COMPILED AND COLLECTED BY J.D. ANDREWS
List of Genealogical Sources in New Jersey p-134
Genealogy Trip to New Jersey with Bill & Grace p-135-136
History of Morris Co. N.J. by W.W. Mumsell, 1882 Mendham Twp. p-137
Extracts from Thomas Ray Dille Records at Morgantown p-138-139
Jan 10, 1954 Letter to J. D. Andrews from V.W. OHara p-140
June 9, 1955 Letter to J.D.Andrews from Win OHara p-141-142
Extracts from letter by Mrs. Cox to Win OHara on John of Chester p-143
Two of the Last letters received from Win OHara to J.D. Andrews p-144-145
Chart of Aaron Dillley 1721 with Hannah Perry?- p-146
Chart of Aaron Dilley b 1721 by J.D. Andrews 1992 p-147
Chart of Descendants of Samuel & Belinda Axtell Dilley p-148
Information from a Photstatic document on John Dilly Dated 1659 p. 149
-134-
1. Honeyman, Northwestern N.J., A History of 4 countiesBook 974.9, H2n
2. Snell, James P. NJ. Warren Co. 1981 Biography 974.97 H2S: index separate
3. NJ Cemeteries, Warren Co., 1947, microfilm: item 3 film 0020362: inscriptions
4. Cummins, Geo. W. 1865 History of Warren Co., 433pp, Book 974.978; film: 1425683
5. Beers, F.W. Warren Co. land & property: Co. Atlas by
actual surveys, 1983, 55 pp
(microfilm 1421957)
6. Brown, V. A. Abstracts of Warren & Sussex Co. estates
at Newton, 1789-1918, 257 pp.
Book: 974.97 p286. Also maps974.976, R2b
7. Land Records: Deeds 1825-1885, & 1825-1911, film SLC:
grantor index. Mortgages,
Same period beginning 1825 LDS microfilm too
8. Probate records from 1825Warren Co., NJ
9. Tax Ratables, Warren Co., 1778-1822: Film 0865491 : contains
ratables of old Sussex
Co. includes twp of Greenwich. I ordered the microfilm!
10. Adams Index Shells History of Sussex & Warren Co., N.J.
11. Snell James P. History of Sussex & Warren Co. 1981bios: Centennial
12. Warren Co. History & Directory : In Genealogy &
local History, Wash. NJ, 1886,
Includes history of local Twsps: 55 pp ( I ordered film) 1421957
13. Harmony Tsp. 125th Anniversary 1985. Gen & local history
14. Morris Co. N.J.: Wright, H.M. Mendham & neiboring Twps, 1974 mtsc 142pp
15. Snell, J.P. History of Hunterdon & Somerset Co., bios
16. Traver, C.H. History of first settlers of Hunterdon Co., NJ, 1984: Index separate
17. Brown, V. A.. Heirs to estates, Somerset & Hunterdon Co., 1809-1904: book only
18. Court leins, 1700s & 1800s, Hunterdon Co., includes
indes. On microfilm at
Hunterdon Co., Cthouse
19. Mortgages 1733-1748 at cthouse, Hunterdon: indexes
20. Atlas of Hunterdon Co. from recent and actual surveys,
Flemington, Hunterdon Co.,
Hist. Soc.
-135-
(Family Sites and Objectives)
1. Price Dilley married Abigail Totten in 1774 at age 20 years.
Probably he migrated
to Washington Co., PA with David and his 6 sons beginning in 1776.
Price had no time
to establish himself in N.J. by acquiring land, and the Revolutionary
War was beginning.
Soon they were enlisted in the Militia in Washington Co. to resist
Indians. Win OHara
hunted for Tottens & Wades in NJ. ( David married Mary or
Elizabeth Wade), near
Providence where Price and Abigail were married without finding
an Abigail Totten.
It may be useful to search land records in Morris Co. where
Ichabod and Lewis each
owned 12 acre plots. Did Icabod sell the 24 acres of land when
he moved to Wash. Co.
in 1790? Lewis had disappeared from the NJ tax records in 1789.
