Articles: Some South Carolina Dillards, by John C. Dillard of Bessemer, Alabama Page 4

News Items: Liberty Hill United Methodist Church 200^th Year Celebration Page 25

Documents Corner: 1848 Letter from Elizabeth Barnard Love to her sister, Page 31

Statement of Publication

The Dillard Annual is a non‑profit manuscript published annually by the Dillard Family Association beginning January 1, 1992. Each individual article is the property of each writer and may be republished only with the permission of that writer. The address of the Dillard Annual is Claire S. Godwin, Secretary, Dillard Family Association, 707 Garland Street, Lake City, South Carolina 29560-2909 e-mail <Godwin@ftc-i.net>. The name and address of the editor is John M. Dillard, Post Office Box 1072, Travelers Rest, South Carolina, 29690 e-mail <johndillard@mindspring.com>. The cost of printing and mailing is paid for by the Dillard Family Association from the dues of its members. All other work and expense is contributed free of charge.

Plans for 2001 Dillard Reunion

The 2001 Dillard Reunion of the Dillard Family Association will held on Saturday, June 16, 2001. This date is one week later from the usual meeting date of the second weekend in June. The place will be the meeting room of Old Clayton Inn at 60 South Main Street, Clayton, Georgia 30525. Fellowship will start at 12 o’clock noon with buffet a lunch at 1:00 P. M. at a cost of $9.95 per person. Payment by each person will be direct at the Old Clayton Inn cash register. Fellowship will also follow lunch. No formal program, except for a brief business meeting after lunch, is planned.

Old Clayton Inn is a one hundred year old facility in the center of downtown Clayton, Georgia with numerous surrounding attractions in a historic preservation area. Clayton is the county seat of Rabun County, Georgia which early Dillards and kin were involved in organizing and laying out. It is located about seven miles south of Dillard, Georgia. For those who travel a distance to attend, Old Clayton Inn has 30 rooms with double beds and two double beds at a price range of $71.00 to $114.50. Numerous other motels are located nearby. Room reservations and information about accommodations can be obtained by telephoning Old Clayton Inn at 1-800-454-3498 or the Rabun County Chamber of Commerce at (706) 782-4812. Early reservations in this area during the tourist season are recommended.

While this reunion will stress fellowship without a structured program, Dillard genealogists should bring the materials on which they may currently be working to exchange information with others who may be doing research. To assist in planning for the meal and other needs, please promptly complete the reservation form at the end of this manuscript, remove it, and return it by mail to our Secretary.

Reunion Speakers and Writers of Articles

Participants at the Tenth History Session held on June 10, 2000 and the writers of the articles contained in this issue of the Dillard Annual are:

John C. Dillard of Bessemer, Alabama has produced original research in identifying certain of the many confusing lines of Dillards in South Carolina who have not been previously pinned down. He was a speaker at the reunion and writer of “Some South Carolina Dillards.” John was born in Alabama to John Earle Dillard and Nannie Mae Grimes. He served in World War II as a U. S. Marine Paratrooper. He was engaged in combat in the Pacific theatre. He is married to Alice Virginia Dean, who co-ventures his genealogical work. He was in business with his father in Alabama and later regional manager for the Rochester Germicide Co. in Memphis, Tennessee. He has owned and operated a landscaping business and two craft and gift shops. John is now retired and is the father of three children with six grandchildren.

Carlton M. Dillard of Augusta, Georgia who has written, “Solving the Fielding Dillard Puzzle of 1800,” is an accomplished genealogist who has published two books on the Fielding Dillard line. His first book was Back to Old Virginia with Dillards, Daniel & Kin. Carlton is native Georgian. He finished Berry College and was a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Charlotte, Atlanta and New York. He is married to Mary Ruth Hardy. He is now retired. Carlton is the father of four children and three grandchildren.

Nancy Russell Black, a Fielding Dillard descendant of Gainesville, Georgia, is the granddaughter of Ina Dillard Russell whose letters have been compiled in Roots and Ever Green written by her sister, Sally Russell Warrington. Nancy is the sixth of the seven children of Alexander Brevard Russell and Sarah Isbel Russell. She was graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.S.and a Master’s Degree in Education. She is married to Georgia native Colonel Frank A. Black of the United States Air Force. Nancy is the mother of two children. One finished the U. S. Air Force Academy. The other is a recent graduate of North Georgia College.

Sally Russell Warrington, who resides in Warwick, England and who held her audience spell bound at our reunion two years ago, is the compiler of Roots and Ever Green the first printing of 1500 copies of which sold out quickly. Sally is formerly professor of English and French at Gainesville College and is now engaged in writing. Two of her books are near publication. She is married to Les Warrington and the mother of two children. One of her grandsons is named Fielding.

Bob Slack, from Toccoa, Georgia is now a resident of Sautee, Georgia. He has Dillard connections of two sides of his family. His presentation at the 2000 reunion was his demonstration of primitive arts and crafts from a live setup on the grounds of Dillard United Methodist Church. Bob is a Folklore Education Specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources with whom he has been connected for the past thirty years. He makes hand made primitive furniture, baskets, crafts and skin products. He is experienced in cabin construction. He frequently makes presentations to schoolchildren about the ways of their colonial ancestors in the Educational Projects of Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Bob spent four years in the United States Army. He has served as a consultant on several state historic restoration projects.

Robert C. Dillard of Glendale, Arizona is a native of Prattville, Alabama. He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. After graduating from Marshall University in West Virginia, Bob moved to Phoenix, Arizona where for more than twenty years he was the chief financial officer of a supermarket chain. He then joined CIGNA Healthcare. Bob is looking forward to retirement in 2001 after which time he plans to visit old home places of Dillards in Alabama and South Carolina. Bob is the great, great grandson of Jabez Dillard who migrated to Alabama from Laurens County, South Carolina. There are four generations of Dillards in Bob’s Arizona family. His genealogical methodology when the direct proved facts cannot be found is a good lesson for all interested in Dillard research.

Other South Carolina Dillards

By

John C. Dillard

My great uncle, Joel Alfred Dillard, who is now 89 years of age, said that his father, Joel Harris Dillard, told him that three Dillard brothers came from the old country to Virginia. He said that my grandfather also told him that some of his people were reared in Greenville, South Carolina. Greenville and Pickens County are today adjoining counties in South Carolina. Pickens and Greenville Counties were in Washington District, South Carolina from 1791 until 1799. Greenville became a separate district after 1800. Pickens became a separate district from its parent district, Pendleton, after 1826. It was with this background of my Dillard family that my wife, Alice, and I did extensive searching identifying our line of Dillards in South Carolina. We soon eliminated the well documented Revolutionary Captain James Dillard and his kindred of Laurens District, South Carolina as not in our line.

Our first investigation was into the records of Pickens County, South Carolina. We found my great grandfather, Harrison Dillard, who was born in 1812 in Edgefield County, South Carolina and who married Margaret Murphree, was in the 1830 census for Pickens District, South Carolina. Harrison Dillard was living next door to or with his wife’s father, Levi Murphree, Jr. Harrison Dillard’s children are listed in the diagram set out later in this paper. We discovered that the only other Dillards living in Pickens District in 1830 as shown by that census were Gibson Dillard[1] and his family and Gibson Dillard’s father, James Dillard, Jr. and his children. Our search to connect the lineage of these Pickens District Dillards expanded into Fairfield, Chester, Union, Spartanburg, Greenville, and Edgefield Counties in South Carolina and into North Carolina and Virginia.

Beginning at the earliest end of the spectrum, James Dillard, Sr., born 1730 and a son of Thomas Dillard, Sr. (1704-1774, born in Essex County, Virginia) and wife, “Percilla,” of Henry County, Virginia left Virginia and were probably in Surry County, North Carolina before 1790. James Dillard, Sr. appeared in Surry County in a deed transaction in 1786.[2] Their two probable sons, John Dillard and George Dillard, are listed on the 1800 Surry County, North Carolina census. James Dillard, Sr. and his wife in their advancing age were following their children on their way from Henry County, Virginia to Fairfield County, South Carolina. Their sons were John, Thomas, George, William, James, Jr. and Edmond Dillard. Their daughter, Nancy, had married Williams Hogan(s

Their son, James Dillard, Jr., witnessed the deed dated June 28, 1787 from William Hogan (James Dillard, Sr.’s son in law) of Chester County, South Carolina to James Dillard, Sr. for 160 acres on the south side of Sandy River in Chester County, South Carolina.[3] Two James Dillards, designated as senior and junior, were grantors of a deed of mortgage on a sixteen-year-old Negro girl named Rachel to James Davis of Fairfield County dated April 29, 1793 filed in Fairfield County, South Carolina.[4]

Dorothy Dillard Hughes wrote that George Dillard was named as one of the children of James Dillard, Sr. in Lucy Henderson Horton’s Family History found by Mrs. Hughes in the Library of Congress. She wrote that George Dillard had never been identified in a record. A George Dillard was listed in the 1800 Pendleton District, South Carolina census. He had left Surry County, North Carolina because he was not listed in the 1810 census for that county.

