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In the 1870 census, David Dill (38), a farmer, and his wife Rebecca Dill
(32), both born in Indiana, were living in Johnson Township, Scotland County,
Missouri, with six children: Lon (10), Emma (8), Sarah, or “Hattie” (6),
Elizabeth (4), Ellen (2), and Anson (3 months), all born in Missouri.
Folker Township (in Clark County) and Johnson Township (in Scotland County)
are contiguous to each other, and both are bordered by Vernon Township, Van
Buren County, Iowa, in which Mount Sterling is located. The Dills could
have lived at all three locations and not have moved more than a few miles.
The 1875 maps of Vernon Township and Farmington Township are appended. HERE
http://iavanburen.org/vernon.htm http://iavanburen.org/farmington.htm
The reason why the Dills would move from Missouri to Iowa and back to Missouri,
abandoning farms and starting new ones, is suggested by the timeline. Elonides
“Lon” Dill was born in Missouri in 1861. The next three children (Emma, Hattie
and Lizzie) were born in Iowa between 1862 and 1865. The next four children
(Ella, Johnnie, Olie and Willie) were born in Missouri between 1868 and 1875,
after which the family migrated to Kansas. The logical explanation is that
David and Rebecca Dill decided to live in a free state during the Civil War.
According to one of Lizzie Dill’s obituaries: “With her parents, David R.
Dill and Rebecca Kinton Dill and their family, she moved to Sterling (Kansas)
sixty-one years ago and has resided here ever since.” And again: “Lizzie ...
moved here with her father and mother in 1875. They knew the hardships of
the early settlers...” Sterling, then known as Peace, Kansas, was first
settled in 1872. Source: http://www.hutchnews.com/Westernfront/gempydy
In 1880, David R. Dill (48) and Rebecca E. Dill (42) were living in Sterling,
Rice, Kansas with eight children: Alonades K. (19), Emma A. (17), Hattie L.
(16), Lizzie J. (14), Ella D. (13), Olie A. (8), H. Dill (5), and Mary M.
(3). Lizzie J. Dill is, of course, Elizabeth Josephine Dill. The 1890
census records were destroyed in a fire. In 1900, David R. Dill and Rebecca
E. Dill were living in Valley Township, Rice County, Kansas with two younger
children: David A. (born January 1881) and Bessie M. (born May 1882).
Lizzie often told of the hardships of the early years in Kansas. During the
first winter she gathered buffalo chips to burn for fuel. Every spring and
fall there would be thousands of migrating ducks and geese, and she would walk
or ride on horseback all day long to keep them from ruining the crops.
According to the “Genealogical Chart of Heter Family in America, 1735-1957”
prepared by Thomas Marion Heter, Lizzie Dill had ten brothers and sisters.
Not listed in either census (1880 or 1900) is Johnnie (born c. 1870). The
chart gives the names as Elonidus, Emma, Hattie, Lizzie, Ella, Johnnie,
Ollie, William H., Myrtle, Arthur, and Bessie.
A search of the census records through 1930, together with gravestone
inscriptions and the obituaries of the parents, provides the following
information on the children of David R. Dill and Rebecca E. Dill:
Elonides K. “Lon” Dill: Born 1861, Missouri. Died 1932, Sterling, Rice,
Kansas. Married Inez “Ine” Gibson (Born 1862, Iowa; Died 1945, Sterling, Rice,
Kansas). No children. Her sister, Minnie Gibson (Born c. 1865, Iowa), married
Harry Dymond, whose son, Earl Dymond, married Lucetta Heter, daughter of
Elizabeth Josephine “Lizzie” Dill (see below).
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