. Ann Reddick was aged 95 years on the 23 day last September and testified that she lived in Greene Co., PA in 1777, 1778, and 1779 and was acquainted with Richard Dotson, and knew he served 18 months as stated. She was often an inmate of Jenkins Fort while he was serving. "Also in this pension file is a letter from Mrs. Anna L. Shumate, 5443 Madison Rd., Madisonville, Cincinnati, OH dated 12 May 1931 who was seeking the death date of Richard Dotson, and also inquiring for Elisha Dotson's war record. A letter to her from the pension office on 12 Aug 1930 was addressed to 3561 Paxton Ave., Hyde Park, Cincinnati, OH. On 28 June 1930, James T. Thornton wrote on letterhead: Treasury Department, Bureau of Prohibition, Washington, DC, requesting 'copies of all records on Richard Dotson's service record - a soldier, probably of Maryland - needed to expedite the settlement of an old estate.' "The parents of Richard Dotson are not known. When he was born, Shenandoah Co. was a part of Frederick Co., VA so further search should be made there. It is possible that he came from one of the Pennsylvania Dodson families. Many of the residents of this area of the Valley of Virginia had come from Luzerne Co., PA at an early day. It still remained possible that Richard descended from one of the sons of Charles Dodson, Sr. of Richmond Co., VA. Descendants of Richard Dotson have quoted several legends concerning his ancestry. None of them are proven. One states that seven brother came to Penn's colony and that two of the brothers settled near Richmond, VA. Their names were William and James (Richard) Dotson. James had three sons: William, Zachariah and Richard. "Another of these legends states that our subject, Richard Dotson, descended from Samuel Dotson, b. c1675, who came to America in 1692 aboard the ship Assurance from England. He married Sarah Smoot, a sister of William Smoot. They presumably had a son, Abraham Dotson, b. 13 Jan 1690, England who married Elizabeth Dameron (b. 18 April 1692). They in turn had a son Thomas Dotson, b. 4 Nov 1731, Northumberland Co., VA, who was married to Frances Minor. This Thomas Dodson died in Westmorelanld Co., VA about 1668, leaving a will naming wife Frances and son Thomas, a minor. Some of this legend has originated with Mrs. Sandy Miller of Starke, FL who several years ago earned a reputation for selling phony pedigrees. There has bee no PROOF offered for the ancestry of Richard Dotson of Shendandoah Co., VA and Tyler and Doddridge Co., WV. "Some have said that Richard Dotson was married four times. The first wife was supposedly Sarah Jeane Holliday (b. 6 Dec 1752, Easton, MD). They say that she was the mother of Peter Dotson, Sarah Dotson, William Dotson (md. Mary Franks) and John R. Dotson, all of whom, expected William, were killed by Indians. His second wife was supposedly Mary [surname unknown] who was the mother of eleven more of Richard Dotson's children. The third wife was Amelia Miller (d. 1810/19, Doddridge Co., VA) who was married in 1802 who was the mother of four of Richard Dotson's children. His final marriage was said to have been to Naomi Gregg (widow) who had one daughter. This adds up to twenty children born between the 1770's and 1816. There are no records given which show the names of the wives of Richard Dotson......marriage records or deeds naming a wife. "One of the problems of this research is that Richard Dotson chose to move to the 'no-man's land' of West Augusta. This is an area covering western Virginia (including present West Virginia), western Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania which boundaries remained in dispute throughout the period of the Revolution and many years later. One must search the records of all three states, and then the records are few as the region was so remote from the seats of all three states, and the population of the area for this period was so sparse. "We are giving below two version of the lineages submitted by different people, who claim descent from Richard Dotson, in the hopes that this will offer clues to future researchers who will wish to try to verify the data. On pp. 1177-1182 of the Dodson book is this information: "Version #1 compiled by Edythe McKinstry Gaston of Denver, CO in 1969:" [**I have only carried descendants down to the 4th generation; more info. on the later generations is listed in the Dodson book--gg] "I James (Richard) Dotson - had three sons: A. William B. Dotson, Sr. - md. Mary Franks and settled in Greenwood, Doddridge Co., WV. They had thirteen children: 1. Hiram Dotson - md. (1) Susan Markwell (eleven children); (2) Melvina Pool (four children): a. John W. Dotson - md. Amy Pool b. Granville Dotson - md. Sarah Cress c. Louisa Dotson - md. James Taylor 2. William B. Dotson, Jr. - md. Anne Ankrum. Their children: a. Emmanuel Dotson b. Israel Dotson c. Theresa Dotson d. Rilla