Dorothy "Dora" Cryer (Northup)

Birth: Born around 1909 in Louisiana.  

Family Information: Daughter of Dan and Leah Cryer.

Sister of Docia, Denver, Dover and Dawson Cryer.

She married George Northup while the family was living in the colony, though it is unclear whether he also lived in the colony.  

Description:  

Pre-Colony History: In 1910 and 1920 she was living in Louisiana with her parents.

In March 1922, when Dan decided he couldn't "stand the competition any longer" he brought his family to live in the colony.  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: In 1922 when the family first came to the colony she went to the dairy to learn all the phases of dairying so she could become a teacher in this special line for the colony school.

In April of that year she was part of a group of girls working in the Kid Kolony kitchen which included Beulah Gaddis, Margaret Seelye, Mildred Seelye, Rose Belorahdsky, Dora Cryer and Laura Merrill -- "as fine a bunch of girls as can be found anywhere in the world".

She also worked in the cafeteria -- shelling peanuts, setting tables, getting dinner together and washing dishes -- along with Albert Kapotsy, Alice Jaques, John Dougherty, Beulah Gaddis, Ruby Synoground, Laura Merrill, Laura Synoground, Margaret Seelye, Emma Kapotsy, Vinita Thurman, Nellie Kemp, Margaret Kapotsy and Rachel Jaques.  

Other Info: One of 42 colonists who signed a petition, dated January 10, 1928 and sent to the governor of Louisiana, which objected to the securing of a new charter being issued to the colony. Among other things, this petition claimed that affairs of the colony had been grossly and intentionally mismanaged and conduct of the management so flagrantly opposed to good morals that a receiver assigned by the District Court was necessary to handle affairs. It alleged that management had: 1. Used misleading propaganda which caused hundreds of people to invest their money in the colony, only to be disillusioned and have to leave with nothing to show for their investment. 2. Reduced the colony to a peon camp - these "peons" being poorly fed, clothed and housed. 3. Advocated "free-love", including promiscuous relations of the sexes and other practices contrary to good morals. 4. Expressed contempt for courts and authorities by taking it upon themselves to punish two boys for stealing from the colony store. 5. Prostituted colony schools by employing nondescript persons as teachers, while issuing fraudulent reports and drawing hundreds of dollars from the Parish School funds in the names of certified teachers and by exploiting child labor. The case was taken all the way to the Supreme Court but eventually was annulled and the plaintiff's demands rejected.  

Post-Colony History: In 1930 she, along with her husband and two children were living with her parents in Rapides Parish, LA.

In 1940 she and her husband, George Northup, were living in Rapides Parish with their four daughters -- next door to her parents -- while he was working as a carpenter for a building contractor.  

Death: She died in 1988 and was buried in Pineville, LA.  

Sources: Photo Archives; US Census: 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; "Llano Colonist": March 18, 1922, March 25, 1922, April 22, 1922, February 25, 1928, May 13, 1933 (Story of Llano), May 20, 1933 (Story of Llano); FindAGrave.com