Material from Patrick T. Dolan
¶PD1. Edward Dobyns See ¶66) was born on 7 Dec 1747 [1] Caroline Co VA [1] and died on 3 April 1794. He was buried in Mays Lick Cemetery, Mason Co. Ky. His parents were Thomas Dobyns and Frances Davis [1]. In January 1770 [3], in King George Co. VA [3] he married Frances Kay, who was born 6 May 1751 [2] in Culpeper Co VA [2] and died 29 Jan 1821 [2] in Culpeper Co VA [2]. After the death of Edward Dobyns, Frances married (2nd), Mr Duval and (3rd) Judge Brome of Bourbon Co KY [7]
During the Revolutionary War, Edward Dobyns took part in a number of engagements with Lieutenant Apollos Cooper, and, according to Rev. William Ray Dobyns, was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia.
The application papers of Mrs. Aurelia A. Ballou, wife of George Washington Ballou, National No. 3314, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, show that Hilary Dobyns, of Mexico, Missouri, made an affidavit that he had seen the War record of Edward Dobyns at Richmond, Virginia -- since burned during the Civil War.
From the War Department, Washington, D.C.:
"The records of this office show that Apollos Cooper served in the Revolutionary War as Second Lieutenant, 3rd Virginia Regiment from Jan 1, 1776 to August 28, 1777, and also show that Apollos Cooper was commissioned First Lieutenant, February 9, 1776, and died September 11, 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine. It is further shown by the records that Apollos Cooper served in the Revolutionary War as Lieutenant in Captain Charles West's and Captain Reuben Briscoe's 3rd Regiment, commanded by Col. Thomas Marshall." [5]
This was apparently the same Apollos Cooper whose daughter, Sarah, was married by James Dobyns, son of Edward Dobyns [1].
Children of Edward Dobyns and Frances Kay were
¶PD2. Thomas Dobyns b 19 Nov 1770 [1]; 3 Jul 1829 [1].
¶PD3. James Dobyns b 2 Mar 1772 Culpeper Co VA [1] d 21 Jul 1834 Flemingsburg KY [1]; m Sarah Cooper dau of Apollos Cooper 2 Sep 1794 Washington KY [1]
¶PD4. William Dobyns b 25 Jun 1774 [1]; d 7 Apr 1782 [1].
¶PD5. Edward Dobyns b 7 Feb 1776 [1] d 9 Jan 1831 [1]; m Lucy Pepper 23 Apr 1800 Mason Co KY [1]
¶PD6. Elizabeth K.Dobyns b 2 Jun 1777 [1] d 10 Aug 1852 [1]; m Silas Duvall 25 Sep 1803 Mason Co KY [5]
¶PD7. Catherine Dobyns b 31 May 1779 [1]; d 15 Mar 1785 [1].
¶PD8. Charles Dobyns b 18 Aug 1781 [4] Culpeper Co VA [2] d 22 Feb 1828 [4] Mason Co KY [5]; m Elizabeth Porter ("of Fleming" [8]) 6 Sep 1803 Mason Co KY [5]
¶PD9. Enoch Dobyns b 5 Jun 1783 [1]; m Elizabeth Berry 23 Jan 1805 Mason Co KY [1].
¶PD10. Mary "Polly" Dobyns b 24 Sep 1785 [1] d 21 Aug 1839 [1]; m Thomas Parry 4 Jan 1804 Mason Co KY [5]
¶PD11. Benjamin Dobyns b 24 Jun 1788 Mason Co KY [1]; m Nancy Porter ("of Fleming" [8]) 3 Sep 1811 Mason Co KY [5].
¶PD12. Berry Dobyns b 8 Jun 1791 [1] Mason Co KY [5]; m Mary Porter ("of Fleming" [8]) 15 Nov 1813 Mason Co KY [5]. (See ¶PD14)
¶PD13. Baldwin Dobyns b 8 Jan 1793 [1]; d 5 Jun 1793 [1].
---------------
¶PD14 Berry Dobyns (from ¶PD12) was 8 Jun 1791 [9] in Mason Co KY [10] and died 11 Dec 1837 [9]. His parents were Edward Dobyns and Frances Kay. He married Mary Porter on 15 Nov 1813 [19] in Mason Co KY [19]. Her parents were John Porter and Jane Smith. She was born about 1792 [11] and died 9 Mar 1860 [11].
