Dorr B. Chaffee a resident of Garden Grove, was born in Kane County, Illinois, in 1841, a son of Eber and Anna (Davis)Chaffee, natives of Vermont, and of English and Scotch origin. His father was born in 1799, and died in 1877, and his mother, born in 1803, died in 1876. The subject of this sketch, the first in their family of twelve children, born in Illinois, was educated at Elgin Academy.
Afterward he taught school in Kane County, and then engaged in the dairy business a number of years at Elgin. He came to California in 1881; has made a beautiful home in Garden Grove, and owns valuable property in Santa Ana. He is a true Christian man and respected by all who know him.
He was married in 1865 to Miss Lodona Treadwell, who was born in Canada, but reared in Kane County, Illinois, in which county her father, J. Martin Treadwell, was a well-known dairyman. By this marriage there were five children: John M., deceased; George D., Ernest A., Fannie L., and Martin H., deceased. Their mother died in June, 1881, and Mr. Chaffee, in September, 1883, married Miss Helen B. Willits, who was born at Delhi, Michigan.
Her parents were Walter W. and Charlotte (Bottsford) Willits. He was a miller by trade, and had twelve children. One of his sons, Edwin Willits, served two terms in Congress, from Michigan, and is now in the Agricultural Department at Washington. He also served as president of the Michigan State Agricultural College, near Lansing. Mrs. Chaffee was educated at Delhi and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her brothers and sisters are: Edwin, Lizzie, now Mrs. Nichols, of Marysville, Michigan; Addie, of Garden Grove, and Eugene, of Jackson, Michigan. By Mr. Chaffee’s last marriage there is one child, Eugene Willits, born June 15, 1885.