The Dempsey Family

(Ancestors of Rose John Whiteside)

1^st generation

John Wesley Dempsey

(1838-1920)

Mary Jane Parcel

(1848-1929)

Photo:  Mary Jane Parcel  Dempsey, her daughter Effie John

and granddaughter Rose John

John Wesley Dempsey was born 5 Apr 1838 in Indiana and died 4 Jun 1920 in Antelope County, Nebraska.  He was the son of James Dempsey and Elizabeth Emory, both born about 1802 in Delaware, who were married in Kent, Delaware, on 24 Jan 1829.  (Several Ancestry.com postings have this marriage information.)  That family was found in the 1850 Pulaski County, Indiana census as follows:  James Dempsey 48 DE, Elizabeth 48 DE, Eliza 15, William 13, John 10, Mary E. 8, George 6, Caroline 4.   John’s age is a little younger than it should be if 1838 is his correct birth date, but it is close, and since he was born in Indiana and both parents were born in  Delaware, it is a very likely match.   Ten years later, there is a John Dempsey, age 24, in the 1860 Warrensburg, Johnson Co., MO census, born Indiana, occupation planter, living with several other farm laborers.  The rest of the James Dempsey family was not found in the 1860 census in Pulaski County or anywhere else.

John Dempsey was described in his military pension papers as 5 feet, 5 inches tall, dark hair, dark eyes, and dark complexion.

The Benton County, Iowa website mentions John Dempsey who was one of the first young men of the county to sign up to fight for the Union when the Civil War broke out in 1861.  From the 1910 History of Benton County, Iowa comes this description:  “Hardly had the rebel guns that poured their storm of iron hail upon Sumter’s walls ceased to echo over the land, when a war meeting was called at Vinton.  This was April 19, 1861… Resolutions were adopted to raise a company in Benton county and on Saturday the 20^th a recruiting office was opened…. Among the first to enlist were … John Dempsey…”

He served as a private in the 5^th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, and then was transferred to the 36^th Regiment.  While on active duty in March 1862 he suffered from smallpox and later that year his eyes were burned by powder.  His term of enlistment ended in July 1864 at Indianapolis, Indiana, and he returned home to Benton, Iowa.

Mary Jane Parcel was born 9 December 1845 in Linn Co., Iowa, and died 16 December 1929 in Antelope County, Nebraska.  She was the daughter of Isaac Parcel (b. about 1817 in PA) and Rosina (b. about 1823 in Ohio, last name unknown).  They appear (with their name misspelled) in the 1850 Linn Co., Iowa census as follows:  Isaac Parsons 33 PA, Rosina 27 OH, John F. 8 IN, Mary J. 5 IA, Ellen L. 5 IL.  In the 1860 Benton County, Iowa census, Rosina is no longer with the family, so she probably died at or soon after the birth of their youngest child Cynthia.  The census record is as follows:  Isaac Parcels 44, born Pennsylvania, son John F. 18, dau Mary J. 14, dau Ellen L. 11, dau Cynthia A. 6.   The family was not found in the 1870 census.

John Wesley Dempsey and Mary Jane Parcel were married by a Justice of the Peace in Benton County, Iowa, on 23 October 1864.

They had 11 children (according to the 1900 and 1910 census) but only 10 are known through census records.  The oldest, Lizia, born in 1865, was mentioned in John Dempsey’s pension application.

i.  Lizia Dempsey b. 1865 Iowa

ii.  Cintha A. (Ella) Dempsey b. 1867 Iowa

iii. Alfred Albert Dempsey b. 29 Apr 1869 Iowa, d. 11 Feb 1951 Nebraska

iv. Wilhelmina Dempsey b. 1872 Iowa, m. ___ Hains

v. George W. Dempsey b. 1874 Nebraska

vi.  Effie Adeline Dempsey (1876-1958) m. Thomas John  (see JOHN)

vii. Mary  Dempsey b. 1877 Iowa, m. Charles Kinman in 1904

viii. Emma Adell Dempsey b. 2 Mar 1880 Iowa, m. Michael Lang, d. 8  Feb

      1966, Nebraska

ix. Samuel Elmer Dempsey, b. 1882 Iowa

x.  Fredrick J. Dempsey b. Apr 1885 Iowa

xi.  Lydia Dempsey b. Feb 1888 Iowa, m. Henry B.  Bettendorf in 1909

      Nebraska

The family is found in the 1880 census record of Benton County, Iowa, as follows:

John DEMPSEY   Self   M   Male   W   44   IN   Farmer   ---   --- 

Mary J. DEMPSEY   Wife   M   Female   W   33   IA   Keeps House   PA   IN 

 Cintha A. DEMPSEY   Dau   S   Female   W   13   IA   At School   IN   IA 

 Alfred A. DEMPSEY   Son   S   Male   W   10   IA   At School   IN   IA 

 Wilhelmina DEMPSEY   Dau   S   Female   W   8   IA      IN   IA 

 George W. DEMPSEY   Son   S   Male   W   6   NE      IN   IA 

 Adaline DEMPSEY   Dau   S   Female   W   4   IA      IN   IA 

 Mary DEMPSEY   Dau   S   Female   W   3   IA      IN   IA 

 Emma DEMPSEY   Dau   S   Female   W   4M   IA      IN   IA 

Their youngest daughter Lydia (Liddie) was born in Iowa in 1888, and in 1892 the family moved to Antelope County, Nebraska (according to John’s Declaration for Pension), and there John and Mary grew old together:

1900 Grant,  Antelope Co., NE, Ancestry.com image 2:  John W. Dempsey 63, Apr 1937, married 32 years, IN DE DE; wife Mary 52, Dec 1847, 11 children, 9 living; IA IL IL; dau Wilhelmina 26, Aug 1873 IA; son Elmer 18, May 1882 IA; son Fredrick 15,  Apr 1885 IA; dau Liddie 12, Feb 1888, IA.

1910 Grant, Antelope  Co., NE, Ancestry.com image 1:  John Dempsey 72, married 44 years IN DE DE; wife Mary J. 60, 11 children, 9 living IA US US; Albert 30, Samuel  E. 28, Fred J. 26, dau Lydia Bettendorf 22 married 1 year, granddaughter Amanda  Bettendorf 1.

1920 Grant, Antelope Co., NE census, Ancestry.com image 3:  John Dempsey 85 IN, Mary J. 76 IA, Albert A. 40, S. Elmer 38, J. Frederick 37.

According to the death record on the Antelope County, NE website, John Wesley Dempsey died 4 Jun 1920 and was buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Tilden, Nebraska.  Mary Jane Dempsey’s Declaration for Widow’s Pension also states that her husband died 4 Jun 1920.

According to an Ancestry.com posting by Dean & Margot Sartain-Christensen, Mary Jane Dempsey died in December 1929 in Antelope County, Nebraska.   Her husband’s military pension record shows she was dropped from the pension roll due to her death on 16 December 1929.

Their unmarried sons Albert A., Fredrick, and Samuel Elmer continued to live together at least through the time of the 1930 census.   The Antelope, Nebraska website has a death record for Albert Alfred Dempsey on 11 February 1951.

When Effie Dempsey John died in 1958, her funeral book included the names of her surviving sisters, Mrs. Mina Hains (Wilhelmina), Mrs. Mary Kinman, Mrs. Emma Lang, and surviving brother, Fred Dempsey.

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