The Children of William Dickson and Mary Ann Browning (Part I)

William Dickson was an affable man and an accomplished seaman.  He was apparently well-liked in Buffalo and respected for his work as a ship's captain on the Great Lakes.  Much of William Dickson's personal contentment seems to have come from his happy family life.  His marriage to Mary Ann Browning was a long and successful one, and they had eight children together, six of whom survived to adulthood.

According to his grandson, William Dickson Young ("WDY"), whose biography of William Dickson provides most of the details we know about him, William Dickson was very content in Buffalo.  Even when he stood to inherit his parents' estate in Ireland, he did not consider moving his family from New York.

William was the eldest son of the family [his parents, George Dickson and Elizabeth Black, had six children total] and therefore the heir to the property in Ireland, for that property was entailed, but on his father's death he refused to accept it, for he was then well off, and had become an American citizen and would not go back to Ireland, so it went to his next brother, John.

The children of William Dickson and Mary Ann Browning were as follows:

1. Esther Dickson, born Sept. 16, 1833 in Port Stanley, Ontario.  Died February 2, 1872 in Buffalo, New York.  She did not marry.
2. Sarah Ann Dickson, born October 8, 1836 in Buffalo, New York.  Died October 15, 1915 in Buffalo, New York.  She did not marry.
3. George William Dickson, born December 11, 1838 in Buffalo, New York.  Died December 31, 1916 in Santa Monica, California.  He married Mary Elizabeth Bellangee.
4. John Henry Dickson, born May 11, 1841 in Buffalo, New York.  Died 1865.  He married Sarah Mitchell.
5. Robert James Dickson, born October 8, 1843 in Buffalo, New York.  Died 1878.  He did not marry.
6. Elizabeth Jane Dickson, born October 8, 1847 in Buffalo, New York.  Died March 9, 1935 in Buffalo, New York.  She married Albert Barnes Young.
7. Louis Dickson, born 1850 in Buffalo, New York.  Died 1851.  (Twin of Louise Dickson)
8. Louise Dickson, born 1850 in Buffalo, New York. Died 1851.  (Twin of Louis Dickson)

William Dickson Young wrote about his aunts and uncles in his biography of the Dickson family members.  

Esther Dickson

Esther Dickson is sometimes also referred to as Hester in various online accounts of the Dickson family.  However, in all the census records I've seen, she is called Esther.  This is also the name engraved on her tombstone.

[Esther Dickson] was born in Port Stanley, Ont. Sept. 26 1833.  She never married, although she was at one time engaged to Charles Church, a brother of Mrs. William Ives (William Ives was a little man whom every one in older Buffalo knew, for he was the first, and for many years the only librarian of the Young Mens Association, later the Buffalo Public Library).  I never knew Esther, for she died before I was born.  She was apparently an able, brilliant and popular girl and woman, very active socially and fond of good clothing and nice personal possessions of the best quality.

Sarah Ann Dickson

Of his aunt Sarah Ann Dickson, William Dickson Young wrote the following:

[Sarah Ann Dickson] was born in Buffalo, N.Y. in the Eagle Street house Oct. 8th 1846.  Sarah was never very brilliant, but faithful, good, true and devout.  She was blue-eyed.  She was, in a way, the off-chick of the family, and among her quick and clever brothers and sisters people seemed to think that she could not do things as well as the rest (which may have been true) but this was perhaps why she never had the chance or desire to try.  None of the children, except my mother, ever had much education in the modern sense, in part probably because their parents had never had much and could not visualize what a real education was, and so far as the girls were concerned, also probably because it was thought less necessary for females than for men, for the family had the means to get it [education], and perhaps partly because they were a social rather than a reading family.

Sarah lived with her mother until the death of the latter and then lived with us at 29 Park Street until her death.  She was a loving and devoted friend to we children, always ready to serve us or to read to us by the hour, at such a speed that no one but we could understand what she was saying.  When I was small I called her Aunt Lalu, my understanding of Sarah (pronouncing "A" as in "sad"), which in time became simply "La" ("A" as in "say") to us to her death.  She was a devout and devoted member of Calvary Presbyterian Church.  She is buried in the Dickson lot in Forest Lawn [in Buffalo, New York].

