Editor, Don Smith (Date: 1 DEC 2007):
Our great grandparents were Francis Edward "Dusty" Green and Alice Elnora "Nora" Dumbleton. They grew to adulthood, fell in love and got married in Wisconsin. This then, is a quest for these two ancestral roots in Wisconsin, both Green and Dumbleton. Two of my first cousins, Donna Sue Davis/Doyle and Gloria Davis/Evans, daughters of Aunt Eva Elnora Self/Davis, made the trip to Wisconsin and this is what they discovered. The tale is told by my cousin Donna.

Often mentioned are Robert T. Green and Horace Dumbleton. Who were these two individuals you might ask? Well, Robert T. Green was the father of Francis Edward "Dusty" Green and Horace Dumbleton was the father of Elnora "Nora" Dumbleton/Green. Elnora was our great grandmother, the mother of our beloved grandmother, Elsie Elnora Green/Self.

On November 1, 2007 Gloria and I traveled 297 miles from Des Plains, Illinois, to Arcadia, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, home of Great Great Grandfather Robert T. Green. (Note Of Editor: Des Plaines, Illinois is located some 16 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.) The countryside was beautiful - late fall with yellow and orange foliage among rolling hills. The town has a population of approximately 2,400. We stayed at the Draft Horse Inn. It is the only one of two places to stay. It was very nice. The people at the front desk were very accommodating, putting us in touch with Carol Berkland, historian of the Town of Aradia.

On November 2nd, we met with Carol and went through many cemetery records. Unfortunately, we found no grave sites for Robert Green or any other relatives we know of. That afternoon we went to courthouse of Trempealeau County (pronounced TREMPLO), Wisconsin, located in Whitehall, Wisconsin. There we found the marriage license of our Great Great Grandfather Francis Green and Elnora Dumbleton. We also found the Certificate of Homestead for 160 acres of land from the United States of America to Robert T. Green.

We still don't know why Francis and Elnora traveled approximately 135 miles form Waupaca County to Arcadia, Trempealeau County to marry. The marriage certificate says that Elnora Dumbleton was from Little Wolf, Waupaca County while Francis was from Royalton, Waupaca County. Francis' father, Great Great Grandfather Robert T. Green, had been dead for eight years at the time of the marriage. They married in 1883 and he died in 1875.

On November 3rd, we traveled to the land site of Robert Green. People at the courthouse drew up a map showing us exactly how to get there. The property was beautiful, rolling hills and farm land. The man who owns the property now offered to show us inside his home. He said the center stairs to the attic were from the original home on the property. After our tour of the property, we left for Waupaca County some 175 miles away to check out the Dumbleton side of our ancestors.

We arrived at the Village Inn in Manawa, Waupaca County, Wisconsin at about 6:00 pm. We were checking in and I asked the woman at the front desk if she could help me find the little towns listed on the marriage certificate. I showed her the certificate and she said, "I think we are related". She called Carol Prahl and let me talk to her. Carol is the Great Great Granddaughter of Hiram Dumbleton (Horace's brother). Linda, the front desk lady's aunt married a Dumbleton, so in saying we were related is a bit of a stretch.

November 4th was a Sunday. Since we arrived in Waupaca late Saturday, the only hope of doing any searching for genealogy was at the local library. Linda met us there and gave us a list of local cemeteries where Dumbletons were buried. We were unable to get to the microfiche machine to view records, as it was busy. So we went looking for Great Great Grandfather Horace Dumbleton in the Little Wolf Cemetery. It turned out to be rather difficult to find. We could not locate the grave though we did find other Dumbletons, Katie and Emma Dumbleton. It was very cold and windy and, after a bit of searching, we went back to the motel. There the girl at the front desk looked up the cemetery on her computer. She found that Lot# 206 is the grave sites for Horace Dumbleton and two of his brother Hiram Dumbleton's children, William and Flassey. Armed with this information and knowledge that Katie and Emma were buried in Lot #191 and Horace in Lot #206, we felt certain that we would find the grave the next day.

On November 5th, we went to the Waupaca County City Hall. There we found the Death Certificate of Horace Dumbleton. The Certificate listed Harriet Devit, spelled DEVIT, as his wife. We also found a marriage certificate to Elvira Harkness, Horace's second wife, to whom he was married at the time of his death, I believe. We also found a deed of property to Horace Dumbleton. He bought two separate pieces of land in 1867, forty Acres for $1.98 and eighty acres for $5.00, both sold to him by the County of Waupaca owing to non-payment of taxes by the previous owner(s).

(Note of Editor Don Smith: It may be that he was given special consideration by the County because of his Civil War service as a Full Sergeant of Company A, 32nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, listed by the Federal Government for "Distinguished Service".)

We were given directions and proceeded to make a tour of the property taking pictures. The land is still being farmed. It is located very close to the town of Manawa (population 1,300) in Waupaca County. By road, Manawa is about 12.6 miles from Waupaca.

We then went to Royalon, located some 3.54 miles from Waupaca and 12 miles from Manawa. This is the place which Great Great Grandfather Francis Green listed his residence when he married. We were told that this town was a bustling town with lumber mill, 3 hotels, and many restaurants when Great Great Grandpa Francis Green was a lumberman at the time of his marriage in 1883. We then went to Little Wolf, located near Royalton. The Town of Little Wolf, the residence of Great Grandmother Elnora Dumbleton, is no longer in existence. We toured the Little Wolf Cemetery for the third time and finally located the grave of Horace Dumbleton. The only information on the stone was in regards to his military service. It had been a long day. We went back to the motel and, after stuffing ourselves, we went to bed.

On November 6th, we checked out of the motel and went to King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin, population 750, located some 2.0 miles west of Waupaca. Great Great Grandpa Robert Green's wife is buried there. Her maiden name was Fanny Bray, but after Great Grandpa Robert died, she married a gentleman named Horace Rockwell. The cemetery is amazing. It reminded me of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potamac River from Washington, D. C. It is huge and beautifully laid out. The lady caretaker took us right to the burial spot. We took pictures and then headed back to Des Plaines, Illinois. Unfortunately, we did not leave the cold weather behind us.
Submitted by: Donna Sue Davis/Doyle

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