Person:Reuben Dotson (1)

SOURCES: Pike Co. Federal Census, Pike Co. Marriage Records; Buchanon Co, VA, Marriage Records; Buchanon Co., VA, Census; excerps from "The Dodson/Dotson Family of North Farnum Parish, Richmond Co., VA" by the Rev. Silas Emment Lucas, Jr..

RESIDENCE: Reuben and James Dodson, his brother, are found on census records of Ashe Co., NC, in 1810 and 1820. An 1815 tax list shows that Reuben owned 100 acres of land adjoining John Estep. This area became Watanga Co., NC, in 1849. In 1830, Rueben was in Carter Co., TN, in a part that became Jackson Co. in 1836. Reuben actually always lived in the same house (Heritage Book, Johnson Co., TN) on Bulldog Rd., just below Trade, TN, but changes in boundaries resulted in different "addresses" for the same locale: the Colony of North Carolina, the State of North Carolina, the short-lived State of Franklin, and the State of Tennessee.

NAME: Early Ashe Co. records show Reuben's name changed from Dodson to Dotson. The belief is that this was a clerical error and Reuben, possibly being illiterate, was unaware of the change. However, as the Dodsons started moving from North Farnham Parish, one finds an occasional Dotson. It was not until the fifth generation with respect to Charles Dodson, Sr., that those who are in our line of descent began moving into Ashe Co., NC, and Carter Co., TN, that the name Dotson became firmly established. For the most part, other descendants of Charles, Sr., kept the spelling Dodson. (MCJ)

See photos: Site of Rueben Dotson homeplace on Eggers Fork, Bulldog Branch Road near Trade, TN. The original log house stood where this house now stands. 7/2000

1. ↑ Mrs. Sherman Williams & Rev. Silas Emment Lucas, Jr. Rev. Lucas, Jr., Southern Historical Press, Inc.. (Rev. Lucas, Jr., Southern Historical Press, Inc.).