George William Dickson

William Dickson Young didn't know his uncle George William Dickson (my third great-grandfather) very well.  George left Buffalo as a young man, making few return visits.  Still, WDY wrote a summary of him based on his memories.

[George William Dickson] was born in the Barker Street house on Dec. 11th 1838 and died some years ago in California and is buried there.  I remember him, but not very well, as a tall, broad-shouldered, quiet man.  He was never a money-maker, nor were any of his brothers.  He was also a lake-man for most of his life, and for many years was Captain of the big Grand Trunk car ferry from Sarnia, Ont. to Point Huron, Mich. across the river, which would take on whole trains.  They lived in Sarnia.  He married Mary Bellangee of Milwaukee, Wisc., a niece of Mrs. Davocks .... who lived on Delaware Avenue, in a house where the Westminster Parish House now stands.  They never lived in Buffalo.  

It's interesting that WDY repeatedly refers to his Dickson uncles in somewhat dismissive terms in his biography.  He brings up several times the idea that they were spoiled, had too much money and not enough fatherly supervision, and thus didn't turn out to have successful lives of their own.  My own family lore paints George William Dickson in a more positive light.  He certainly had a long career as a ship's captain.  His marriage seems to have been a happy one, and he was quite devoted to his children.  He may not have been as financially successful as his father, but he seems to have been a hard-working and contented family man.  Since WDY didn't know George well, he may simply be lumping him in with the other Dickson boys, but it's an interesting and unexpected characterization of his uncle.

William Dickson Young also wrote brief paragraphs about George Dickson and Mary Bellangee's four children.  Of these cousins, he only ever spent any real time with Elizabeth Davock Dickson, the eldest, since she lived in his household for a time while attending nursing school in Buffalo.

Lizzie Dickson, named after my mother who was always called Lizzie.  She was a little older than I am.  She lived with us at 29 Park Street for several years, a big, capable girl, and a good sport.  She graduated in nursing at the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital, has adhered to it and is a wonderful nurse.  She was in France during the war, although then over 50 years of age.  She has never married and is, I believe, in California.

This is quite in line with what my grandmother told me about Elizabeth Davock Dickson, except that I've never heard about her being overseas during World War I.  WDY goes on to describe Elizabeth's sister, Anne Amelia Dickson.

Annie Dickson.  She was a boisterous, stubborn sort of a kid.  She also became a graduate nurse from the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital, but she was never as able a girl as Lizzie.  She married and lives in the west.

Although this isn't a terribly nice way to describe my second great-grandmother, it does ring true.  My grandmother always described Annie as headstrong, willful and fiercely independent.  As I've written in previous posts, Annie was a nurse for some years, but gave it up when she became a mother to her five boys.  Elizabeth was a devoted nurse and hospital administrator her entire life, which is probably why the "not as able" comment is aimed at Annie.

Of Elizabeth and Annie's brothers, William and George Dickson, it appears WDY didn't know them at all.  He says simply that "both of these sons are married and live in the west."  More information about George and William can be found in my previous posts.

I'll continue with descriptions of William Dickson's three youngest children in my next post.

The Adoption of George Roscoe Griffin

George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd, formerly George Roscoe Griffin

On April 12, 1898, Malcolm Brakspear Oliver Rutherfurd filed paperwork to adopt his wife's son from her first marriage.

Malcolm Brakspear Oliver Rutherfurd

George Roscoe Griffin was born on January 23, 1895. He was the son of Anne Amelia Dickson and John T. Griffin.  His parents' marriage lasted a very short time. They were separated soon after their honeymoon and divorced a year after their nuptials. George never met his biological father. Annie Dickson married a second time, on April 29, 1897. Her second husband, Malcolm Rutherfurd, petitioned to adopt his stepson one year later.

The signature of Malcolm Brakspear Oliver Rutherfurd on the adoption document

The adoption paperwork is very interesting, since it sheds light on the relationship between Annie Dickson and John T. Griffin. While this account comes from Annie's point of view entirely, it's the most comprehensive account of the reasons for her divorce.