So we assume he moved
to Wash. Co. first. Did Ichabod really own the land or did he
take over Davids land?
Ichabod & Lewis appeared on the tax records from 1778 to 1788.
Morristown, the county
seat for Morris Co., is the place to look for land records. Watch
out for years when
county boundary lines changed. See Thorndale and Dollarhyde charts
by decades.
2. John and Joseph Dilley were the only Rev. War soldiers from
Morris Co., but this is
early, so the records could be in Sussex Co. Some Dilleys lived
close to the Sussex Co.
line between Morris and Sussex counties. Ephraim and Jonathan
1741 lived close to the
southern end of Sussex Co. Look for the holly country just NW
of Morristown or Mendham
where George Washington wintered with his soldiers twice. The
excitement of the
pending Revolution could have influenced families and particularly
young men of
military age to migrate west.
3. Whitehouse and German Valley in the NE part of Hunterdon
Co. are hot spots for
Aaron Dilley residences for over 15 years. These are descendants
of the three Aarons
(1721, 1746, 1776) who all lived on the same farm site. There
are about 5 shoemaker
Dilleys in this area whose ancestry is not known, along with another
Aaron and his wife
Cornelia. They could be descendants of John, Yellis, or Jonathan.
This area is full
of churches with some graveyards with Dilleys.
4. Ruth and Gerald Dilley have worked tax records in several
NJ counties, but actual
landsites and transactions are poorly known. Lists of tax records
have been assembled
trying to substitute for the lost NJ censuses from 1790 to 1820.
I have censuses from
1830-1880 for all counties for Dilleys.
5. In colonial days and later, the legal system allowed sheriffs
to confiscate
possessions of people in debt, and to put them in jail if debts
were not paid. This
happened to Ephraim and Jonathan, two sons of Aaron 1721 about
1793. Apparently, the
sheriff could set values on property and take it away. These old
records are often
stored out of sight and memory of current clerks, but they provide
clues to
relationships in the court records if found as Ruth Dilley showed
in Sussex Co.
records. There could be items on Andrews and Shipman residence
of various counties,
if these records are available.
6. Tax records are often available. They get quite complicated
with too many items
crowded on pagesland of two types, cultivated and forestry; state,
Co., & poorhouse
taxes that are hard to read and interpret. Live stock were listed
by number for tax
purposes, and often assessed a set fee per individual.
-136-
7. Wills and estate records are very useful but often scarce.
I have lists for NJ
counties for Dilleys, but not for Shipmans and Andrews. Most of
the latter two clans
(sons, brothers or uncles of the two patriarchs) moved west to
Northumberland Co., PA,
where I found records for some of them. A few were reported dead
in NJ without any
records for proof.
8. Libraries may be our easiest and best bet! Look for old,
local histories and books
on related clans. Ship Newark state library as to difficult for
short visits. There
are libraries at Morristown, Mendham, Belvidere, Chester, Newton
and Flemington, all
county seats. The town of Washington in Warren Co. may be useful.
9. I hope to find Jacobs 300 acre homestead, but this may be
difficult. I have his
will which is confusing about the disposal of his 300 acre estate.
We should visit
Straw church to see Harmons gravestone. I did not find it in 1988
because I was
looking for a flat slab on the ground. (JDA wrote---House and
Land found in a valley!
-137-
This account gives records of Mendham twp., where many of the
migrants to Washington
Co., PA had lived. The names found in Wash. Co. are familiar in
this account such as
Axtells, Dods, Cooks, Thompsons, Days, Condits, Drakes, Baldwins,
Lindsleys, Gobles,
and one David Dille who had a cattle ear-mark in 1864. There is
a map of Mendham
village taken from an Atlas of Morris Co., Published in 1868,
which by that time had no
familiar names. A village of Harmony within this map is puzzling,
but not the one
where Harmon Shipman and Jacob Andrews lived in Greenwich Twp.
In Sussex Co., NJ.
The years of erection of new townships is important in checking
old records.
Mendham twp. was formed from Hanover, Morris, and Roxbury Twps
in 1749, so it covers
the early period for migrants to Washington Co., PA from 1776
to 1881. Chester Twp.
