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Descendants of Edward Dorsey I

Generation No. 6


14. SUSANNAH6 LAWRENCE (BENJAMIN5, SUSANNAH4 DORSEY, JOHN3, EDWARD2, EDWARD1) was born May 4, 1769 in Maryland, and died June 21, 1818 in Jefferson County, Kentucky. She married (1) EDWARD DORSEY February 21, 1786 in Baltimore, Maryland, son of VACHEL DORSEY and RUTH DORSEY. He was born May 4, 1762 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and died August 5, 1804 in Jefferson County, Kentucky. She married (2) JOHN WILLIAMSON January 6, 1812 in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He died Unknown.

More About S
USANNAH LAWRENCE:
Burial: Unknown, Hobbs Cemetery, Anchorage, Kentucky as Susannah Williamson (John Williamson 2nd Husband)

Notes for E
DWARD DORSEY:
The American progenitor of the Dorseys, who were puritans, emigrated from Darcy, England, to Virginia in 1635, and thence to Maryland in 1649 where they were prominent in public affairs. Two Dorsey women presided over the mansion at Annapolis as wives of Maryland governors. Edward, the ancestor of the Jefferson County Dorseys , married Susannah daughter of Benjamin Lawrence and moved in 1802 to Kentucky together with his family and the family of Benjamin Lawrence. Edward Dorsey settled on a tract of land at what is now O'Bannon, Kentucky, where he built a substantial stone house. Although weather-beaten and in need of minor repairs, the house is still structurally sound and is occupied today by the present owner of the farm. The Dorsey scions claim that it was the first stone house built in Kentucky. There are locust trees on the lawn four feet in diameter. When one of them fell recently in storm the owner cut cross-section and counted two hundred fifty rings.

Edward Dorsey died on August 8, 1804 at the age of forty-two, just two years after his arrival in Kentucky. His wife, Susannah, who later married John Williamson, died on January 21, 1818, at the age of forty-nine. They are now buried in the Hobbs family graveyard at Anchorage to which they were moved when their grandson, Edward Dorsey Hobbs, bought the property. Basil Nicholas Hobbs, father of Edward Dorsey Hobbs, married Mary Ann, better known as Polly, the daughter of Edward and Susannah Dorsey.

After the death of Edward Dorsey his estate, which included lots in Middletown and several hundred acres on which he lived, was divided among his heirs: Susannah widow and relict, and five children Polly Hobbs, Leaven Lawrence, Elias L., Urith, and Matilda. Samuel Luckett, husband of Edward's daughter Patience, then deceased, received her share and brother's in law, Leaven and Samuel Lawrence were also made beneficiaries among the Middletown lots which Edward bought from Charles Quirey and Catherine, his wife, on April 23, 1802 were nos. 51 and 52 on which were located a store, a tavern, and a dwelling house, all joined by partitions. The dwelling occupied by Leaven Lawrence; the store was operated by Samuel, and the tavern was rented by John Ballard. In the settlement of the estate, which was made by the Jefferson County Court in 1807, Leaven Lawrence was allocated his kitchen and the room he was then living in and the ground on which it stood. Samuel became the owner of the storeroom, the chamber above it, and the cellar and the ground it occupied. This odd practice of dividing the rooms of a house among several persons was not unusual one hundred fifty years ago.

It is interesting to note that in 1803 Edward Dorsey gave bond to Leaven Lawrence in the sum of 1,500 Spanish gilded dollars to sell to him one-third of all houses and lots which Edward owned in Middletown.

Elias and Leaven Lawrence Dorsey I were born in Maryland in 1797 and 1799 respectively and came with their parents to Jefferson County.

Leaven Lawrence I married Susan O'Bannon, daughter of Isham O'Bannon, and had several children including: Eveline, Mary, and Bushrod. He owned a tract of six hundred acres which he named "Kitchen Garden Farm." It was located at what is now Armsby Station and was a part of "Eden". There he erected a large and elegant residence.

Elias Dorsey married [Martha] Booker and had a large family. He owned "Eden" the valuable stock farm of 1,200 acres inherited from his Grandfather. His son, Leaven Lawrence II was born in the Middletown precinct on February 17, 1818, and was educated in the private schools of Middletown under the tutelage of Lawrence Young. He married Lydia Phillips had the following children: Rosa, Nannie, Clark, Hattie, Robert and Lydia. He inherited his father's estate on which he raised highbred trotting horses. "Eden" was owned by the Dorsey family from 1814 until about 1880.