Comes now Malcolm B. O. Rutherford [sic], a citizen of the United States and citizen and resident of Converse County, Wyoming, and for the purposes hereinafter stated, would respectfully represent to the Court and Judge thereof,

FIRST:  That he is a married man, a farmer and stock raiser, by occupation, is 24 years of age and is fully able, competent and willing to provide for and assume the relation of parent to the minor child hereinafter named.

SECOND:  That your petitioner, the said Malcolm B. O. Rutherford [sic] doth hereby appear and doth hereby offer to adopt said minor child George Roscoe Griffin, a male child aged about four years, as his own, and to assume the relation of parent, that of a father to said minor child.

THIRD:  Your petitioner would further represent that the father of said minor child is John T. Griffin, and the mother of said minor is Annie E. Rutherford [sic], the wife of your petitioner, formerly the wife of the said John T. Griffin.  That the said John T. Griffin has been heretofore by this honorable court adjudged and found guilty of extreme cruelty; and for that cause has been divorced from his said former wife, Annie, the mother of said child; and the said mother thereafter married and became the wife of your petitioner, and is now a resident of said County and State; and at the time of said decree of divorce, said John T. Griffin, the father of said child, was found to be a cruel and vicious person and unfit to have the care and custody of said minor; and he was there and then, by this Court, judicially deprived of the custody or care of said child; and the Court judicially awarded sole care and custody of the said minor child to Annie E. Rutherford [sic], formerly Annie E. Griffin [sic].

This statement tells us that (a) the Converse County, Wyoming court processed Annie's divorce from John T. Griffin, (b) Annie claimed that John T. Griffin was extremely cruel, vicious and unfit to parent a child and (c) the court agreed with her. Of course, we know that John T. Griffin had already raised five children with his first wife, Ellen Pearsall. While no claims of abuse are on record from that marriage, or his last and final marriage to Elizabeth Rice, we cannot know whether abuse did or did not exist in his relationships. Annie claimed that John T. Griffin was cruel to her, and that's the only account we have of their marriage.

The document goes on to state that Annie Dickson Rutherfurd gives her consent to the adoption. It also decrees that henceforth, George will be legally and for all purposes considered the child of Malcolm Rutherfurd, capable of inheriting his estate, and that his name will be changed to George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd.

Malcolm was not the father George might have wished. He disliked Malcolm's strictness, religious beliefs and use of corporal punishment. However, this adoption gave him the only father figure he would have in his life and put him on equal legal footing with his four half-brothers.

The Rutherfurds in Douglas, Wyoming

Malcolm Rutherfurd (back), his brother Archie (center) and two farmhands in Douglas, Wyoming

I've been writing about my Dickson and Rutherfurd ancestors and the years they spent as ranchers in Douglas, Wyoming.  Recently, I found a newspaper clipping amongst the files of my grandmother, LaVerne Rutherfurd Smith.  It reveals interesting information about the lives of those ancestors in Douglas, including some anecdotes I'd never previously heard.  People mentioned include my second great-grandmother Anne Amelia Dickson, her second husband (my step-second great-grandfather) Malcolm Brakspear Oliver Rutherfurd, and Malcolm's brother Archibald Aymer Oliver Rutherfurd.  The entirety of the article is posted below.

November 11, 1992
Douglas Budget

The Search for Roots Never Stops
[Column: The View From Pex's Pasture by John Pexton]

The search for one's roots never stops.

As one travels down the family tree, the trail usually weaves all over the country; and on occasion, some interesting stories and events turn up.

Connie and Claude Sipe of [removed for privacy], California were in Douglas last week.  They were hot on the trail of Connie's ancestors, the Rutherfurd family.  I had the honor of helping them climb down their family tree looking for the roots.

We started by going out to where her grandfather, M.B.O. Rutherfurd and his brother Archibald Aymer Oliver Rutherfurd lived.  The Rutherfurd ranch was located on Reid Creek (also called Rutherfurd Creek) 30 miles south of Douglas.  Charles and Gene Pexton are the present owners of the property.