Was taken from Mendham in 1799 which affects John Dilley of Chester.
Randolph Twp. Was
Taken from Mendham in 1805. The first Atlas of Mendham Twp. shows
only 5 villages
Which included Mendham, Washington Corners, Harmony, Brookside,
& Rocksiticus.
A few of the long list of ear-marks included: David Dille1764,
Calvin
Axtell-1878, Samuel Axtell1809. Also, Daniel Dod, Lindsley Axtell,
Henry Axtell,
Cooks, Pitneys, Phineas Tuttle, Day, Condit, Drake, Baldwin, Coe,
Thompsons, Samuel L,. Axtell1827, Zenas Condit1826, & Phineas
Tuttle.
The lists of members of various churches showed few of these
names except at a
Hilltop Presbyterian Church founded in 1738. A Mendham Methodist
Church had a few
familiar namesDrake, Day Connett, Baldwin, and Goble (twice) For
the presbyterian
church the list showed baptisms with the parents of these babies.
During the period
1805-1854, I found the following parents: Steven Dod, Henry Cooper,
John Drake,
Daniel Dodd, Silas Condit son of Silas Axtells wife. More familiar
names were: Drakes,
Dods, Coopers, David and Sarah Cooper, Col. Silas Axtell, Days,
Condicts, Coe, Henry
Axtell, John Axtell. The list of baptisms ended May 1854. These
were all relatives of
The families who migrated to Washington Co., PA a generation earlier.
The First Presbyterian Church of Succasumma founded in 1765
had Drakes, Hiram
Condit, Coes, Nicholas Shipman. This list was for sale of seats
in the church for
15-30 pounds each.
The list of enlistments for the Morris Co. Militia of 1809
showed no recognizable
names.
-138-
Letter by Geo. E. Dilley of Palestine, TX, to Minnie Carpenter 11 Apr 1922.
Now as the names of my fathers brothers and sisters, the family
was quite a
large one as you will understand from the following list, all
of whom were born
on the old homestead referred to in my letter within about a mile
of what was new
Germantown, Hunterdon Co., N.J., though the post office is now
Old Wick, N.J.
(Children of Aaron C. Dilley) (List from Census Records)
Dilley , George M. b. 26 Oct 1833 Dilley, George Mansfield
b 1833
Mathias b. 29 May 1835 no record
Simon P. b. 1 Apr 1838 Simon P. b. 1836c
Eliza E. b. 16 Feb 1840 Mary C. b. 1838c
Daniel b. 30 Aug 1841 Daniel b. 1841c
Sarah A. b. 23 Apr 1843 Sarah A. b. 1843c
Marguerite M. b. 13 Feb 1845 Margaret W. b. 1845c
Frances C. b. 26 Sep 1846 Francis C. b. 1847c
Isaac H. b. 12 Sep 1848 Isaac H. b. 1849c
John S. b. 2 Aug 1850 John S. b. 1851c
Martin L. b. 12 Dec 1852 no record
Henry I. b. 14 Oct 1855 Isaac b. 1854c
Emma J. b. 3 Jun 1857 Emma J. b 1857c
Note: This is an extraordinary family of whom most seemed to
have grown to
maturity. Aaron Chester was a son of Aaron Jonathan Dilley b.
1776 who was
already the second generation to live on the old homestead near
Oldwick, NJ. In
the 1830 census, Aaron J. was already 50 to 60 years if age with
two sons ages 20
to 30 living with him. These were probably Aaron C. and Matthias
who later lived
adjacent to each other probably on the same homestead land. Matthias
was born in
1802 and Aaron C. in 1807. The 1840 census shows Aaron C. with
a family of six
children age categories (5 to 10-15, although Sarah A. his wife
was not yet 30
years of age. Aaron J. and his wife were between 60 and 70 years
of age and a
younger couple who were probably Matthias and his wife were living
with them.
In the 1850 census, Aaron C. was listed as a laborer age 40
with seven
children from Simon P. age 14 to Isaac H. age one year. Matthias
age 14 was
working as a farmer and George M. age 16 was a clerk in a merchants
store.
