Henry Tully Dorrance

1819 - 1895  (75 years)

• Name	Henry Tully Dorrance  [1]
  Born	6 Nov 1819	Middlebury, Addison Co., VT, USA   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	21 Jul 1895	Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA, USA   [1]
  Buried	Stockton Rural Cemetery, Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA, USA   [2]
  Notes	From Charlie Bryant, correspondent, note of October 25th,2003     Letter from "Tica Lawrence" toH.T. Dorrance Esqre on letterhead that says "Tica." onemonth after the death of this wife Achsah Bird Dorrance. (Ithink this is a different Tica than Tica Dorrance Zabriski,who would have been his granddaughter): "S.E. Corner 2d + Market "March 15, 1882 "Dear Mr. Dorrance:     "I feel as though I must send youa few words of sympathy in your trouble, for that they areheart felt you may be assured. My own dreadful experiencethe great trouble God has laid upon me to bear for Hissake, though hard, has made me more akin to the sorrows andtrials of others and especially you and yours for theminute I saw you and your dear wife I could not help butlike you both and admire you with all my heart. How much,how very much, has happened since; you have lost a dearwife, a devoted companion, and I a husband, but ah thedifference. It must be comfort, it must be happiness, tothink of her good and true to the last, faithful in everyduty to you and everyone else whilst I cannot have any suchcomfort and must scorn even to think of him who has provedhimself so false, so bad in every way. But God is mercifuland he has sent me many blessings. My dear Mother and herfriend are one of them for what should I have done withoutthem and so many dear friends have gathered round tocomfort me. Dear little Kitty, dear little friend, how muchI miss her. She was so good to me and your 'Fred' too. Whatcomfort it must be for you to have them around you. Everycloud has its silver lining be it ever so dark and if wehave to part from those we love it is but a short good byeto meet again and never more to part. I lost my dear Fathernearly seven years ago but often feel as though he werewith me in spirit and I take comfort in the thought forsome day I hope to join him. I am so glad to hear fromKitty that you have recovered from your long illness andare improving day by day in health and only hope for yourchildren your friends sake God may spare you to them a longlong time. If you can spare a photograph of yourself andwife will you let me have one, should be so grateful. Sincerely yours, "Tica Lawrence" Census: 1870, Parents not of foreign birthMoved to California: Abt. 1856, Rutland, Vermont toStockton, California Occupation: 1870, Saddler Residence: 1870, Stockton, San Joaquin County, California      Here's an excerpt from a note thatI wrote a few years ago to another correspondent, Mary BethWheeler, on H.T. Dorrance and Achsah Bird's descendantsthat you may find of interest. It explains how this branchof my family came to be in California:     "Henry Tully Dorrance, son ofJoseph, was born in Middlebury, Addison County, Vermont in1819. He married Achsah Bird, also an Addison Countynative. (I found a HUGE pedigree on her in the LDSAncestral File that I accessed at the local Family HistoryCenter at the Mormon Temple here in Oakland. It's so bigthat even after several hours of browsing I haven't foundthe end of all the branches. It goes all the way back tothe European "royal lines", including Charlemagne, and evenfurther back to around 6 A.D.!! Some day when I have time,I'll download it in a GEDCOM file on a floppy disk andimport it into my family file.) [Note: This was in 1999,before the LDS Church had put all this information on theInternet.]     "Anyway, Achsah Bird had a brothernamed Myron who was a saddle maker, and who never married.In 1847, he left Vermont and went to Ohio and then toMichigan. In 1849, he joined the gold rush and came toCalifornia. He didn't have much success at gold mining, soin 1851 he moved to Stockton and opened a saddle shop.About 1860, Henry Dorrance, who was also a saddle maker inVermont, followed his brother-in-law to California andjoined his business in Stockton. Six years later, his wifeand children (including my grandmother, Sarah ClevelandDorrance) followed him, and lived the rest of their livesin Stockton. Eventually, "H.T. Dorrance", as he was known,took over Myron Bird's saddlery business.     "My great grandmother, SarahCleveland Dorrance, a Vermont native, met my greatgrandfather, Charles Edward Owen, in Stockton. He was amusician, born in San Francisco in 1858, who came toStockton and opened a piano and jewelry store. She was amusic teacher. They lived the rest of their lives inStockton, where my grandmother, Elise Dorrance Owen, wasborn. She had one brother, Henry Dorrance Owen, who went byhis middle name. He died before I was born, but my motherstill talks about "Uncle Dorrance". Funny how a familysurname becomes a given name. Elise Owen went to Stanfordand graduated in 1907. She then became a high schoolteacher in nearby Antioch, where she met my grandfather,Bruce Forrester Brown, Jr., who was the manager of a localpaper mill. They moved to Southern California where hemanaged another mill with his brothers and father, andlived in the Los Angeles suburb of Huntington Park." [1]
  Person ID	I10034	Sprague Project
  Last Modified	23 Jul 2020

  
  

