SECOND GENERATION

2. John DEARING was born on 7 Mar 1846 in Okehampton, Devon, England.⁽²⁾ He died on 24 Mar 1905 in Florence, Fremont, Colorado. He was buried on 28 Mar 1905 in Fairview Cemet., Salida, Chaffee, Colorado. He was a Farmer in Lynnville, Morgan, Illinois. He was a Cemetery Caretaker in Salida, Chaffee, Colorado. John Dearing, the fourth child of Edward Dearing and Mary Sutton, spent his early childhood i n on North Lane in Okehampton. He was listed with his family in the 1851 census of Okehampto n, Devon, England. John migrated on a sailing vessel from England at the age of eight or nin e. His youth was spent in the township of Trafalgar, Halton county, Ontario, Canada.
John, from all evidence, came with his brother Edward and sister Catherine to Illinois. Fro m dates found, they probably migrated about 1866. The Dearing family members settled in an a rea near Lynnville, Morgan, Illinois though they were enumerated in Scott County, Illinois . John met and married Mary Parkin in 1867 in Winchester, Scott, Illinois.
John and Mary were listed in the 1870 census with their son George living in Jacksonville, I llinois. John was listed as a farmer. In the 1880 census there were six more children liste d with John again having farming as his occupation..
John and Mary's first child Richard Edward, named after his two grandfathers, died at the ag e of eleven months and is buried in the Liberty Cemetery next to the Liberty Church just outs ide of Lynnville.
In 1883 John and Mary migrated to Kansas with members of Mary's family. John , known as Jac k to family members, had a public sale to raise money for the trip. They kept an old Jerse y cow and a team of mules they would use for the drive to Kansas. One of John's neighbors ma de an offer to buy the two mules but when he was told they were not for sale the neighbor cu t the hamstring of the jack mule which meant the jack mule had to be put to death. John gav e the mare mule to Mary's nephews Charles and Rich Foster. The mare mule kept breaking out a nd letting the horses loose so Charles and Rich Foster's father sold the mule to a horse trad er.
Three of the Dearing children took a covered wagon full of belongings, the Jersey cow, the mu le and some chickens while the rest of the family took the train as far as it would go John' s son George drove the wagon, his daughter Mary went along to cook and his son Len rode the m ule. As the wagon stopped at a crossing to wait for a train to pass the horses bolted, hav e never seen a black thing belching smoke before. The wagon was upset, the other animals sca ttered in all directions while the mule with Len on it flipped his tail in the air and took o ff with Len at his mercy. It was hard to say who was more scared of the train--the mule or L en. It took the three children a whole day to gather the animals and continue their journey.
The Dearings, with the Parkins traveled by covered wagon halfway across Illinois, across Miss ouri and across Kansas to the southwest corner and settled about 65 miles from Richfield, Kan sas (the nearest town). At that time Kansas was unsettled prairie with great distances betwe en towns. With spade and shovel the Dearings dug out square sections of sod to build livin g quarters or what we call a "dugout" or "soddie". These living conditions presented dirt fl oors and dust on everything. Since the nearest town was 65 miles away many supplies and foo ds were hard to get.. There were no fruit trees. The family had to burn buffalo chips for h eat. Severe sandstorms swept across the prairie. One time, when the corn was about a foot h igh, a sandstorm sheared off the corn at ground level. You could say life was hard.
The two youngest children were born to John and Mary while living in Kansas. Ann Elizabet h who died shortly after birth and Dulcie.
The Dearing children had different stories of their experiences in Kansas. Len and his do g ran a rabbit into a prairie dog hole. Len put his hand into the hole to get the rabbit an d was bitten by a rattlesnake. As Len's father dug out the hole they found the rabbit, a rat tlesnake, a prairie dog and an owl. It is a wonder that Len didn't die. They gave Len som e whiskey to kill the pain and used lard and turpentine to get the poison out. Len was lef t with holes on the backside of his hand and bad scars on his palm.
Ada, the sixth child of John and Mary, was wearing a freshly starched bonnet to protect her h ead from the heat of the sun when she got the bright idea to turn the bonnet into a plow. Ad a tied a nail to the end of a string and then tied the string to her bonnet. Ada had been ch asing grasshoppers while her brother Len was herding cattle. Ala placed her bonnet on top o f a grasshopper and as the grasshopper would hop it would pull the bonnet which could pull th e string and in turn the string would pull the nail that acted as a plow. Needless to say, A da got in trouble when her mother saw her freshly starched bonnet had become dirty and limp.
In 1891, the life in Kansas was so hard that the Dearing and Parkin families decided to cal l it quits. The Parkin families returned to Jacksonville, Illinois while the Dearing famil y migrated to Colorado.
John and Mary took their family to Salida, Colorado where John became the town's cemetery car etaker. When there was a funeral in Salida, John would dig the gave and have his daughter Du lcie climb a tree at the cemetery entrance to watch for the funeral procession leaving Salid a. Dulcie would then warn her father when the funeral procession was coming up the hill so t hat everything would be ready.
In the 1900 census, John and his family were living on Caufield Avenue in Florence, Colorad o (about 35 miles from Salida). John was listed as a day laborer and it states that he owne d his house free and clear.
John Dearing was a Free Mason and a member of the Episcopal Church. He died of liver cance r in 1902 while living in Florence, Colorado. John and Mary died leaving two young children , Roy and Dulcie. Roy went to Milford, Utah to live with his eldest brother, George Dearin g who was an engineer for the railroad and Dulcie Dearing went to live with her sister Mary C ameron.
John kept in touch with his family. He took family trips back to Canada and Illinois. Ther e is even a picture taken at the farm of his brother Edward in Nebraska. He was married to Mary (Parkin) ROBINSON on 5 Nov 1867 in Winchester, Scott, Illinois.⁽³⁾

