SOURCE: "History of Champaign County, Illinois," by J. O. Cunningham, 1905

SURNAMES: DODSON, JENNINGS, KINGSBURY, WIKEL, YOUNG

WILLIAM DODSON (deceased), who was one of the oldest and most honored of the retired pioneer farmers of Champaign County, Ill., was born near Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, July 8, 1820, a son of William and Margaret (WIKEL) DODSON, natives of Virginia.

The family was established in Ohio about 1800, and Mr. Dodson left there in 1838, when eighteen years old, settling in Tippecanoe County, Ind. In 1863 he located in Champaign County, Ill., and after being engaged in the grocery business for a quarter of a century, he retired to his home, at No. 406 North State Street.

For his first wife, Mr. Dodson married, in 1856, Hannah YOUNG, a daughter of William and Sarah YOUNG, to whom three children were born—Joseph, John, and Eleanor—all of whom are deceased. Mrs. Dodson died in 1859, and in 1867, Mr. Dodson married Sophia KINGSBURY, daughter of Benjamin and Johanna (JENNINGS) KINGSBURY. The subject of this sketch passed away February 11, 1905, and his departure was deeply lamented throughout the community.