A George Dillard was in the 1810 Edgefield County, South Carolina census. That census also records in Edgefield County in 1810 Arthur Dillard, Peter Haiston (Harrison?) Dillard and Phillip Dillard. Phillip Dillard was in Edgefield District on the 1820 census. James Dillard, Sr.’s son, John, named one of his sons Peter Haiston (Harrison?) Dillard. Phillip Dillard is a son of a Revolutionary soldier, Nicholas Dillard, who settled in Edgefield District and whose lineage has not been tied down. According to the records of Dorothy Dillard Hughes obtained from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Nicholas Dillard served as a sergeant in the militia before and after the fall of Charleston under Colonel LeRay Hammond. Nicholas Dillard and his son, George Dillard, purchased land and moved to Georgia.

The same problem of not being able to tie down his lineage exists with the George Dillard in Edgefield District. We may, however, be able to add his name to the list of sons of James Dillard, Sr. and his wife, Percilla Dillard.

James Dillard, Jr. appears again in the 1800 Census of Union District with wife, Nancy, and one daughter under age ten. In 1810, he was in Spartanburg District next door to his father and mother, James Dillard, Sr. and his wife, Pricilla. James Dillard, Jr. had married Nancy Taylor Harris,[5] daughter of Col. Thomas Harris and Sally Harris of Union County, South Carolina. Nancy Dillard had died before 1820. In 1820, James Dillard, Jr. and his children were in the Pickens County, South Carolina census.[6] In 1845 Harrison Dillard, my great, great grandfather, witnessed the will of James Dillard, Jr. in Pickens County, South Carolina. The following children were named in this will: Gibson Dillard born 1801 in Union County, John Dillard, James Dillard, Nancy Dillard born Chester County, South Carolina, Thomas Dillard, born 1813 in Union County, and Catherine Dillard. This Thomas Dillard was in the Pickens, South Carolina census in 1840 living next door to Harrison Dillard.[7] This Thomas Dillard’s wife was Jane Dillard.

George Dillard was in the 1800 Pendleton District, South Carolina census with a wife, two boys and one girl.[8] In the same year this George Dillard was also in the census of Surry County, North Carolina with his wife, two boys and one girl in which census this George Dillard was described as being over 45 years of age.[9] George Dillard in 1800 purchased in Pendleton County, later Pendleton District, from Robert Sharp Hamilton of Stokes County, North Carolina 200 acres on Brushy Creek of Saluda River.[10] In the same year, George Dillard purchased from John Brown 70 acres at the same location.[11] A part of Pendleton District later became Pickens County. Surry County was formed partly out of Stokes County. This George Dillard was shown in the 1795 North Carolina census in Chatham County, which had been a part of Orange County, North Carolina. Chatham County and Surry County were formed out of Orange County. People tied with connections to Harrison Dillard were from Orange and Chatham Counties. This included the Bradleys, Murphrees and Davises.

Thomas Dillard, born in 1813 and the son of James Dillard, Jr., appears too young to have fathered a child, Harrison Dillard, under ten years of age in 1820. There seems to be another Thomas Dillard with a son under 10 years of age listed in the 1820 census of Fairfield County, South Carolina. Could this ten-year-old son be Harrison Dillard who was born in 1812? After all, Fairfield County was the home of James and Percilla Dillard who came from Virginia. That was also the home of their son, William Dillard, who was there in 1820 with his children. By 1830, all of these Dillards had disappeared from Fairfield County to reside elsewhere.

In Pickens County, South Carolina on January 7, 1829 a Thomas Dillard and Levi Murphree witnessed a deed for a tract of land on the south fork of Twelve Mile River conveyed by Moses Murphree to son, William Murphree.[12] Gibson Dillard, Moses Murphree, and Levi Murphree were listed on the 1830 Pickens District census. This Thomas Dillard could have been the father of Harrison Dillard. By the process of elimination there were no other Dillards around who could have been Harrison Dillard’s father.

This Thomas Dillard could have been the son of a George Dillard, who, in turn, could have been the son of an older George Dillard, the son of James Dillard, Sr. and Percilla Dillard from Virginia. It is probable that the older George Dillard was the same as the George Dillard who purchased land in Pendleton District in 1800.

Levi Murphree was Harrison Dillard’s father-in-law. Moses Murphree was Levi Murphree’s uncle. Harrison Dillard named his first son, Thomas Dillard, and his second son, Elias Earle Dillard. Dillards listed on the 1850 Pickens County census included the households of Thomas Dillard (probable son of Gibson Dillard), Rebecca Dillard (wife of George Dillard) and Harris Dillard (the same person as Harrison Dillard).

From the 1830’s to 1858 the following families were in the Secona Baptist Church in Pickens County, South Carolina: the Murphrees-Solomons, Mose, Levi and William. William Murphree was the first pastor at Secona and El Nathan Davis, who was my sixth great grandfather, was the second pastor. Further included as members of this church in the stated time period were Ruth Davis Hudgens Murphree, El Nathan’s daughter, Harrison Dillard and his wife, Margaret Dillard, Rebecca Bowen Dillard (the wife of a George Dillard)[13] and her children, Robert Dillard and Martha Dillard.[14] In 1858, Harrison Dillard and Margaret Dillard left Secona and joined Enon Baptist Church where their family is listed in the church records.

George Dillard in 1825 married Rebecca Bowen Dillard who was born in 1807. This George Dillard died in 1844. This George Dillard could have been a younger George Dillard, a possible grandson of James Dillard, Sr. and Percilla Dillard.

In 1858, my great grandfather, Elias Earle Dillard and wife, Sarah Ann Bradley, born in 1836, joined Enon Baptist Church in Pickens County, South Carolina. They were married in 1858.[15] Her parents, Joel Bradley and wife, Ellen Scolds Bradley, joined this church at the same time. In 1860, Elias Earle Dillard and wife, Sarah Ann, got a letter of dismissal from Enon Baptist Church and moved to Pinson, Alabama.

Elias Earle Dillard and Sarah Ann Dillard had one child who was born in 1863. His name was Joel Harris Dillard. He was named Joel for Joel Bradley, Sarah Ann Dillard’s father and Harris for Harrison Dillard both of Pickens County, South Carolina.

Sgt. Elias Earle Dillard served in the Calvary under General Joe Wheeler throughout the Civil War. In 1865, Elias Earle arrived home in Pinson, Alabama at the end of the war. That very day while he was enjoying a home cooked meal with his family, he heard a commotion in the barn. He entered the barn and confronted a Yankee deserter in the process of stealing his horse. The deserter killed Elias Earle Dillard. John B. Bradley, brother of Sarah Ann Dillard, hunted the murderer down and avenged the death of Elias Earle Dillard.

Sarah Ann Dillard died in 1867 of brain fever. She and Elias Earle Dillard are buried side by side in Providence Cemetery in Pinson, Alabama. Their son, Joel Harris Dillard, the grandfather of this writer, was reared by John B. Bradley and wife, Ellen Roper Bradley. John B. Bradley married Ellen Roper in 1850 in Columbiana, Alabama. Prior to moving to Mt. Pinson, they lived with William Roper, her father.

Sarah Ann Dillard’s other brother, David Franklin Bradley, sent Joel Harris Dillard to school. Joel Harris Dillard matriculated in the school and was a teacher in Easley in Pickens County, South Carolina during the years 1887-1889. Ida Bradley, his cousin, speaks of him in her diaries, Book Nine; Oct. 3, 1887 to July 1889 pages 644-646.

A diagram of the possible family relationships of some of the Dillards above mentioned with numbered generations and the counties in which they resided from time to time is as follows:

1. James Dillard, Sr. and Percilla Dillard (Henry County,Virginia, Surry County, N. C.,

Fairfield, Pickens and Spartanburg Counties, S. C. He was a son of Thomas

Dillard, Sr. of Pittsylvania County, Virginia).