Dorsey Way is a lane on the western confines of Middletown leading to the home of the late Leaven Lawrence Dorsey III a grandson of Leaven Dorsey I. His daughter Louise, lives in the paternal home. Other Dorsey scions include Sally Dorsey of Louisville, who is the granddaughter of Bushrod Dorsey. The married Charles O. Fust and his two daughters, Marie Louise and Elizabeth Herndon.

Unknown source of Kentucky Biographies, circa 1880
_________________________________________________________________

SUMMARY OF WILL OF EDWARD DORSEY

Dated: May 2, 1804
Probated: November 5, 1804.

Wife Susanna; to daughters Anne (Polly), and Matilda Dorsey, at the age of sixteen, and to sons Elias, Leaven Lawrence and Benjamin Lawrence, at the age of twenty-one, $1,200.00; daughter Patience Luckett to have $10.00.

Executrix:Wife Susanna Dorsey.
Witnesses: Ben and Leavin Lawrence, Willis Hord.

[Jefferson County, Kentucky, Will Book 1, page 151.]


More About E
DWARD DORSEY:
Burial: Unknown, Hobbs Cemetery, Anchorage, Kentucky
     
Children are listed above under (13) Edward Dorsey.


15. ELIAS6 DORSEY (EDWARD5, VACHEL4, JOHN3, EDWARD2, EDWARD1) was born June 7, 1796 in Maryland, and died March 2, 1872 in Bunker Hill, Macoupin County, Illinois. He married (1) MARTHA R. BOOKER February 22, 1815 in Shelby County, Kentucky, daughter of RICHARD BOOKER and TABITHA FUQUA. She was born August 13, 1796 in Shelby County, Kentucky, and died September 20, 1836 in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He married (2) SARAH HENRIETTA MAYO January 20, 1838 in Baltimore County, Maryland, daughter of ISAAC MAYO and SARAH THORNTON. She was born Abt. 1789 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and died January 8, 1861 in Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Notes for E
LIAS DORSEY:
For the Republican

OBITUARY - ELIAS DORSEY

DIED - On the second day of March, 1873, Elias Dorsey, of Jefferson County, Kentucky, in the seventy-sixth year of age.

It is with feelings of deep regret and sadness that the above announcement is made; and whilst many hearts are bowed with grief at his departure from their midst and associations, it is yet interesting to review in a summary way his history, affording as it does a bright and illustrious example of what industry, honesty and integrity may accomplish when supported by a vigorous intellect and brave heart. The subject of this sketch was born in the state of Maryland, the son of Edward and Susan Dorsey, parents of the highest respectability and standing in the community in which they lived. They emigrated to Jefferson county Kentucky when their son was six years old, and with whom he lived on a farm until the war of 1812, when at the age of sixteen years, he entered the service of his country, enlisting in a Kentucky regiment commanded by Col. Richard Booker. Neither the persuasion of friends nor the earnest entreaties of his parents could deter him from this step; but young, ardent, enthusiastic, and brave, he determined to risk his life in his country's cause. He was a general favorite with his comrades and quite popular, and especially was he beloved by the colonel of his regiment, who, shortly after he became a soldier, remarked to him, "Elias, you are very young; if you prove yourself a good soldier, and do your entire duty, I will give you one of my daughters when the war is over." Suffice it to say that he proved himself all that was expected or demanded of him, and strange as it may seem, when the war was ended, he was honorably discharged, returned to his home, met Miss Martha R. Booker, the Colonel's daughter, loved her, proposed and shortly afterwards made her his wife. They then settled on a farm in Jefferson county, (both being poor), united their hands and hearts in the work and battle of life, reared thirteen children, and by economy and energy accumulated a large fortune. In the midst of his happiness and prosperity, however, in the year 1835, his wife was taken from him and he was left to mourn her loss with thirteen children. Several years afterwards he married Mrs. Sarah Williamson of Annapolis, Maryland, who was sister to Commodore Mayo of the United States navy. With this wife he lived until the year 1860, when she died, leaving him again a widower. From this time he ceased to keep house - having no children at home, all being married and settled in life - and lived alternately with his children in Kentucky and Illinois. During our last war he was a fearless, out-spoken Union man, devoted to his country and her cause. On one occasion, when asked why he did not take a government contract which was offered him, he replied in his usual emphatic manner, "Should I do so, and act honestly as a patriot should, the profits would be too small for the trouble and anxiety, and I am not the man to defraud my country." And this was his true character. He loved truth and honesty above everything else, and made them his guide and standard. At the time of his death he left eight loving children, five sons and three daughters, fifty-one grand-children and six great-grand-children, and his death-bed scene was, indeed, wonderful. All his children were present and many of his grand-children, sympathizing in every suffering he endured, ever watchful and ready to relieve where human power could relieve, and weeping in the bitterness of their grief at the separation from one who loved them so much and had done so much for them. He died without a struggle, and there is full assurance that his spirit has returned to the God who gave it, and that he is now rejoicing with those who have crossed the river before him.

