Alfretta "Allie" Mariah (Cannady) Dawson

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An Account by her Granddaughter Jean (Karns) Ladd, Verna's daughter

Alfretta, my grandmother, in her later years, would sit in her favorite rocker where she could see out the window and watch the activities of the small town as they came into view. The rocker always seemed to be placed too close for comfort to the china cabinet with curved glass front and sides. It seemed to survive the potential hazards of the many grandchildren who visited her. She is remembered by many of her grandchildren for the "big" sugar cookies which were always waiting in the cookie jar for some hungry child, and also for the butterscotch candies [round and hard like a quarter] which were always there.

While my daughter, Gwen Ladd Hackler, is too young to have known her great-grandparents, the I. M. Dawsons, she and her husband, Don Hackler, now enjoy in their home the antique bedroom furniture which furnished the front bedroom of the Dawson's last home in Ford, Ford Co., KS.
--Excerpts from Jean Karns Ladd

An Account by an Unnamed Granddaughter

Isom Martin Dawson and "Allie" Cannady Dawson both are buried in the family plot about a mile east of Ford, Ford Co, KS. Allie's funeral was conducted by Rev. August Brandes, the first pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Ford, Ford Co., KS.

Some of the grandchildren's memories of Grandma "Allie" are the big cookie jar always full of sugar cookies. It must have taken dozens and dozens for her many grandchildren who visited her as they dropped in and out--perhaps for a cookies. Always present also was the dish of flat round butterscotch candies just waiting for someone to stop by for a treat!

Grandmother was a quiet, meek little lady who had seen a lot of years and many hardships with her ten children who all lived to be adults. That was quite an accomplishment in the days before antibiotics, plastics, nylons, wash and wear fabrics, automatic washers and dryers! In the last 10 or 15 years of her life she spent much "well-earned" time sitting in her favorite rocking chair (which was always too close to "that" curved glass china cabinet) looking out the window watching the activities of the little town where she had lived so long. She had an excellent view of the highway coming through the center of town, and of the school children walking to and from the schools.

She was always active in the Missionary Society of the Nazarene Church. She served as their treasurer for many years and the money, though often small, was carried in a well recognized little coin purse.

With her hair brushed back to a bun, and dressed in the same style dress almost all of the time, she kept an orderly home. After she was free to be gone, she loved to travel whenever someone was going and had some space, or to board a bus on her way to MO or CO to visit family and friends. These were well-earned vacations!