2. John Dillard (Surry County, N. C. 1800 census)

2. William Dillard (Fairfield County, S. C. in 1820 census)

2. Thomas Dillard (Fairfield County, S.C. in 1820 census)

2. Edmond Dillard (Fairfield County, S.C. in 1790 and 1800 censuses next to James

James Dillard, Sr.)

2. Arthur Dillard (Edgefield County, S. C. 1810 census)

2. James Dillard, Jr. (married Nancy Taylor Harris, Chester, Fairfield, Pickens and

and Spartanburg Counties, South Carolina)

3. Gibson Dillard (Union and Pickens Counties, South Carolina)

4. Thomas Dillard (Pickens County, South Carolina)

3. John Dillard (Chester County, S.C.)

4. Peter Haiston (Harrison?) Dillard (Edgefield County, S. C.)

3. James Dillard (Chester County, S. C.)

3. Nancy Dillard (Chester County, S. C.)

3. Thomas Dillard (married Jane, Union and Pickens Counties, S. C.)

4. Carter Dillard (Pickens County, S. C.)

5. John Lawrence Dillard (Pickens County, S. C.)

3. Catherine Dillard

2. George Dillard (Virginia, Surry County, N. C. and Pickens County, S. C.)

3. George Dillard

4. Thomas Dillard (Fairfield and Pickens Counties, S. C.)

5. Harrison Dillard (born 1812 in Edgefield County, resided in Pickens County, S. C. Married Margaret Murphree, daughter of Levi Murphree of Pickens County.) Children as follows:

6. Thomas Dillard (b. 1831. Resided in Pickens County. Married Margaret Hix (Hicks) b. in Georgia and a daughter of Bayless Gibson Hix and Nancy Cleveland)

6. Elias Earle Dillard (b. 1833. Resided in Pickens County. Married Sarah Ann Bradley b. S. C. and a daughter of Joel Bradley and Ellen Scolds. Migrated to Alabama).

7. Joel Harris Dillard (Pickens County, S. C. and Alabama)

8. John Earle Dillard

9. John C. Dillard

6. Jane A. Dillard (b. 1835 in S.C., d. 1885 in S. C.)

6. Adaline Dillard (b. 1837 in S.C.; married a Boggs who was b. in S.C.)

6. Terreessee B. Dillard (b. 1839 in S. C.)

6. Mary Dillard (b. 1845 in S.C.)

6. Elizabeth H.B. Dillard (b. 1848 in S. C.)

6. Modamey (Modonna) Dillard (b. 1849 in S. C.)

6. Georgiana Dillard (b. 1850 in S.C.; married E. M. Stancil (?)).

6 W. Alfred Dillard (b. 1855 in S.C., d. 1898 in Georgia; married

Mary Ann Dickard b. in S. C. daughter of Theodore Dickard)

6. George Dillard (b. 1857 in S. C.)

Anyone who may read this paper who is a descendant of the children of Harrison Dillard and Margaret Murphree Dillard are urged to contact the writer to help complete missing data.

A substantial number of Dillards who now reside in Pickens County, South Carolina, including the Dillard Funeral Home Dillards, appear to descend from James Dillard, Jr. who married Nancy Taylor Harris above mentioned. His son Thomas Dillard, born in Union County, South Carolina in 1813 and who married Jane Dillard, resided in Pickens County, South Carolina.[16] His son Carter Dillard, born in 1835 married Catherine Griffin.[17] Their son John Lawrence Dillard, born in 1868 and who died in 1935, married Ella Merck.[18] Their children were Austin Dillard, Mattie Dillard, Ressie Dillard, Dessie Dillard, Ern Dillard, Bill Dillard, Lila Dillard and Norma Dillard.[19]

It is hoped that the above research conclusions will be a step toward sorting out the Dillard chaos in South Carolina. Many questions remain. The answers to these questions demand more research and waiting for another day.

End Notes

[1] 1830 Pickens District census.

² A James Dillard was a witness to a Greenville District, South Carolina in 1787. Greenville County, South Carolina Deed Book Index, 1787-1802, expanded edition.

³Surry County, North Carolina Records of Deeds, Mrs. W. A. Absfor and Mrs. Robert K. Hayes.

⁴ Chester County, South Carolina Deed Book A at pages 291 and 293.

⁵ Fairfield County, South Carolina Deed Book A at page 199.

⁶ Upper South Carolina Genealogy and History, Volume XIII, No. 3, August 1999. Union County, South Carolina Probate records of wills of Colonel Thomas Harris in 1796 and Sallie Harris in 1810, who were the parents of Nancy Taylor Harris Dillard.

⁷ Pendleton District, South Carolina census of 1820. Pendleton District was the parent of later Pickens District.

⁸ Pickens County, South Carolina census of 1840.

⁹1800 Pendleton District Census of South Carolina, compiled by William C. Stewart, National Genealogical Society.

¹⁰ Surry County, North Carolina 1800 census. In 1825, a George Dillard married Rebecca Bowen who was born in 1807.

¹¹ Pendleton District, South Carolina Deeds, 1790-1806, page 195.

¹² Pendleton County and District Deed Book 1790-1806, page 196.

¹³ Pickens District, South Carolina Deed Book A-1, Volume 1, page 46.

¹⁴ Will of William Bowen probated in Pickens District in 1857 in Box 46, File 510, which bequeaths five dollars to his daughter, Rebecca Bowen, who married George Dillard in 1825.

¹⁵ A Collection of Upper South Carolina Genealogical and Family Records, Volume I, edited by James E. Wooley, page 57.

¹⁶ Joel Bradley and Ellen Scolds Bradley Family Bible filed with Sumter County Genealogical Society, Sumter, South Carolina.

¹⁷ Thomas Dillard, age 37, with his wife, Jane, age 30 and children Carter, Margaret, Martha and Robert are shown on the 1850 Pickens County census. The heirs of Catherine Dillard as shown in the estate of Elender Griffin in the Pickens County Probate Court in Box 107, File No. 1023 were Alice Dillard, James Dillard, Nancy Dillard, Cornelia Dillard and John Dillard.

¹⁸ Carter Dillard, age 33, with his children Laura, James, Nancy, Carolina and John are shown on the 1870 Pickens County census.

¹⁹ John L. Dillard is shown as age 12 in the household of his father, Carter Dillard, on the 1880 Pickens County census. He is also shown on the 1900 Pickens County census at age 28 with his wife, Etta, age 26 and children James A. Dillard and Mattie Dillard.

²⁰ Pickens County Heritage, 1995, pages 60 and 61.

Solving the Fielding Dillard Puzzle of 1800

Carlton M. Dillard

In colonial Virginia, couples announced their intentions to be married either by banns or by bond. If they chose banns, their wedding plans were announced in their church on three Sundays. This gave time for anyone to raise objections to the wedding. If no objections were voiced, the wedding was solemnized by a judge, a justice of the peace, or a minister. If the couple or their parents chose the wedding bond, the bond was taken in the county of the bride's residence. The bond was signed by the groom, certifying he was eligible to be married and fully intended to marry the bride named in the bond. The bond was also signed by the bride's father, a relative, or close friend of her family as evidence the bride and her family intended to go through with the wedding. Consent of parents was required for those planning to get married under twenty‑one, whether male or female. The parties signing the bond promised to pay a specified sum to the crown, the governor of the colony, or to a county court official if the wedding did not take place, unless some good reason was found for it not to be solemnized.¹

Our research concerning Fielding Dillard (1771‑1818) of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was moving merrily along when suddenly a shocking discovery was made. The discovery was that on 6 January, 1801, in Rowan County, North Carolina, a contemporary Fielding Dillard had taken a marriage bond to marry Patsey Beadles. This bond was signed for the bride's family by Joseph Beadles, Patsey's father. This discovery created a puzzle because only two months earlier on 27 October, 1800 in Halifax County, Virginia, Fielding Dillard had taken a marriage bond to marry Patsey "Bradley," according to an abstract of the county records. Signing that bond for Patsey's family was William "Bradley" according to the same abstract.

We obtained a copy of the Halifax County²bond. Upon examining the handwritten names it was clear that the bride's name was Patsey Beadles, not Bradley. The name of the person signing the bond for her family was William Beadles, not William Bradley. Part of the confusion was cleared up with this discovery. The abstracter had simply misread the handwritten names as Bradley instead of Beadles. Patsey Beadles had a brother, William. It appears the signer of the bond was another William Beadles, possibly an uncle, who remained in Halifax County after her father, Joseph Beadles, had migrated to Oglethorpe County, Georgia. The puzzle remained! We still had a marriage bond in Halifax County, Virginia, and another from Rowan County, North Carolina, with only two months difference in the dates showing Fielding Dillard intended to marry Patsey Beadles. Same couple? What happened? Why?

