Descendants of William Currie Dobie & Sarah Dorothy Coatsworth
CHARLES DOBIE : GENEALOGY
Descendants of William Currie Dobie and Sarah Dorothy Coatsworth
(Updated March 17, 2013)
Edward, Mary Elizabeth, Joshua Coatsworth & Belle.
William Currie Dobie, born 1-Sep-1839, Liverpool, Eng.,30 occupation:
Police magistrate, married (1) 15-Apr-1865,31Sarah Dorothy
Coatsworth, born 17-Jun-1842, Perrys Lead Mine, St. Francis
County, MO,31 (daughter of Joshua Coatsworth and Sarah
Bowman) died 1-Aug-1879, Port Arthur, Ont.,32 married (2) cir
1888,33 possibly divorced, Mary Ann Dobie, born 13-Feb-1851, Ekfrid
Twp., Ont.,34 (daughter of David Dobie and Flora Roy McRae)
died 13-Oct-1931, Glencoe, Ont.,35 William died 13-Nov-1928,
Port Arthur, Ont.30 See obituary of William Currie Dobie (also contains photos) Note on Mary Ann Dobie: Mary Ann Dobie was the second cousin once removed and
also the second wife of William Currie Dobie. She was living with him and several of his children in Port Arthur on 6
April 1891, which was the date of enumeration of that family
in the 1891 census. The dirt on Mary Ann is that she was
impossible to live with and W.C. Dobie's two eldest girls
"drove her out of the house". This information from Marion Dobie, a grand-niece
of Mary Ann. I've found neither a marriage nor a divorce record for this couple, so I don't
know how much further (or if) I should persue it. Mary Ann seems to have taken on the role
of "wicked stepmother" in Sutherland family mythology (see Annie Louise Dobie, below).
Isabella (Belle) Sarah Dobie, (daughter of William Currie Dobie and
Sarah Dorothy Coatsworth) born 22-Jan-1866, Bruce Mines,
Ont.,36 occupation: Artist, writer, died 1-Nov-1919, Port
Arthur, Ont.; 16 Regent St.,37 buried Port Arthur, Ont.;
Riverside Cemetery,38 Belle was single. She died of
breast cancer.
This is the obituary of Belle Dobie from a clipping,
hand-dated 1919, probably from the Owen Sound newspaper.
Belle Dobie 1912
Belle Dobie 1890
MISS BELLE DOBIE DIED AT PORT ARTHUR Well Known Writer and Artist Passed Away on Saturday
"Miss Belle Dobie, daughter of Magistrate W. C. Dobie
of Port Arthur, died at her home there on Saturday,
November 1st. Miss Dobie, who was a cousin of Miss Annie
Dobie, Mr. D. R. Dobie and the late Capt. Milton Dobie,
was well known as a writer and was a member of the
Canadian Women's Press Club. She was an editorial writer
on the staffs of the Morning Herald and the Times Journal
of Fort William and the News Chronicle of Port Arthur as
well as a frequent contributor to the Canadian Courier
and other publications. Her latest work, a book entitled
"Housewife and Editor", was ready for publication.
Miss Dobie, who has been a visitor in Owen Sound on
several occasions, was also an artist of considerable
talent, who loved to portray, by brush and pen, scenes of
beauty and character sketches of people whose lives were
beautiful. Her death is a distict loss to Canadian
journalism."
The mention of the title of her pending book confirms a family story I've been told many
times by my mother. The story is that when aunt Belle died, her sister-in-law, aunt Althea destroyed the
manuscript of her book. The National Library has no record of this book, or of any book
by Belle Dobie. I know this seems like airing dirty laundry, but destroying a book
is a bit beyond the pale. I would like to hear from anyone who has any information
on "Housewife and Editor".
Mary Elizabeth Dobie, (daughter of William Currie Dobie and Sarah
Dorothy Coatsworth) born 10-Feb-1868, Bruce Mines,
Ont.,39 died 20-Jan-1959, Port Arthur, Ont.,40 buried
22-Jan-1959, Port Arthur, Ont.; Riverside Cemetery,40.
She used "Elizabeth" as her given name in her adult life -- she was always my "Aunt Liz".
Since I was the first Dobie grandchild, she spoiled me outrageously whenever we
visited Port Arthur.
