Clarence Clifton Dawes (1895 - 1963)

Born 17 Mar 1895 in Logan, Illinois, United States

Ancestors

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Biography

Clarence Clifton "Pard" Dawes was born 17 March 1895 in Logan County, near the village of Armington, in central Illinois where he grew up and attended school nearby. A middle child, in 1913 at the age of 18 he moved with his family to the Oak Grove Community in northeast Johnson County, Missouri, to help operate the Blackwater Bottom Ranch which belonged to the Hoblit brothers of Logan County, Illinois.

Growing up in a family that worked together on farms in several states, Clarence soon became known as "Pard", short for partner. This nickname became the name he would use the rest of his life.

On 18 March 1916 he married Alice Alberta Williams. She was born 13 September 1896 in Montserrat, Missouri, the daughter of Rufus Lee Williams and his wife, Cornelia Manis. The marriage took place on a Saturday afternoon in the Warrensburg, Missouri, home of the bride's uncle, the Rev. Albert Manis. Rev. Manis performed the ceremony. Forrest Edgar Williams (Alice's older brother) and his wife, Leola Mae Dawes (Pard's older sister) were the witnesses. They had married just six months earlier.

Alice and Pard returned to the Blackwater Bottom Ranch to assist the Dawes family with the operation of the farm until the partnership with the Hoblit brothers was dissolved in 1918. They continued to farm in the Oak Grove community on the Williams farm until 1925 when the farm was sold.

In the fall of 1925, Pard and Alice Dawes strapped their baggage, spare tires, and tent to the back and running-boards of their touring car and headed West. They camped out along the way with their four oldest children. They wanted to live in Bellingham, Washington, to be near other members of the Williams family: Alice's mother, Cornelia Williams; Alice's married sister, Annie Williams Moore; younger sister, Margaret Williams; and two younger brothers, Jess and Arch Williams.

The two youngest children of Alice and Pard were born in Bellingham. Pard became associated with Whatcom Farmers Co-Op, driving a large truck to pick up and deliver goods to area farms in Whatcom County on a regular basis. In 1943, Pard encouraged his wife, Alice, to join him at the Co-Op in a new position of cleaning and patching feed sacks. He felt helping in the war effort until their three sons came home would provide some comfort to Alice as well as help to make the time pass more quickly.

After the war, Pard Dawes took another position, working for the Bellingham School District by providing valued janitor services. His wife, Alice, joined him in this effort as well, becoming one of the cooks at Roeder School where he was the janitor. On snowy mornings, Pard arrived early to clear the walks for safe passage by staff and school children. The teachers soon learned that he enjoyed making them needed bookshelves and repairing stuck doors or windows.

Pard and Alice always had a garden with vegetables and flowers which they shared with their friends and neighbors. They worked together to can many jars of food for their own family. Alice and Pard Dawes were active members of the First Christian Church in Bellingham.

After retirement, the couple enjoyed driving their car to visit family members in Missouri and to the East Coast to see their son, C. C. Jr., and his family. Their last drive across the country and back to Bellingham was in 1961.

Pard Dawes died 5 April 1963 unexpectedly after making satisfactory progress from an operation. He was survived by his wife of 47 years, four of his six children, and nine grandchildren. The funeral was well attended by his family, many friends and coworkers from the school district. The casket had a fresh red rosebud pinned on the inside of the cover. Somehow this provided comfort to those who knew him well; it looked like something he would do.

Alice Dawes died 11 April 1984 in Bellingham. They are both buried at Greenacres Cemetery in North Bellingham in the family plot.

• Excerpt taken from Mountjoy Omnibus: Every Mountjoy/Montjoy/Munjoy (or whose mother or grandmother had the name) born before 1900, and who resided in the area now in the United States

Sources

• Warrensburg Standard Herald, Warrensburg MO; Family records of the late Marion and Rosalie (Hurt) Williams of McLean VA; Family records of LeRoy and Alice Dawes Richards of Bellingham WA.
• Kinsey, M. B. (2001a). Ninth Generation. In Mountjoy Omnibus: Every Mountjoy/Montjoy/Munjoy (or whose mother or grandmother had the name) born before 1900, and who resided in the area now in the United States (pp. 373–375). essay, Gateway Press.
• Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991, database with images, FamilySearch ([1] : 24 October 2022), Clarence C Dawes, 18 Mar 1916; citing Marriage, Johnson, Missouri, United States, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; FHL microfilm 007514096.
• United States 1950 Census, database, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:6X1H-FDKF : Sun Jan 29 11:13:05 UTC 2023), Entry for Clarence C Dawes and Alice A Dawes, 5 April 1950.