We later obtained a copy of the Rowan County, North Carolina, bond.³ As we studied that bond and compared it with the Virginia bond, it seemed significant that Patsey Beadles was referred to in that bond as: "of the county aforesaid," meaning Rowan County. However, in the beginning paragraph, Fielding Dillard was referred to as "in the State." This wording seemed to refer to the agreement being made "in the State." At no place in the bond was a residence given for Fielding. However, in the Virginia bond both Fielding Dillard and William Beadles are referred to in the opening paragraph as "of Halifax County." In the second paragraph Patsey Beadles is referred to as "of this county," meaning Halifax.

As we compared the Fielding Dillard signatures in the two bonds, remarkable similarities began to appear. All kinds of questions arose as the possibility became apparent that these two bonds were for the marriage of the same couple. I forced myself not to make a hasty conclusion before every possible lead had been covered

Having spent almost thirty‑five years as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I was aware that from the limited amount of handwriting, both as to quantity and quality, no competent handwriting expert could render a valid conclusion‑‑one that would stand up in court‑‑about the two signatures. I could think of no way to find additional handwriting specimens for Fielding Dillard.

I was acquainted with one of the best handwriting experts around and discussed my problem with him. That was in 1993. He was reluctant to take on the responsibility. After I had assured him that the outcome of his findings was mainly for my own satisfaction, he agreed to do the comparison provided I did not use his name in any publication of the information. I understood his reasons and agreed. He took the two signatures and kept them for about a week.

Set out below are transcriptions of the wording of the two bonds followed by copies of the two Fielding Dillard signatures from the bonds. Immediately below the two signatures are the results of the handwriting expert's analysis.

THE HALIFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA, BOND

Know all men by these presents that we FIELDING DILLARD & WILLIAM BEADLES of Halifax County are held and firmly bound unto his excellency James Monroe, Esquire, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia for the time being and to his successors for the use of the Commonwealth in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars to which payment well and truly to be made to the said governor and his successors as aforesaid we do bind ourselves our heirs executors and administrators jointly and severally firmly by these presents sealed with our seals and dated this 27th day of October 1800.

The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas there is a marriage suddenly intended to be solemnized between the above bound FIELDING DILLARD & PATSEY BEADLES of this county now if there be no lawful cause to obstruct the said marriage then this obligation to be void‑‑else to remain in full force and virtue.

FIELDING DILLARD (SEAL)

Witness WILLIAM BEADLES (SEAL)

BERRY GREEN

THE ROWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, BOND

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, ROWAN COUNTY.

Know all Men by these presents, That we FIELDING DILLARD & JOSEPH BEADLES in the state aforesaid, are held and firmly bound unto MAX CHAMBERS Esquire, Chairman of the court of the county aforesaid, in the just and full sum of Five Hundred pounds, current money of this state, to be paid to the said Chairman, or his successors or assigns: To the which payment well and truly to be made and done, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators.

Sealed with our seals, and dated this 6th day of January anno Dom. 1801

THE CONDITION of the above obligation is such, That whereas the above bounded FIELDING DILLARD hath made application for a License for a marriage to be celebrated between him and PATSEY BEADLES of the county aforesaid: Now in case it shall not appear hereafter, that there is any lawful cause to obstruct the said marriage, then the above obligation to be void otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

Sealed and delivered FIELDING DILLARD (SEAL)

in the presence of us JOSEPH BEADLES (SEAL)

J. BRUM D.C.

LEFT: Fielding Dillard signature from the Halifax County, Virginia, bond

RIGHT: Fielding Dillard signature from the Rowan County, N. C., bond

"No report from a handwriting lab would be complete without the usual disclaimer that valid comparisons can't be made of photocopies, etc. Notwithstanding, I believe you're most interested in whether there is any reason to believe these are not the signatures of the same person. At the time these were written most people didn't know how to write; and the only thing they mastered was their own signature, done by memory. Many could read but never developed writing skills. Comparison of these two photocopies shows the same pictorial sense of what the signature should be, particularly in the breaks and finishing strokes throughout the body of the writings being compared. Variations in the beginning letters are not unusual since the ego was sometimes on display in the form of beginning letters and ending flourishes. In my opinion, the Fielding Dillard signatures on the two documents were written by the same person."

So, what happened? From available information several possible scenarios come to mind, either one of' which may have brought about the two wedding bonds. At that time, migrating families, for safety reasons, seldom traveled alone. The Joseph Beadles family may have had plans to join the first wagon train moving south, and the train formed or came through before the young couple could get married. The Beadles family stopped in Rowan County, North Carolina, long enough for Fielding to come, a new wedding bond to be issued, and the couple to get married. The couple returned to Halifax County to live. Another possible set of circumstances: Patsey may have remained in Virginia intending to marry Fielding; but, because she was not yet twenty‑one, the minister or court official refused to perform the ceremony without her father's permission and signature on the bond.

After getting the conclusions from the fingerprint expert, I felt more convinced that the two marriages related to the same couple. Still, I knew I was skating on thin ice to make a positive statement in that regard without further research. The most important reason for conducting additional research to support the conclusion was that I wanted to find the truth of the matter for myself and for other Dillard researchers who might be faced with the same question.

A search of the Rowan County North Carolina, marriage records for the years 1754 to 1866 showed no other Dillard or Beadles as groom or bride during those years.⁴ A second publication covering Rowan County marriages during the years 1753 to 1868 listed no other Dillard or Beadles.⁵ The index of a publication containing abstracts of wills and estate records for Rowan County between the years 1753 and 1805 listed no Beadles or Dillard.⁶ Still another source listing abstracts of North Carolina wills for the years from 1760 to 1800 did not list a will made by a Beadles or a Dillard in Rowan County during those years.

In the fall of 1987, I found in Duke University Perkins Library an index to the 1800 census of North Carolina by Elizabeth Petty Bentley, which showed no Joseph or any other Beadles residing within Rowan County but did list a Joseph Beagle listed as residing in Rowan County. The author of the index explained, in her preface, that census enumerators made no attempt to discover the correct spelling of a name. They simply spelled it as they heard it pronounced. Thinking that perhaps an error had been made in the transcript of the index, the following day at the North Carolina State Archives, the 1800 Census was read on microfilm, Reel 33. It was discovered, from the microfilm, that the census enumerator had, indeed, written the name Beagle. No Beadles or Dillard was listed for Rowan County in the 1800 census. Further implication that the name Beagle was an error by the census enumerator can be seen in that the name did not appear in the search of Rowan County marriages. Neither the name Beagle, Beadles, nor Dillard appeared in Abstracts of Wills and Estate Records of Rowan County, N. C., 1753‑1805 reviewed at North Carolina State Library at Raleigh on 20 October, 1987.

Even though records indicate that Fielding Dillard and Patsey Beadles were married in Rowan County, North Carolina, they returned to Halifax County, Virginia, to live the first three years of their life together. Fielding Dillard's name first appeared in records of Halifax County, Virginia, in October, 1800, when he signed the above mentioned marriage bond. After that his name appears in 1802 in the Halifax County Personal Property Tax list. The next official record for Fielding Dillard in Halifax County, Virginia, was on 26 November, 1803, when he was charged with slander against Thomas Powell and Powell's wife. Judgment was rendered against Fielding in the case. He was fined 50 pounds.⁷

Thomas Powell was a close associate of this Dillard family. Powell's will, mentioned below, shows that his daughter, Patsey Powell, married a Dillard. He is probably the same Thomas Powell, who on 26 May, 1785, signed as surety on an Amherst County, Virginia, marriage bond between Henry Stoneham and Jean Dillard, daughter of Joseph Dillard, an older half brother of Fielding. Halifax County records include the 2 June, 1813, will of Thomas Powell (proved 2 February, 1814,) in which he names his wife, Nomey, and his children: William, deceased, Thomas, Patsey Dillard, Polly Hunt, Rodah Chambers, Nomey Powell, Fanny Adims, and Sally Stanfield. Powell also named his granddaughter, Nomey Collins, daughter of Elizabeth Powell who married George Collins. It appears that the daughter, Elizabeth Powell Collins, had died before Thomas Powell made his will.⁸ Both Richard Dillard, Fielding’s brother, and James Dillard, probably the half brother of Fielding, made purchases at the sale of Powell's estate.⁹

There was a temptation at this point to let well enough alone as far as establishing that the two marriages bonds of Fielding and Patsey in different states were for the same couple; but there were additional facts to be explored that might help support or refute our claim.