I never encountered the "Mary" until I saw her census records. She
must have lived for a time with her grandparents after her mother died,
as a Mary Dobie of the right age is shown
on the 1881 census as living with John and Mary Dobie in Chatsworth, Ont.
This is the obituary of Mary Elizabeth Dobie, in the Fort
William Times-Journal, Wednesday, January 21, 1959, Page 2. Resident Since '72, PA Woman Dies at 90
One of the earliest residents of Port Arthur, Miss
Elizabeth M. Dobie, 90, of Dawson Court, died Tuesday
after a lengthy illness. Born at Bruce Mines, she came
to Port Arthur in 1872 by boat with her parents, the late
Magistrate and Mrs. W.C. Dobie.
She was a member of First Presbyterian church and
the evening auxiliary.
Surviving are, a sister, Mrs. D.G. Sutherland of
Vancouver; two sisters-in-law, Mrs. E.J.B. Dobie, of 4
Regent street and Mrs. J.C. Dobie, of South High street,
Port Arthur.
The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday from the
Sargent chapel to Riverside cemetery. Rev. Gron Morgan
will officiate. The family requests that flowers be omitted.
Joshua Coatsworth Dobie, (birth name was John David Dobie) (son of William Currie Dobie and Sarah
Dorothy Coatsworth) born 5-Oct-1870, Wellington Mines,
Ont.,41 occupation: Gen. Merchant, married 27-Jun-1905, in Port
Arthur, Ont.,42Dora Lovell Meikle, born 22-Aug-1880,
New Hamburg, Ont.,43 (daughter of John Lovell Meikle and
Jeanne Milne) died 27-Mar-1963, Port Arthur, Ont.,44
buried 30-Mar-1963, Port Arthur, Ont.; Riverside
Cemetery,45 Joshua died 6-May-1943, Toronto, Ont.,46
buried 10-May-1943, Port Arthur, Ont.; Riverside
Cemetery,46
A birth record for John David Dobie, born 5-Oct-1870
in Bruce Mines, is in the Ontario Archives, originally making me believe that twins were born. But in August of 2008
when I was looking through a pile of old insurance papers which had been stored in a tin trunk in Dorothy (Dobie)
Fraser's basement, I found a statutory declaration dated 13 March, 1908, signed by W. C. Dobie, stating that
Joshua Coatsworth Dobie was so named at his baptism, but at his birth he had been registered as John David Dobie. Also, a letter of
Jan. 23, 1996 from J.C. Dobie's son, Rev. Dr. George Dobie, says in part: "My father had no twin as far as we know.
He has told us he began his life as John David, then later his name was changed to Joshua Coatsworth. If he told us
the reason, we weren't listening. It may have something to do with the relations between his parents."
Note that "John David" was the name of his paternal grandfather, so changing his name to that of his maternal
grandfather would seem to point to some sort of family tension.
See a large photo of the wedding of J.C. Dobie & Dora Lovell Meikle.(Added March 17, 2013) See W.C. Dobie's Statutory Declaration mentioned above. See this family's listing in the 1911 census.-- It
is interesting that everyone was declared as having English ancestry rather than Scottish. Read the obituary of J.C. Dobie.
Dorothy Jean Dobie, born 10-Jul-1906, Port Arthur, Ont.,47 occupation:
Teacher,47 married 22-Dec-1939, in Port Arthur,
Ont.,48Neil Cryan Fraser, born 11-Mar-1903,
Uxbridge, Ont.,47 (son of James Roderick Fraser and
Georgianna Anna Cryan) occupation: Judge, died 12-Jan-1977,
Toronto, Ont.,49 buried 15-Jan-1977, Toronto, Ont.;
Mount Pleasant Cemetery,49 Dorothy died 3-Oct-1996,
Toronto, Ont., buried 7-Oct-1996, Toronto, Ont.;
Mount Pleasant Cemetery,50
They were married in First Presbyterian Church, Port
Arthur.
Two children, seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren. Connected surnames
include Dowd, Rahilly, Taylor.
