Recently, I discovered odd deaths within the family. Because these discoveries left questions I wanted answers to, I dug into the research. Some associated family lore goes along with these events and when I have a specific incident, I’ll include it.
While these tragedies brought great trauma to our kin at the time, generations and separation insulate us. (Or, do they?) Discussion makes it easier to share and clear up confusion that comes from myth and mystery. From there, we turn it into a true biography of our relative with a beginning, middle and end. Hopefully, we learn what drove them to do the things they did.
So, I ‘ll bring a few of these (not all, by any means) to your attention and see what you think of this odd collection of Dexter and associated family demises. Be sure to leave a comment after the article!
THE SAD LIFE OF WILLIAM HUSTON
First of all, let’s start with William Huston. William was my 2nd great grandfather, my paternal grandmother’s grandfather. He was born May 27th, 1838, a son of Archibald Huston. On May 30, 1860, he married Elizabeth Ridenour of Xenia, Ohio.
Shortly after his marriage, William enlisted and served in the Civil War in the 154th Ohio Infantry, a National Guard regiment, as a private. When serving our country, he lost his arm.
Years after mustering out, William and Elizabeth finally started their family. I located records for 4 sons that made it to adulthood: Charles, Edward, George and Frank. There is a large gap that doesn’t show any children, yet there are articles that refer to a 5th son and 3 daughters.
After the Civil War, a traumatized and disabled William needed time to adjust – time his wife also needed to give him. The younger children don’t appear in census, so I am assuming they stayed with other relatives. As yet, their names are unknown.
DECISION OR ACCIDENT?
Alas, William had a difficult life and found a more difficult, sad end. According to a news article, there was considerable street conversation about William’s family.
The gossip suggested that it “was well known” that William was beaten badly by one of his sons the year before his death. (See article within photos). Despondent that he could not provide the way he thought he should, and overcome with despair, William decided there was only one way out.
SECOND ARTICLE COMMENTARY
A second article claims there was no depression, no sadness and no poor home life: William’s death was an unfortunate event. This article claimed that William purchased poison instead of “medication”. He took it before he arrived home that fateful day without realizing what it was.
Despite lingering for some hours, William succumbed to the poison he had ingested, aged just 61 years.
Which son was it that caused physical and emotional injury to William? Did my great grandfather George beat his father or was it one of the other siblings? Fining this answer could also provide insight on why my great grandparents were divorced. Did this odd death occur as a result of a thrashing by a son or a combination of errors?
NEXT UP: WILLIAM’S BROTHER GEORGE W. HUSTON
Our next odd death will be that of William’s brother, George Washington Huston – the brother William named his son (my great grandfather) after.
Fireman Edward Dexter and the Original Staines Fire Brigade
Get Back On Track
Since it’s been some time since the last article, I have decided to get back on track with family history – and to do so means getting back to basics. I have hardly stopped my research – in fact, I’ve been more prolific – locating photos, articles and more details into my personal database.
How To Take Action
With that in mind, my game plan is (at this moment) to work toward a goal of an article every week to two weeks – with a focus on one branch at a time, and to build a gallery with each article.
What will you do? You are under no pressure to post, but it’s always nice to have your input and ideas. My idea of this website is for us to be able to work independently, focusing on our respective branches and adding substantiating data to prove all our connections. The connections will build the strength of the basic ahnentafel (family tree or, more properly, “ancestor table”).
What Can You Do?
To get back on track, for those of you who are working your lines, please feel free to enhance the information here. Write your own articles.
This website is for Dexters AND their related families. We have plenty of room for everyone to do articles, upload photos and work your lines. Just be aware that this is predicated on the original database upload and is not current.
In other words, when I reference a family member who is on an updated gedcom file on Ancestry.com but who does not show up here, I will link back to my Ancestor’s page there (pending some better way of doing this!) or at least to the family tree.
When you link back, you will have to refer to your own gedcom. Your article should go back from the person you are working on back to the individual it connects to here on this gedcom. (*Note-if you do not have an Ancestry.com account, you may not have access to all the data in my public tree.)
Why Do We Have To Do All This?
The reason for this linking back is that It’s a large undertaking to reload the gedcom here (and maintain the current links, data and other info. Data tends to drop out, lose the attachments and have to be rebuilt. Articles remain unaltered.
There are over 2 thousand individuals in this database currently. I am not a programmer, so I can’t attest to the long-term ability of the installed gedcom format and that is why I have to stick with the original gedcom upload here.