Dotson e. Rose Dotson 3. John (called Squire) Dotson - md. Suzan Sears. It is said that Squire Dotson weighed only 3 pounds at birth, but grew into a man over six fee tall and weighing over 300 pounds. When he was about 30 years old he cut his knee with an axe which never healed and kept him under medical care for over 30 years until 1861 he had his leg amputated by Drs. Ramsey and Campbell of Parkersburg, WV. On 22 Sept 1848, Squire purchased 1000 acres of land from the heirs of Michael Gratz, located near Arnolds Creek and Central Station in Doddridge Co. The land was granted to Michael Gratz in 1786, and John Dotson was the second owner. After his store operator absconded with a considerable amount of money, John was forced to sell this farm to pay outstanding bills. He bought a smaller farm northeaster of Harrisville in Ritchie Co. and moved his family there in 1860. There he lived until his death in 1880. A son-in-law, Henry P. Miller tried to work the farm for a few more years, but it was an unprofitable farm and he gave it up and moved his family and his aging mother-in-law to Nebraska in 1882. The date of John's first marriage to Suzan Sears is not known. He married his second wife, Mahalah Myers (b. 30 April 1809, Carmichael Town, PA; d. 7 July 1884, Blair, NE) in the early 1840's. The children of John (Squire) Dotson were: a. Capt. Oliver Dotson - b. 25 Julyl 1830; d. 1900; md. Sarah Fleming. b. Lloyd Dotson - b. 16 July 1833. He served briefly in the Civil War as First Lieuetenant in Co. E. of the 6th Regt., W. VA Inf. Volunteers. This company was composed of men from Ritchie and Preston Counties, located at Pennsyboro, and was organized with Larkin Pierpoint as Captain, commissioned Oct 3 1861. Lloyd Dotson resigned on 15 Jan 1862 and George M. Ireland replaced him. c. Minerva Dotson - b. 3 Jan 1836; md. a Stinespring. d. Sindona Dotson - b. 14 Aug 1840; md. Samuel Malone. e. Clinton DeWitt Dotson - b. 1 May 1844 f. Leeman Dotson - b. 1846; d. 1909. g. Mary Saloma Dotson - b. 26 April 1848; d. 27 Aug 1941; md. Henry P. Miller. They moved to Nebraska. h. John Noble Dotson - b. 1 May 1851; d. 4 Sept 1911; md. Annie Lamar Garner (b. 29 Jan 1859; d. 24 July 1954). They were married 23 Dec 1874, Greenwood, WV. They moved west in the latter part of 1880, settling in Blair, NE, and later in the northwest corner of Nebraska in Sheridan Co. i. Frank Dotson j. Rufus Dotson - b. 1855; md. Mary Welsh. 4. Henry F. Dotson - md. Rachel Tucker 5. Solomon (called Saul) Dotson - md. Orlinda Tucker 6. Nancy Dotson - md. a Griggs 7. Jane Dotson - md. an Elefritz 8. Cynthia Dotson - md. a Scott 9. Charlotte Dotson - md. John Wilson 10. Elizabeth Dotson - md. a Ruley 11. Mary Ann Dotson - md. a Dougherty 12. Thomas J. Dotson, Sr. - md. Ruth Griggs 13. Margaret Dotson - md. Eli B. Tucker, Sr. as his third wife B. Zachariah Dotson - md. Elizabeth [surname unknown] and had: 1. Garrison Dotson 2. Charles Dotson 3. Mary Ann Dotson 4. Emmy Dotson C. Richard Dotson - md. twice, but name of wives unkown. By his first marriage he had 3 children, and 7 by the second wife: 1. Thomas Dotson 2. Mann Dotson 3. John Dotson 4. Jackson Dotson 5. Elisha Dotson 6. Joseph Dotson 7. Michael Dotson 8. Ruth Dotson - md. James Cain 9. Lizzie Dotson - md. Johnson Childers 10. Stacy Dotson - md. John Haggle" Also on pp. 1182-1185 of the Dodson book is this information: "Version #2 compiled by Gladys Pearl Cyphers Wilson, Rt. 2, Box 14, Highland Plaza, Fairmont, WV 26554 and contributed in 1987. Mrs. Wilson has lot her eyesight and has donated all her genealogical records to the Genealogical Library in Fairmont, WV." [**I have only carried descendants down to the 4th generation; more info. on the later generations is listed in the Dodson book--gg] "I Samuel Dotson - b. c1675; married Sarah Smoot, sister of William Smoot. They came to America on the ship Assurance from England. They had at least one son: A. Abraham Dotson - b. 13 Jan 1690, England; md. Elizabeth Dameron (b. 18 April 1692). Among their children was: 1. Thomas Dotson - b. 4 Nov 1731; md. Frances Minor. They presumably had: a. Thomas Dodson b. Richard Dotson - b. 10 Jan 1752, Shenandoah Co., VA; d. 1847; md. four times: (1) Sarah Jeane Holliday (b. 11 June 1752); (2) Mary [surname unknown]; (3) Amelia (Millie) Miller; (4) Naomi Villers Gregg. According to a Monongalia history, Richard Dotson had a family by his first wife, all of whom, except William who was away visiting, were killed by Indians. c. William Dotson, Sr. - settled at Tollgate (WV)." (Source: Williams, Mrs. Sherman, compiler and editor. THE DODSON (DOTSON) FAMILY OF NORTH FARNHAM PARISH, RICHMOND COUNTY, VIRGINIA: A HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THEIR DESCENDANTS. Rev. Silas Emmett Lucas, Jr., publisher. Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1988. 2 Vols. pp. 1176-1185.)