From Proud Heritage, Vol. 1 by DCPA, not currently in print.
One of the earliest settlers in what is now Dallas County was Allanson D. Dawdy. Allanson was born on December 15, 1826 in Kentucky to Allanson and Nancy Garrison Dawdy. The family later moved to Greene County, Illinois where Allanson grew up with his ten brothers and sisters.
Allanson left Greene County to come to the newly formed settlement in then Nacogdoches County, Texas that John Neely Bryan had founded along the banks of the Trinity River. Allanson enlisted in the Mexican Army and fought in the Battle of Buena Vista under Colonel Harding.
In 1848, Allanson married the first of three wives who would eventually bear him eight children. Rebecca Shelton passed away after the first few years, but not until she saw her husband serve as the County Justice of the Peace in 1854.
During the Civil War, Allanson was married to Mary Kinney. Allanson fought for the Confederacy in several battles under Colonel Perry and reached the rank of Second Lieutenant. After the Civil War, Allanson returned to Dallas County near the Trinity River, where he settled on 600 acres of land.
Allanson started a ferry running from the Hutchins area to Dallas across the Trinity River. To this day, a road exists called Dowdy Ferry Road. The license for this ferry was renewable at the rate of $1.00 per year. The last license issued to Allanson for his ferry was in 1871; whereupon Allanson gave the operation of the ferry to his nephew, Jim Dawdy. Allanson retired to become a farmer and married his third wife, Mary Bratchler. His remaining years were spent as a school board member, deacon of the Christian Church, and as a Mason. Allanson died in January 1901 at the age of 74 years and is buried in Dallas County in the Hutchins Cemetery.
Jim Dawdy was born in Dallas County in 1836 and was married three times and had ten children. Jim operated the Dawdy Ferry for several years before his death in 1910 at the age of 74 years. He is buried in Pleasant Mound Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.
The grandchildren and descendants of “Old Jim” all live in the Dallas area at this time. There are many historic documents written about Allanson and Jim Dawdy, including War Records and Land Grants to the Dawdy family signed by Gov. Sam Houston and Gov. Elisha Pease. A petition signed by the early residents of Dallas for Dawdy Ferry to operate on the Trinity River has also been located. Some of the family members have since changed the spelling of their name to DOWDY, which is the actual spelling used on the road commemorating where Allanson and Jim Dawdy operated their ferry.
By Wanda Pulps, Dallas
