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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Eugene C. Dolson (1860-1938)

Author, Poet, Farmer
Born July 2, 1860, Cayuga County, New York
Died February 6, 1938, Ira, Cayuga County, New York

Author, poet, and farmer Eugene Charles Dolson was a man who stayed put. He was born on July 2, 1860, in Cayuga County, New York, the son of Samuel Dolson, a farmer, and Mary Elizabeth How Dolson, a farmer's wife. In 1870, the family was in Conquest in Cayuga County. From as early as 1892, Eugene Dolson lived in Ira, also in Cayuga County. The enumerators of the New York State and the Federal censuses found him there until his death on February 6, 1938, and that is where he rests, at Union Cemetery. The woman with whom he spent his life was fellow poet Cora Adele (Matson) Dolson (Jan. 7, 1859-Feb. 2, 1936). They were married on November 25, 1896, the day before Thanksgiving, in Conquest. Although she died two years before him, their union remains unbroken among the white stones of Union.

Eugene C. Dolson had two poems in Weird Tales, "Wild Horses" (June 1928) and "Under the Moon" (July 1928). Writing about children, family, country, and holidays, he and his wife had poems in newspapers and popular magazines all over the country. As Garrison Keillor might say, here is a poem for Memorial Day by Eugene C. Dolson:

Where the Soldiers Sleep
by Eugene C. Dolson

There's a quiet spot on the hillside high
Where, unforgotten, the sleepers lie,
All, all around in the close cut sward.
Over their graves white stones keep guard.
'Tis a peaceful scene all summer long.
And silent, save for the robin's song.

Under the warm blue sky of May
The graves on the hill are green today.
On many a mound to left and right
There's a little fluttering flag in sight.
And the little bright flag its vigil keeps,
Night and day, where a soldier sleeps.
(1915)

Eugene C. Dolson's Poems in Weird Tales
"Wild Horses" (June 1928)
"Under the Moon" (July 1928)

Further Reading
Not much, but keep looking.

Original text copyright 2016, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

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