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John Dorsey and his wife, Mary Moran Dorsey, arrived in Refugio County in late 1859 from Boston, Massachusetts, with four small children. They spent the rest of their lives in the area raising their family. They are buried, as are many of their children and their families, in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Refugio. Their monument is the same as that of their son George Edward's in-laws, Joseph Whitney Toups and Martha Ann Linney Toups. The Dorsey monument states that John was from Co. Clare in Ireland, born in 1828, and Mary was from Co Kildare, born 19 December 1828. Mary died on her 65th birthday, 19 December 1893. To date no records have been found on their parents and siblings. Little is known about them prior to coming to North America. It is believed they met and married after leaving Ireland. The first Dorsey child, Margaret "Maggie", was born somewhere in Canada, 15 November 1854, and at the age of 25 she married Cornelius "Con" Murphy in Refugio. She died in Beeville on 28 April 1945. Their children were Mary, who was blind most of her life, Margaret "Mag", and son John, Jr. None of the children ever married. The Dorsey family then lived Boston, Massachusetts, where sons Patrick Robert, James William and John H. were born in the years 1855 to 1859. They came to Texas in the latter part of 1859 and are listed on the Refugio tax rolls for that year. They were listed in the 1860 census as the "Dawsey" family living in Nueces County on a street in Corpus Christi. Six more Dorsey children were born in Refugio. They were George Henry, Michael, Ellen Ann "Tanny," Mary "Lizzie" Elizabeth, Rose Grace and George Edward. All were baptized at Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church in Refugio. John and Mary owed the Mission Hotel where HEB is now located on Alamo St., and a ranch out towards Blanconia. John was also a teamster, wagoneer, farmer and rancher. In 1875 Father Antoine hired John and his son Patrick to go to Indianola and bring three nuns, who belonged to the order Sisters of Mercy, to his new school and convent at Our Lady of Refuge. A few days later, on September 16th, a storm came through wiping out the town of St. Mary's and badly damaging Indianola. About ten years later Indianola was wiped from the face of the earth by another storm. All except one Dorsey child reached adulthood. George Henry died Christmas Day, 1871, after a brief life of 10 years, 6 months and 13 days. The other Dorsey children married into the families of Refugio. Patrick Robert Dorsey married Mary Ann West and James William Dorsey married Roxanna Virginia West, daughters of Michael West and Amanda Cryer. Michael Dorsey married Mary Ann Murphy, daughter of David and Johanna Murphy; Ellen "Tanny" Dorsey married William Malloy; Mary "Lizzie" Dorsey married Dan S. Fox, son of Daniel Fox, Jr., and Mary Fox (that was her maiden name); Rose Grace Dorsey married Edmond W. St. John, son of Edmond "Edward" Saint John and Bloomie Amanda Kokernot; and George Edward Dorsey married Amanda Eugenia Toups, daughter of Joseph Whitney Toups and Martha Ann Linney. Joseph Whitney Toups' parents were Cylidouine Ambroise Toups and Marie Euphemia Dugas. Martha Ann Linney's parents were Michael Linney and Elizabeth Weeks. The next generation of Dorsey and Toups married into the Doughty, Lambert, Murphy, McGuill and Whalen families. At one time George Edward and Amanda Toups Dorsey owned the block on Alamo where Zarsky Lumber Company stands. Zarsky built a house for her after George Edward died. Although she had already moved to Houston and purchased a home there, she would let various relatives live in it and would return to visit and stay in it from time to time. John Dorsey lived eleven years after Mary died in 1893. When John died on February 23, 1904, it was the beginning of a bad year for the Dorsey family. Four months later, youngest son George Edward died on June 22nd followed by eldest son Patrick Robert on June 26th. The descendants of John and Mary Dorsey now spread from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston and to Waco. |
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