Joseph Dawson, Sr.
Joseph Dawson, Sr., came from Trumbull County to Allen County in the spring of 1836. His family consisted of nine sons and one daughter, of whom John R., Joseph, Isaac, Jonathan, Newton, and Lewis are still residents of Wayne township. Their first neighbors in the new settlement were Daniel Ellsworth, Samuel McPherson, John Perry, Allen Gilmore, Samuel Felger, and Isaac Dawson. Mr. Dawson entered 1500 acres of land within Wayne township, and afterward entered 200 acres more. He died at the old home in 1865, at the advanced age of 83 years.
From History of Auglaize County, Ohio, with the Indian History of Wapakoneta, and the First Settlement of the County, Robert Sutton, Publishers, Wapakoneta, 1880