(Ltr dated 29 Jan 1992 describing her knowledge of VA Dilleys)

(Explanatory notes by Jay D. Andrews)

Dear Andy: 

I want to apologize for the delay--Christmas, company, until yesterday! Everyone wants to come to roost it seems (40 grandchildren, and 20 in school close to Thelma's home--JDA). 

I think you, Don Dilley and your friend Neville Dilley are to be commended for your work on our VA Dilley lines. I have been at it for a long time, and going through boxes of materials in preparation to answer your letter, I find just as much confusion with this prolific family as when I started. 

At first, I clung to William Wallace Dille's manuscript (David Dille Jr. clan--JDA) and I tried attaching families to his ancestry. Earl Dille was an inspired man to produce the Dille book when there was so much less material to work with than that now available. I’ve always wanted to spend time at Morgantown with Thomas Ray Dille's works--how great that he placed those papers in the Univ. of W. VA library. You say that You have 1000 pages of Thomas Ray's records microfilmed? Someone told me that his work is on microfilm? (Not to my knowledge (Jan 1994--JDA) except for a few pages in LDS microfilm files). I would appreciate purchasing your accounts (not available except by photocopying, but compilations of five clans on LDS film). I am not a computer person--I wish that I could be, but I would like to see every Dilley name put on the computer, and I bet that we could line up a lot of families correctly. You mention being only interested in clans, but the way people went west seeking land, we find families everywhere. (my objective is to collect and compile by families and clans not just lineages--JDA) 

You asked about Luke (Luther) Dilley of Lawrence Co., OH. I have a 1966 letter from his grandson who says he was probably from PA, and that he and Abner Dilley were probably cousins, and that James was the father of Luke (see letter by Wm. E. Dilley of Ironton, Lawrence Co., OH, p 44). Abner and Luke filed for homestead land on the same day in 1830, I believe. (Abner lived on the site where Ironton was later located and profited grandly from this situation, whereas Luke obtained land some 14 miles NE of Ironton--JDA). (Also, Luke’s census records indicate that he was born in VA or OH, not PA; could Luke have been a son of Christian Dilley whose family has never been established by name, only the 1810 census for Kanawha Co., W.VA--JDA) 

I can solve the problem of who was the father of Abner, James, Peninah Golden Dilley, and Diana by searching the Ironton Register for obituaries (see obituary for Abner found by Thelma). The census records show Luke born in VA, and on his death record, but I also find a Luke in Noble and Monroe counties OH (A Luke Dilley, son of Jesse Dilley belonged to the Cumberland Dilleys who settled in Morgan Co., OH in 1839 and spread to adjoining counties over the years--JDA) 

Christian Dilley never went to Lawrence Co., OH; he was christened in a Lutheran church in MD in 1769, and he was married in 1796 in Bath Co., VA not long after John Dilley and Elizabeth Ackland were married there in Dec. 1794. He appeared in the 1810 census for Kanawha Co., VA, in Nicholas Co. in 1814 on Strange Creek near the Augusta Co. line; he paid taxes in 1818 on 100 acres. An article in the VA Magazine of History described him with a large family living poorly on rich land (see ltr by Lois Hamilton p 45). One correspondent described Abraham Dilley of Elk Creek as his son. 

Circumstantial evidence makes me believe that Christian and John were brothers and children of John Dilley and Catherine Himapin who lived in Carroll Co., MD in 1762 and were of German descent. John Dilley of Augusta Co., VA in 1782 was probably his father and Catherine Dilley his mother who was in the 1810 census for Bath Co. It is my belief that Henry and Martin were brothers of Christian and John, making the four brothers referred to in the Martin and Henry biographies by Price 1902 (It later became apparent that Johann Dilli of MD became John Dilley of Shenandoah Co., VA, and he bought land there in 1773 and sold parcels in 1778 and 1780--Neville Dilley records) 

Mrs. E. S. McDonnough, of 2652 Capricorn Way, Salt Lake City, UT, placed an add in the Helper of March 1975 asking for information on Martin Dilley born in the late 1700s, wife Catherine, and "known" son, Jacob (see p 55. Brumbaugh in his Rev. War. Records mentions a Martin Dilley but no further data; When Thelma called, this lady was on her death bed; her record is mixed up at best; See VA Rev. War Soldiers Special Report #82 p 92 in VA State Library: Dilly, Martin (Augusta) VA Mag of Hist. and Biography Vol 7, p 25 & 26. This record taken from statements made in 1832, filed in War Dept., names from copies. A very questionable record--JDA). 

Who was Henry Dilley mentioned in Journals #1 & 2, 1817-1830, 2nd Court Term: Elizabeth Dilley, Admin. of estate of Henry Dilley vs Henry Henley Webb, pp 34, 52, 59, 76, & 79, Lawrence Co., OH. She had to pay Mr. Webb $160. 

What happened to our John Dilley after the court fiasco with his wife Elizabeth in 1809 in Greenbrier Co., VA. Was there a divorce? Was he John of Prince George Co., (Prince Wm really!). Did he go to live with his son Joseph who was apprenticing in Somerset, PA, where a Peter Dilley lived? Joseph returned to MD where he became a wealthy man (settled on lands where Frostburg was sited; Miscellaneous Writings of Brown, Cumberland, MD, 1896.) 

Eddie Riggs provided bible records that indicate Elizabeth Dilley and her brood moved to Lawrence Co., OH in 1813. In 1801, John and Elizabeth were in Greenbrier Co., VA, where Ed's grandparent Peninah was born in 1801. Joseph, the first born of John and Elizabeth, whose middle name was probably Ackland (Elizabeth's maiden name), moved to Frostburg. He named one son Barney and a daughter Peninah which probably substantiates his parentage. While he was in apprenticeship, Elizabeth moved her brood to Lawrence Co., OH. 

Catherine, dau of Elizabeth, was born Feb 1811 in Greenbrier Co. according to her record at the LDS Temple at Nauvoo, IL. She called herself a Blair, and so the plot thickens concerning the role of the elderly William Blair who took off at the same time as Elizabeth for Lawrence Co., OH. He left without his large family! His will was not probated until 20 years later. Did Elizabeth divorce John? Who was the Henry of the court case in 1819?