The 1820 U.S. Census of Mason County, KY [in KY Genealogist, Jan-Mar 1966] says he had 7 boys, no girls.
Mason Co Deed Book 43, 24 Mar 1835, page 76, notes an indenture between Rowley Smith Porter (another of John and Jane Porter's children), Charles Bell, and Milly, his wife (Milly or Willie Bell is another child of John and Jane Porter), Samuel Pepper and Nancy his wife (Nancy Pepper is another), Berry Dobyns and Polly his wife (Polly I take to be a nickname for Mary), Thomas Porter (yet another child of John and Jane Porter), John Lamb and Lucy his wife (yet another), of the one part to John Porter -- tract of land on waters of Lee Creek in Mason County, which had been mortgaged and now release same. Witnesses: John S. Porter and Henry B. Porter.
Their children were
¶PD15. James B. Dobyns b 12 Dec 1814 [9] d 25 Oct 1885 [13] Johnson Co MO [13] [22]; m Sabina Summers (or Summerell) 23 Oct 1849 Mason Co. KY [15]
¶PD16. Benjamin Franklin Dobyns b 2 Feb 1817 [9] Mays Lick KY [20] d 15 Feb 1869 [14] Columbus MO [14]; m Margaret Ruth Morrow 1 Dec 1847 Johnson Co MO [16] (See ¶PD23)
¶PD17. John Porter Dobyns
¶PD18. Francis M.Dobyns b 4 Jul 1820 [9]; d 17 May 1890 [9] Mason Co KY [9].
¶PD19. Hilary R. Dobyns b 13 Dec 1822 [9] KY [21] d bef 1889 Kansas City, MO [23]; m Ann(a) E. Christian 21 Jan 1855 Columbus MO [17]
¶PD20. Frances Jane Dobyns
¶PD21. Adelaide Dobyns
¶PD22. John Thomas Dobyns b 23 Sep 1829 [18] d 4 Mar 1855 [18] at Johnson Co MO [13]; m Nancy R. Christian 19 Dec 1854 Johnson Co MO [16]
---------------------------
¶PD23. Benjamin Franklin Dobyns (from ¶PD16) was born 2 Feb 1817 [1] at Mays Lick (Mason) KY [30] and died 15 Feb 1869 [14] at Columbus, Johnson Co., MO [14]. His parents were Berry Dobyns and Mary Porter [12]. He married on 1 Dec 1847 [16] at Johnson Co MO [16] Margaret Ruth Morrow, born 15 Nov 1825 [1] in MO [24], died 31 Aug 1878 [30] Marshall, Saline Co MO [1]. Her parents were Robert Davis Morrow and Elizabeth Ray.
Benjamin F. Dobyns was a physician, a Democrat, and a Cambellite [1]. According to his obituary in the Warrensburg Standard, he removed from Mason County KY to Columbus about 1839 [14]. He was, however, graduated from the medical college at Louisville, KY in 1849 [30], so this may be a more accurate date of emigration. He was for 23 years a Mason, and, along with his father-in-law Robert Davis Morrow, was a charter member of the Pittsville, Johnson Co., Lodge, and was also its original Worshipful Master [14], though he was also an active member and official of the Blue Lodge, A.F. and A.M. at Columbus [30]. He was "a representative man of that section of the State, [and] was active in local politics" [30]. He died "at his residence...after a long and painful illness [33].
In 1870, Margaret Ruth Dobyns and her surviving children John R., James F., and William R. Dobyns, were living in the same house with a Catharine J. Dobyns, 44, and her 6 children -- Jerome, Larry, Ellen, Price, Beauregard and Marsh Dobyns.[32]. They had a neighbor Samuel J.W. Dobyns, born about 1822 in Kentucky.