The Rutherfurd trail really starts in Scotland where the brothers were born.  They evidently were from a wealthy family because in reading Archibald's will it mentions a trust.  It is thought that they came to America because of an invitation from the Foxton Family who were also from Scotland.  The Foxtons settled on land presently owned by Jerry Sober and where Tim Pexton lives.  The Rutherfurd name was really Oliver-Rutherfurd as evidenced in the brothers' names.  The "Oliver" has since been dropped.

Buying the ranch from Charles Reid, Sr. (Beef Bolin's grandfather) in 1892, they continued to live there unitl 1909 when the ranch was sold to J.C. Saul.  Do any of you readers know where the M.B.O. Rutherfurds lived between 1909 and 1913?

Connie read for the first time a story about Archibald Rutherfurd.  Since it is the Halloween season, it is a very fitting story to be retold.  Laura Reid, a daughter-in-law of Charles Reid, Sr., recalled the story in an article about Pioneer Cemeteries several years ago. She wrote:

"Archie Rutherfurd was numbered among the early day ranchers of the Laramie Peak region.  In order to get to his ranch, he had to cross a sandy creek bed, which at times had a trick of water, sometimes dry, and occasionally went on a rampage.  Among Archie's friends, perhaps his closest, was a sheepman by the name of Vetter.  While tending his sheep camp one day, Vetter was shot and killed by sheepherder John Koch, an employee of another sheepman.  Koch was apprehended and jailed in Douglas; but upon being made a trustee until the spring term of court convened, he fled the country never to be heard of again.  A short time after the incident, Archie bought a mowing machine in Douglas and loaded it on a wagon to be hauled to his mountain ranch.  Nearing home towards evening, the heavy load pulled by the tired team felt the jar of crossing the narrow creek.  Archie looked back to see if his machinery was okay.  Much to his great surprise and shock, he saw the ghost of his good friend, Mr. Vetter sitting on the seat of the mowing machine."

Mrs. Reid doesn't explain what happened after the sighting, but she does go on to say that, "From that day to this, the creek has been called 'Ghost Creek.'"

Archie (a bachelor) died in 1899 at the age of about 32 in Douglas after a winter's ride to town.  He was found dead in the morning after retiring to his room in the Reid house on North 2nd Street.  He had complained the night before of not feeling well.  Pneumonia was determined to be the cause of death.  Archie is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery.

M.B.O. (Malcolm Brakspear Oliver) died in 1913 and his body was shipped to Los Angeles for burial.  He had married Mrs. Annie. A. Griffin on April 29, 1897 in Douglas. George Dickson and Dr. Mortimer Jesurun were the witnesses.  The new Mrs. Rutherfurd was the former Annie Dickson, a sister of George Dickson who owned a hardware store and Elizabeth Dickson who built and owned the first hospital on North 6th Street.  After her marriage, Annie used the name Annie Oliver Rutherfurd.

Connie never knew where or when her grandfather M.B.O. had died.  You can imagine the look on her face when we found his obituary in the files of "The Douglas Budget."  Connie's dad's name was also Archie.  She said because of personal circumstances and not because of the kind of person he was, his mother always called him by the nickname of "Odd."   He is buried in northern Utah.

The family story goes on and on.  It was such a delight to meet such nice people like Connie and Claude.  I had the opportunity to smell the roses with them as they dug out their family history.

Anne Amelia Dickson

Anne Amelia Dickson

Anne Amelia Dickson was my second great-grandmother.

Annie was born in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada on October 27, 1870. Her parents were Mary Elizabeth Bellangee and George William Dickson. Anne was named for her aunt, Anne Amelia Bellangee, sister of her mother, Mary Bellangee.

Annie was the second of the four surviving children of Mary and George.  Their first child, Mary, died as an infant in 1866.  Annie grew up with an older sister, Elizabeth Davock Dickson (b. 1868) and two younger brothers, George William Dickson, Jr. (b. 1872) and Wilfred Bellangee Dickson (b. 1875).

Annie Dickson in 1879 (age 9)

Sarnia is located directly across the St. Clair River from Michigan.  Annie's father, George, was a sailor on the Great Lakes, and the Dickson family had moved from Buffalo, New York to Sarnia some years earlier to support George's career.  Life in Sarnia focused on the river.  "Located in the natural harbour, the Sarnia port remains an important centre for lake freighters and oceangoing ships carrying cargoes of grain and petroleum products." [Wikipedia] Annie surely watched the ships come and go along the St. Clair, and had fond memories of playing on the beach in Sarnia with her siblings during her childhood.

