John Dorsey and his wife, Mary Moran Dorsey, arrived in Refugio County, Texas, in late 1859 from Boston, Massachusetts, with four small children. Here they spent the rest of their lives in the area raising their family. They are buried, as are many of their children and their families, in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Refugio. Their monument is the same as that of their son George Edward's in-laws, Joseph Whitney Toups and Martha Ann Linney Toups.

The Dorsey monument states that John was from Co. Clare in Ireland, and was born in 1828, and that Mary was from Co Kildare, born 19 December 1828. (Mary died on December 19, 1893, her 65th birthday.)

John came to North American circa 1850. According to the parish register, John married Mary Moran at Notre Dame in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on 25 April 1853. His parents were listed as Patrick Darcy and Ellen Megouin. The French priest spelled the surname Darcy with the English spelling of Dorsey and that is the spelling that was used from that time forward, as John and Mary did not know how to read nor write. It also turns out that Megouin is not a surname anywhere and French friends in Montreal suggest that the priest was spelling that name phonetically and it should be either McGuane or McGowan. Since we find only the name McGuane, and not any McGowan, in Griffith?fs Evaluation and the Tithe Applotment Books of Co Clare, Ireland, along with the Patrick Darcy listings, the name must have been McGuane.

To date it is still unknown who were the siblings of John. Also, it is not known exactly when or where his parents died. Mary Moran was listed in the Notre Dame Parish register as the daughter of John Moran and Margaret Walsh. Further research shows her Baptism and that of her siblings in the Rathangan Kildare Roman Catholic Parish in Co Kildare, Ireland. The children listed in the Rathangan Kildare Parish register were: John, 1829, James, 1823, Edward, 1825, Thomas 1826, Mary, 1828, and Margaret 1832. Nothing else is known about Mary?fs siblings.

The first child of John and Mary Dorsey was Margaret, also known as "Maggie.?" She was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 15 November 1854. At the age of 25 she married John Cornelius "Con" Murphy in Refugio.? She died in Beeville, Texas, on 28 April 1945. Their children were Mary, who was blind most of her life, Margaret "Mag", and son John, Jr. None of the children ever married.

The Dorsey family moved from Canada to Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1854 where sons Patrick Robert, James William and John Henry were born in the years 1855 to 1859.? Family history suggests that other Darcy/Dorsey family members from Ireland may have lived in Boston at that time also. Mary Moran Darcy?'s brother, Edward, lived nearby in Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts.

John and Mary came to Texas in the latter part of 1859 and are listed on the Refugio tax rolls for that year. On 30th of April 1860 they were on the Refugio County List of Insolvents for 1859 .They were listed in the 1860 census as the "Dawsey" family living in Nueces County on a street in Corpus Christi.

John was a hard working Irishman who loved people and loved life. He was always involved in some type of work to support his family. Five years after arriving in Refugio, he got into trouble with the Union Army over his carrying supplies for the Confederate Army. As far as he was concerned he had not taken sides in the Civil War and was willing to work and make a living carrying supplies for anyone that needed it done. He would take food, grain and supplies to the widows and children of men killed in the war. On the 11th day of August 1865 he was in Office of the Federal Marshal George van de Sande at Corpus Christi, Texas, where he sworn his Amnesty Oath to the Union and received his Parole of Honor, promising not to help the so called Confederate Government again.

It would appear John never got around to becoming a citizen. He took the Declaration of Intent on the 26th of August along with Thomas McGuill, but no records have ever been found of his becoming a naturalized citizen.

Six more Dorsey children were born in Refugio. They were George Henry, Michael, Ellen Ann, Mary Elizabeth, Rose Grace and George Edward.?@All were baptized at Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church in Refugio. In the naming of their ten children, John and Mary used what was known as the Irish naming traditions in naming their children. This means John?'s father, Patrick, had brothers named George, James, Michael, and Patrick.

John and Mary owned the Mission Hotel where HEB grocery store is now located on Alamo St., and a ranch out towards the town of Blanconia.?

John was also a teamster, wagoneer, farmer and rancher. In 1875 Father Antoine hired John and his son Patrick to go to a sea coast town named Indianola, Texas, and bring three nuns, who belonged to the order Sisters of Mercy, to his new school and convent named Our Lady of Refuge.

A few days later, on September 16th, a storm came through wiping out the town of St. Mary's and badly damaging Indianola. About ten years later Indianola was wiped from the face of the earth by another storm.

All except one Dorsey child reached adulthood.? George Henry died Christmas Day, 1871, after a brief life of 10 years, 6 months and 13 days.? The other Dorsey children married into the families of Refugio.? Patrick Robert Dorsey married Mary Ann West, and James William Dorsey married Roxanna Virginia West, the daughters of Michael West and Amanda Cyr.?@Michael Dorsey married Mary Ann Murphy, daughter of David and Johanna Murphy;? Ellen
Ann "Tanny" Dorsey married William Malloy; Mary Elizabeth Dorsey married Dan S. Fox, son of Daniel Fox, Jr., and Mary Fox (that was her maiden name); Rose Grace Dorsey married Edmond W. St. John, son of Edmond "Edward" Saint John and Bloomie Amanda Kokernot; and George Edward Dorsey married Amanda Eugenia Toups, daughter of? Joseph Whitney Toups and Martha Ann Linney. Joseph Whitney Toups' parents were Cylidouine Ambroise Toups and Marie Euphemia Dugas. Martha Ann Linney's parents were Michael Linney and Elizabeth Weeks.

The next generation of Dorsey and Toups married into the Doughty, Lambert, Murphy,? McGuill and Whalen families.

At one time George Edward and Amanda Toups Dorsey owned the block on Alamo Street where Zarsky Lumber Company stands.? Zarsky built a house for her after George Edward died.? Although she had already moved to Houston and purchased a home there, she would let various relatives live in it and would return to visit and stay in it from time to time.

John Dorsey lived eleven years after Mary died in 1893. When John died on February 23, 1904, it was the beginning of a bad year for the Dorsey family.? Four months later, youngest son George Edward died on June 22nd followed by eldest son Patrick Robert on June 26th, both in horseback riding accidents.

The descendants of John and Mary Dorsey now spread from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston, to Waco and Oklahoma City.