Neither the National Archives nor the Missouri Archives holds a military record for B.F. Dobyns, though good reason exists to suppose he was an active Confederate. His house was burned during a Kansas Red Leg raid, according to a historical article in the Odessa Democrat quoted in the Holden Enterprise of Feb 1, 1934. At the end of Chapter XXVI of John N. Edwards' Shelby and His Men: or, The War in the West, a "Dr. Dobbins" is mentioned as a Confederate surgeon. One circumstantial argument for this being B.F. Dobyns is the fact that a Dr. Fulkerson is mentioned in the same place, this being the name of another physician whose peacetime practice was in Columbus. The Republican Warrensburg Standard, in its November 3, 1965, issue, lists him as having been elected delegate to "an old Democrat rebel" convention. The same newspaper mentions Columbus Christian Church as a hotbed of secessionism. Its pastor in 1865 was Hiram Bledsoe, former commander of Bledsoe's Battery. Dr. Dobyns' medical partner before and after the war, William C. Goodwin, was a well-documented Confederate surgeon. General Francis Marion Cockrell was from Johnson County, and B.F. Dobyns' son John Robert studied law in his office after the war. Two of B.F. Dobyns' first cousins, Benjamin F. Dobyns of Audrain County, and Thomas J. Dobyns, were documented Confederates soldiers.
The children of Benjamin Franklin Dobyns and Margaret Ruth Morrow were
¶PD24. Mary Berry Dobyns b 5 Mar 1849 [1] MO [12]; d 18 Oct 1867 [17].
¶PD25. John Robert Dobyns b 31 Mar 1850 [25] Columbus MO [25] d 4 Jan 1924 [26] Little Rock, AR [26]; m Lily (Eliza) Webster 26 Jun 1878 Washington Co. MO [29]. (See ¶PD29)
¶PD26. James Francis Dobyns b 6 Dec 1851 [1] d 21 Aug 1926 [31] Kansas City MO [31]; m Lou Dickey Murray 19 Nov 1879 Columbus MO [17] [48]
¶PD27. Benjamin Graves Dobyns b 9 Jul 1856 [1]; d 1868 [1].
¶PD28. William Ray Dobyns b 17 May 1861 [27] Columbus MO [27] d 16 Jan 1932 [28] Birmingham AL [28]; m Mary Triplette Buckland 19 Jun 1889 St Louis MO [25] [49]
----------------------------
¶PD29. John Robert Dobyns (from ¶PD25) was born on 31 Mar 1850 [25] at Columbus, Johnson Co. MO [25] and died on 4 Jan 1924 [26] at Little Rock, Pulaski Co. AR. His parents were Benjamin Franklin Dobyns and Margaret Ruth Morrow. On 26 Jun 1878 [29] at Fountain Farm near Mineral Point, Washington Co MO [29] he married Lily Roxanna "Eliza" Webster, who was born on 25 Sep 1849 [34] at St Louis MO [35] and died on 31 Jan 1925 [36] at Little Rock, Pulaski Co. AR [36]. Her parents were Ashbel Wheeler Webster and Julia Strong
John Robert Dobyns was a member of Missouri Sons of the Revolution (no. 687). His biography is in Who's Who in America 1914-15 and 1922-23. There is a biography and photo in Missouri Record (publication of Missouri School for the Deaf), in April 1979. There is another photo in the Register of the Society of Sons of the Revolution in the State of Missouri 1907-1909, and a photo and many references in Brown's History of the Mississippi School for the Deaf (1954). After his father's early death in 1869, he attended Westminster College, Fulton, MO, where he graduated at the top of his class with an A.B. degree in 1874. He later received M.A. and LL.D. degrees from that college. On graduation, he entered the law office of F.M. Cockrell, formerly a Confederate general. Abandoning the study of law, he joined the Missouri School for the Deaf as a teacher. In 1877, he was appointed Superintendent of the Texas School for the Deaf at Austin, and in 1881 he accepted the position of Superintendent of the Mississippi School for the Deaf at Jackson. In 1914 he went to Southwestern Presbyterian University (now Rhodes College) in Tennessee as President, and 1917 became founding President of the short-lived Stonewall Jackson College in Abingdon, VA. In 1919, he became Superintendent of the Arkansas Deaf Mute Institute at Little Rock, and he died in that office. The library at Rhodes College has some of his writings.
Lily Roxanna Webster Dobyns was a descendant of Gov. John Webster, one of the signers of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. She attended Monticello College, Monticello, IL. Anecdotes about her appear in Medora Roxanna Byers' diary (1869) in the MS Archives.
