Barnes - Dawson - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Dawson Barnes was born in Pennsylvania, having at least three brothers and a sister. His parents were Zepheniah Ellis and Elizabeth Dawson Barnes, thus his first and middle names.

His is a very sad story. A brilliant mind, he began as a painter in his hometown of Connellsville, in Fayette County, PA. Sometime after the 1880 census and before his 1882 marriage, he studied at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, later graduating from Indiana Medical College.

He was married in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana on the 5th of September in 1882 to Emma E. McKinsey (daughter of Joshua C. and Rachel Sparks McKinsey) with the Rev. L.Y. Hayes performing the ceremony. They had at least two daughters: Lucy Blanche born in 1884 and Mary Sella born 26 Nov 1886, both while living in Crawfordsville. This lady was a true trooper. She raised the girls basically alone, as by about 1895 or so, Dawson must have had a nervous breakdown and was thereafter (from at least 1900-1934 when his death occurred) listed as an "inmate" later a "patient" at the State Mental hospital. She in those census records was listed as "widow" of Dawson E. Barnes. Lucy married Elbe Baker and had two daughters of her own. Mary married Henry Caldwell and had at least one daughter.

Dawson practiced in Crawfordsville, Thorntown and Indianapolis. He lived at 211 N. Illinois in 1894, listed as a physician, then later Lucy lived on Central Avenue, not far from the mental hospital. Finally, after all the years in the city directories listed as a "widow" she was made one in 1934 when Dawson died a few days before Christmas. She lived five more years, dying in late May or early June in 1939. They are buried side by side in section 74 in Crown Hill Cemetery, in Indianapolis. -- kbz

Source: Fayette County Genealogy Project: Barnes by Keely Deuschle

Source: Census records; City Directories

Barnes, Dawson(Damson) E.