I'm seeing double today! I received a message from someone asking for my connection to Martin Haley. Born in Ireland in 1836, he had married Alice (Dorgan), (another interesting adventure, but later), lived briefly near Springbrook, then moved on to Dallas Co., Iowa. In the course of researching him, I found a Martin Haley, born abt 1840 in Ireland, who had married Lydia (Dobson) of Sabula. Were they the same person? It took some doing, but I eventually determined that they were two different men.
But my vision problems were not done yet. Lydia Dobson’s father was named Abraham Dobson. Was he the famous spiritual physician of Maquoketa who diagnosed illnesses from a lock of hair sent in the mail? But, no, Lydia’s father appeared to be a common laborer and never moved from Sabula. Again, it took some chasing around, but I finally determined that Abraham Dobson of Sabula was born in Pennsylvania, while the famous Dr. Abram B. Dobson was born in Canada.
To quote my father, “What are the Odds?” of finding two such unusual names belonging to two different men living in the same county at about the same time and not related to each other at all? I feel like I need new glasses after that!
© 2011 LuAnn Goeke
