23 Dec 1893

Dear Sir,

I enclose for you the interrogatories sent me, answered as fully as I can and am only too sorry that I do not know more of my father s ancestors. His death bars me from inquiry, and I only remember indistinctly his tales about his father and that our ancestors on this side were of Scotch originally. My uncles are all dead. They all moved from Virginia to Ohio in an early day, and I was born in Licking Co., OH. Dr. C. L. Dilley, a cousin of mine, lives at Trenton, MO. He may have more definite information, being older. I shall be glad of your success and will aid you in any way I can. My father's people were good-sized men, florid, black eyes & hair. Yours ac? B. M. Dilley. Jesse Brooks Dille's questionnaire

Name? Bushrod M. Dilley

Father's name? George W. Dilley

Where was he born? In Shenandoah Co., VA in 1810

Where does he live? He is dead

What is you grandfather's name? Jesse Dilley

Where did he live? Died in Virginia. I never saw him.

All the rest of the questions on Jesse's form were answered--do not know!

This letter contains a breakthrough in Virginia Dilley genealogy in two ways--it connects two VA-born Dilleys in Licking Co., OH to a VA clan and it provides another link to Jesse Dilley. I had census records in Licking Co., OH for George W. age 40 and James C. Dilley age 31 in 1850. James was still in Licking Co. in 1860 but George W. was gone. I found George W. in Muskingum Co., OH for the 1870 census, but he was not there for the 1860 census. Bushrod's father George W. Dilley was born in Shenandoah Co., VA in 1810 and his father was Jesse Dilley who moved there about that time. Jesse had four young sons <10 years of age in the 1810 census for Loudoun Co., VA .This record for Bushrod's ancestors is believable because it goes back 100 Years beginning at the time he reported to Thomas Ray Dille. Bushrod does not give his age, and he was living in Missouri where I do not have census records. The 1850 census for Licking Co. shows Bushrod age 8 Years in 1850, so he would have been about 51 Years of age in 1893. Knowing the name of one's grandfather is not difficult for most intelligent people. James Dilley did not have children of his own, but he had two or three Young boys named Root who were sons of his wife by a previous marriage apparently. One must suppose that these two UQ Dilleys living in the same county were probably related. It is curious that Bushrod believed his grandfather Jesse died in VA. Apparently, there was little communication between him and Jesse with his three or four sons all living in the Morgan and Guernsey area of OH. In 1870, George W. Dilley was living in Muskingum Co., OH, close by Jesse, too! Perhaps Bushrod became isolated in MO away from his probable uncle James C. and his father George W. Jesse Dilley had five sons in the 1820 census, so George W. could fit easily into Jesse's family behind Jonathan (1807) and James (1809) but before Hiram b in 1812. George W. Dilley had a thriving milling business in Muskingum Co. with several mature sons helping in the operation. These sons could be sought in later censuses for more information on this clan. James C. Dilley, if he was George W. Dilley's brother, would have been the youngest born about 1819. Jay D. Andrews

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