Edward Russell Coatsworth Dobie, born 14-Aug-1907, Port Arthur,
Ont.,52 occupation: Sales manager, married (1) about 1932,
in Port Arthur, Ont., divorced, Velma Smith,
married (2) about 1943,2Linda Oladine
Cox, (daughter of Thomas Benton Cox and Vadus Shughart). Edward died 25-Sep-1979, Overland Park,
Johnson County, KS, USA,53 buried 28-Sep-1979, Fort
Leavenworth, KS; National Cemetery,54 Birth day was
possibly 24 August, as this date was entered on a
"Cradle Roll Certificate" 4½ years after his
birth. Letter from him dated 31 Oct. 1974 shows
him working for Zenith Distributing Corporation of
Kansas, living in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of
Kansas City.
One child, three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren. Connected surnames are McCasland, Mercer, Rulau.
William Lovell Dobie, born 28-Sep-1909, Port Arthur, Ont.,56 occupation:
Miner, married 19-Dec-1936, in Minneapolis,
Minn.,57Margaret Anne Carlson, born 26-Jul-1908,
Kenmare, N. Dakota, (daughter of Charles Ludwig
Carlson and Anna Long). [Click here to see this Carlson family].
William died 21-Jan-1988,
Toronto, Ont.,58 buried 25-Jan-1988, Toronto, Ont.;
Toronto Crematorium,59 Married at St. Andrew
Presbyterian Church, 616 - 10th Ave. S. E.,
Minneapolis. Witnesses: Mildred C. Davis, Eldrige T.
Mackay. Minister: R. G. Riemann.
Charles Coatsworth Dobie, born 6-Feb-1941, Geraldton, Ont.,60
occupation: Printer, systems analyst, partner since Aug-1971 is Peter Bruce Zorzi,
born 6-Aug-1947, Montreal, Que. (son of Josef Zorzi and Josephine Kim). Charles is the
compiler of these Dobie, Meikle, Coatsworth, etc. lists.
See photograph of us.
Dora Elizabeth Dobie, born 9-Sep-1946, Kirkland Lake, Ont., occupation:
Public health nurse, costume designer, married 11-Jul-1969,
in Acton Burnell, England, George Hastings
Rust-D'Eye, born 19-Jan-1944, Toronto, Ont.,
(son of George Rust-D'Eye and Catherine (Katie)
Wallace) occupation: Lawyer. Married at St. Mary's
Anglican Church, Acton Burnell, England.
Anne Dioness Rust-D'Eye, born 10-Feb-1981, Toronto, Ont.
Frederick Clarence Dobie, Dr., born 30-May-1916, Port Arthur,
Ont.,61 occupation: Medical doctor, married 1-Nov-1941, in
Regina, Sask.,2Patricia Jean Alport, born
__-___-1921, Regina, Sask.,62 (daughter of Edward
Bishop Alport, Dr. and unknown) died __-Jul-1993,
Regina, Sask. Married Patricia Jean Alport at Knox
United Church.
Four children, five grandchildren. Connected surnames: Fraser, Hamm, Kram, Smith, Walsh.
George Edgar Dobie, Rev. Dr., born 6-Jan-1918, Port Arthur,
Ont.,61 occupation: Presbyterian minister, married about
1945,2Helen Petersen, born __-___-1924.2
Edward James Biggings Dobie, (son of William Currie Dobie and
Sarah Dorothy Coatsworth) born 20-Feb-1873, Prince
Arthur's Landing, Ont.,68 married __-___-____,2Althea
Dickson, born 30-Jun-1885, St. Thomas, ON,69 (daughter
of George Dickson and Jennie Ford) died 27-Feb-1974,
Thunder Bay, Ont.,70 Edward died 2-Nov-1952, Port
Arthur, Ont.,71 buried 4-Nov-1952, Port Arthur, Ont.;
Riverside Cemetery,71 "Edward Dobie" in birth record.
Full name on death record of his infant son, Edward
George Dobie, born & died in 1913. Name in obituary is
"Biggings". Read obituary of E.J.B. Dobie. Note on Althea Dickson: Name on 1901 census seems to be "Altha". Read letter
from Althea Dickson to Annie (Dobie) Sutherland.
