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The Twelve Dills, by Rev. W. T. Latimer B.A., from “The Witness,”
June 20, 1902. 14 pages.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dill/TheTwelveDills.pdf
By reconciling the two accounts, and giving preference to the additions and
corrections in italics, the Dill family lineage can be traced back three
generations prior to the William Dill who emigrated to Delaware. I have
taken the liberty of using modern spelling for the place names.
The earliest Dill in this lineage of which we have any trace was John Dill of
Tullynadall, Fanad, Donegal, Ireland. He was married c. 1635 to Sarah Gordon
or Jordan.
John and Sarah Dill had one son, David Dill, born c. 1640. He was married
c. 1665 near Magheradrummond, Donegal, Ireland to Catherine Sheridan, of
Drogheda, Louth, Ireland, “a lady of great pride and courage, who reputedly
killed the last wolf in Ireland.”
David and Catherine Dill had seven children: Joseph Dill, who married Nancy
McIlwaine; Francis Dill, who married Catherine (Kitty) Anderson; Samuel Dill,
who married Martha Hall; David Dill, who married (1) Miss Fullerton and (2)
Anne Moore; and three daughters, names unknown.
David Dill, son of David and Catherine Dill, had “seven sons and two
daughters, most of whom went to America.” The two daughters are listed as
Ann Dill, who married David McClintock, and Elizabeth Dill, who married
Patrick Hay. The sons are listed as Francis, William, David, Moses,
George, and Samuel. The seventh son was, of course, John Dill, who turns
up with William Dill in the Tax Assessments for Kent County, Delaware
beginning in 1726.
County Donegal is situated in northwestern Ireland, north of Sligo, west of
Derry. Fanad, or Fannet, is a rugged peninsula bounded on the east by Loch
Swilly, a drowned river valley which heads at Letterkenny and now is an arm
of the Atlantic Ocean. To the southwest stands Errigal Mountain, the highest
peak in County Donegal, rising 2467 feet above the sea.
It is believed that the Dills came originally from Holland. However, an old
tradition that the founder of the Irish branch of the Dill family came to
Ireland with William and Mary (c. 1688) has been discredited, because listed
on the Hearth-money Role (tax roll) of 1665 is John Dill, a dweller in
“Tullinidale” (Tullynadall) on the shores of Loch Swilly.
The following excerpts are taken from “The Twelve Dills,” pages 1-2:
The first member of the family concerning whom we have anything very
definite was David Dill, who lived in Fannet, near Magheradrummen
Lake, a little to the east of Ladden and Tullynadall, where the family
had first settled. David Dill's wife Catherine Sheridan, was a native
of Drogheda ... During a time of war in Ireland, Miss Sheridan,
alarmed by information that a hostile army was advancing on the town,
escaped out of a window in her night-dress and fled to relatives in
the neighborhood of Rathmullin. Before long she was wooed and won by
David Dill. For some time after their marriage they resided at
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