If or when the time comes that I have to upload a new gedcom due to obsolescence of the old one, we may have to experiment. The individual file numbers should remain the same – but does that remain if certain files have been merged? I just don’t know what happens in that case.
Q and A’s
Q: Can photos be harvested on the website?
A: I hope not. I have tried to set up the site so that our images and documents are protected. Feel free to try (right-click, save image as or use a clip tool) and let me know how your experiment goes. I know there are ways around anything, but I want to prevent issues, not cause them
Q: If I upload data, is it still “mine”?
A: YES…BUT… If you fail to mark your images/documents with your information, that could be lost; so be sure to fill in all the meta information required when you upload. (It’s easier if you only do one or two at a time, rather than uploading dozens of photos at once.
Your articles posted under your name will ALWAYS have your by-line. Please be sure to fill in your bio when you go to your dashboard/user profile page. If you have trouble with this, please tell me!
Connie Jean Dexter Spicer
Let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns or you need any information on posting your articles. As always, I’m here to help, encourage and keep things running. Let’s get back on track!
Note from Connie: Alan was one of the very first connections I made who helped me connect with each of the UK Dexters.
His ongoing research, his knowledge of the area and his curiosity about “Dexters” (LOL) brought me in great part to where we now are.
Thank you for your commitment, Alan. Your notes, photos, and personally supporting me through some very black times are not forgotten. I hope you all will enjoy the coming information.
Now for some local information on the area:
STAINES BAPTIST CHURCH Notes by Alan KingSTAINES-CCHURCH P6-Notes by Alan KingSTAINES-BAPTIST CHURCH-Notes by Alan King p2STAINES-CCHURCHP18-Notes by Alan KingSTAINES-CCHURCHP34-Notes by Alan King
STAINES-CCHURCHP48-Notes by Alan KingSTAINES-CCHURCHP49-Notes by Alan KingSTAINES-CCHURCHP320-Notes by Alan King
I will be adding a history of Staines that I have been working on along with profiles of the members in the direct lineage from Thomas Dexter of 1670 to myself of 1954. This has formed part of a massive undertaking by myself to write as comprehensive a family history as possible from my perspective. This work is nearing completion and will be added to this site in the near future
In 1976, Alex Haley published “Roots“, an autobiographical story about an African American learning who he was through his people. It started a craze in our country, and I was one who got the bug. I took a social studies class about it, and got an A- in my Dexter research for my report along with the genealogy bug.
Connie Dexter Spicer, 2014
It became a life-long passion to learn more about my own history and people. I believe in the importance of knowing where I came from. My dad’s mother was instrumental in creating this “genealogy junkie” by giving me a number of (mostly) unbelievable stories about our family. After high school, however, I mostly put family history away. Other than a few reunions over the years, Dexter research went on the back burner.
Then came home computers.
Passing Brings Rekindled Interest In Dexter Research
In February of 1999, my grandmother, Marjorie E. (Huston) Dexter passed away. No matter whatever else may have happened to her during her lifetime, she gave me this gift – an interest in our heritage that I will never forget. The skeletons and the joys that crop up are what they are — pieces of a history – OUR history – that made us up in one way or another.
Introducing Grandma Marjorie Huston Dexter
Documentation Needed!
Before she died, I did family research using Grandma’s mythology — family stories and anecdotes with no documentation to go along with them. I learned quickly how important validating the information was.
In 1997, 20 years after I started, I got my first computer and discovered FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. I learned Cyndi’s List and other online sites are dedicated to helping people put family documents into their hands to validate connections and eliminate myths.
The ahnentafel I created (the family tree itself) was built to a few hundred individuals. It was primarily my direct family on both sides. I had tons of questions. Brick walls kept coming, because I hadn’t yet made a valid connection across the pond. There were a few primary families I questioned-some in Leicestershire, some in Staines. I just didn’t know which family was the right one.
I didn’t connect with the right person to help me validate those ideas and families – until one day, when I got an email.
Roger Connelly, a Chamberlin Cousin
When Grandma died, I remembered the old research and decided my computer would be a great tool. I issued questions through online bulletin boards and one response to one of my online queries from Roger Connelly came back.
Roger identified himself as a cousin on the Dexter side — his connection was through his mother and my great grandfather’s mother, Mary. They were Dunlap sisters. Roger developed his Chamberlin/Chamberlain family lineage and George James Dexter cropped up as the spouse of one of his aunts.