Aaron J. and Matthias and their wives were living together on
the old homestead
apparently.
Aaron Chester did not appear in the 1860 census apparently.
Aaron J. was dead
but his wife Mary was still living with Matthias who had no children
of his own,
but had adopted Isaac age 11 years (son of Aaron C.). Another
son of Aaron J
appeared in this censusIsaac, a blacksmith age 54 years. Another
Matthias age
25 appeared in the 1860 census. Some of these Dilleys were in
Tewksbury Twp and
others in Readington Twp which must have been adjacent to each
other. In 1870
Aaron C. was still a farm laborer with his last three children
living with him.
Young Isaac age 21 was working Mathias farm and became one of
his heirs. Isaac
Living in Readington Twp had an 82 year old woman living with
him and probably a
Daughter age 34 years. This is the clan of three Aarons who lived
in Hunterdon
Co. for three generations.
-139-
It appears that when Matthias adopted Aaron Chesters son Isaac,
the latter
named another son Isaac who is probably the Henry I. b. 1855 that
George named in
his family list. Aaron Cs children had to get out on their own
early in life
with that big family to feed and cloth. Of course the list by
George E. Dille of
his grandfathers family is to be accepted as the correct one.
I added the
census list that was produced before I found Georges list. There
were quite a
lot more Dilleys living in Huntingdon Co. during the mid-1880s,
including the
shoemaker Dilleys whose ancestry is still obscure. The family
of Aaron and
Cornelia Dilley whose parentage is obscure was also a very large
family and began
sending children out early to apprenticeships or more likely servitude.
George
Mansfield Dilley, father of George E. left NJ before the 1860
census. JDA
-140-
29 Warfield St., Upper Montclair, N.J. 10 Jan 1954
Dear Jay,
I probably have every bit of data necessary to solve all the Dilley
questions right
here in my box of files, only unindexed, found, filed and forgotten!
Also, not assayed
when found, and later not recalled in connection with point in
search. I have
knowledge of things today, overall, that makes data found and
unnoticed long ago mean
something. If I were to spend a couple of weeks reading back and
evaluating everything
I previously found, I believe we could do a lot more with it than
we did originally.
For instance, I truly believe that the records on Newarks oldest
burying ground.,
correctly placed David and Ichabod in the family of John Dilley
Jr. and his two wives,
Ruth Taylor died 1722 and Mercy died in 1747, and Price, a son
of Ichabod and Abigail,
names that he gave to his first born son and daughter. If correct,
this establishes
the line of John Dilley born in Boston in 1645 and his migration
to Woodbridge in 1768.
We have had this data for three years, but the connection is only
6 months old. ( Note:
Win wrote to me in Dec 1950 when my uncle Russell Dilley of Canon
City, CO gave him my
address. I had already collected much data on Price Dilley my
ancestor over some 15
years before 1950. When this letter was written Win had been searching
in New Jersey
for 3 full years. Jay D. Andrews.)
Now, rummaging through my papers for something else this PM,
I ran across the story
of a N.J. land title by Oscar M. Voorhees, 1907, a copy of which
I sent you. It is
the story of the Dilley house Belle (his wife) and I visited at
Mine Brook. In the
story we find reference to Bernardtown Company of Militia 1762
in Somerset Co., NJ.,
commanded by Nathaniel Ayres. Later it refers to Samuel Perry,
Innkeeper at Basking
Ridge 1821, and John Voorhees b. 1824 and died 1903 m Sarah Ann
Dilley, sister of Aaron
Dilley who died in 1896. (Note: this would be Aaron II probably
born 1746---JDA)
The Dilleys moved west from Woodbridge, through western Middlesex
Co., to Somerset
Co., from Bridgewater to Whitehouse in Hunterdon Co., The descendants
of Obadiah Ayres
Did the same. In Vol. 30, pg 28, the will of David Ayres, 1747,
mentions Dilly
Ayres Potter, daughter of Joseph and Phoebe (Dilly) Ayres and
sister of Daniel, Enoch,
& David Ayres. Page 384, Ephraim Price Jr. in 1746 witnessed
will of Samuel Potter of
Hanover, Morris Co., N.J. So Price Dilleys mother was possibly
a daughter of Ephraim
Price Sr. of Elizabethtown there also Vol 21. An early Obadiah
Ayres and also John
Perry as early as 1696 was in West Jersey, Vol. 21 NJ Archives
which puts him of
Knocklofty, gentleman of Tipperary, Ireland.
