Oliver Monroe Dodson (1842 - 1925)

Born 18 Dec 1842 in Athens, McMinn, TN, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Angeline (Kelly) Dodson — married about 6 Oct 1865 in McMinn Co. TN USA

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Biography

Oliver McMinn's life started in Athen, McMinn, TN USA in 1842. He grew up there but when he was ready to emancipate into adulthood he joined the Northern Army to fight for the Union in the Civil War. Some of his older brothers had already gone west and south to be in on the ground floor of starting farms, businesses and towns there. But he and his at-home brothers had to decide about their own role in the Civil War. He did well, advanced and was still living at the end. He married Angeline Kelley shortly after the war and he and Angeline headed to San Francisco, California, USA. They were only there a short time and soon found their way to Yolo county, CA USA which is about 25 miles north of Sacramento CA. They farmed there a few short years and moved on up to Polk county, OR USA where is older brother McMinn was living. His efforts at farming in Yolo County seems to have pushed him in the direction of finding a different future. Angeline died a short time after reaching Polk county. In 1877 he and his nephew, Zachary (son of his older brother McMinn) both graduated in the study of medicine at Willamette University in Salem OR; ^[1] a newly established institution.,^[2] His sister-in-law Sarah (Cunningham) Dodson had been acting as a medical practitioner for citizens of Polk County for more than 20 years since arriving in Oregon in 1853 and she was an inspiration to both her oldest son and her brother-in-law "Roe". Roe and Zack, were six years apart in age and had only been reunited with family a short time at Dallas when they, found camaraderie, entered college, graduated and Roe first went to Prairie City, OR and served as physician at the Malheur Indian Agency. After one year he took a leave of absence and studied in New York City to secure more advanced knowledge. But he returned to Baker City, OR and served the needs of that community for many years. He remarried and raised a family of four children.

Sources

1. ↑ WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY WHO'S WHO, Alumni Registry, 1920 p 44
2. ↑ Larsell, Olof; The Doctor in Oregon; A Medical History, published 1947 p319 (available in most NW Oregon libraries)

• Birth & death: Find a Grave.com, Maj Oliver M Dodson, #53886649, Mout Hope Cemetery, Baker City, Baker, OR USA, b Dec 18, 1842 d Oct 1, 1925.

• William McMinn Dodson family Bible, Dodson-3592

• Julia (Wells) Dodson's family record hand written by her on lined and numbered sheets of paper found with her diary, passed along in family and now in my possession (Dodson-3592].

• Hines, H.K.: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF OREGON, Published by Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, 1893 see biography of “O.M. Dodson” This book is also available as a free download from the American Libraries Collection of the Internet Archive. p355 [oliver monroe]

WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY WHO'S WHO, Alumni Registry, 1920 p 44

THE DOCTORS OF OREGON, p319