(Scroll down to bottom to find earlier descendant interviews)
Mary Catherine Ferris Dozier (1853-1943), the oldest daughter of Warren Ferris, is known in the family as “Aunt Kate”. She spent much of her long life as a widow living with relatives. At age 20, Kate married George Edward “Ed” Dozier and they had one son, George Edward Dozier Jr. (1873-1942) who was born in Belton, Texas. Little is known of Kate’s first husband. After her husband died, Kate bought some land and raised cattle and her son George.
Mary Catherine “Kate” Ferris with husband George Edward “Ed” Dozier and George W. Jr. - 1873
Kate had poor luck with husbands. According to a great granddaughter Juanita Dozier, Kate had a terrible scar on her face which she explained had been caused when her second husband, a Mr. Spence, threw a hatchet at her in anger. That marriage didn’t last long. In 1908, Kate married B.H. Greenwood but he died in 1918.
George E. Dozier Jr., father of Britt Dozier - C1925
Son George Jr. married Susie Munos. They had six children Kate helped raise. The Doziers farmed the Brazos River bottoms southeast of Waco, Texas, around Perry, Marlin, and Grosbeck. Kate’s grandson Albert was born during a terrible Brazos flood.The family had to seek high ground just as the baby was coming. It was a hard birth; the premature infant weighed only 2 pounds and was not expected to live, but Kate put him in a shoebox near the stove and fed him sweet coffee with milk and soda crackers. She formed a close bond with Albert, later called “Britt” Dozier.
Albert “Britt” Dozier, standing on left with two school friends - 1914
In 1923, Albert Britt Dozier married Bessie Davis and Kate lived with the couple for many years; helping to raise their children, Thelma, Louise, George W., and Albert, Jr. Kate told her great grandchildren riveting tales of her childhood in the Old West, of the outlaw Belle Starr and marauding Indians. Britt was not much of a farmer. He tried hoeing cotton for 5 cents a row but lasted only one day. He supplemented his income by running a horse drawn grader for the county road department. Britt had little education, but he was a hard worker.
In 1930, Britt moved his family to Wink, Texas where he landed a job with Humble Oil Company. Aunt Kate went out to West Texas with the family. While there, she became re-acquainted with her niece, Rena Ferris D’arcy, daughter of her brother Charley. Kate lived with Rena for a time around 1940. It was at Rena’s that historians, McCausland and DeGolyer, interviewed Kate about her father Warren Angus Ferris. The Doziers were very aware of the historic importance of their ancestor. Britt’s daughter Louise wrote a high school biography which opened with her proud connection to the Ferrises.
When the West Texas oil boom dried up, Britt moved the family to Kilgore, Texas where an even greater quantity of oil had been discovered. In 1930, the Daisy Bradford #3 well erupted and wildcatter Dad Joiner brought in the largest oil field in U.S.history. Ten thousand derricks sprang up; twenty-four were drilled in one city block. They even drilled under the Kilgore bank. Britt was a pumper who made the rounds checking the level of oil pumped to holding tanks and maintaining the pumps.
Dozier family: Albert Dozier Jr., Louise Dozier Shupp, Tina Shupp Roth, William (Bob) Caves Jr., Thelma Dozier Caves, Bessie Dozier, Terry Shupp, Albert Britt Dozier with auto and Kilgore oil wells in background -1955
Britt, Bessie, and Kate were part of a huge movement of Americans off the farm and into town, leaving agriculture for industry. The Kilgore oil boom brought thousands of men seeking jobs in the oil patch. They lived in tents; most were dirt poor. It was the Depression and Britt felt lucky to have a job. He was a generous man, letting hobos sleep under the flames where gas was flared off from the wells then inviting them in for breakfast. If anyone needed money, Britt would see that they got it, even if he had to borrow from the bank. The house was always full of relatives, coming and going. Britt would help them get jobs. He never turned down anyone who needed help.
According to his oldest daughter Thelma, Britt Dozier’s greatest love was his hound dogs. He had 40 well trained dogs. On summer nights he and his pals would sit around a campfire listening to their dogs hunt foxes. You could recognize each dog by his bark and tell when they had caught something. Britt always blew the horn to call the dogs in before they killed the fox. Later in life, Britt enjoyed fishing. He could entertain for hours with tales of his hunting and fishing exploits.
After his retirement from Humble Oil Company, Britt ran a grocery store in Kilgore. He died in 1970. Aunt Kate died in 1943, one hour short of her 90th birthday. Her obituary in the Kilgore newspaper noted that her father (Warren Ferris) was a pioneer who surveyed much of the land around Dallas. Kate, Britt, and Bessie are buried in Kilgore where they were part of the oil boom that kept Texas going during the Depression and fueled the Allied victory in WWII.
Albert Dozier Jr., Louise Dozier Shupp, Tina Shupp, and G.W. Dozier - 1954
Written by Susanne Starling. Tina Shupp Roth, our informant about the Dozier family, is daughter of Louise Dozier Shupp, granddaughter of Britt Dozier, and great great granddaughter of Mary Catherine “Kate” Ferris. Tina lives in Mckinney and is a supervisor at Dallas CASA. Another informant was Felix Dozier Jr. of Granbury, TX.
G.W. Dozier of Conroe, TX, age 90, the oldest surviving member of this Dozier clan