From: "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V, 1915, page 1097
Father: CHARLES A DOTSON 1821 - 1913
The name of Dotson has long been connected with the history of Sioux Falls and although Charles A. Dotson was never a continuous resident there, he had a wide acquaintance among the citizens of the county seat of Minnehaha county through his many visits there and his last days were passed in Sioux Falls, where his death occurred August 16, 1913. He was a remarkable figure, for while he was in the ninety-third year of his age, he remained almost to the last, a strong, vigorous, active man, seeming in appearance and in interest almost in his prime.
He was born January 26, 1821, in Randolph county, Tennessee, where his youth was passed. In the early '40s, when he was a young man, he married Miss Miriam York of North Carolina and in 1848 they became residents of the central section of the Mississippi valley, settling in Iowa, when the work of progress and development seemed scarcely begun there. They secured a homestead claim near Des Moines, where is now seen the mineral springs resort of Colfax. All the usual experiences of pioneer life were theirs. They reared their family upon the home farm and lived to see a remarkable change in the district as the work of improvement and civilization was carried forward. At length Mr. Dotson retired from active business life and established his home in Colfax, where Mrs. Dotson passed away about 1898. He afterward lived with his daughter, Mrs. Sadie Hurst in Colfax until 1910, when he accompanied her on her removal to Reno, Nevada. After that, however, he spent much time in travel, visiting his sons and daughters and their families in various sections of the country, being everywhere eagerly weleomed, for he had few of those foibles and eccentricities which many are prone to believe are common to old age. In fact, "he was the 'grand old man' to the Dotson family and its several branches and all of his twenty-six grandchildren, his dozen or more great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild were his
'children' He loved them as his own; they idolized him." Six children survive the father, namely: E. E., of Colfax, Iowa; Mrs. Sadie Hurst, of Reno, Nevada; Mrs. William Reese, of Rock Island. Illinois; Mrs. L. A. McFarlane, of Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. John Rhodes of Boise, Idaho; and C. L., of Sioux
Falls, widely known as the editor and publisher of the Sioux Falls Daily Press.
In 1870 Mr. Dotson became a member of the Masonic lodge at Newton, Iowa, and for many years was a member of Riverside lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Colfax. A contemporary biographer has written of him: "Mr. Dotson never in his long career lost touch with the affairs of the world. lio followed politics closely all his life, spoke his convictions and strong principles forcefully to his friends and voted them, but never engaged in political activities in any other form. His first vote was cast in 1840, before the young Tennesseean had reached his majority, but it was never questioned. He stepped up to a small window of a log cabin which was designated as the polling place and spoke to the
official inside the name of William Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, as his choice for president. Mr. Dotson has never missed an election since. He voted for Theodore Roosevelt at Reno, Nevada, last year. He lived within the lifetime of every president of the United States save George Washington. The world was interesting to him and he studied it carefully. Within a few hours of his death, he discussed with his son and family the latest dispatches from Mexico."
His life was largely passed in the open air and nature was kind to him because he abused not her laws. He greatly enjoyed hunting and hunted game throughout almost his entire life, hunting bear in the mountains of Nevada when ninety,two years of age. His physieal power seemed but slightly impaired, although he had passed the milestone on life's journey which marked him a nonagenarian and his mind was clear and alert to the last. His memory remains as a cherished possession and as a blessed benediction to all who knew him.
From: "History of Dakota Territory", By George Washington Kingsbury, Volume 4
Son: CHARLES LEWIS DOTSON 1859 -
The history of journalism in South Dakota contains the name of one who is well known to the profession and whose work the public regards as largely a standard of that which is professionally ideal. No one ever questions the honesty of his policy or that of his paper, for it is well known that his position is never an equivocal one. If he fights he fights in the open; if he indorses a man or a measure all the world may know of his attitude upon the question. Men have thus come to believe in Charles Lewis Dotson, and though they may differ from him, they respect him.
