Individual Details

EDWARD W. DOLE is president of the Dole Floral Company, of Beatrice, this being an important corporation that has developed to large volume the floriculture enterprise established in a modest way by the mother of Mr. Dole, full data concerning the company and its honored founder being given on other pages of this work. Mr. Dole resides on his model little farm of thirty-six acres, which lies within the city limits of Beatrice, at the south, and he is one of the progressive and representative business men of Gage county and its fine capital city.

The lineage of the Dole family traces back to sterling English origin and the American Doles of Nebraska was Richard Dole, who was born in Bristol, England, in 1624. The founders of the family in England came from the ancient province of Brittany, France. It is to be presumed that Richard Dole accompanied his parents to the new world in the autumn of 1639, though records extant give no specific information in this respect. Richard Dole was thrice married and of his ten children Joseph, born August 5, 1657, was next in line of direct genealogical line to him whose name introduces this review. Richard Dole settled at Amboy, Massachusetts, and he was eighty-one years of age at the time of his death. In a circumscribed article of this order there is no possibility of entering into details concerning the genealogical history of the Dole family, but it may consistently be said that in each successive generation the family has given to the nation men and women of worthy character and worthy achievement, while representatives of the name have been prominent not only in New England, that gracious cradle of much of our national history, but also in divers other states of the Union.

Edward W. Dole was born in Seward county, Nebraska, February 15, 1870. and is a son of Josiah G. and Sophia (Hooker) Dole, adequate review of whose lives is given on other pages. At this juncture, however, it may be stated that Josiah G. Dole, who was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, December 25, 1825, joined the military police, or home guard, at the outbreak of the Civil war, was made first lieutenant and continued in active service until the close of the war. He came to Nebraska in 1867, the year that marked the admission of the state to the Union, and he settled in Seward county. In 1868-1869 he was there engaged in the manufacturing of brick, and some of the brick was used in the construction of the first brick chimneys in the city of Lincoln. In 1869 Mr. Dole wedded Miss Sophia Hooker, and they became the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this review is the eldest; Walter is now a resident of Bainbridge, Georgia; Anna is the wife of George M. Johnston, individually mentioned elsewhere in this volume : Ella S. is the wife of Frederick Van Boskirk, likewise specifically represented in this publication ; and Elbert J. is a leading photographist in the city of Lincoln, this state.

Edward W. Dole was reared and educated in Seward county and in his youth gained familiarity with the conditions and influences of the pioneer era in the history of south-eastern Nebraska. His father was associated with brick manufacturing about two years and then obtained a homestead in Seward county and turned his attention to farm enteqjrise. Eventually, after having developed a productive farm, he came to Gage county, and he passed the closing years of his life in the city of Beatrice, where his death occurred April 19, 1903. His wife was born in the state of New York, October 6, 1836, a daughter of Philip J. and Mary Ann (Derbyshire) Hooker, who came to Nebraska Territory in 1866 and established their residence in Seward county, as sterling pioneers, the father, two of the sons and two of the daughters, including Mrs. Dole, having each taken up a homestead claim in that county. Mr. Hooker died many years ago, when well advanced in years, and his widow was ninety-two years of age at the time of her death, in January, 1906. The early educational advantages of Edward W. Dole included a year of study in the Beatrice high school, and thereafter he was for a time identified with the newspaper business — with the Beatrice Daily Express.

In 1891 he and his brother Walter A. became associated with their mother in establishing a small greenhouse in Beatrice and initiating the enterprise that has since been developed into the extensive and well ordered business now conducted under the title of the Dole Floral Company, of which Edward W. Dole has been president from the time of its incorporation. Mr. Dole has been vital and progressive as a business man and loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, though he has never sought or held public office of any description. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he and his wife are active members of the Christian church in Beatrice.

April 26, 1890, recorded the marriage of Mr. Dole to Miss Ellen E. McCrea, daughter of Edgar and Julia (Dearsdorf) McCrea, who were early settlers in Seward county, j\Ir. McCrea having died at Milford, that county, November 23, 1917, and his widow being still a resident of that village-. Mrs. Dole has two brothers and three sisters : . John W. and Thomas W. are residents of Beatrice : Lydia E. is the wife of Christopher M. Miller, of this city; Florence D. is the wife of Jesse W. Dubbins, of Beatrice ; and Fannie B. is the wife of S. D. Newman, of Milford, Seward county. Mr. and Mrs. Dole have an adopted daughter, Gladys Thelma, who is a member of their gracious home circle.

Birth	15 Feb 1870	Seward County, Nebraska
Census (family)-shared	21 Jun 1880	(Josiah Greenleaf Dole and Sophia Hooker) Seward County, Nebraska
Marriage	26 Apr 1900	Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska - Ellen Elizabeth McCrea
Census (family)	8 Jun 1900	Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska - Ellen Elizabeth McCrea
Census (family)	29 Apr 1910	Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska - Ellen Elizabeth McCrea
Death	9 Jun 1954	Stanislaus County, California
Burial		Roberts Ferry Cemetery, Waterford, Stanislaus County, California

Spouse	Ellen Elizabeth McCrea (1870 - 1922)
Child	Gladys Thelma Dole (1908 - )

Father	Josiah Greenleaf Dole (1825 - 1903)
Mother	Sophia Hooker (1836 - 1920)
Sibling	Walter Amner Dole (1872 - 1956)
Sibling	Anna Mary Dole (1875 - 1971)
Sibling	Ella Sophia Dole (1877 - )
Sibling	Elbert Josiah Dole (1877 - 1962)

Notes