About the Dyer Family

Melvin Robert Dyer, was previously unrecognized as buried in the Gualala Cemetery until his burial permit was discovered during research on other interments. There is no surviving headstone in the Cemetery. Known as “Robert” to the woodsmen who worked alongside him, he died on 26 March 1897 from a cerebral hemorrhage following a stroke and resulting paralysis while employed by the Gualala Mill Company. His co-workers had little knowledge of his background, only that he recently hailed from Humboldt County. A brief article from the Humboldt Times indicated that he was a well-known woodsman and had left Eureka two weeks prior to work in Mendocino County.

A review of local records found Robert was missing from census and voting rolls in both Mendocino and Humboldt Counties. However, local newspaper articles following his death highlighted a substantial estate initially valued at over $3,700, including land holdings in Humboldt County. Resolution of disputes among potential heirs to the estate, along with other claims, took approximately four years to resolve.

The 160-page probate file from the Humboldt County courts provides important details about Robert’s life, as well as the investigative process surrounding deaths in the 1890s on the North Coast. To identify Robert’s heirs, the court appointed Herbert Archer “H.A.” Richardson from Stewarts Point to take depositions from those who worked with him. Richardson’s report yielded little information, prompting a broader search.

On 8 August 1900, over three years after his death, a woman named Bella Noiles from Amherst, Nova Scotia petitioned the Humboldt County Court for Robert’s estate, claiming that she was his daughter. Soon after her petition was filed, five individuals with the surname “Dyas,” also from Amherst, identified themselves as Robert’s siblings and filed their own petition for his estate. To determine the rightful heir, the Humboldt County Courts appointed a notary public in Nova Scotia to gather depositions of the Dyer siblings and other parties in the area. Bella Noiles was not interviewed as part of the process.

The Dyas siblings asserted that Robert’s true identity was Moses R. Dyas, who had fled Nova Scotia around 1862 after getting a local woman named Alice Holt pregnant. In their depositions, Bella Noiles was accused of being the illegitimate daughter of a different local woman, Tassie Noiles. Bella Noiles was summoned to testify at the Humboldt County Court on 12 October 1900 but failed to appear, leading to the conclusion that the Dyas siblings were indeed Robert’s rightful heirs.

Through the depositions and letters allegedly written by Robert to the Dyas siblings after leaving Amherst, it became clear that he traveled from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, then to Portland, Maine, and Bangor, before crossing Quebec on his way to Beaver Creek, Michigan. His journey included witnessing the Beloeil train disaster, the worst in Canadian history, from another train as rescuers pulled bodies from the Richelieu River. As noted, records of his arrival and details of his years in California prior to his death have not been recovered.

Robert’s estate, initially valued at over $3,700, had diminished significantly due to various claims. Two doctors, who claimed to have treated him for two weeks, submitted over $1,447 in medical bills. F.E. Gallison requested $1 per mile for daily horseback trips, alongside an $81 charge for a casket and its delivery to Gualala Cemetery. The Humboldt County public administrator dismissed the claims, ultimately paying a total of $500 upon the doctor’s appeal. Additional claims filed with the court included a request for $46 from fellow woodsman Fred Christie, which included $20 for “looking after his body.”

Ultimately, Robert’s estate was eroded by the claims from public administrators, doctors, and friends, leaving only $831.70 to be divided among his five siblings. A letter provided by the Dyas siblings mailed from Humboldt County encapsulated his sentiments, stating, “for this is a very particular place and I am a very particular individual…”

Research compiled by Kelly Richardson, APC, AG. Anchored Genealogy. Research for this report was funded through a grant by the American Society of Genealogists.