My grandmother, LaVerne Rutherfurd Smith, knew Annie well and spent quite a bit of time with her grandmother during her childhood years.  She described Annie as rambunctious, opinionated and impulsive.  She told a story about Annie paddling out onto the Great Lakes in a small boat, right in the path of large freighters, and needing to be rescued.  Annie found this incident amusing and exhilarating.  Annie's mother, Mary Bellangee Dickson, was a very refined woman; a true lady.  By comparison, Annie was a bit of a loose cannon.  This is not to say she was not responsible.  She had five sons and was fiercely devoted to them.  She was simply spirited and adventurous in a way that other women of her circle were not.

As a young woman of 23, Annie Dickson was working as a nurse in a hospital in Detroit, Michigan when she met John Griffin. John was thirty years older than Annie, a widower with five children.  Family lore has it that John was a patient at the hospital where Annie worked, and a May-December romance bloomed.  On January 2, 1894, Annie and John were married in Sandwich, Ontario. My grandmother, LaVerne Smith, told me that Annie and John's honeymoon involved a long boat trip to Florida. The specifics of this trip are unknown. What is clear is that the romance quickly faded. John and Annie separated after the honeymoon, and were divorced in less than a year. However, by the time of their separation, Annie was pregnant.

Annie’s parents and siblings had recently moved from Canada to Douglas, Wyoming. It is said that one of Annie’s brothers took a job at a telegraph station there and the rest of the family went with him. The Dicksons were a close bunch who preferred to stay near each other.  Pregnant and separated from her husband, Annie joined her family in Douglas in 1894.  She moved back in with her parents and her sister Elizabeth, who had helped build the Douglas hospital and was working there as a nurse.

Annie (at right) with her sister, Elizabeth Davock Dickson.

Annie and John's son, George Roscoe Griffin, was born on January 23, 1895 in Douglas, Wyoming. There is no indication that he ever met his biological father.

On April 29, 1897, Annie married Malcolm Rutherfurd, a Scottish immigrant. Malcolm and his brother Archibald had moved from Jedburgh, Scotland to Wyoming and were running a ranch in Douglas.  A year after the marriage, Malcolm adopted young George, who was known to most as “Roscoe.” His name was legally changed to George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd. Annie and Malcolm then had four boys of their own, Malcolm, Archibald, Robert and Arthur, before Malcolm’s untimely death from pneumonia in 1913.

Malcolm Brakspear Oliver Rutherfurd

After Malcolm's sudden death, Annie moved with her boys to Los Angeles, California.  Her parents and sister Elizabeth had moved there several years previously, and Annie thought it was best to join them.  She also sent Malcolm's body to Los Angeles via train and had him buried at Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles.

My grandmother recalled that Annie's home in Los Angeles, shared with her sister Elizabeth, was always full of books.  The Dicksons, Annie's parents, were great readers, and this love of literature was passed down to their children and their grandchildren.  George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd was quite a reader, and this trait continues with his descendants.

Annie Dickson Rutherfurd in 1925

By 1940, when Annie was 69 years of age, her heath had declined.  In 1940, the census shows her living at Woodcraft Home in Riverside, California. This was essentially an assisted living facility for the elderly.  I'm not sure what the circumstances were surrounding her stay there, or how long she lived there in total.  She had been living with her sister, Elizabeth, for many years, but sometime between 1930 and 1940, Elizabeth went to live with other relatives and Annie went to Woodcraft Home.  Later, Annie moved north to Oregon, for reasons that are also unclear.

Annie died on August 29, 1952 in Hood River, Oregon.  She died just 24 days after her beloved sister Elizabeth.  She was survived by four of her five sons (her second son, Malcolm, died in 1937) and several grandchildren.


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I've previously written about Annie's mother, Mary Elizabeth Bellangee, and her son, George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd. I also wrote briefly about Annie's relationship with her sister, Elizabeth.