|
DILL FAMILY HISTORY
Last Revised January 14, 2010
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
Grandson of Norma Celia Heter
Great-Grandson of Elizabeth Josephine Dill
Elizabeth Josephine Dill, my father’s maternal grandmother, known to her
friends as “Lizzie” Dill, married Thomas Jefferson Heter on 1 May 1883 in
Sterling, Rice, Kansas. His lineage is presented in a separate study. HERE
The Memorial Record Book from the First Methodist Church at Sterling, Kansas,
where Lizzie Dill’s funeral was held, was treasured for many years by her
granddaughter, Eleanor (Phillips) Hutt, and passed down to me. Handwritten
records and two obituaries are contained therein. HERE
Elizabeth Josephine Dill was the daughter of David R. Dill and Rebecca
Elizabeth Kinton. This is confirmed by one of her obituaries, and by the
records of Cottonwood Cemetery in Sterling, Kansas, where they are buried.
Source: http://www.sterlingcemetery.com/chapel.htm
According to her obituary, “Elizabeth Josephine Dill was born September 24,
1865, near Mount Sterling, Iowa, and passed away at her home in Sterling,
Kansas), November 28, 1936, at the age of 71 years, 2 months and 4 days.”
According to the handwritten records, Elizabeth Josephine Dill was born in
Farmington County, Missouri. Census records from 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910,
1920 and 1930 all say she was born in Missouri. But there is no Farmington
County, Missouri. The explanation is simple. Mount Sterling, Iowa, in Van
Buren County, is located 12 miles west of Farmington, Iowa, which is directly
across the Des Moines River from the northeastern corner of Missouri.
The Dill family did live there at one time. In Blackledge Cemetery near
Mount Sterling, Van Buren County, Iowa is the gravestone of Elizabeth Cavitt,
who married Henry J. Dill on 22 December 1844. She was the daughter of James
Forster Cavitt, the sister of Sarah Cavitt, and the aunt of Lizzie Dill’s
mother, Rebecca Elizabeth Kinton (more on this below). Her gravestone
inscription reads: “Elizabeth, Wife of H. J. Dill, Died Oct. 2, 1886. Aged
59 Y. 9 M. 4 DA.” Thus she was born on 29 December 1826.
Source: http://iowagravestones.org/gs_view.php?id=13369
There is independent confirmation, online, that Emma Alcestes Dill, sister of
Elizabeth Josephine Dill, was born near Farmington, Iowa on 1 October 1862.
Source: http://www.kaweah.com/famtree/donlin/WC01/WC01_324.HTM
In the 1860 census, David Dill (28), a farmer, and his wife Rebecca Dill (22),
both born in Indiana, were living in Folker Township, Clark County, Missouri
with two children: Laurah Dill (age 5, born in Iowa), and Monrow Dill (age 3,
born in Indiana). These were the children of David’s first wife, Amanda Ann
Gregg (see below), whom he married on 10 November 1853 in Rush County, Indiana.
(Source: Rush County, Indiana, Marriage Record [Grooms] 1822-1862 Book 1, Page
361) I find no record of Laura and Monroe Dill in the 1870 census.
1
| |