Bedford County PA Archives Biographies.....Dodson, Andrew
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Judy Banja jbanja@msn.com May 2003


ANDREW DODSON, Sheriff of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and 
a prominent citizen of Bedford township, was born in 
Greenfield, Blair County, this State, October 12, 1844, son 
of William and Susan (Burkett) Dodson.
  William Dodson, son of William, Sr., a lifelong farmer of 
Greenfield, was born in that town in 1808.  He remained at 
the parental home until after his marriage, when he 
purchased a neighboring farm, which he cultivated as long as 
he lived.  Susan, his wife, was a daughter of John Burket, 
of Greenfield.  They were the parents of twelve children, of 
whom ten grew to maturity; namely, Margaret, Ann, Samuel B., 
Andrew, William, Ruth, Abraham, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, and 
Michael Daniel.  Margaret, who married Joseph Baird, of 
Greenfield, and Ann, who married Abraham Briggle, of 
Greenfield, are both now deceased, and their husbands also.  
Besides these, two of the brothers, Samuel B. and William, 
have passed away.  Ruth is married, and living in Missouri.  
Abraham resides in Hopewell, Bedford County.  Elizabeth is 
the wife of Michael D. Eichelberger, of Kearney, Bedford 
County.  Mary Ann is the wife of George E. Lingenfelter, of 
Davis, W. Va.  Michael Daniel lives in Broad Top township.
  Andrew Dodson in his boyhood received a common-school 
education.  At the age of Eighteen he enlisted in Company E, 
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment, of Pennsylvania 
Volunteer Infantry, which joined the army of the Potomac.  
He was in the battles of Antietam and Chancellorsville, 
Nashville, Tenn., Hollow Tree Gap, and Sugar Creek, and soon 
after the latter engagement he was honorably discharged.  
Two weeks later he went to Philadelphia, and enlisted in the 
Nineteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, Company L, with 
which he went first to Camp Stoneman, thence to Union City, 
Tenn., Memphis, and Tallahassee.  From there he returned to 
Memphis with prisoners, and later went to Vicksburg, Baton 
Rouge, La., New Orleans, and Nashville.  He subsequently 
went again to Baton Rouge, and up the Red River, and then to 
Jefferson, Tex., where he was engaged in gathering up 
government property, the war having closed.  About May 1, 
1866, he went to New Orleans, where he was mustered out on 
May 14.  He was sent to Philadelphia, and there he received 
his honorable discharge June 12.  For a time after that he 
worked at lumbering.  He then engaged in the business on his 
own account, purchasing two mills in Broad Top, where he 
continued the business about fifteen years.  He was one of 
the first men to own and operate a steam saw-mill in that 
section of the county.  His next venture was to lease a coal 
mine, which he operated about three years, or until about 
1895.  A few months later he took the office of Sheriff of 
Bedford county, to which he was elected in 1896 for a term 
of three years.  He served a number of years as Constable in 
Broad Top.  Fraternally, he is a member of L. R. Piper Post, 
No. 454, of Broad Top; and of Allaquippa Lodge, No. 555, 
I.O.O.F., in which he is a Past Grand.
  Mr. Dodson was married on September 16, 1866, to Eliza, 
daughter of Samuel Nofsker, of Freedom, Pa.  Four children 
have been born to them, and three are living, namely: Samuel 
N., Margaret C., and U. G. Grant.  Mrs. Dodson is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church.


Source: Bedford Biographical Review, 1899, Bedford Co., Pa