Charles A. Dotson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1097-1098 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CHARLES A. DOTSON. 

	The name of Dotson has long been connected with the history of 
Sioux Falls and although Charles A. Dotson was never a continuous 
resident there, he had a wide acquaintance among the citizens of the 
county seat of Minnehaha county through his many visits there and his 
last days were passed in Sioux Falls, where his death occurred August 
16, 1913. He was a remarkable figure, for while he was in the ninety-
third year of his age, he remained almost to the last, a strong, 
vigorous, active man, seeming in appearance and in interest almost in 
his prime. 

	He was born January 26, 1821, in Randolph county, Tennessee, 
where his youth was passed. In the early '40s, when he was a young man, 
he married Miss Miriam York of North Carolina and in 1848 they became 
residents of the central section of the Mississippi valley, settling in 
Iowa, when the work of progress and development seemed scarcely begun 
there. They secured a homestead claim near Des Moines, where is now 
seen the mineral springs resort of Colfax. All the usual experiences of 
pioneer life were theirs. They reared their family upon the home farm 
and lived to see a remarkable change in the district as the work of 
improvement and civilization was carried forward. At length Mr. Dotson 
retired from active business life and established his home in Colfax, 
where Mrs. Dotson passed away about 1898. He afterward lived with his 
daughter, Mrs. Sadie Hurst in Colfax until 1910, when he accompanied 
her on her removal to Reno, Nevada. After that, however, he spent much 
time in travel, visiting his sons and daughters and their families in 
various sections of the country, being everywhere eagerly welcomed, for 
he had few of those foibles and eccentricities which many are prone to 
believe are common to old age. In fact, "he was the 'grand old man' to 
the Dotson family and its several branches and all of his twenty-six 
grandchildren, his dozen or more great-grandchildren and a great-great-
grandchild were his 'children!' He loved them as his own; they idolized 
him." Six children survive the father, namely: E. E., of Colfax, Iowa; 
Mrs. Sadie Hurst, of Reno, Nevada; Mrs. William Reese, of Rock Island, 
Illinois; Mrs. L. A. McFarlane, of Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. John Rhodes 
of Boise, Idaho; and C. L., of Sioux Falls, widely known as the editor 
and publisher of the Sioux Falls Daily Press. 

	In 1870 Mr. Dotson became a member of the Masonic lodge at 
Newton, Iowa, and for many years was a member of Riverside lodge, A. F. 
& A. M., at Colfax. A contemporary biographer has written of him: "Mr. 
Dotson never in his long career lost touch with the affairs of the 
world. He followed politics closely all his life, spoke his convictions 
and strong principles forcefully to his friends and voted them, but 
never engaged in political activities in any other form. His first vote 
was cast in 1840, before the young Tennessean had reached his majority, 
but it was never questioned. He stepped up to a small window of a log 
cabin which was designated as the polling place and spoke to the 
official inside the name of William Henry Harrison, the hero of 
Tippecanoe, as his choice for president. Mr. Dotson has never missed an 
election since He voted for Theodore Roosevelt at Reno, Nevada, last 
year. He lived within the lifetime of every president of the United 
States save George Washington. The world was interesting to him and he 
studied it carefully. Within a few hours of his death, he discussed 
with his son and family the latest dispatches from Mexico." 

	His life was largely passed in the open air and nature was kind 
to him because he abused not her laws. He greatly enjoyed hunting and 
hunted game throughout almost his entire life, hunting bear in the 
mountains of Nevada when ninety-two years of age. His physical power 
seemed but slightly impaired, although he had passed the milestone on 
life's journey which marked him a nonagenarian and his mind was clear 
and alert to the last His memory remains as a cherished possession and 
as a blessed benediction to all who knew him.