John Currie Dobie, born 27-Feb-1910, Port Arthur, Ont.,72 occupation:
Economist, married __-___-1948, in Ottawa, Ont.,73Hazel Isabel McAskill, born 20-Apr-1908,
Gladstone, MB?,73 died 28-Nov-1997, Winnipeg,
MB,73 buried 2-Dec-1997, Winnipeg, MB,73 John died
29-Jun-1985, Winnipeg, MB,72Read death notice of John Currie Dobie and
Read death notice of Hazel Isabel McAskill.
Two children, at least one grandchild. Connected surnames:
Desmoulin, Limbert.
Edward George Dobie, born 6-May-1913, Port Arthur, Ont.,76 died
6-May-1913, Port Arthur, Ont.,76 Lived for 6 hrs.
Died from injury at time of birth at 15 South Hill
St.
baby boy Dobie, born 22-Feb-1915, Port Arthur, Ont.,77 died
22-Feb-1915, Port Arthur, Ont. 77
Annie Louise Dobie, (daughter of William Currie Dobie and Sarah
Dorothy Coatsworth) born 5-Dec-1874, Prince Arthur's
Landing, Ont.,78 married 13-Aug-1897, in Kamloops,
B.C,79Daniel Gunn Sutherland, born 5-May-1867,
Pictou, NS,80 (son of Alexander Sutherland and Jessie
McLeod) occupation: Policeman & public works, died 25-Feb-1952,
Vancouver, BC,81 buried 28-Feb-1952, Vancouver, BC;
Vancouver Crematorium,81 Annie died 21-Feb-1971,
Coquitlam, B.C.,82 buried 23-Feb-1971, North Vancouver,
BC,82. Marriage witnesses: Jennie Evans and George
Borthwick, both of Kamloops, BC. Married by Rev. John
Robson, by licence, Presbyterian.
Annie Dobie was brought up with the Woodside
family in B.C. after 1881. She lived in Boston Bar, BC. in
1943 (see J.C. Dobie death notice); in Vancouver in
1961/2. She was with the Dobies in Port Arthur for the
1881 census but gone by the 1891 census. I met her in
Vancouver when I was in the Navy, about 1962, when my
uncle George Dobie took me to visit her. Her marriage
record states that she went by the Woodside surname but
had not been legally adopted. Although her name is "Louisa" on her birth record, Marilynn Clarke informs me
that she always used "Louise". The family pet name her grandchildren called her was
"Othermom", as she was a mother to them when their own mother died. She died at Valley View
Hospital, Coquitlam, BC. Cremated.
Although she lived with the Woodside family, she still kept in contact with her Dobie
siblings and her father in Port Arthur. See Dobie-Sutherland Photograph
Album which records the Sutherland family in Lytton, BC and visits of both W.C.
Dobie and Belle Dobie to the Sutherland household.
In a letter dated Aug. 25, 1997, her grand-daughter,
Marilynn Clarke, writes: "My grandmother was
affectionately known by everyone as "Othermom". She was
generous to a fault and a wonderfully caring person. I
lived with her and my grandfather for a year after my
mother died. All that I am or ever hoped to be I owe to
her. In additiion to the year mentioned, I spent
numerous summers with her and my grandfather. Oh how I
wish I'd paid more attention when I heard the oft-told
stories of her early years. I, like you, was always
puzzled as to why my grandmother was sent to live with
the Woodside family. I know nothing about them but
always got the impression that Othermom was very happy
with them. The story I heard many times about Othermom's
stepmother was that she was very mean and quite abusive
to her and my grandmother vowed that if she ever had any
children she would spoil them. (She did). She also said
that no one realized at that time that her stepmother was
mentally ill. It was my understanding that she was
institutionalized." [Note: This seems to not to have been the case. Marion Dobie,
the great-niece of Mary Ann Dobie, says she was never institutionalized. -- Charles Dobie.] Daniel: Daniel's occupation at marriage
was "Provincial Constable", at death was "Superintendant
Road Construction" (to 1942). His residence at marriage was
Lytton, BC. He gave his mother's name on his marriage record as Mary or
Marg., but on his death record it is Jessie McLeod, and this
name is confirmed by Marilynn (Mayes) Clarke. Died at
Shaughnessy Hospital, Vancouver. His birth date on his death
record is March 5, 1867, but Marilynn Clarke in a
letter dated 8 Oct., 1997, says the correct month is May.
