Account Of Henry & Martin Dilley From The Appendix Of The Dille Book

By George Earl, Josephine Kaye, and Earl Kaye Dille

Published in 1965 by Walworth Publ. Co., Marceline, MO

Thomas Ray Dille Visited Pocahontas Co., W. VA (see ltr by TRD), and collected a great deal of material on the Dilleys of the area. He visited the Dilley graveyard located upon the Heavener Dilley farm near Marlinton, W. VA, and listed 16 Dilleys buried there. He also listed 14 Dilley families from the 1880 census for Pocahontas Co., 65 marriage records dated from 1879 to 1907, and 26 wills probated there, ranging from 18 May 1851 when Martin Dilley's will was probated, to Wm. H. Dilley's will probated 23 Nov 1915. This material is on file in the Library of the University of West Virginia in Morgantown. Much of it is incorporated in the genealogy and history of Martin and Henry Dilley which follows, and which was sent to us by Arnold Dilley of Marlinton.

In 1932, Thomas Ray Dille received a letter from L. H. Adams, who was then postmaster of Dille, W. VA, a town founded by the Dille family in Clay Co. He said that there were no longer any Dilleys or Dilles living there. He mentioned an Isaac Dilley, who was one of the first settlers, and who died there about 1865. Bill Dilley died there about the same time, and Alford and Jake Dilley died there about 1892.

The descendants of Henry and Martin Dilley think their forbears may have first settled in Maryland or they may have been Quakers who came to Pennsylvania with Wm. Penn's colony, or may Have been descendants of the Huguenots who fled from France about 1685 to England, Holland, or Germany, and thence to America. Martin claimed to be of German descent. These brothers were Protestants deeply religious, God-fearing men and taught their descendants that the name Dilley stands for honesty and the power to stand up for what they believe to be right.

Soon after arriving in Pocahontas Co., Henry Dilley married a neighbor's daughter, Margaret Sharp, and they settled in Thorny Creel(, where he built a home and Dilley's Mill--one of the best of its kind in that day, and it still stands as a monument to its builder. The Henry Dilley estate and the mill are now the property of the Buckskin Scout Reservation. Henry and many of his descendants are buried in the cemetery on the land owned by the Reservation. There is another cemetery on the land owned by Gordon Dilley, where Martin Dilley and many of his family and slaves are buried.

Henry Dilley's son Joseph married the daughter of Joseph Friel, who lived on Greenbriar River five miles above Marlinton, near the mouth of Thorny Creel(. Joseph Dilley and his wife settled this homestead. Henry's son Thomas, was a Confederate soldier, and his wife was a native of Holland. They lived on Cummings Creel(. Ralph Dilley married a daughter of William Moore near Mt. Zion, and they settled on a section of the Moore homestead at the head of Moore's Run, which debouches into Knapp's Creek. Daniel Dilley married the daughter of Dr. Addison Moore, of Edray, W. VA, and he and his wife migrated to Iowa.

William Dilley, Henry’s fifth son, was married three times. He settled in Huntersvi1le, W. VA, as the Village blacksmith--an occupation in which he evidenced superior skill. He was also an excellent carpenter, and making coffins was one of his arts. The father of 14 children, he was buried in the McNeill graveyard. William and Anne Dilley's son Byron Drepard Dilley, married the great grand-daughter of the pioneer Jeremiah Friel, father of William Dilley’s first wife. Byron spent his life as a woodsman and a reaper with the scythe and cradle. He was respected for his strength, honor, justice, and fireside stories. Arnold Dilley, a farmer near Marlinton, is his son. Byron is buried in Fairview Cemetery, and his twin brother Tipton Kohan Dilley,. and their brother Stephen, are also buried there. Tipton's wife was the daughter of Nathan Barlow, former [next line cut off].

John Dilley, sixth child of Henry, was a skillful mechanic. His daughter married Lieut. Poague, a Confederate officer. A Pocahontas camp of Confederate veterans honored him by naming their organization the Moffett Poague Camp.

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