Obituary of George James Dexter submitted by Roger R. Connolly
He passed on a copy of George James’s obituary and the clues within were invaluable to connecting the families! I discovered his military history – the first time I learned someone in my family served in the Civil War! I learned about his death and burial. The hints about his family’s immigration were not entirely correct but close enough to work with, and his birth location gave me a direct verification to the Staines clan.
Enter Alan King, Noel Bye and Bill Guest
At that point, things really started happening. I quickly connected with Alan King of Shepperton, England. Alan is now a cousin-by-proxy.
Alan and Di KingBill Guest
As a local historian, he conducted walking tours of the area and noticed the Dexter name — and then my inquiries.
Alan corresponded with me and provided more fleshed out details after visiting the local churches that kept cropping up in Dexter stories, specifically the Independent Chapel that the family was so instrumental in building and growing.
Noel Bye (then of Tasmania) and Bill Guest (Karori, NZ) then connected with me – all of which significantly helped put puzzle pieces together and added to my list of cousins and interested Dexter family researchers and historians.
Noel confirmed his connection with the Staines clan and then somewhat fell off the radar. I later found out he has had health issues and moved to mainland Australia to benefit from the weather.
Bill connects to Noel’s same root family lineage. He was able to give me the appropriate 1850 Census records that started bringing more of the Staines clan to reality.
If you haven’t yet, read Bill and his wife Sue’s story put together from the letters of Eric Standring, you should. They are available for Site Members to read.
David Leonard Dexter Group Joins the Fray
David L Dexter family
More details emerged as David Leonard Dexter (Newent, England) and Dave V. Dexter (Neenah, Wisconsin) brought more information out. The ancestral Dexters of Staines remained involved in their community and church. They started the first fire brigade of Staines. The Spelthorne Museum has a dedicated area for the Fire Brigade and contains a great deal of information about Dexter involvement.
David L. was, for much of this particular time frame, serving in Japan with his wife, Esther as part of their christian mission. They found time to correspond and kept in touch, sharing the beautiful countryside and history of Ashiya along with David’s wonderful photography.
Kenneth Dexter Wrote His Own Story
With help from David L., I was soon in touch with Kenneth Dexter. Ken’s family line had a bakery with wonderful reputation – the Dexter Cafe (imagine!). Ken grew up in that environment and wrote his family’s story, (currently available on Amazon.com), “A Fleury Business“.
A Fleury Business, By Kenneth Dexter
More Cousins Add Depth
About this same time, I corresponded with Mary Dexter Heighway, Tony Dexter and Malcolm Robert Dexter – the latter who was living in Turkey. We have since lost Malcolm Robert, but he is with us in spirit, if not in person.
Tony had another first cousin (another Malcolm)– and in short order got me corresponding with the juggernaut of our Dexter family research in the UK, George Dexter.
Juggernaut George Dexter, Researcher Extraordinaire!
George Dexter (not George James, but this generations’ own George) is also a significant gatherer of our family’s history. It was he who got us past George Dexter, the tallow chandler and his son Thomas and Susannah, among the earliest founders of this family line that we have uncovered so far.
George Dexter
Calling All Family Writers and Photographers!
I hope you will come back and read up more on the family. Our collaborative efforts are great fun and full of wonderful information (and occasional surprises). Despite the writing and research, this is part of what helps build the site.
There are many more of you outside of the Dexter direct family that I have not yet mentioned. I apologize – you are not being ignored. We will focus on those family branches too. Where would we be without our mother’s own families, after all?
If your research is outside of the direct Dexter lineage, your stories are still part of the heritage of the family. It should be included! Your information as a group and are invaluable.
Grow your branches here, as well. Rutherford, Keifer, and Huston; Bruer/Brewer, Bye or Standring; Pease, Taylor, Connelly/Conley, Chamberlain and Swan all need representation. Through the richest old stories our own new history unfolds!
Take some time and author your own stories here. If you have questions on how to do it, let me know. All who have joined here can write and submit your articles easily. You retain authorship and copyright remains in your name.
I suggest you each write a brief author’s statement. Include:
Who you are.
Where you are
How long you’ve been researching and
How someone can contact you for more information (if you wish to be contacted). Feel free to include social media @usernames.
For all involved, our site grows richer with every piece of information. Please join in often with articles, photos and comments.