(Obituary from the Republican newspaper; date, city and state of newspaper unknown)

__________________________________________

ELIAS DORSEY was born June 7, 1796, near Frederick, Maryland, and in childhood accompanied his parents to Kentucky. During the War of 1812 he served as a private soldier and received a pension for his services. He devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits, and, although in straitened circumstances during his early manhood, by the exercise of a natural business capacity acquired a large tract of fine blue grass land within eight miles of the city of Louisville. There he engaged in the favorite occupation of the Kentucky farmer--the raising of fine horses for market. His farm consisted of 600 acres of land and prior to the Civil War he owned some 30 slaves. These he subsequently freed. For many years he lived the life of a typical planter, "Eden Farm" being the center of general hospitality and social gaiety, many of the most distinguished members of the polite, business and political world being lavishly entertained there. At an early date Elias Dorsey, with the business instincts which made all of his operations successful, purchased 13,000 acres of land lying in Madison and Macoupin counties, Illinois. His death took place in 1873 at Bunker Hill, Macoupin County, Illinois, in the 77th year of his age. He was a consistent supporter of Democratic principles all his life. He was a man of generous nature, was devoted to his large family and assisted each one of his 13 children with the gift of a farm of 1,000 acres.

In 1815 Elias Dorsey married Martha Booker, who was a daughter of Col. Richard Booker, and a member of a very prominent family of Shelby County, Kentucky. They were the parents of the following 13 children: John W., Richard E., Leavin L., Benjamin L., Basil H., William Montjoy, Mrs. Cordelia Hornsby, Mrs. Ann C. Winchester, Elias L., Mary Matilda, and Orlean O., all deceased; Plutarch H., and Mrs. Martha Shields of Kansas.

Source:
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois. Richmond & Arnold, Chicago, Illinois, 1904.

__________________________________________

Elias Dorsey was born in Maryland as were also his grandparents, Edward Dorsey, father of Elias, died when the son was quite young and the mother afterward removed to Kentucky, where she became the wife of John Williamson. She made her home in Jefferson County, that State until her death. Elias Dorsey, when quite young accompanied his widowed mother to Kentucky, settling upon a farm, where he made his home until after Mrs. Dorsey's second marriage, when at the age of seventeen years he enlisted in the War of 1812, under Col. Richard Booker, serving throughout the struggle. He with his regiment marched to New Orleans but arrived at that place just after Gen. Jackson had come off conqueror in the ''tearless battle." When the war was over he returned with his Colonel to Shelby County, Ky., and married the daughter of his commanding officer. Miss Martha R. Booker, who was born and reared in that county. Her parents were both natives of Virginia, whence in an early day, they immigrated to Kentucky, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The Colonel was a brave man who faithfully served his country well.

After their marriage Elias Dorsey and his wife took up their residence on a farm in Jefferson County, Ky., but the lady died about 1835. Her husband was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Sarah (Mayo) Williamson, a native of Baltimore, Md., and the sister of Commodore Mayo, of the United States Navy. Mr. Dorsey also survived his second wife and in 1866 came to Illinois, making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Edward Winchester, of Bunker Hill, until his death, which occurred March 2, 1872, at the age of seventy-six years. He was a hard working man and by his industry and perseverance became quite wealthy, owning at one time several thousand acres of land, the greater part of which he bequeathed to his children before his death. His honesty and integrity was proverbial and the greatest confidence was manifested in Mr. Dorsey by all who knew him. His life is a grand example of what can be accomplished through honest industry, perseverance and good management. He was outspoken in defense of the right; neither fear nor favor could keep him silent. He was devoted to his country and its cause and on one occasion when being asked why he did not accept a Government contract offered him he replied in his usual emphatic manner that if he should do so and act honestly as a patriot the profits would be too small for the trouble and he did not intend to defraud his country. This speech serves as an index to his whole life. In politics he was a Jackson Democrat. He was identified with no religious organization but believed in doing right for right's sake. One of nature's noblemen, no death in the community has been more sincerely mourned.

Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Macoupin County, Illinois containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State and of the Presidents of the United States. Chicago; Biographical Publishing Company, 1891, Page 801.