In June, 1773, at Augusta, Georgia under the leadership of Sir James Wright, colonial Governor of Georgia, the colonists took advantage of a big debt the Creek and Cherokee Indians had run up with the white Indian traders. In settlement of the debt, the Indians signed a treaty at Augusta on 1 June, 1773, giving up some 2,000,000 acres of their prime land extending along the west side of the Savannah River from Little River (about 20 miles northwest of Augusta) northward about sixty miles to Cherokee Corner in northwest Oglethorpe County.¹⁰

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) placed a marker at the Cherokee Corner site. The marker is set behind the Cherokee Corner Methodist Church three miles west of Crawford, Georgia, on Highway 78. It explains the division of the land with the Indians at that point according to the 1773 treaty. A line was drawn from Cherokee Corner northeastward to the Savannah River. Land to the west of the marker went to the Creek Indians. Land north of the line from the marker to the Savannah River would belong to the Cherokees. Land south and east of the line to the Savannah River went to colonial Georgia.

It was in this area that Joseph Beadles settled with his family around 1802. The 1800 census for Oglethorpe County, Georgia, lists neither a Dillard nor a Beadles.¹¹ On 18 September, 1802, Joseph Beadles received a deed from Edward Moore, et. al., for 250 acres of land on Clouds Creek, Oglethorpe County.¹² The Clouds Creek land would have had Cherokee Indians as neighbors. This land purchase was made one year and nine months after Joseph had signed the marriage bond in Rowan County, North Carolina for his daughter, Patsey, and Fielding Dillard. He might well have been a resident of Oglethorpe County before purchasing the land. The name of Joseph Beadles appears on Oglethorpe County records through 2 November, 1813, when he made his will which was probated in January, 1814. In his will, Joseph names a son, William Beadles, a daughter, Patsey Dillard (Mrs. Fielding Dillard), and another daughter, Elizabeth Stanfield (Mrs. William Stanfield). Also named was a grandson, Joseph Beadles (son of William).¹³

The last Halifax County, Virginia, record found for Fielding Dillard was on 26 November, 1803, when he was fined fifteen pounds for slandering Thomas Powell and his wife. The earliest record found in Oglethorpe County, Georgia for Fielding was 7 February, 1805, when he was given a deed by Mary Bolton, Luke Bolton, et. al., for 260 acres on Clouds Creek (my emphasis), near his father‑in‑law's land. This would have been a little more than four years after the Rowan County, North Carolina, marriage bond was signed. Before Fielding's death by 1819, he had acquired five more tracts of land on Clouds Creek for a total of 895 acres, plus a 100-acre tract on Beaverdam Creek.¹⁴

Fielding Dillard and Patsey Beadles were the parents of ten children. Their first child, Joseph Beadles Dillard, was born in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1803. The other nine were born after the couple had settled in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. A brief biographical sketch for each of the ten children is set out below. The sketches were taken from various sources as recorded beginning on page 49 of Back to Old Virginia with Dillard, Daniel and Kin

JOSEPH BEADLES DILLARD, b. 1803, VA, m. Oglethorpe County, GA, OC, 8‑12-1830 Elizabeth Ann Baldwin, nee Ellington. Children: 5 boys, 1 girl.

SUSAN DILLARD, b. ca 1804, OC, m. OC, 12‑13‑1825 Jesse King. Children: none known.

MARY DILLARD, b. ca 1805, OC, m. Littleberry King. Children: none known.

SARAH ANN DILLARD, b. ca 1806, OC, m. OC, 12‑16‑1830, Cornelius Furcron.

Children: three girls, one boy. Twenty‑three years after Furcron's death ca 1837, Sarah Ann

m. 2^nd, OC, ca 1860 Felix Hardeman. Children: none.

RICHARD DILLARD, b.OC 10-10-1808, m. 1^st, OC, Sarah Jane Ellington. Children three girls and two boys. After Sarah Jane’s death in 1843, Richard m. 2^nd, OC, Antionett A. Chaffin. Children: five girls, three boys.

ELIZABETH DILLARD, b. OC ca. 1810. Nothing further known.

HARRIETT DILLARD, b. OC, m. 2-14-1843 Mordecai Edwards. No known children. Edwards had two other wives after Harriet's death.

JURIAH HEPSIBAH DILLARD, b. OC, 9 12‑1813, m. OC, 12‑8‑1831, William Fu

rcron. Probably one child was born before William's death on 12‑17‑1833.

MARTHA CUSTIS DILLARD, b. OC, 5‑2-1814, m. OC, 4‑2‑1832, John Ferdinand Phinizy. One son and one daughter were born to this union.

FIELDING DILLARD II, b. OC, March 1815, m. Clarke Co., GA, 3‑18‑1843, America Frances Chaffin. Children: seven sons and six daughters.

It is believed the research set out above presents a reasonable case that the Virginia and the North Carolina marriage bonds are for the same couple, Fielding Dillard and Patsey Beadles, who migrated around 1804 from Halifax County, Virginia, to Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Nevertheless, where the Apostle Paul had a thorn in his side, I have a cocklebur under my shirt that bothers me when I read one item mentioned above. There still exists one too many "Patsey Dillards" for complete comfort.

I would certainly like to know the identity of the husband of Patsey (Powell) Dillard, daughter of Thomas Powell. She is named as Patsey Dillard in the will of Thomas Powell made in 1813 in Halifax County, Virginia. It appears that Thomas Powell and his family, before residing in Halifax County, had lived in Amherst County, Virginia, where Fielding Dillard's older half‑brothers, Joseph and James Dillard, also lived with their families. Joseph and James, originally from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, where their father Thomas Dillard died in 1774, had eventually settled in Amherst County. Patsey Powell's husband may well have been the son or grandson of Joseph or James. If you can identify the Dillard who married Patsey Powell, would you please share that information with me, removing that worrisome cocklebur. Thanks!

End Notes

¹ Robert Young Clay, Archivist at Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia, from lecture before the Augusta Genealogical Society, Augusta, Georgia, 3 October 1986.

²J. C. Sizemore, Clerk, Circuit Court, Halifax County, Virginia, Marriage Book I, p. 45.

^3. John M. Montgomery, Deputy Register of Deeds, Rowan County, Salisbury, North Carolina 6‑3‑87.

⁴ Frances T. Ingmire, Rowan County, North Carolina Marriage Records, 1754‑1866, Vol. 1, Ingmire Publications, 10166 Clairmont Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63136, c 1984.

⁵ Brent H. Holcomb, Marriages of Rowan County, North Carolina 1753‑1868, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1981.

⁶ Abstracts of Wills and Estate Records of Rowan County. North Carolina. 1753‑1805, at North Carolina State Library, Raleigh, North Carolina.

⁷ Halifax County, Virginia, Court Order Book, Pleas No. 22, p. 137, as checked by Mrs. Lightfoot B. Fourqurean, Certified Researcher, South Boston, Virginia.

⁸ Barry L. McGhee, Halifax County, Virginia, Will Book 9, p. 403.

⁹ Barry. L. McGhee, Halifax County, Virginia, Will Book 10, p. 286.

¹⁰ Ellis Merton Coulter, Old Petersburg and the Broad River Valley of Georgia, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, pp. 2, 3.

¹¹ Mary B. Warren, l800 Census of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, published by Heritage Papers, Danielsville, Georgia, c 1965.

¹² Oglethorpe County, Georgia Deed Book D, p 161. Superior Court, Lexington, Georgia.

¹³ Oglethorpe County, Georgia Will Book 2, p. 93. Probate Court, Lexington, Georgia.

14 Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Filing Docket and General Index: to Deeds and Realty Mortgages, Grantees, p. 25; Deed Book D, p. 487; Deed Book E, p. 47; Deed Book H, pp. 145, 274, 376, 534; Deed Book I, p. 527; Deed Book L, p. 109.

