Walter Dodge and Mary Reece

 

Walter R. Dodge was born in 1803. According to the NY State Census for 1865, he was born in Ulster co, NY. Sometime before 1830 he married (possibly in Tompkins Co.) Mary Reese (Nov.1806 - Sept. 1868). Her parents were John and Letitia Reese of Herkimer Co.; they were living with Walter in 1865. By 1840 Walter was living in Trumbull Co., Ohio; 2 years later he moved to Pleasantville, Venango Co., PA, where he resided until 1870, when he moved to live with his daughter Adelaide in Chautauqua co (based off Pleasantville land records). He died in 27 Mar 1891 in Portland, Chautauqua Co., NY.

His known children are:
1. John or Jonathan Reese Dodge (1830-1881); a 1st Lieutenant in the Civil War. He married Jeanie McGill and had 3 sons and 2 daughters. He died in Pierce City, Missouri.
2. Edward Dodge 1831-1847. Buried in Pleasantville by Walter, Mary Reese and Eliphalet.
3. Almira Dodge 1832-
4. Eliphalet D. Dodge 1837-1913. He married Hellen Matteson (1835-1907) of Crawford co and had 2 sons.
5. Julia Maria Dodge 1844- married Milton Jabez Munson (1828-) of Portland, Chautauqua Co.
6. Adelaide Dodge 1848- married Elisha Howard Fay (1844-) of Portland, and had a son and a daughter.

Clues and Notes:
The only Dodge listed for Ulster Co. for the 1810 census is Anthony Dodge. No Anthony Dodge is known in the genealogies that fits this; however there is an Anthony Dodge (1806-1879), son of Francis Dodge (1759-1841) of Madison Co., NY. Though we know only two siblings of Francis (Rufus (of Greene Co.) and Catherine)--children of Rufus Dodge 1736-1776, it's hard to know if there were not others.
Because Francis (1759-1841)'s wife Catherine Williams has no Anthonys apparent in her family, one might wonder if Anthony is an unrecorded son of Rufus 1736-76. If Anthony was Walter's father it should be noted that he disappears prior to 1820. He may have died, leaving Walter to relatives. This could explain some of the mystery.

Other facts, such as the Herkimer origins of Mary Reese, point to a migration upstate.

Walter's professions were as a tailor and a hotelier, which may have been learned as a trade as a young man.
With regard to Ulster Co. Dodges, most are associated with either Orange Co. to the south, or Greene Co. to the north; because the Greene Dodges are associated closer with the Mohawk valley it seems more likely that Walter is related to them.