Elizur Wolcott

Notes:

Graduated from Yale in 1839, one of the early members of Skull and Bones. Studied medicine in Boston for a year, and eventually settled in Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was a member of the board of education. He planned and oversaw the construction of the city's water-works and laid out the Diamond Grove Cemetery, where he was buried.

Elizur married Martha Lyman Dwight on 15 Jul 1846. Martha (daughter of Daniel Dwight and Mary Dickinson Mattoon) was born on 25 Dec 1824. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Called in many sources May Matoon Wolcott. According to a letter from John Dyer-Bennet to his sister Miriam, 3 Dec 1975, her given name was actually Mary. She attended Wellesley as a member of the class of 1885, but did not graduate.

Her ashes were interred with those of her father.

Mary married Edward Bull Clapp on 22 Dec 1886 in Morgan, Illinois. Edward (son of Rev. Charles Wells Clapp and Jane Pray Bassett) was born on 14 Apr 1856 in Cheshire, New Haven, Connecticut; died on 6 Feb 1919 in Berkeley, Alameda, California; was buried in Godfrey Cemetery, Godfrey, Madison, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 10 Oct 1890, Illinois

Miriam married Maj. Richard Stewart Dyer-Bennet on 17 Feb 1912 in Christchurch, Hampshire, England, and was divorced in 1955. Richard (son of Frederick Stewart Hotham Dyer and Adelaide Annie Taylor) was born on 6 Oct 1886 in The Lyons, Enville, Staffordshire, England; was christened in Enville, Staffordshire, England; died in 1983. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From Britannica.com (accessed 11 Sep 2020):

Richard Dyer-Bennet, (born October 6, 1913, Leicester, Leicestershire, England—died December 14, 1991, Monterey, Massachusetts, U.S.), British-born American tenor and guitarist who helped to revive the popularity of folk music through his concert performances, recordings, compositions, and teaching.

Though born in England, Dyer-Bennet grew up in Canada and California and attended the University of California at Berkeley (1932–35), where he studied English and music. (He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1935.) After visiting Swedish folklorist Sven Scholander in 1935, Dyer-Bennet adopted Scholander’s trinity of song interpretation—poetry, melody, and lute accompaniment. In 1944, though, he switched to the Spanish guitar and gave the first of what would become annual solo concerts at New York City’s Town Hall; the impresario Sol Hurok signed him for national and foreign tours for many years. He gained a cult following with his approximately 800 songs (including about 100 of his own composition) that ranged through British and French ballads, European medieval songs, Swedish shepherd tunes, and American cowboy songs. Curiously, though identified as a folk singer, he preferred the label minstrel or troubadour.

Dyer-Bennet stopped giving concerts after a stroke in 1972 limited use of his left hand. From 1970 to 1983 he taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Notes:

One of DDB's six proven "gateway ancestors." DDB is unique in this database in that one of his gateway ancestors is a parent.

John married Mary Abby Randall on 14 Jun 1951 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Mary (daughter of George Burdett Randall and Hester Worth) was born on 24 Nov 1923 in Los Angeles, California; died on 31 Aug 2012 in Northfield, Rice, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Heir apparent to the Swinnerton-Dyer baronetcy, most recently held by Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, who died 26 Dec 2018.

Family/Spouse: Lydia Drew Nickerson. Lydia (daughter of Ronald Whitman Nickerson and Lorna Mae Nickerson) was born on 24 May 1962 in New Castle, Lawrence, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

David married Pamela Collins Dean on 30 Dec 1982 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Pamela was born on 18 Jan 1953 in Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]