Their children:
¶PD30. Ashbel Webster Dobyns b 6 Jun 1879 Austin TX [34] d 26 Mar 1950 [37]; m Nancy McClerkin 26 Oct 1927 [37]; no issue. His niece, Mary Agnes Dobyns Dolan, remembers that he was a uniformed chaplain for the YMCA during WWI and that he sent her a dress from Paris during while stationed there. He lived at Denver, CO, for a number of years, working as a clerk at the Colorado Department of Revenue, according to the City Directory. He appears in the 1936 Directory as living at 1525 Sherman St., then, in 1945, as living at 333 E. 16th Ave., in 1960 at the same address, apt. 405, in 1962 the same, and in 1964 as "retired." He does not appear in the 1965 directory, which may have been the year he moved to Nashville, TN.
¶PD31. Richmond Smoot Dobyns b 11 Nov 1881 Coleman TX [38] d 18 May 1940 Jackson MS [39].; m Agness Shelton 26 Jun 1907 Jackson MS [41]. (See ¶PD33)
¶PD32. Robert Morrow Dobyns b 11 May 1882 [40] Jackson MS [4] d Sep 1977 Knoxville TN [40]; m Elizabeth Cochran Smith [42]; no issue.
-------------------------
¶PD33 Richmond Smoot Dobyns was born on 11 Nov 1881 [1] at Coleman, Coleman Co. TX [38]. He died on 18 May 1940 [39] at Jackson, Hinds Co. MS [39]. His parents were John Robert Dobyns and Eliza Webster. On 26 Jun 1907 [41] at Jackson MS [41] he married Agness Shelton, who was born on 23 Mar 1884 [44] at Jackson MS [44] and died on 30 Jul 1953 [44] at Jackson [5]. Her parents were James Shelton and Mary Agness Green.
Richmond Smoot Dobyns left home at 16 to serve in the Spanish-American War. Immediately upon enrolling, he contracted typhoid fever and was hospitalized at Chicamauga TN. Mr. Bodker, a retainer at the MS School for the Deaf, was dispatched to care for him and slept on the floor next to his bed. He was mustered out as soon as he recovered. He attended Milsapps College (Kappa Alpha), and briefly attended medical school, but thought the profession too commercial. In 1914 he was appointed as successor to his father as Superintendent of the Mississippi School for the Deaf, and continued off and on in this position until his death. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, and active in various evangelistic campaigns. Photos and biographical information in are in notes [43] and [47].
Their daughter
¶PD34. Mary Agnes: b 29 Sep 1910 Jackson MS [45]; m Patrick T. Dolan (II) Jackson MS 8 Jul 1941 [46]
________________________________________________________
Notes
1. Dobyns and Thorpe, Daniel Dobyns of Colonial Virginia, 1969.
2. DAR application no. 437936.
3. Wulfeck, Marriages of Some Virginia Residents 1607-1800, Vol. I Surnames A-H, 1986.
4. Dobyns Family Bible transcribed in Kentucky Ancestors, Jul 1976,
5. Supporting documents submitted with DAR application no. 573245, DAR Library.
6. Mays Lick Cemetery in Kentucky Cemetery Records, Vol I, Kentucky Society, DAR.
7. DAR application no. 223350.
8. Information from Sue Moore, a descendant of Mary Dobyns and Thomas Parry .
9. Ballou and Cooper, The Dobyns-Cooper and Allied Families, 1908.
10. W.R. Dobyns' estimation quoted in [9].
11. Dobyns Family Bible, transcribed in KY Ancestors, July, 1976.
12. William Ray Dobyns, Additional Records of the Dobyns Family, n.d.
13. Probate Court Records, Warrensburg, MO.
14. Obit in Warrensburg Standard 22 Apr 1869.
15. 1881 history of Johnson County.
16. Ellsberry, Marriage Records of Johnson Co. MO, Vol. I, n.d.
17. Columbus Christian Church records at Johnson County Heritage Library, Warrensburg.
18. Columbus Cumberland Cemetery records at Johnson County Heritage Library, Warrensburg.
19. Supporting documents submitted with DAR application no. 573245, DAR Library.
20. The name J. Porter Dobyns appears in the 1887-1889 Kansas City Directory as a harness maker living at the same residence as Hilary R. Dobyns.
