Sandie writes:
The first is a newspaper article written by Charity Ella Dilley Allen in 1908 for the Council Grove KS newspaper about her trip to Colorado.
The second is a letter written from Charity Ella to her granddaughter, Wilma Hotchkiss Hildebrecht.
The third is a list of students Charity Ella taught in Ohio and a newspaper clipping about Abner Dilley as well as another picture of Charity Ella.
Also, here is another excerpt from the book "Of Saints, Sinners and the Rest of Us" about Abner Dilley.
"Upon the death of Abner Dilley, it was ascertained that he left an estate in the excess of $150,000. He had been a hard worker and a shrewd investor. He had raised and educated his children and yet had managed to build up an estate that in his days was in excess of what most men acquire. It was known among the family members that the Dilleys had money....some being well off and some actually wealthy. As a result of the division of the inheritance, Charity Dilley Allen and her brother Newt Dilley, both of Council Grove, had a falling out. They rearely spoke to each other. Grandma Allen felt she had been cheated since she received such a small share of the state and Newt (Abner Jr.) so much and that, perhaps, even some illegal shenanigans had occurred."
Charity Ella Dilley Allen received $1000.00 for "Services rendered in and about the care and attention to said Abner Dilley, deceased at his special instance and request"
$512.79 went to the Markin daughter. The remainder it is believed went to Newt Dilley, but the actual amount that might have gone to other decendants is unknown.
"The story as best I can reconstruct it went like this. Abner Dilley Sr was taken by his mother to Pennsylvania and after he reached twenty years of age, he went to Oak Ridge, Ohio, where he spent the remaining years of his life. During the years after his wife Armilda Russell Dilley died, his daughter, Charity Dilley Allen, moved back to Ohio from Parkerville, Kansas, and cared for him until he died two years later. In return for this she had been led to believe that she would be remembered in his will with a rather large monetary reward."
"According to the story, there were many children and they always seemed to be fighting over money. When the money was divided, Charity received a very, very small amount and the only living son received the lion's share. In later years because of her shrewd management of money, she and John Lee Allen lived on money made from interest on loans they had made and his Civil War pension."
"Newt Dilley is the younger brother that lived out his life not far from the Allen home. No one seems to know how the other girls fared in the division of the estate. However, Kathryn McDiffett (Granddaughter) tells that the fighting got so vicious that even the grand children were taught that Newt Dilley was a relative but "our family doesn't speak to their family." It's interesting to know that these family members reside in the Council Grove Greenwood cemetery not far apart."
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