3. Mary (Parkin) ROBINSON was born on 28 Feb 1849 in Moss, Yorks, England.⁽⁴⁾ She was christened on 15 Apr 1849 in Campsall, York, England. ⁽⁵⁾ She died on 31 Aug 1902 in White River, Gunnison, Colorado. She was buried on 5 Sep 1902 in Fairview Cemet., Salida, Chaffee, Colorado. Mary stood about five feet five inches tall. She wore her dark brown hair pulled back in a b un close the the nape of her neck. In her later years the resemblance to her mother became v ery noticeable.
In 1883 Mary's family decided to move to Kansas with her brother Charles Parkin and wife, he r sisters Elizabeth Parkin and Emma Foster and family, and cousin Walter Parkin. The famil y had a public sale to raise money for the trip. They kept the old Jersey cow and a team o f mules. A neighbor of the family made an offer for the mules which was turned down. The ne ighbor cut the hamstring of the jack mule out of spite. The jack mule had to be killed. Th e family decided to give the mare mule to Mary's nephews Charles and Rich Foster. The mare k ept breaking loose and in the process let the horses out as well. Charles and Rich's father , John C. Foster, sold the mule to a horse trader.
The Dearings and Parkins drove their covered wagons across Illinois, across Missouri and acr oss Kansas to the southwest corner of Kansas, about 65 miles from Richfield, the nearest town . Kansas was an unsettled territory of prairie land. With the use of a shovel and spade th e families cut the prairie sod to build a dugout. The sod was later cut into pieces square i n shape and stacked upon one another to build a sod house. There were no wooden floors, onl y dirt. Buffalo chips were used for cooking, heating and fuel.
There was a lack of many comforts. This included the comforts one might expect when havin g a baby.
Mary would require her daughters to wear freshly starched bonnets to protect their heads fro m the heat of the sun. One of Mary's daughters decided one day to tie a string to her bonne t and use it as a plow. Her daughter tied a nail to the end of the string and then placed he r bonnet on top of a grasshopper. As the grasshopper would hop, it pulled the bonnet that wo uld pull the string, that would pull the nail. The clean starched bonnet was very dirty an d limp by the end of the day. Mary was upset, as you might expect.
In 1891, after trying to make a life on the Kansas prairie, the Dearing and Parkin families c alled it quits. The Dearings moved to Colorado while the Parkin family members decided t o return to Illinois.
The Dearing family made their home in Salida, Colorado. Mary spent the last few years of he r life suffering from breast cancer. The cancer developed large sores that refused to heal . Mary's daughters would care for their mother, keeping the open sores cleaned and covered . While living with her daughter Mary Cameron in White River, Colorado, Mary became so bad th at her sister Emma Foster and Emma's son John Albert came to care for Mary. Mary died 31 Au g 1903. Children were:

i. Richard Edward DEARING was born on 14 Sep 1868 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. ⁽⁶⁾ He died on 7 Sep 1869 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois.⁽⁷⁾ He was buried in Liberty Cemetery, Lynnville, Morgan, Illinois.⁽⁷⁾
ii. George William DEARING was born on 11 Oct 1869 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. ⁽⁸⁾ He died on 19 Aug 1945 in Salt Lake, Salt Lake, Utah. He was buried in Salt Lake, Salt Lake, Utah. He was a Railroad Engineer in Milford & Salt Lake City, Utah.
iii. Sarah Laura DEARING was born on 11 Jul 1871 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. ⁽⁹⁾ She died in , California.
iv. Mary Ann DEARING was born on 12 Jun 1873 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. ⁽¹⁰⁾ She died on 2 Aug 1964 in Florence, Fremont, Colorado. She was buried in Union Highland, Florence, Fremont, Colorado.
v. Ada Emma DEARING was born on 8 Aug 1875 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. ⁽¹¹⁾ She died on 1 Dec 1933 in Salida, Chaffee, Colorado. She was buried in Salida, Chaffee, Colorado.
vi. Charles Thomas DEARING was born on 10 Sep 1877 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. ⁽¹²⁾ He died on 19 Jul 1955 in Salida, Chaffee, Colorado. He was buried in Salida, Chaffee, Colorado.
vii. John Leonard DEARING was born on 10 Sep 1877 in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. ⁽¹³⁾ He died on 9 Nov 1931 in Idaho Springs, Clear Creek, Colorado. He was buried on 11 Nov 1931 in Florence, Fremont, Colorado.
1 viii. Roy Christopher DEARING.
ix. Ann Elizabeth DEARING was born about 1884 in Richfield, Morgan, Kansas. ⁽¹⁴⁾
x. Dulcie Mabel DEARING was born on 24 Sep 1889 in Richfield, Morgan, Kansas. ^(15)(16) She died on 16 Jul 1969 in Florence, Fremont, Colorado. She was buried in Florence, Fremont, Colorado. She was a City Clerk in Florence, Fremont, Colorado.