This is the obituary of D.G. Sutherland in an undated and unidentified
newspaper clipping supplied by Marilynn (Mayes) Clarke:
Pioneer Of Fraser Passes
Daniel Gunn Sutherland, who came to British Columbia
in 1888 and grew up with the development of the road and
rail down the Fraser from Revelstoke to Vancouver, was
buried Thursday in Vancouver. Mr. Sutherland was 84.
He had worked as a boy in the CPR camps when the railway
was pushed through to the coast and for years had served
as a superintendent for the provincial department of
Public Works. During the first war he was a member of
the Canadian Forestry Corps, serving two years in France.
He also served with the Provincial Police at Lytton,
and it was while he was in the police, in 1899, that he
married Annie Louise Dobie. [Note correct year is 1897. -- CD.]
In 1908, he became a superintendent with the public
works department, a job that was interrupted during the
first war, and it was in the government service that he
helped build bridges and docks at Golden, Woodwards
Landing, Courtenay, Sayward, Mission, Salmon River and
Hope.
He was also on the crew that built the first
Kitsilano bridge across False Creek.
It was at his suggestion that the aerial ferry
across the Fraser at Boston Bar was constructed.
When Mr. Sutherland first came to B.C., he recalled
shortly before his death, in a Province Magazine article,
he saw the Fraser at Lytton literally filled with salmon.
There were so many they could be seen a mile away and
"looked like seaweed."
He was a member of Nicolas Lodge, A.F. & A.M. at
Merrit.
Mr Sutherland is survived by his wife, a daughter,
Doris, and a son, Gordon, all of 2429 East
Twenty-seventh.
Doris Isabel Sutherland, born 10-Jun-1898, Lytton, BC,83 married
(1)83Claude Gwinn, married (2)83Fred
Sandborg, married (3) 14-May-1953,83Victor
Graham, . Doris died 7-Oct-1984, Blaine, WA, USA,83
Marilynn (Mayes) Clarke says "Doris was always the
renegade of the family -- was a "lady barber" before
it was socially acceptable . . . she was a very bright woman --
in younger days a talented artist."
Marjorie Coatsworth Sutherland, born 20-Mar-1901, Ashcroft, BC,83
married83John Barnett Mayes, Marjorie died
27-Jun-1938, Seattle, WA, USA.83
Gordon Hartley Sutherland, born 26-Apr-1904, Lytton, BC,83 occupation:
Carpenter,83 died 11-Apr-1984, Blaine, WA, USA,83
Marilynn (Mayes) Clarke says "Gordon was a carpenter, worked in mines. He was an admirable man
who devotedly took care of his mother."
Edward Coatsworth Donald Sutherland, born 5-Feb-1906, Lytton,
BC,83 occupation: Telegraph operator,85 died 11-Oct-1931,
Vancouver, BC,86 buried 13-Oct-1931, Lytton, BC,86
Don was an award-winning bicycle racer and was about
to start racing professionally. Medical certificate
of death states he died of heart disease. Death
certificate gives name only as "Edward Coatsworth",
but his newspaper obituary and other news clippings
refer to him as "Donald" or "Don".
Wilna Sydney Dobie
Wilna Sydney Dobie, (daughter of William Currie Dobie and Sarah
Dorothy Coatsworth) born 15-Jan-1878, Prince Arthur's
Landing, Ont.,87 died 1-Dec-1883,83 W.C. Dobie's
obituary in the Port Arthur News Chronicle, Wed., Nov. 14,
1928, Pg. 1. gives Wilna's death date as 1 Jan. 1893, but
Marilynn Clarke, in a letter of 8 Oct., 1997 says: "On
the back of the picture (of Wilna) written in my
grandmother's hand is the notation: My baby sister -
Wilna Sydney Dobie - who was mothered by friends & died
Dec. 1, 1883 at the age of 5 years and eleven months. My
aunt Doris added the notation that she died of
diptheria." Papers held by M. Clarke seem to indicate she
lived in Portage La Prarie, Manitoba.
Wilna is the third child sent to live with friends after her mother died. Who did
she live with and where? Until Marilynn gave me this information, the story of Wilna had been
a complete unknown to me.
The photograph at right is by Gaylord, Duluth. Laser photocopy courtesy of
Marilynn Clarke.