Mr. Dotson is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Jasper county in 1859. That was eleven years after his parents had established their home in that state, casting in their lot with its pioneer settlers. The country schools afforded him his early educational privileges, but he was ambitious to advance along intellectual lines and eagerly embraced the opportunity of attending the Christian college at Oskaloosa, Iowa, and later of becoming a student in a business college of Chicago. Following his return to Jasper county he engaged in teaching in a rural school for two years.
It was in that county that Mr. Dotson was married at Ira, on the 31st of December, 1882, to Miss Fernanda Baker, who was born and reared in Jasper county and was also a student in the Christian college at Oskaloosa, while her husband was attending there. They have become the parents of five children. The young couple began their domestic life upon the old Dotson homestead, but after a year he turned to commercial pursuits, conducting a hardware store for two years. Subsequently he sold out and for a year and a half was upon the road as a traveling salesman for a wholesale hardware establishment.
Long prior to that time, however, he had made his initial step in the newspaper world as a correspondent writing under the nom de plume of Bob White when but fifteen years of age. He was correspondent for several weekly papers and his pithy sayings and breezy news notes soon brought him into prominence, leading to his ultimate connection with state papers as correspondent. It was after his experience as a traveling salesman that he removed to Des Moines and became identified with the Daily News of that city. He was afterward connected with the Iowa State Register, acting as local advertising manager for seven years. Subsequently he became business manager for the Des Moines Daily Capital, but after two years returned to the Des Moines Register, with which he was connected for four years. His experience was wide and varied, for he had not only been a writer but also advertising solicitor and business manager and thus be became thoroughly qualified for the successful conduct of a paper of his own. The possibility of ownership was the result of his close application, indefatigable effort and economical habits. With his arrival in South Dakota, in 1901, he purchased a half interest in the Sioux Falls Daily Press, his partner being W. S. Bowen, now editor of the Daily Huronite. In September, 1907, Mr. Bowen sold his interest to W. C. Cook, at that time chairman of the republican state central committee. His political duties, however, so occupied his time that he employed W. R. Ronald, previously managing editor of the Sioux City Tribune, to edit the paper. On the 30th of March, 1910, Mr. Dotson purchased his partner's interest and in time his son, Carroll B., became editor and still continues, while another son, Russell, is acting as associate city editor. At the time Mr. Dotson became half owner of the Press it was issuing two editions, the daily and the weekly, and in 1902 Mr. Dotson changed the weekly to the South Dakota Farmer, making it the only weekly farm paper in the state. Moreover it is the only farm paper in the state owned exclusively by a South Dakota man.
In politics Mr. Dotson has ever been an earnest champion of republican principles, and conducts his paper as an independent republican journal. Governor Byrne appointed him a member of the board of charities and corrections and upon its organization he was elected its president. He is a fluent and entertaining speaker. His oratorical powers are in demand at banquets and on other public' occasions. He takes a most active interest in civic affairs and for three years has been president of the Sioux Falls Commercial Club. The building of the street railway in Sioux Falls is largely attributable to his efforts and many other works of public improvement owe their existence largely to him. One of his contemporaries in the field of journalism wrote of him: "Eleven years ago when C. L. Dotson came to South Dakota he was a stranger here. His identification with the Sioux Falls Daily Press, one of the two big family newspapers of the state, at once brought him into prominence and gave him a statewide acquaintance�an acquaintance, by the way, that has worn well, one that has sunk deeper and grown broader with the successive years�until today it encircles the state. We are glad to have him with us.
"Charles Lewis Dotson has developed one of the most essential elements of success in life�an organized will. His mind is analytical in the extreme. He reasons with the precision of a machine. When he has reached a conclusion he is as unyielding as the sphinx on the Sahara. Stubborn? No; merely determined. Stubbornness is the child of ignorance; determination is will power intelligently directed. It is this element in Dotson's makeup that drives him forward to certain victory."
