17 | A Little About David Dorsey, John B.’s Only Son
John B.’s son, David Dorsey – David Dorsey, born in 1827, went west in March, 1850 in the Gold Rush. He wrote a diary, including some poetry to tell of his experiences. Dave O’Daffer of Columbus, Ohio, his grandson, had this at one time. David Dorsey was 24 years old at the time he went west, and returned 2 years 8 months later, no better off financially.
After marrying Lucinda Bell Morris in 1852, he moved to Marion Co. Ohio near the Wyandotte County line on the Deal farm and later lived on the Lewis farm. There he finally died of consumption in 1858. His burial took place under the auspices of the I.O.O.F.
David Dorsey had two sons, Charles F. and David M. Charles F. had three daughters, Inez, Nelle, and Helen. Nelle, interestingly, married Victor Phares. More interestingly, a friend in the mathematics department introduced me to Jean Hiestand of Normal, Illinois, whose mother was Helen O’Daffer Hiestand. They also introduced me to Helen Rowell, who was the daughter of Inez, one of the daughters of Charles F. Helen was interested in genealogy and gave me some of the early information I had about this branch. The connections that lead to productive information in genealogy are sometimes made just by chance!
David M. had one son, David B., who to my knowledge never married. So, while this branch of the family may have intiated the spelling of Odaffer as O’Daffer, the family branch is carried on by Odaffer women who took last names other than O’Daffer. More information about the female branches is given in the Odaffer Family Descendants Charts. For informaton on David B. O’Daffer descendants, See Odaffer Family Descendant Chart 4 .