Although his journey along the pathway of life has been beset by many
obstacles, and he has undergone many privations, George Washington Doser, in
the sunset of his career, is living quietly at his home in Preston township,
Richland county, Illinois, amid most pleasant and congenial surroundings.
The subject of this sketch is the true type of what is termed the self-made
man, who through his industry and perseverance accumulated a sufficiency of
this world's goods to enable him to enjoy a life of ease in his declining
years. In the locality in which he has lived for almost a half century, this
venerable man is held in high esteem for his sterling worth and rugged
honesty.
Mr. Doser was born in Clark county, Ohio, October 2, 1825.
He was the son of Michael and Regna (Zirkle) Doser. Of his father the
subject has very little knowledge, owing to the separation of his parents
during his early boyhood. His mother was born in Virginia in 1808, and her
parents were natives of the same state. While a young girl, her parents
removed to Ohio, and she remained with them until her marriage to the father
of the subject. As a result of this alliance two children were born, of
which the subject was the eldest, the younger brother dying in infancy.
Shortly thereafter, owing to an incompatibility of temper, the couple
decided that they were not well-mated, and the marital bonds were dissolved.
When Mr. Doser was in his sixth year his mother again entered wedlock,
espousing Jonathan Zirkle, and eight children were the fruit of this union.
The subject remained with his mother and step-father until he was fifteen,
when he took up his residence with his grandfather. He was twenty-three
years old, November 23, 1847, when he married Eliza Welgamuth, in Clark
county, Ohio. He and his bride took up their abode on a rented farm, where
they remained until 1864, when they moved to Richland county, Illinois,
settling upon eighty acres of land, in Preston township, for which they paid
fifteen dollars per acre. Of this land, sixty acres was prairie, and had
never been tilled, while the remaining twenty acres were bottom timber land.
The only improvement on this farm was a frame house, and the subject of this
sketch was compelled to remodel this structure, and build stables, fences,
etc. Mr. Doser finally sold this farm, and for the next nine years rented
farms. At the end of that period he had accumulated a competence, and as the
result of a decision to give up the pursuit of agriculture he purchased
property in the town of Dundas, where he and his wife now live.
Six
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Doser, three boys and three girls,
namely: Socrates, John, Albert, Mary, Harriet and Anes. All of them reached
the years of maturity but Socrates, Mary and Anes have passed to the beyond.
In the boyhood days of Mr. Doser the educational facilities were
limited, and decidedly crude as compared with the splendid system in vogue
today. He attended about two months of what was known as subscription school
before he had attained his fifteenth year, using only an elementary spelling
book in pursuing his studies. Later he became a pupil in the free school for
the short space of three months in three years, making a total of nine
months. Here he used an elementary speller and reader, and absorbed a
smattering of arithmetic. Blackboards were unknown in those days. The desks
were wide boards placed across wooden pins, fastened in holes bored in the
walls. The seats consisted of benches, home-made with four wooden pins for
legs.
Although Mr. Doser has never taken an active part in politics,
he has always affiliated with the Democratic party, having cast his first
vote for President Van Buren. He has served four years as road overseer, but
in the year 1908 was the first time that he received any remuneration for
his services.
Both the subject and his wife in the early years of
their life in Ohio united with the Lutheran church, and they have been
active members of this denomination ever since, very seldom missing a
service.
Extracted 21 May 2019 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 437-438.
| Jasper | Crawford | |
| Clay |
 |
Lawrence |
| Wayne | Edwards | Wabash |
