DAWSON, O. T.

DAWSON, WILKINS, BALDWIN, STEBBINS, CHAPPIN, GUSLAND

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 5/10/2004 at 14:00:24

Biography reproduced from page 85 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

O. T. Dawson is now the leading tailor in Algona, Iowa. He is a native son of Kossuth county and his parents were among the earliest pioneers of that district. He was born in Lotts Creek township, August 15, 1867, and is a son of Thomas and Eliza (Wilkins) Dawson. His father was a native of England and came to America about 1859, locating at Springfield, Illinois, where he lived until the time of the Civil war. He enlisted in the federal army as a member of Company K, Eighth Illinois Volunteer Regiment, and served with great distinction until the end of the war. He took part in the battles of Fredericktown, Missouri, October 21, 1861; Farmington, Mississippi, May 9, 1862; Corinth, Mississippi, May 28, 1862; Iuka, Mississippi, September, 1862; Corinth, Mississippi, October 3 and 4, 1862; Jackson, Mississippi, May 14, 1863; the assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 22, 1863; and the battles of Fort De Russy, Henderson Hill, Pleasant Hill, Mansura, Yellow Bayou, Lake Chicot and Bayou De Glaise, Louisiana. Besides these battles in which Thomas Dawson was personally engaged his company took part in the following skirmishes: Farmington, Mississippi, May 8, 1862; Iuka, Mississippi, September 12 and 16, 1862; Mississippi Springs, Mississippi, May 13, 1863; Mechanicsburg, Mississippi, May 24 and June 4, 1863; Richmond, Louisiana, June 13, 1863; Straight Road Creek, Mississippi, October 17, 1863; Pocahontas, Tennessee; Fort Scurry, Louisiana; Grand Ecore, Louisiana; and a continued skirmish down Red river. Mr. Dawson received his honorable discharge at the end of the war and came immediately to Kossuth county, Iowa, where he took a claim in Lotts Creek township, which he improved and cultivated until the time of his death. He was married in 1866 to Mrs. Eliza Baldwin, formerly Miss Eliza Wilkins. Mrs. Dawson’s first husband had been a member of Company E, Twenty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and died June 29, 1864, at Memphis, Tennesee, leaving four children: James, who was frozen to death on a claim which his stepfather had taken up in Kossuth county; Eunice, the wife of Walter Stebbins, of Algona, Iowa; Charles, who is now living in Texas; and Warren, a drayman in Algona. Thomas Dawson’s marriage to Mrs. Baldwin occurred in 1866. The same winter he went with his stepson, James Baldwin, to carry in some hay from a remote part of his holdings, and Mr. Dawson was found a short while afterward almost dead from the cold. He lingered a few days before he died. His stepson was not living when found.

After Mr. Dawson’s death his wife remained upon the homestead until her son O. T. Dawson was five years of age and then came into the city of Algona, where she made her home. She died when our subject was eighteen years of age and is buried in the Riverview cemetery beside her husband and her son James Baldwin. She had been a prominent Methodist during her life and all the members of her family had followed this religion except her husband, who was a member of the Church of England. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dawson were the parents of two children, twins, who were born a short time before their father’s death: Orace, the subject of this sketch; and Horace, who lived until 1903, dying at the age of thirty-six years.

O. T. Dawson was educated in Algona public schools and began to learn the tailor’s trade when twenty-two years of age. He studied the business in Sheldon, Iowa, and after two years came to Algona. He did not settle here permanently at that time but worked in various places for a few years, learning the details of his trade and becoming a master workman. He now has one of the finest tailoring shops in Algona and numbers among his clients some of the most prominent people of the city.

In 1897 Mr. Dawson was united in marriage to Miss Edith Chappin, and they became the parents of one child, Arlo Le Roy, now a student in the Algona public schools. Mr. Dawson’s twin brother, Horace, lived during his life in Emmetsburg, Iowa, where he followed the barber’s trade. His wife was Miss Jennie Gusland and upon his death he left two children, Ruby and Mina, now living in Emmetsburg.

Politically O. T. Dawson is a consistent republican but has never taken an active part in public affairs and does not seek office for himself. He is active in the affairs of the Modern Woodmen of America and gives his allegiance to the Methodist Episcopal church. He has gained during his life that success which is the outcome of hard work and attention to detail and his tailoring business has grown and developed during the last few years into an extensive and prosperous enterprise.