21. Soundex card for 1880 US Census Jackson Co. MO. This is undoubtedly he, since it has as his wife, "A.E," but it says he is 50 years old. The birth date in [9] would make him about 58.
22. According to the records of William Dobyns Houston of Albuquerque, NM, they had 4 children: James B. Dobyns Jr., Mary P. Dewitt, Anna R. Bonine, and Bertie Tinsley.
23. The 1885 Kansas City Directory shows no Dobynses. The 1887-88 edition shows Hilary R. Dobyns, clerk, Kansas City Abstract Co.; John B at the same address; and J Porter, also at the same address. The 1889-90 edition shows 4 living at the same residence: Anna E. wid(ow) Hilary; Frank C; H.R. (How can this be if his wife was a widow? I assume it is an error.); John B. There are other Dobynses at other addresses. The 1880 Soundex card for Jackson Co. MO gives only initials: H.R. along with A.E., wife, 40, b KY; J.B., son, 25, b MO; J.P., son, 23, b MO; L.R., daughter, 13, b MO; and F.C., son, 6, b MO.
24. 1860 US Census, Johnson Co MO.
25. Who's Who in America 1922-23.
26. Obituary in Arkansas Optic (newspaper published by Arkansas School for the Deaf) 11 Feb 1924, p 1.
27. Who's Who in America 1914-15.
28. Obituary in The Presbyterian, 11 Feb 1932, p 11.
29. J.R. Dobyns/Lilly Webster marriage certificate.
30. William Ray Dobyns bio sketch in Chris. L. Rutt, History of Buchanan County and the City of St. Joseph, 1904.
31. Obituary in Independence Examiner, 23 Aug 1926, p 1 col 5.
32. 1870 US Census, Johnson Co MO. The name is here spelled "Daubins."
33. Benjamin F. Dobyns obituary, reprinted from the Warrensburg Journal, appears in the Lexington Caucasian and Express, Feb 27, 1869.
34. Webster and Webster, History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut, 1915.
35. Place of birth taken from a family group sheet by Mary Anna Rogers. Carondolet (St Louis Co) MO seems more probable.
36. Obituary in Arkansas Democrat Feb 1, 1925.
37. This date taken from Who's Who in America article about him. I have a xerox copy of this article with the date "about 1950" in Mary Agnes Dolan's handwriting.
38. Declaration for Pension in R.S. Dobyns' military service file at the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
39. R.S. Dobyns' death certificate.
40. Social Security Death Index.
41. R.S. Dobyns/Agnes Shelton marriage certificate.
42. Testimony by Mary Agnes Dobyns Dolan.
43. Brown, Robert S. History of the MS School for the Deaf, 1954.
44. Agness Dobyns death certificate.
45. M.A. (Dobyns) Dolan birth certificate.
46. P.T. Dolan/M.A. Dobyns marriage certificate.
47. Taylor, Walter N. Mississippi: A History, 1939, pp 1194-1197.
48. Lou Dickey Dobyns d 27 March 1933 at age 76 yrs at Kansas City MO, having lived there for 35 years. The obituary mentions four survivors: Rachel Dobyns, Penelope Dobyns, Mrs. George A. Robinson, and Mrs. W.N. Baucus of Kansas City [obituary in Warrensburg Star-Journal]. The records of William Dobyns Houston of Albuquerque, NM, show that Mrs. Robinson was named Ruth, and that Mrs. William Baucus was Frances (they had a child named Lou Dickey Baucus). These records name two more children of James F. and Lou Dickey Dobyns: David, who married Roma Wray, and Benjamin, who married Sue Underwood.
49. They had 2 children Margaret Ruth, b 21 Jan 1903, d 18 Dec 1903 [1]; and Mary Ray, b 9 Nov 1906 at St. Joseph MO [her DAR application no. 399661], m Hobson Elmer Houston [same source], d 17 Mar 1987 [Social Security Death Index]. Mary Ray and Hobson Elmer Houston had one adopted son, William Dobyns Houston, b. 1944, living in Albuquerque in 1998.
Click here to go to top page of Dobyns/Dobbins material
.