Welcome! If this is your first visit to our blog, please read our Intro post here. To date we have written posts about all known members of the first, second, and third generations of descendants of William Loney of Co Longford, Ireland and we will continue to add new information about their lives and families in the days and weeks to come.
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We hope that the information you find here will be helpful to you in your genealogical research and we remain forever optimistic that we will hear from family members who have some old photos to share.
Sometime back we wrote a post about Sarah Louise/Louisa Cunningham and her husband William B Dodds. Sarah was the daughter of John Cunningham and Susannah West (grandchild of Ann Loney and Peter Cunningham).
Today we’ll be sharing some additional information about William B Dodds and his family. William was born 10 Dec, 1870 in Caledon, Peel Co, Ontario. His parents were John L Dodds and Ann/Annie (maiden name unknown). William was the middle of John and Ann/Annie’s three known children, sandwiched between an older sister, Adaline, and a younger sister, Angeline.
We have very little information about Ann/Annie. We do know that she was one or two years younger than John, they were married about 1866 and she passed away about 1884.
John L Dodds was born in Co Monaghan, Ireland about 1841. He came with his parents to Ontario when he was a small boy and they settled in the Silver Creek area of Peel Co.
We have been unable to determine who John’s parents were, but we have found some interesting information about five Dodds brothers who came to the Caledon area in 1832. Four of the brothers are said to have married four sisters, but the fifth brother opted not to marry the fifth sister and instead wed a Quaker girl from the Bolton area. In 1834 one of the brothers, William Dodd, bought 100 acres of land on the west half of Lot 16, Concession 2EHS in the township of Caledon. You can read more about that here in document called Caledon’s Heritage Trees 2013 (go to the page third from the end – “Sugar Maples – Dodds Farm”).
Although these Dodds brothers appear to have come to Ireland ten or so years earlier than John L. Dodds and his parents, we can guess that they might be related.
We have also found a 2014 Heritage Designation Report on Silver Creek Farm. There was, at one time, a blacksmith shop located on Kennedy Road just north of the current laneway entrance to Silver Creek. And, there is mention of the chain of title going to a William Dodds (a blacksmith) in 1861 when he purchased 2/5 of an acre of land from Phillip Chambers. When John L Dodds’ son William was born in 1870, John was working as a blacksmith so this William Dodds the blacksmith could well have been a relative.
Note: Anyone interested in historic preservation or Cultural Heritage Landscapes might find the report on Silver Creek Farm an interesting read.
John L Dodds’ obituary indicates that after spending his boyhood days in the vicinity of Silver Creek, he later moved to Caledon Village. The 1881 census lists his occupation as Hotel Keeper, although we haven’t been able to find any additional details about this hotel.
In 1882 John was listed as a member of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ontario West. And, in 1886 he and others from Caledon attended the 11th March House of Commons proceedings in Ottawa petitioning that the Canada Temperance Act be change to allow the sale of Light Wines and Beer (perhaps so he could sell them in his hotel).
Sometime in the mid 1890’s, John L Dodds was appointed Postmaster of Caledon, a position he held until his death.
In the 1921 census John was living with son William and his wife Sarah, and their two children, Willa and Victor John, as well as John’s daughter Angeline and her daughter Olga Oneita Dodds. Both John and William were listed as farmers
John died 8 Feb, 1926. His obituary (below) appeared on page 2 of the 18 Feb Orangeville Banner.
John L. Dodds – On Monday evening, February 8, one of the pioneers of Peel County passed away in the person of John L. Dodds. Born in the county of Monaghan, Ireland, 85 years ago, Mr. Dodds came to Canada with his parents when a small boy. The family settled in the vicinity of Silver Creek, where his boyhood days were spent. Later he moved to a farm near Caledon village, where he has since resided. About sixty years ago he married Anne Dodds, who predeceased her husband forty-two years. Over thirty years ago he was appointed Postmaster of Caledon, continuing to hold this position to the time of his death. In politics the deceased was a staunch Conservative. He is survived by a family of three: Mrs. W. R.Royce, of Rockwood Ont., and Angeline and W.B. at home, and one sister, Mrs. J. Phillips, residing in British Columbia. The funeral, which was held from his late residence to Caledon cemetery on Thursday afternoon, February 11, was largely attended by friends and neighbors. Rev. T.W. Mills conducted the Service. The pallbearers were Messrs. Jas. Lamont, Reginald Lundy, S.J. McBride, S.B. Griggs, W.J. Warnock and J.C. Warnock.
Those from a distance who attended the funeral included Mrs. W.E. Royce and Mr. Charlie Royce, Rockwood; Miss Ottie Lundy, Toronto; Mrs. R. Johnston, Bolton:; Mr. G.H.Cunningham, Grand Valley; Mr. Wm. McBride, Orangeville, and Mr. S.B. Griggs, Laurel.
Do you have additional information on this branch of the Dodds family? Perhaps a picture? We’d love to hear from you!
Loney Family from County Longford, Ireland 