Lucy Ayres who married Ephraim Dilley Sr. was a daughter of
Hannah Perry Ayres.
Samuel Perry, innkeeper of Basking Ridge married an Ayres related
to Capt. Nathaniel
Ayres of Bernardtown or Barnardville all in the same area from
Bridgewater to
Whitehouse. I have oodles of data that have no known relationship.
I wish to visit
the county courthouse at Somerville, and the capital at Trenton,
also Woodbridge again,
Veterans Administrations at Wash. D.C. and Mercer Co. PA for research.
Yours,
V.W. OHara
-141-
Mr. J. D. Andrews
(Copy of ltr from Win OHara) June 9, 1955
Dear J.D.A.: I have a rather long letter to write you altho
it seems impossible
To hit enough interest to excite a reply.
On May 1st Belle flew out to Urbana, Ill., to help Connie with
the house and
Susan while Connie went into production. On May 12th she gave
us a bouncing 10
Lb 2 oz baby David Ferris Curtinprospective heavy weight champ.
On May 20th I
followed by motor and stopped for a day at Washnington, PA, for
Dilley look-see
(as well as an hour at Capitol in Harrisburg) and had a dilly.
I took a 50 mile trip south of town thru the beautiful hill country
of Ten
Mile (Amity) and Upper Ten Mile (Prosperity) and visited with
several Dille
Descendants. It was more for the contacts than for any material
that I could
Expect up on correspondence and business that I havent gotten
around to much
Dilleianna.
At the Washington and Jefferson College Library, Historical Collections,
I
made quite a find. The director was aged and almost blind, only
left good arm,
but full of the history of the section. Not too long ago he received
a call from
one of the female line of descendants of Rev. Thaddeus Dod asking
if he knew
anyone who would want some old books she had or otherwise they
would be thrown
out. Among them he found the original journal of Rev. Thaddeus
Dod and his Rev.
son or grandson, and among its pages were some very interesting
data for us.
Rev. Thaddeus Dod was b. 1740 in Doddtown section of Newark, now
E. Orange,
And lived his boyhood in Mendham, graduated from Princeton, and
started for
Redstone in 1777 with family and brothers Lebbeus (who came back)
and Daniel.
They were held up at Pattersons Creek, Va, now W.V. near Cumberland
Md., for
Two years and arrived at Ten Mile in 1779. He soon organized the
Presbyterian
Church at Amity, later at Prosperity in 1781. He organized a school
for
Christian lads, later it became Washnington College and joined
with Jefferson
College. He died there is 1793 and is buried at Amity.
At Amity, there were a couple of Dilles but I didnt find them.
At Prosperity
I found the Rev. John Calvin French and wife, both distantly related
to the Dille
line and Mrs. Blanch (Dille) Morris. I believe most of them around
there now are
descendants of Jesse M. Dille, son of Lewis Dilley , Jr., b. 1799,
who was a son of
Lewis Dille Sr. born in New Jersey. Who in N.J. instead of Hell
could that be?
I had a Lewis b. 1763 and our Lewis Dilley in our bible born in
N.J.>1786.
Mrs. Morris is from John N., Lewis and Lewis, and I have her bible
material from
Lewis b. 1799 and wife Lucy down. I shall write to Rev. French
when I get more
Time.
I also went into the Prosperity Cemetery and took a few readings
which names
there if they have it, are early ones.
At the W & J. Historical Collection, I found a book of early
ship arrivals and
Thomas Axtell sailed from the port of London on the ship Globe
in 1635, age 35.