__________________________________________

ELIAS DORSEY

Mrs. Dorsey [Martha R. Booker] was the daughter of Col. Richard Booker who served in the War of 1812. Elias Dorsey enlisted under him at the age of seventeen years and on the promise of good behavior, the colonel promised to give him one of his daughters in marriage on his return, which promise was fulfilled. Elias Dorsey and his wife were natives of Maryland and Kentucky respectively and their married life was spent in Jefferson County of the latter state. They went on a prospecting tour to Illinois, preparatory to determining whether they would make that State their home and while on the return trip Mrs. Dorsey was thrown from a carriage while crossing a bridge in Indiana. A limb was fractured and the accident resulted in the loss of her life. Mr. Dorsey continued his residence in Kentucky and afterward married Mrs. [Sarah Mayo] Williamson, a lady of Baltimore Maryland, after whose death he came to Illinois and died at the home of his son in law, Edward C. Winchester, at the age of seventy-six. He was one of the largest landowners in this part of the State, being the possessor of more than twenty-thousand acres of good land. He was very successful in all his business undertakings and although he had little when he started out in life he became very wealthy. In politics he was a strong Jacksonian Democrat.

Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Macoupin County, Illinois containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State and of the Presidents of the United States.
Chicago; Biographical Publishing Company, 1891, Page 207.

__________________________________________

ELIAS DORSEY, brother of Leaven Lawrence Dorsey, was born in Maryland in 1797; and when a mere youth came with his father to Jefferson County, where the family settled. Mr. Dorsey experienced the many inconveniences of living in a sparsely settled country, but he grew up to manhood, possessing many valuable traits belonging to good citizenship, and became not only a thorough business man but very influential. He was always a Democrat, and in view of his unflinching political qualifications, his friends at one time forced him upon the ticket as a candidate for the State Legislature, against the wishes of himself and of his family. He was defeated by a small plurality, which ended his political career. He was a successful farmer, as the proprietorship of the valuable Eden stock farm would of itself suggest. There were in this one tract of land eight hundred acres, the same afterwards owned by Elias and L. L. Dorsey, his two sons. Mr. Dorsey was married twice. His first wife, Miss [Martha R.] Booker, was married to him when he was quite young. They reared a family of thirteen children, of whom all grew to maturity save one, who died in youth. The eldest never married and died at the age of twenty-seven. Another son also died when about twenty-five years old, unmarried.

Mr. Dorsey, after the death of Mrs. Sally [Mayo Williamson] Dorsey, his second wife, went to Illinois, then a wilderness almost, and purchased a large tract of land consisting of twenty thousand acres, where he lived until he died. His body was brought back and placed in the cemetery at Louisville.

Mr. L. L. Dorsey, Jr., his son, now living on the Bardstown pike near the city, was born February 17, 1819. About the year 1845 he married Miss Lydia Phillips, and lived until recently on the Eden stock farm. He has lately purchased the magnificent house and farm above mentioned, where he will spend the remainder of his days in the enjoyment of a retired life. Mr. L. L. Dorsey, with but a single exception, has been one of the largest stock raisers in the country. He devoted much of his time to this calling both before and since the late war.

Source:
History of the Ohio Falls Cities and Their Counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches Volume II, L. A. Williams & Co., Cleveland, 1882. Page 62.

________________________________________

Military Service:

War of 1812 - Private, Col. John Callaway's 8 Regiment, Cpt. Samuel Kelly's D Company, Mounted, Kentucky Volunteers; August 21, 1813 to November 9, 1813.

He fought in the Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, which took place on October 5, 1813, North of Lake Erie near present-day Chatham, Ontario. It resulted in the death of the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, and the destruction of the Native American coalition which he led.

Source:
National Archives, Washington DC


More About E
LIAS DORSEY:
Burial: November 22, 1879, Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky - Relocated
Military service: War of 1812 - Private, Col. John Callaway's 8 Regiment, Cpt. Samuel Kelly's D Company, Mounted, Kentucky Volunteers; 8/21/1813 to 11/9/1813/
Residence: Eden Plantation, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Notes for M
ARTHA R. BOOKER:
Mrs. Dorsey [Martha R. Booker] was the daughter of Col. Richard Booker who served in the War of 1812. Elias Dorsey enlisted under him at the age of seventeen years and on the promise of good behavior, the colonel promised to give him one of his daughters in marriage on his return, which promise was fulfilled. Elias Dorsey and his wife were natives of Maryland and Kentucky respectively and their married life was spent in Jefferson County of the latter state. They went on a prospecting tour to Illinois, preparatory to determining whether they would make that State their home and while on the return trip Mrs. Dorsey was thrown from a carriage while crossing a bridge in Indiana. A limb was fractured and the accident resulted in the loss of her life.

Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Macoupin County, Illinois containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State and of the Presidents of the United States.
Chicago; Biographical Publishing Company, 1891, Page 207

More About M
ARTHA R. BOOKER:
Burial: November 22, 1879, Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky - Relocated from Lawrence Family Cemetery

Notes for S
ARAH HENRIETTA MAYO:
On June 2, 1798, Jonathan Waters was appointed the guardian of Sarah, (Orphan's Court 4802, 128). He was the 2nd husband to her mother after her father, Isaac Mayo, Sr., died.
__________________________________________________

The will of Sarah H. Dorsey, wife of Elias Dorsey, was dated November 6, 1859, and probated in Jefferson County, Kentucky, on January 30, 1860. She declared that she had been the widow of James Williamson and also referred to the marriage contract between Sarah H. Williamson and Elias Dorsey on file at the courthouse. She made a number of bequests to relatives, many of whom had Maryland background.

To brother Joseph Mayo $2,000.00 and at his death a legacy to Fanny H. Flusser.
To sister Julianna Flusser $2,000.00 and she was to purchase certain slaves belonging to the estate of late James Williamson.
To niece Margarite B. Denson $1,000.00, silver tea set and $500.00 to be in trust by Mrs. Hope Lindenberger for niece Genevievie Snead.
To Julia Snead slave.
To nephew Hope Lindenberger Jr. $200.00, a minor.
To niece Sophy Gaither gold watch.
To nephews William John Mayo of brother Isaac and Guy Flusser legacies.
To niece Nayomie Linthcum $300.00 and niece Julia Waters daughter of brother Thomas Waters $300.00.
To Fanny Waters $300.00.
To nephew Thomas W. Lenoir, minor son of niece Margaret B. Lenoir $200.00.
To nephew Thomas Waters $300.00 and cousin Eugene Wells $200.00.

FROM:
Anne Arundel Gentry, Volume II, Harry Wright Newman, Family Line Publications. Page 52

     
Children of E
LIAS DORSEY and MARTHA BOOKER are:
  i.   JOHN WILLIAMSON7 DORSEY, b. February 5, 1816, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. August 12, 1845, Gillespie, Macoupin County, Illinois.
18. ii.   RICHARD EDWARD DORSEY, b. May 17, 1817, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. May 24, 1874, Gillespie, Macoupin County, Illinois.
19. iii.   LEVIN LAWRENCE DORSEY, b. February 7, 1819, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. April 1888, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
20. iv.   BENJAMIN LAWRENCE DORSEY, b. December 14, 1820, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. June 19, 1895, Macoupin County, Illinois.
21. v.   BASIL HOBBS DORSEY, b. March 20, 1822, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. March 24, 1846.
22. vi.   WILLIAM MONTJOY DORSEY, b. October 11, 1823, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. March 13, 1902, Bunker Hill, Macoupin County, Illinois.
23. vii.   FRANCIS CORDELIA DORSEY, b. December 1, 1825, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. February 28, 1895, Bunker Hill, Macoupin County, Illinois.
24. viii.   ANN CARMALITA DORSEY, b. March 7, 1827, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. February 7, 1901, St Louis County, Missouri.
25. ix.   ELIAS LAWRENCE DORSEY, b. November 16, 1828, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. August 12, 1866, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
  x.   MARY MATILDA DORSEY, b. April 11, 1830, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. June 19, 1845, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
  Notes for MARY MATILDA DORSEY:
Buried first in 1845 at the Lawrence Family Cemetery, Louiseville Kentucky.

Stone Inscription:
"Sacred to the memory of Mary Matilda, daughter of Elias and Martha Dorsey, 15 years old - 1845"

Moved to Elias Dorsey Plot, Cave Hill Cemetery in 1879.

  More About MARY MATILDA DORSEY:
Burial: Unknown, Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky - Relocated from Lawrence Family Cemetery

  xi.   ORLENA O. DORSEY, b. December 20, 1831, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. July 3, 1863.
  More About ORLENA O. DORSEY:
Burial: November 22, 1879, Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky - Relocated

26. xii.   PLUTARCH HINES DORSEY, b. November 8, 1833, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. December 6, 1915, Macoupin County, Illinois.
27. xiii.   MARTHA R. DORSEY, b. October 31, 1835, Jefferson County, Kentucky; d. Aft. 1910, Kansas.


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