Roots and Ever Green: the Letters of Ina Dillard Russell

Nancy Russell Black, Speaker

Sally Russell Warrington, Writer

Nancy Russell Black was a speaker at the Tenth History Session at the annual reunion of the Dillard Family Association on June 10, 2000. She reviewed the life of her grandmother, Ina Dillard Russell, and her sister’s book, Roots and Ever Green, based on the letters written by her grandmother published on December 9, 1999 by the University of Georgia Press. The University of Georgia Press, the publisher of monographs in the humanities and other books, has published over 1400 books since 1938. Ina Dillard Russell is a descendant of Fielding Dillard (1771-1818) who moved from Spotsylvania County, Virginia and settled at Cherokee Corner, Georgia in Oglethorpe County, Georgia prior to 1805 when the Cherokee and Creek Indians ceded that part of Georgia to the state. The descendants of Fielding Dillard hold an annual reunion at Cherokee Corner Methodist Church. The Russell family holds an annual reunion at nearby Winder, Georgia.

In lieu of printing Sally’s entertaining talk, press releases from the University of Georgia on Roots and Ever Green are quoted as follows:

“Author Sally Russell’s compilation of letters, Roots and Ever Green, provides an honest, detailed account of daily life in Georgia from 1891 to 1936. There letters were written not by a historian or scholar but a well educated, witty, bright, energetic and irrepressible woman named Ina Dillard Russell. In her literate and loving letters to her children and husband, she illuminates the essence of the turn-of-the-century Georgia farm life, state politics, race relations and health matters, including the evils of tobacco.

“Born in 1868, the thirteenth child of a hardworking farm family in Oglethorpe [County], Georgia, Ina entered time in a place of despair, defeat, and deprivation. However, when she married Athens lawyer and future chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court Richard Brevard Russell in 1891, the world was poised for a thrilling swing into a new age. Reared strictly in the revered code of the agrarian Old South, Ina moved into the new world with élan, yet retained her old values with amazing grace. She aspired to live simply despite her husband's tenacious political ambitions and repeated defeats. And at times, the balancing act Ina maintains in her letters defies belief. In the end, what kept her strong was that she valued a life of love, work, and family and followed the distilled tenets of the Christian doctrine: love thy Lord thy God with all thy heart, strength, and mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.

“The letters presented in this volume are selections from nearly three thousand that Russell wrote to her children and husband during her lifetime. Ranging from the turn of the century to the early years of the great Depression they provide an intimate view of what life was like for many women in the South during a time of great political and social upheaval From guidelines on manners, nutrition, and fashion to instructions on education, motherhood, and home health remedies, she offers insights into then numerous roles women were expected to fill. Not limited to family matters, Russell's letters record her views on politics, football, the World Wars, music, and life in various Georgia towns. A frequent traveler, she also offers entertaining anecdotes of her excursions and descriptions of the people she met. The intimate, detailed portrait of one woman’s life chronicles a critical period of change in the roles and ambitions of women in the South and in the United States.

“When Ina Dillard Russell died in 1953, flags throughout Georgia were lowered to half‑mast in honor of her dedication to her state, community, and family. Roots and Ever Green is the engaging true story, told through her letters, of this remarkable woman's life at the turn of the century in a dramatically changing South. Born in 1868, Ina Dillard grew up in rural Georgia during Reconstruction. After Ina married in 1891 Richard Brevard Russell, an Athens lawyer and future chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, the simple life she had imagined was transformed. Russell became the matriarch of a large and influential family and raised thirteen children, including future Georgia governor and U. S. Senator Richard Russell. This energetic and talented woman balanced her household, family and social responsibilities with extraordinary skill, reinventing traditional roles to accommodate her active life.”

Others have the following comments about Roots and Ever Green:

“A remarkable story that draws the reader into the fabric of a woman’s life and brings to life the value and commitments she honored.” Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, author of Within the Plantation Household: Black and White Women of the Old South.

"Sally Russell has performed magic as she pours through the thousands of letters of Ina Dillard Russell and then edits her story in this wonderful book for all to read. A fabulous account of what daily life was like for one of the most influential families in Georgia history, I really enjoyed learning more about Ina Dillard Russell. I now clearly understand why Georgia College & State University's library is named for this remarkable woman." Max Allen, Georgia College & State University.

"It is as though we become a video camera, lost somewhere in time, scanning the industrious and ambitious Russells as they grapple with the challenge of making life fulfilling in the first third of the 20th century. My father once described people like this as coming from "another bolt of cloth." This family, and particularly this wife and mother, Ina Dillard Russell, were of a remarkable fabric." Ralph H. Norman, Georgia College & State University.

A copy of Roots and Ever Green: the Selected Letters of Ina Dillard Russell may be ordered at a price of $34.95 plus $3.50 for postage and handling from the University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, Georgia 30602-4901, catalogue number ISBN 0-8203-2138-9. For additional information telephone Nicole Traycoff at (706) 369-6165 or e-mail her at traycoff@ugapress.uga.edu.

Editor’s Note: Many years ago the editor’s cousin, Rose Dillard Hutchins, of Statham, Georgia and Ina Dillard Russell of nearby Winder, Georgia exchanged Dillard genealogical information. Rose Dillard Hutchins gave to your editor some of her genealogical notes. Those notes included materials Ina Russell had given to Rose Hutchins. The editor has saved them over many years. The next two pages are what is believed to be Ina Dillard Russell’s personally prepared Dillard family lineage under her signature on a typed in form dated December 12, 1939.

Jabez M. Dillard: the Search For His Ancestors;

Using Logical Deductions and Numerical Analysis

Robert C. Dillard

Dillards, Bowdens, Bryants, Frays, Hendersons, Hunts, and a host of other families are the direct descendants of Jabez M. Dillard and his wife, Martha Finney Dillard. These descendant families are known and documented. There is some information about the ancestry of Martha Finney Dillard. However, no known records of the ancestors of Jabez M. Dillard exist. This paper uses the methodology of logical deductions and numerical analysis to reach some conclusions about who may be his ancestors.

It is documented that Jabez M. Dillard was born in 1808 and died in 1857. He was married to Martha Finney about 1833. She was born in 1810 and died in 1856. On her death about 1857, Jabez M. Dillard married Sara A. Raines. The children of Jabez M. Dillard and Martha Finney Dillard were with data to the extent known: Elizabeth Dillard, born about 1834; Nancy F. Dillard, 1836-1880 who married a Bryant; John H. Dillard, 1838-1862; Mary L. Dillard, born about 1840; Samuel Pinckney Dillard, 1842-1900 who married Martha Ellen Ferguson 1853-1932; Margaret Dillard born about 1844; Martha A. Dillard born about 1848; George W. L. Dillard, born about 1849; and William Jabez Dillard born about 1856.

The 1840 and 1850 Federal censuses of Alabama unequivocally report that Jabez was born in 1808 in Laurens, South Carolina. The search for Jabez M. Dillard's ancestors logically begins in South Carolina and in Laurens County.

There is only one known record in Laurens, South Carolina in which Jabez M. Dillard appears by name. That was is in the estate settlement of a John Dillard of Laurens County, South Carolina. Jabez received a payment from this estate in October 1834, but not as a devisee. This suggests that although Jabez Dillard and this John Dillard may have been related, the relationship was not close enough for Jabez to have been named in his will as a devisee. Although this information does not identify Jabez's Dillard’s parents or siblings, it does confirm that he was in Laurens, South Carolina in 1834. We need to look further.

Available for research are the great American genealogical tools, the early United States censuses. The earlier censuses did not give the names of household members. The ages and sexes of those in a household were, however, given. These may become critical indicators. In the 1810 South Carolina census, there were eight Dillard households in Laurens and Spartanburg Districts reporting twelve males less than ten years of age. Jabez Dillard, who is known to have been born in 1808, would have been about two years of age at the time of that census. He could have been any one of those twelve males shown in the 1810 South Carolina census as follows:

Head of Household Males County Page

Under 10

George Dillard 1 Laurens 41A

James Dillard 2 Laurens 45

John Dillard 2 Laurens 45

John Dillard 2 Laurens 47

John Dillard 2 Laurens 52A

George Dillard Laurens 52A

William Dillard 1 Laurens 56

James Dillard 1 Spartanburg 201

Total 12

Ten years later in the 1820 South Carolina census there were seven Dillard households that reported males in the 10 to 16 year age category. Jabez in 1820 would have been twelve years of age. Two of the households, James and Edward Dillard, were not in Laurens County and are eliminated from consideration. Two of the Laurens District households have been identified as George Dillard, the son of Revolutionary Captain James Dillard, and George W. Dillard, the son of Samuel Dillard. These two households are also eliminated since they did not have any male children in the 10 to 16-age category. Jabez, it would appear, would have been one of the males in the Dillard households of George No. 2, John, and John.