In the original journal of Rev. Thaddeus Dod, I found the marriage
of Caleb Dille
And Rebecca Martin on Feb. 6, 1780. I also found a question mark
in my previous
Records as to whether that wedding took place in 1780 or 1782.
The next item
Under the above was in 1783 and the one before in 1780.
Thaddeus Dod listed marriages from 1777 to 1783 in the book, at
Mendham,
Pattersons Creek, and Amity. The names were Countryman, Cooper,
Ross, McLane,
Lovelace, McFarland, Hathaway, Goble, Leonard, Riggs, etc.
-142-
Baptisms were made along the way tooat Mendham, Pattersons Creek,
South
Branch, Fort Pleasant, New Creek on ye North Branch of Potomac,
Monongahelia Co.,
Etc.,--for McClannachan, Totten (family of Ezekiel Totten, likely
to be brother of
Abigail, wife of Price Dilley), Dod, Clark, Phillips, Cooper,
Saunders, Linkon,
Axtell, McFarland, etc., including Mrs. Hannah Linkon, adult (Hannah
(Gobel)
Axtell Linkon) and Thomas Axtell (her son) and his children in
July 1782. David
Dille and wife Elizabeth joined the church Aug 15, 1781, Daniel
Axtell and
Wife Ruth (Tuttle) and Daniel Dod and wife Charity (Freeman).
In another journal
by his son or grandson (Dod?) was this Session met at the home
of Elder Price
Dille May 4, 1804, Rev. Stephen Lindsley, other elders Demas Lindsley,
Joseph
Coe, Stephen Sanders, Stephen Cook, John Carmichael, John Smiley,
William
McFarland, and Abel McFarland. Asa Cook was a churched for bad
living. On Aug 8th
1805, Elders Israel Dille, Jonas Condit, Ziba Casterline, John
Hendly, of united
Presbyterian and Redstone Church met. Israel Dille moved away
soon afterward:
John Carmchial moved west in 1816, etc.
Wished I had had more time. Also wish I could get a Dodd ANGEL
to pay for
having all these valuable journals copied so the information in
them would be
available for timely study at leisure. Least of all we know that
Davids wife
was Elizabeth, that Price was still there in May 1804, that Israel
Dille was
there until 1805, and maybe we have the clue to finding Abigail
Totten. We also
have the names of the group for the most part who left Mendham
area for Redstone,
or will have them when we get copies. I am pretty sure that Caleb
was married in
1782 instead of 1780 (why? JDA). I still have found no connection
with Martin
Dilley of W.V. which I thought was obvious previously).
Now that I have given you these problems and assorted data,
what can you
contribute in solutions? And of equal importance, more to you
Im sure, how are
you all? Any more little Andrews? And when are you taking that
trip up to see
us, Washnington, etc.? We also stopped in Toronto on our return
and found some
data for Belles mothers side of which they couldnt find previously
and have
them on their way to a family chart. Regards to all from we-alls.
V.W.
OHara. Mother and new child both doing welldau. Dot and hubby
well and both
teaching.
-143-
John of Chester Twp., Morris Co., N.J. was the father of a
family who appeared in the
1830 census age 50 to 60 with five fairly advanced children after
his first wife Anna
had died. He married Eve or Effie Flock in 1823 who had no children.
Effie appeared
alone in the 1840 census, but John is reported to have died in
1857 perhaps with his
son Peter C. in Butler Co., OH. Peter C. appeared in the 1850
census for Butler Co.,
OH.
The session Book for 1819 to 1843 at the parsonage of Black River
Presbyterian
Church shows the following:
Apr. 1819 Harriet dau of John and Anna Dilley was baptized
In 1823 John married Eve Flock 12 Sept 1823 according to Frank Dilley, a grandson
1836 list of church families show John Dilley and wife with 5 children
In 1820 John purchased 135 acres of land, then sold back 85
acres that same year,. His
Land started at Black River (Chester Twp.) No record was found
at Morristown. John
Was the son of Tunis & Christene (Thomas) Dilley: he was probably
a son of Aaron 1746.
The Tunis estate is dated 1828, and he was missing from the 1830
census. Johns land
Bordered the old Thomas place where Christine and Tunis lived
and died. (Mrs. Cox had
No idea who Johns father was).
