FRANCIS MARION DOROTHY.-Among the early day business men of Indiana was numbered Francis M. Dorothy, who during many years of his active life was identified with the mercantile business. He was born in Vigo county, this state, August 24, 1834, a son of Harrison and Lucinda (Sweeney) Dorothy, who were natives of Kentucky and of Irish descent. In his youth the son Francis located in the village of Old York in Clark county, Illinois, where he worked as a mechanic until 1852, and for some time afterward was a mercantile salesman there. In the fall of 1881 [sic] he enlisted as a Civil war soldier, becoming a member of Company F, Fifth Illinois Cavalry, entering the ranks as a lieutenant, lie took part in several hard-fought skirmishes, and on one occasion was wounded in the left knee, the ball remaining imbedded in the wound until his death. Returning home after his discharge from the army he was engaged in business in Robison [sic, Robinson] for four years, from that time until the summer of 1879 was identified with the business interests of Bellair, Illinois, and moving thence to Clay City, Indiana, he was a prominent and successful merchant there until his death on the 12th of December, 1888. He was a member of the time honored order of Masons, and an earnest and active Republican.
On the 18th of December, 1871, Mr. Dorothy was united in marriage to Miss Notolean Peters, who was born in Queen Ann county, Maryland, December 30, 1841, a daughter of John Wesley and Martha (Wallace) Peters, of English descent and natives respectively of Maryland and Delaware. They were farming people, and both are now deceased. When their daughter Notolean was fourteen years of age she came to Park [sic, Clark] county, Illinois, to live with an uncle, who was a miller, and she was a member of his home from 1856 until her marriage. After the death of her husband she continued the business and remained in Clay City until 1896, when she sold the store and came to Hymera to engage in the mercantile business here. She was the proprietor of one of the town's leading mercantile establishments, carrying a stock valued at three thousand dollars, and met with the success she so well merited. Mrs. Dorothy is the mother of four children: Francis Otto, the first born, married Ethel Beckett, by whom he had one child, Hester, and he died on the 30th of September, 1901. Charles is a miner and resides at home, as does also the younger son, Dick, who had charge of the store. May is the wife of Charles Zenor and resides in Hymera. They have two children, Donald and Dorothy.