What more is known about George No. 2, possible father of Jabez Dillard? In 1800 there were eight Dillard households enumerated in the South Carolina census. Four of these were in Laurens District. Ten years later on the 1810 South Carolina census there were 13 Dillard households in South Carolina, ten of which were in Laurens District.

The four males that could have come of age from the 1800 Census would not account for this increase in Dillard households. In the 1810 census, there were three Johns, two Georges and two Williams, a James, an Isbel, and Ann Dillard, the widow of Samuel Dillard. There appeared to be too few families in 1800 for their descendants to have used so many of the same names in 1810 census. This suggests a number of new Dillard families may have moved into the area, just as the George Dillard of Culpeper County had done. It is possible that George No. 2's family may also have immigrated from elsewhere to Laurens District.

Jabez's Dillard’s first son was named John. This could have been in honor of his maternal grandfather, John Finney. His next son was named Samuel. While this suggests a relationship with Samuel Dillard. Current research indicates that Samuel had a son named George but that he and George No. 2 were different people. Perhaps George No. 2 was Samuel’s nephew. In the 1820 Census, both George Dillard, son of Samuel, and George No. 2 are listed on the same page of the census. This happened when properties were near to each other if not adjacent to each other and could suggest a family relationship.

Confusion as to the name of George Dillard of Culpeper's wife could possibly leads to the name of George No. 2's wife. It has been said that George of Culpeper's wife was Martha Jordan. Mrs. Brownlee and Mrs. Kellum report that her name was Fanny. The reference to Martha Jordan as the wife of a George Dillard suggests that she could have been the wife of George No. 2 and the mother of Jabez Dillard. The names of the wives of the two other George Dillards above mentioned have been found and those names eliminated.

It has not been proved to date that George Dillard No. 2 was the father of Jabez Dillard. Facts proving the ancestry of George Dillard No. 2 have not been found to date. It has not been proved to date that Martha Jordon Dillard was the wife of George Dillard No. 2 and the mother of Jabez Dillard. Facts to prove these conclusions may never be found.

While finding those proved facts may be difficult, conclusions reached from logical deduction and numerical analysis from basic public records, such as censuses, may be surprisingly convincing. While these conclusions may later be refuted by facts not presently known, this type of methodoly is a benchmark in the right direction for finding those proved facts.

Liberty Hill United Methodist Church

200^th Year Celebration

Reported by Margaret Humphries Dillard

The 200^th Anniversary Celebration of the formation of Liberty Hill Methodist Church was held at the church on Sunday, June 11, 2000 Liberty Hill, a short distance east of present Spartanburg, South Carolina in Spartanburg County is the church of many of the descendants of Joseph Dillard and Priscilla Wilkins Dillard who could be buried in unmarked graves in the church cemetery. It is possible that Joseph Dillard’s father, James Dillard and his wife, documented on Spartanburg County censuses, who migrated from Henry County, Virginia into Fairfield, Chester, Pickens and finally Spartanburg County, could also be buried in unmarked graves in the graveyard of this church.

Following morning worship services in a packed church at which the preacher was Bishop of the South Carolina Methodist Conference, J. Lawrence McCleskey, a delightful covered dish dinner was enjoyed by all on the grounds of the church. The pastor of the church, The Rev. James Ellis Griffith, had prepared and displayed on the walls of the office of the church genealogical descent charts of the family lineage of the early church members, including the descendants of Joab Bryant (whose mother, Jemima Dillard, was a daughter of Joseph and Priscilla Wilkins Dillard) and other families. See Probable Ancestors and Descendants of Joseph Dillard, privately published by Dorothy Dillard Hughes in 1999. Family interrelationships of present members of the church through the Bryants, Dillards, LeMasters and others are extensive.

James Ellis Griffith also prepared a manuscript Liberty United Methodist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina: a New History and A Gathering of Older Documents dated June 2000. This manuscript contains a history of the church that was organized in 1780 and was first referred to as “Liberty Church” in an 1878 deed from Joab Bryant to its trustees. Elizabeth Dillard, a daughter of Joab Bryant, sold additional property to the church. Bishop Asbury’s Journal of April 4, 1796 may have described services he conducted at Liberty Hill Church.

The Griffith manuscript states that Section C of the church cemetery, clearly the oldest section, contains the remains of descendants of James Bryant (1774-1858) and Jemima Dillard Bryant. This section, according to Griffith, may have been the Bryant family burying grounds, which were later deeded to the church. Griffith states that there are 702 known graves in the church cemetery of which 184 are marked with fieldstones only. Griffith further states that twenty-four graves contain no markers whatsoever. A section of the cemetery contains the graves of slaves. According to Griffith the earliest born person documented to be buried in the cemetery was James Bryant (1774-1858) and the first documented burial was Elizabeth Johnson in 1822.

This reporter’s mother, Ella Sanders Humphries, is a descendant of Phereby [Pherbia] Bryant who married a Barnett. Her father, Royce William Humphries, is a descendant of Susanna [Jemima] who married James Bryant [Briant]. Both of these were children born to Joseph and Priscilla Wilkins Dillard. This reporter married a Dillard who is a descendant of John Dillard of Rabun County, Georgia, a believed first cousin of Joseph Dillard’s father, James Dillard. This reporter catalogued graves of interest in the cemetery of Liberty Hill Church on February 21, 1999. This cemetery has all the earmarks of age. Many of the grave markers are no longer legible because of age or broken condition.

Joab Bryant’s gravestone is not legible as to his date of birth, but gives his date of death as April 15, 1880. The gravestone of his wife, Mary, states that she was born July 16, 1816 and died March 24, 1889. Their graves are enclosed with a rustic rock wall about two feet high. The older Dillard and Bryant graves are the ones closest to the church building. Recent Dillard graves indicate that there must be quite a few descendants of Joseph Dillard still in the neighborhood of the church. Some older marked graves in Liberty Hill Church cemetery are as follows:

James Dillard born Sept 11, 1811, died April 24, 1886.

His wife, Nancy Dillard, born September 25, 1816, died May 5, 1880

James and Clemmy Bryant on the same grave with no dates given

George LeMaster, born July 13, 1808; died June 30, 1884

His wife, Elmina, born July 25, 1823; died October 9, 1909

Charlie W. Dillard, born February 9, 1872; died April 24, 1924

His wife, Lizzie Stone, born December 7, 1874; died May 1, 1918

Elmina, wife of Moses Bell, born Apr 5, 1845; died November 24, 1903

Moses Bell, born March 3, 1839; died June 30, 1905

E. Dillard, born January 5, 1848; died June 6, 1879

Walter Bethel Dillard, born October 2, 1834; died March 19, 1895

William E. Bryant, born April 1879; died July 2, 1921

His wife, Pearl M., born April 26, 1879; died June 26, 1956

J. W. (Bob) Dillard, born August 10, 1859; died August 6, 1907

His wife, Julie B., born March 4, 1866; died November 6, 1902

Rosannah, wife of T.J. Dillard, born June 16, 1830; died Nov 13 1895

W. M. Dillard, born 1850; died January 6, 1901

His wife, Addie, born 1850; died December 5, 1896

His wife, Mattie, born February 17, 1874; died October 9, 1967

Thomas T. Dillard, born November 20, 1873; died October 22, 1936

Nancy E. Dillard, wife of Tom Dillard, born February 8, 1878; died February 19, 1904

Minutes of the 2000 Meeting of

the Dillard Family Association

The Annual Reunion of the Dillard Family Association was held at the Dillard United Methodist Church at Dillard, Georgia on Saturday, June 10, 2000 for a one-day reunion. The annual history session was held in the morning from 10:00 A.M. until 1:00 P. M. with speakers John C. Dillard of Bessemer, Alabama and Nancy Russell Black of Gainesville, Georgia. Bob Slack though out the day and in a special afternoon session presented a program and display of primitive arts and crafts used by colonial period people in everyday activities. Approximately fifty persons were in attendance.

A delicious and abundant lunch and dinner was prepared by the men and women of Dillard United Methodist Church in a fund raising venture to construct a narthex on the church. A business session was held at 2:00 P.M. in the church with John T. Dillard, President, of Monroe, Oregon presiding and with Odelle K. Hamby, of Rabun Gap, Georgia serving as secretary.

The minutes of the 1999 meeting of the association as printed in the Dillard Annual were upon motion duly carried approved. Odelle K. Hamby gave a treasurer’s report showing a balance of cash funds on hand as of June 5, 2000 of $1,335.08. The Treasurer’s report was upon motion approved and accepted.

