LINSEY FAMILY: Owen Dorathy & Sarah Lindsey

Owen Dorathy & Sarah Lindsey Family

Much of the history of my Lindsey/Linsey relatives is still a mystery. The immigrant was reportedly Harvey Lindsey, who has been reported to have been from Ireland or England (or possibly Scotland). He married Peace Macomber and had an unknown number of children.  This was ascertained from death certificates for what were the two known children, Oscar Linsey and his sister Mary Lindsey. 

Through the miracle of DNA, about a year ago, another connection popped up. Sarah Lindsey. it turns out, was the older sister of Oscar and Mary. The story fit neatly together on all fronts, including that her family also traveled from Chautaqua County, New York to Whiteside County in Illinois. 

After recently locating the 1830 Census for Harvey in Washington County, New York, I was able to confirm an, as to yet unnamed, daughter born between Sarah and Mary born between 1825 and 1830.

Born in 1821, in Washington County to Harvey and Peace, Sarah was most likely the oldest or one of the oldest children of the couple. Sarah married Owen Dorathy (an altered form of Dougherty) around 1840 in New York. The couple lived in Ellington in Chautauqua County. Owen was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1815 and emigrated to the US in 1835.

The couple relocated to Whiteside County, Illinois between 1856-1857, settling in the area near Portland. Their post office was the Spring Hill post office. By the time they'd arrived, they already had six of their final count of eight children. The Dorathy's farmed.

While the Dorathy's remained in Whiteside County (until today, in fact), Sarah's younger brother Oscar, my 2GG, moved his family to Benton County, Iowa, near Vinton. Mary, the only other sibling I know about, lived in Whiteside County for most of her life, but died in Vinton, most likely because her brother was there.

Morris Dorathy & Lydia Besse

The Dorathy's were a very well regarded family in the county and in the coming generations were very involved in civic activities and the Methodist church. While that is true, they aren't a particularly interesting group, leading fairly routine recorded lives, much like the lives of Sarah's brother Oscar's family in Iowa. Here is a brief summary of the children of the Dorathy's:

Morris Dorathy: Born 04 Dec 1842/Ellington, Chautaqua, New York (some reports say Cattaraugus County); Died: 10 Apr 1930, Portland, Whiteside, Illinois. Married: Lydia Rose Besse, 12 Nov 1970 in Whiteside County. They had six children. Morris served in the Civil War, with the 75th Illinois Infantry. He served for three years, seeing action Perrysville, Stone River, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. He was also on the front lines of the Atlantic Campaign. He was discharged in 1865. He was a member of the Modern Woodsmen, the Grand Army of the Republic (a Civil War veteran's organization), and the Masons.

Dennis Dorathy: Born 04 Nov 1844, Ellington, Chautaqua, New York. Died 04 Jan 1922 in Fremont, Dodge County, Nebraska. Married: Charlotte Dickerson, 10 Nov 1867 in Henry County, Illinois. The couple was the only Dorathy who continued west during this time. The couple moved to Nebraska around 1870, but possibly prior. The couple owned a couple of different farms in the North Bend area, but after the death of his wife in 1913, Dennis moved to Fremont where he died after developing a cold
which sounds like turned into pneumonia. The couple had two children.

Charles Dorothy

Charles Dorathy: Born 25 Apr 1846, Ellington, Chautauqua, New York. Died 07 May 1937, Maywood, Cook County, Illinois. Married: Never married. Charles Dorathy was the last Whiteside County Civil War veteran when he died at age 91. He served with Company B, 140th Illinois Infantry Volunteers from 1863 to 1865. He farmed his entire life. The last few years of his life he suffered from illness and resided in the veteran's hospital in Cook County until his death.

William Dorathy: Born 09 Mar 1851, Ellington, Chautauqua, New York. Died 24 Mar 1924 in Portland, Whiteside, Illinois. Married: Clementine Toms, 21 Dec 1876, Whiteside County, Illinois. The couple had four children. After farming for many years, the couple moved to Prophetstown. Mrs. Dorathy died in 1940 after a heart attack at her son Bruce's home outside of Prophetstown.

William Dorathy

Catherine "Katie" Dorathy: Born Aug 1852, Ellington, Chautauqua, New York. Died 08 Feb 1875,

Prophetstown, Whiteside, Illinois. Married: George Erastus Breckenridge, 22 Jan 1869, Whiteside County, Illinois. George was also a farmer. The young couple had two children before Katie's premature death. George remarried Nancy Agnes Allen in 1876 and the couple raised his two children and their two children before George's death in 1910 in Red Eye, Wadena County, Minnesota.

Mary Ann Dorathy: Born 24 Mar 1956, Ellington, Chautauqua, New York. Died 02 Jun 1934, Portland, Whiteside, Illinois. Married: Cecil Fuller, 28 May 1973, Whiteside County, Illinois. Cecil was a farm laborer. The couple did not have any children. She was a Methodist and an honorary member of the Portland Club.

Lee Watson Dorathy

Frank Dorathy: Born 18 Oct 1858, Whiteside County, Illinois. Died 03 Apr 1895, Whiteside, Illinois. Married: Christina Catherine "Katie" Kelly, 04 Jul 1882, Whiteside County, Illinois. He worked as a farm laborer during his short life. The couple had no children.

Lee Watson Dorathy: Born 18 Jun 1861, Whiteside County, Illinois. Died 16 May 1932, Whiteside County, Illinois. Married: Lydia Rawson, 29  Jun 1887, Whiteside County, Illinois. The couple had two children. 

While not a lot was gleaned from researching this family, I was struck by one thing - the dour expressions of Sarah and several of her children, were exactly the same expression shared by my own antecedents!