Re: Henry Bradford Dorrance son of Lemuel Smith Dorrance
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In reply to:
Henry Bradford Dorrance son of Lemuel Smith Dorrance
Joe Hamilton 6/08/07
Thank you for posting that information! This Dorrance Family, related to the Riley Family of Hillsborough, Wisconsin, played an interesting role in the settlement of Oklahoma. Lemuel S. Dorrance was the first graduate of the University of Oklahoma (Class of 1898, two pharmacy school graduates). Lem's sister Effie married Edward Phillip Ingle, one of the first settlers of Norman, Oklahoma during the Land Rush of 1889, the builder of the first house in Norman, and the founder of the Norman Transcript newspaper.
After Lem graduated from OU, he worked in pharmacies in Norman and Oklahoma City and eventually emigrated to Nicaragua, where he operated a chocolate plantation and was involved in gold-mining ventures. He died of heatstroke in Nicaragua in 1922.
A group of families, including this one, seem to have migrated from the coal mining area of the Wyoming Valley near Wilkes Barre, PA, probably explaining the origin of the town name "Wyoming" in Stark Co., IL.