  Father	Joseph Dorrance,   b. 17 Sep 1777, Saybrook, Middlesex Co., CT, USA ,   d. 19 May 1849, Middlebury, Addison Co., VT, USA  (Age 71 years)
  Mother	Esther Martin,   b. 20 Mar 1781, Vergennes, Addison Co., VT, USA ,   d. 15 Apr 1849, Middlebury, Addison Co., VT, USA  (Age 68 years)
  Married	8 Sep 1802  [1]
  Family ID	F74014	Family Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family / Spouse 1	Achsah L. Bird,   b. 27 Feb 1819, Bristol, Addison Co., VT, USA ,   d. 18 Feb 1882, Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA, USA  (Age 62 years)
  Married	7 Feb 1841	Hinesburg, Chittenden Co., VT, USA   [1, 4]
  	From Mary Jean Martin-Van Deusen, correspondent, note ofSeptember 28, 2011 I was speaking to my father, who lives in Los Angeles withmy sister and he stillis able to piece together family information for me. AchsahDorrance's maiden name was Miller. Emily and Acsah Miller were sisters. Emily was my great,great grandmother.  Emily was married to Roderick DhuBird. Two of Emily's and Roderick's daughters were Frances(Aunt Fanny) and Jenny Bird. Roderick waa an attorney andpracticed lawin Bloomington, IL with Abraham Lincoln. At the beginningof the Civil War, Lincoln appointed Great, greatGrandfather Bird Payroll Courier for the Union Army. H.T. Dorrance first married Achsah.  Later in herlife, Achsah developed, we believe, cancer.  Emily anddaughter Fanny traveled from Western Pennsylvania(California, PA) to Stockton in order to take care of theailing Achsah.  Achsah passed away from her illnesssin time and Great, great Aunt Emily returned toPennsylvania.  H.T. Dorrance proposed to and marriedAunt Fanny.  After H.T. died, Aunt Fanny moved back toPennsylvania.  She died in, I believe, the 1940s. After the Civil War, Roderick wired Emily that he wastaking a riverboat from Bloomington to the Pittsburgh areabut he never made it. The last correspondence from him wasaround Arkansas.  No one has learned what happened tohim. Little else known about him. [3]
  Children	1. Hadley M. Dorrance,   b. Abt 1842, Vergennes, Addison Co., VT, USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown   2. Achsah Dorrance,   b. Abt 1845,   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Ellen Roxana Dorrance,   b. 8 Nov 1845, Rutland Twp., Rutland Co., VT, USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown   4. Henry Myron Dorrance,   b. Abt 1849,   d. Yes, date unknown   5. Marie Antoinette Dorrance,   b. 12 Jun 1850, Rutland Twp., Rutland Co., VT, USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown + 6. Sarah Bird Dorrance,   b. Jul 1852, Rutland, Rutland Co., VT, USA ,   d. 17 Apr 1932, Huntington Park, Los Angeles Co., CA, USA  (Age ~ 79 years) + 7. Charles Frederick Dorrance,   b. 18 Jul 1856, Rutland Twp., Rutland Co., VT, USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	2 Feb 2013
  Family ID	F3831	Family Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family / Spouse 2	Caroline Frances Bird,   b. Abt 1850, PA, USA ,   d. Aft 1940  (Age ~ 91 years)
  Married	From Mary Jean Martin-Van Deusen, correspondent, note ofMarch 20, 2009 My great grandmother, Jennie Bird's sister, Frances Bird,was married to H.T. Dorrance. She was his second wife,marrying him after his first wife, Acsah, died. Her motherand she moved from Pennsylvania to California to care forAcsah in her illness. Acsah would have been Emily'sbrother-in-law's sister. (I think???). My sister and I haverings made by the L. C. Hendrichsen jewelry company, withwhom H.T.'s son worked. (C. Fred Dorrance).I also have H.T. Dorrance's sterling silver, engraved,business card holder. My Aunt Frances Dorrance was an artist and we have severaloil paintings done by her, particularly a large painting ofMt. Shasta, that hung in my grandparent's, and then our,home.
  Last Modified	2 Feb 2013
  Family ID	F110245	Family Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 6 Nov 1819 - Middlebury, Addison Co., VT, USA Married - 7 Feb 1841 - Hinesburg, Chittenden Co., VT, USA Died - 21 Jul 1895 - Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA, USA Buried - - Stockton Rural Cemetery, Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Headstones

  Dorrance, Henry Tully (1819-1895) and Miller, Achsah L. (1819-1882) Grave stone at Stockton Rural Cemetery, Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA Contributor: Bryant, Charles S.

  
  

• Sources

  [S279] Correspondent: Bryant, Charles S., note of October 25th, 2003. [S279] Correspondent: Bryant, Charles S., note of November 23, 2008. [S280] Correspondent: Van Deusen, Mary Jean, note of September 28, 2011. [S123] DAR Application, "DAR Lineage Books, DAR Application for Mrs. Sarah BirdDorrance Owen, DAR ID Number: 33630.".