Johns son Peter C. Dilley was living in Butler Co., OH for
the 1850 census. Frank
Brown Dilley of Athens, OH was a Peters grandson. He provided
Johns death year of
1847. Frank gives the marriage date of John and Eva Flock as 12
Sep 1823. All the
1848. Children were by his first wife Anna. Effie appeared in
the 1840 census records alone
as if John were dead or estranged.
1830 Census for Morris Co., NJ
John - - 2 2 - - - 1 / - - 1 - - 1
James 1 - - - 1 - - - / 1 - - - 1 - - - 1 (also Tunis)
The elderly woman in the census for James (also listed as Tunis
in 1840) is
Probably Christeen widow of Tunis Sr.
-144-
TWO OF LAST LETTERS RECEIVED FROM WIN OHARA
( On paper heading of The Florida Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, of which he was Governor and Acting Regent in 1972)
Dear J.D. and Mary Stuart et al:
We arrived back about ten rainy days ago and have been slowed
in getting cut back and settled inside and out. We had expensive
trouble with 45,000 mile car so took opportunity to get a new
1972 modeland had trouble with it on the way down (to Florida),
but hope we are all OK nowalso had cold chill (believe it) just
beforehand and am nursing arthritic hip bonesmy 80 years are creaking!
Already I have reached for my N.J. Archives, Vol. XXI and wondered
where in hades it was and it struck me like the gout that we are
waiting for you to find the good copy and let me have it soon.
(after his last visit here, he was still fussing about his books
that I had all of which he carried away with him JDA)
Our visit with the girls in Illinois and New York was a great
pleasure and besides your high school graduate (Donna), we had
a grand-daughter Susan Curtin doing the same. She is in Know College,
Galesburg, Ill. As a Freshie, where her
great grandmother (my mother Durilla) went to the Seminary for
two years 110 years ago! She chose it herself without any such
knowledge. (Curiously, my grandmother Margaret Straney went to
school there and married a preacher who graduated from the Galesburg
SeminaryJDA)
Up in Canada, we visited all of Belles remaining relations and
I played Lawn Bowling in Province Tournaments with a 60% winning
average for 5-6 weeks living in Motels, some for a week each.
We expected to attend the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR)
Congress going north, but car gave trouble there and we skipped
after one day and courted trouble and expense until we broke loose
and bought anew. The right front bearing wasnt greased (nor left)
and fell out in the hand when examined. LUCK!? We got home on
a $30 ticket in Georgia too. Watch out for Georgia if you come
thru to see Disney World. BUT DO COME! (At 80 years of age, Win
was still Speeding! JDA)
Belle says Hi from other room! ( This pattern of driving from
Florida to New Jersey where they visited with daughters, then
on to Canada for the summer, was repeated many times. Several
times they stopped here for a night or briefly.
Win OHara
Dear J. Donald:
First question, did I acknowledge the return of my New Jersey
Archives book that I replaced with a poorer copy---excuse, I need
it often and I doubt whether you will use yours much, least wise
enough, I hope to know that it
isnt of Philadelphia (??) but of New Jersey. If I didnt, here
it is. Yes and thanks.
Now let me acknowledge the large copy job that you did this last
time on Dilliana that I know little about and only have charts
regarding them. (My Account of descendants of William Dilley our
common ancestorJDA).
But let me tell you of certain mistakesone in particular. Rev.
Samuel Dilley, born May 1st, 1818, whose mother died exactly one
year later on May 1st, 1819, in Mercer Co., DIED June 5, 1898,
not 1888. I know because I was there, born in 1891 and personally
knew my grandfather at near seven years old and have been in their
farm home æ mile SE of Partridge (Kansas) close to where
I was myself bornactually in the parsonage of the church provided
my grandfather as Minister while he lived on his own farm nearby.
Actually grandfather gave the property to the Congregational Church,
for a church in town, and a cemetery adjacent to the home where
I was born. We moved into town when I was two. After Grandfather
died, Aunt Annie Edgeworth came and lived with Grandmother until
she (Annie) died in 1901, and Grandmother moved in with us and
died there in 1905.
-145-
When I was near 14, of course I knew Grandmother well and heard
all the Dilley
family conversations. My mother was the family recorder of events
and we have
somewhere, I think with the Congregational Church, or Community
Church now, our
family bible or it may be with my nephew Earl son of Pitt OHara,
who now lives
on Dads homestead three miles SE of Partridge. My Dad was a Civil
War veteran
and took that place for war service and $1 an acre, if he lived
there five
years (less service time), thru grasshoppers and droughts, etc.,
which was tough
enough! And I know also that Grandmother was born in 1822, rather
than the
reported 1820 in the Axtell book version. After Samuels mother
died, he was
brought up by his grandmother Minerva ( Condit) Dilley. My mother
was a good
genealogist and family recorder but some mistakes crept in but
not about her
parents. She also knew all about the cousins, but others of us
then were kids
and didnt care. Unfortunatley, I like others, didnt start early
enough but I
have a fairly food record of all Rev. Samuel Dilleys descendants
to dateall,
except the few who didnt report their kids to me. (See his account
of Samuels
descendants called Into the Wilderness).
Did I tell you that I was born in 1891 and remember my grandfather,
so please
take it for real and correct his death date to 1898 and grandmothers
to 1822.
This erroneous information was given by descendants of Uncle Sylvester
Axtell,
whom I also remember as he came from Iowa once or more to visit
us, with his
beautiful flowing white beard. (Belinda Axtell) Dilleys brother
Sylvester who
died in 1913 at age 89).
I got even with the Sylvester descendants with coals of fire for
leaving out
my mother (in the Axtell Book). First I should say that my mothers
name was
left out of Samuels family because she was first a female and
already married to
Father by another name at the time it was reported. So after I
became a
Mayflower member through my own research, I wrote to the Iowa
Falls, Iowa Axtell
branch and told them about the connection and offered to connect
them. The gal
to whom I wrote answered and her husband bet her that it was either
a gag or a
catch for money, and advised paying no attention to it. But she
tried my offered
line (free as always) and was a member almost by return mail.
I met them later
at an Axtell Reunion in the Black Hills of the Dakotas and was
graciously
thanked.
This recently found George E. Dilley wants to know about Thompson
Dilley whomI know nothing about. I can only offer what you found
or perhaps gave me, or was it Mrs. Mook (no), as shown in the
material George sent you? You can give him the works. I wish I
had been asked by the Dille crowd when they wrote their book and
had been able to correct some of their errors and put in a lot
more of our line. (I do too! Win is listed in the book as a source
but the Dilles in Missouri were in a hurry to publish before he
died and did not follow up on him as a source).
Did I send you recently the Dilley line from my mothers male line,
Samuel Dilley back to George Dill(e) of Salem (and Boston) 1639,
and son John Dilly b at Boston 8th month 1645 (see Boston V. S.
?) ? (many times with diagramsJDA). My Mayflower line (female
and male) goes back thru mother Durilla, and grandmother Belinda
Axtell and her father Simeon, Eunice Baldwin, Elizabeth Pitney,
Abigail (Byram) Thompson, Mrs. Hannah Hayward, Hannah Mitchell,
and Jane and Francis Cooke of the Mayflower. Somewhere I have
your Axtells and wives but not their Children (? In the Axtell
Book!).
Do you know that I met your mother and her sister (Ethel Melgren)
at Peabody, Kansas about 1911 when we were visiting my Uncle Elbert
and cousin Myrle? (At this time my mother Evas father Wm Newell
was living in Abilene or Colony, Kansas not far away). I was in
Fairmont College (in Wichita) in 1914. I was studying just now
your Mayflower possibility but dont see it. This is robbing
bedtimeIm off to snoozeland., Win OHara P.S. I can propose you
for SAR, Colonial Wars, War of 1812 and many others!
Note: A few changes and insertions have been made to make the
letter read better but not the contents---
Jay D. Andrews Sept. 1988
Addendum, page 148, Chart
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