It was voted by the membership to extend special thanks to the members of Dillard United Methodist Church for their hospitality in making the reunion a memorable one. A $500.00 contribution toward construction of the church narthex was voted upon and unanimously approved.

Upon motion, it was voted by the membership to give a $100.00 cash gift to Bob Slack for his contribution to the reunion program.

Malcolm Dillard of Dillard, Georgia gave special thanks to all officers of the association who served in office during the past year and gave the report of the Nominating Committee for officers to serve for the year 2000-2001 until the election of new officers at the 2001 reunion as follows:

President Frank Singleton of Cummings, Georgia

Vice President John M. Dillard of Greenville, S. C.

Secretary-Treasurer Claire Godwin of Lake City, S. C.

The above named persons were unanimously elected to serve in office after motion duly made and carried.

The new president, Frank Singleton, announced that he would call a meeting of the new officers to make plans for the 2001 reunion. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Odelle K. Hamby

Secretary-Treasurer

Other Dillard Reunions

There are many groups of Dillards who hold reunions across the United States. We support all of these reunions. We would like to have all in these reunions to also participate in the Dillard Family Association. More than fifty per cent of those attending the Dillard Family Association reunions are from lines of Dillards all over the United States who are not descendants of the Dillards who settled Rabun County about 1823. Some other Dillard reunions are as follows. We would like to hear from more of them and preserve their Dillard history in the Dillard Annual.

Lancaster, Texas: descendants of William Brown Dillard, a son of Thomas Dillard, who was the son of Willis Dillard. Contact Bobby Dillard, 619 West Hammond Street, Lancaster, Texas 75146-1543, telephone (972) 227-6923, e-mail BMD227@aol.com.

Clark County, Arkansas: this is also a reunion for the descendants of William Brown Dillard who reside in Arkansas. This reunion is held at the South Fork Baptist Church in Clark County, Arkansas on the second Saturday of June of each year where approximately 60 to 70 persons attend. Contact Bobby Dillard at the address given above.

Brownwood, Texas: called “Dillard Roundup” it is the descendants of Thomas Milton Dillard and Manerva Jane Jackson Dillard. This reunion has been held every July 4th since 1946 at Lake Brownwood. This line descends from Revolutionary Captain James Dillard and Mary Ramage Dillard of Laurens District, South Carolina through their son, Samuel Dillard. Descendants migrated to Washington County, Texas where they now reside in Bell Falls and Jones County, Texas. Contact Jody Dillard by e-mail at okielady@postoffice.att.net.

Ellaville, Georgia: this is a reunion of the descendants of Allen Dillard, who was born about 1795 who lived in Jones and Schley Counties, Georgia and who died in Marion County, Georgia in 1885. This reunion is held on the second Sunday in July at Ellaville Legion Hall, Ellaville, Georgia. Contact Jody Dillard at 248 Perry Drive, Ellaville, Georgia 31806, telephone (912) 937-5453 and by e-mail at jodydillard@hotmail.com.

Oglethorpe County, Georgia. This is a reunion of the descendants of Fielding Dillard and Patsey Beadles Dillard held at Cherokee Corner United Methodist Church near Arnoldsville, Georgia held each August. Contact Nicole Traycoff or Barbara Ras at University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, Georgia 30602-4909, telephone (706) 369-6165 e-mail traycoff@ugapress.uga.edu for further information.

Changes in Dillard Family Association Homepage

New address is: www.dillardfamilyassociation.com

John James Dillard and Sara Frances Hammett Dillard, librarians of Arlington, Texas set up and started the Dillard Family Homepage after leasing at their expense space on the Rootsweb server. Portions of Dillard Annuals published from 1992 through 1998 were placed in the homepage. The address of this was http://homepages.rootweb.com/~dillard/. John James and Sara Frances had to discontinue servicing this homepage because of a significant increase in their workloads. All Dillards are appreciative of the contribution which John James and Sara Frances made in preserving Dillard history.

John T. Dillard of Monroe, Oregon, who has twice served as President of the Dillard Family Association, took over the homepage though his Monroe Telephone Company of Monroe, Oregon. The expenses in the new homepage were absorbed by John T. Dillard. The owner of the new homepage became the Dillard Family Association. The old address was discontinued and the new address of this homepage became easy to remember www.dillardfamilyassociation.com.

All complete past issues of the Dillard Annual, including those for 1999 and 2000, except for some formatting and graphic details, have been submitted to John T. Dillard’s able internet expert, Mrs. Clarice McConnell of Monroe Telephone Company at (541) 847-5135 e-mail at clarice@monroetel.com. It is expected that all contents of all prior Dillard Annuals including the within will be placed on the newly structured Dillard Family Association homepage for viewing by anyone. We are grateful to John T. Dillard and his staff for making the fruits of current technology available for our benefit.

Anyone can eventually access the Dillard Family Association Homepage on the Internet, and print out for his own use a copy of all or any part of any Dillard Annual.

Proposed Possible Changes in the Dillard Annual

It has been suggested that the Dillard Annual be published only from time to time as materials are available for publication (and not annually), and then only on the Dillard Family Association homepage. This is because it has become increasingly difficult to obtain speakers at the annual reunions and writers of articles for the Dillard Annual. A savings will result to the Dillard Family Association in elimination of the cost of printing and mailing. This proposal will be considered during the business session of the 2001 Dillard Reunion. The editor would like to hear from anyone who objects to this proposal.

Dillards With Illnesses

Our thoughts and best wishes are extended to the following Dillards who have been hospitalized or homebound with serious illnesses:

Anne Grist Dickerson, recognized authority on Rabun County, Georgia, history of 32 Barnard Lane, Dillard, Georgia 30537, has been ill for some months. Anne has for many years been active in Rabun County history projects and always supported Dillard historical research.

Dorothy Dillard Hughes, as a result of a fall has moved to an assisted living facility at 3737 SE Camelot Drive, No. 110, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 74006. Dorothy is one of our foremost Dillard genealogists. Her productivity and skill do not indicate that she celebrated her 91^st birthday in July of 2000.

Ellen A. (Mrs. Howard V.) Jones

Our deepest sympathy is extended to Dillard genealogist and former Dillard Family Association President, Dr. Howard V. Jones, his son, daughter and grandchildren in their loss of Ellen Margaret Aakvik Jones on December 18, 2000 from cancer. Ellen Jones traveled from her home in Cedar Falls, Iowa with her husband to attend many of the Dillard reunions.

Born Canby, Minnesota, Ellen was an accomplished pianist. She earned the degrees of Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and attended the Julliard School and Earlham College. She was piano soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony. She was a member of the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa from 1948 to 1956, and some years later taught at Wartburg College. She was the organist at St. Luke's Episcopal Church for many years.

Ellen is survived by her husband, Dr. Howard V. Jones, her daughter, Catherine J. Huffnagle of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, her son, Howard V. Jones III of Cedar Falls, and two grandchildren.

Documents Corner

1848 Letter from Elizabeth Barnard Love

To her sister, Peggy Barnard Young

Printed in the 2000 Dillard Annual was a June 19, 1835 letter from Elizabeth Barnard Love to her sister Peggy Barnard Young in Burnsville, Yancey County, North Carolina. Belinda Bettis of Hayesville, North Carolina, a Barnard researcher, provided it. Elizabeth Barnard was the wife of Thomas Love. She was a sister of Sarah Barnard Dillard, the wife of James Dillard of Rabun County, Georgia. Thomas Love was a son of Thomas Love and Martha Dillard Love (who was a daughter of Thomas Dillard, Jr. of Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Washington County, North Carolina later Tennessee).

Printed below is a May 5, 1848 letter from Elizabeth Barnard Love to this same sister. By 1848 Elizabeth Barnard Love and her husband, Thomas Love, had migrated from Henry County, West Tennessee to Wright County, Missouri. This letter has also been provided by Belinda Bettis of Hayesville, North Carolina. The two letters are helpful in proving the names of the children of Luke Barnard and wife whose name at this time is unknown. Spelling has been left as in the original letter to the extent possible. Paragraphing and punctuation has been supplied for readability.

“Wright County, Mo May 5, 1848

Dear Sister

I have once more set down to write you A few lines with painful emotions my dear sister. I have to communicate to you than in less than one short year we have been deprived by death of our two oldest children. Robert died last September in Santafee. He turned out volunteer and was elected first lieu in his captains company. They belonged to the 3 regiment of mounted men from this state. He was taken sick about the 3^rd of July and was never able to set up another day. He was hauld in a small waggon across the sandy desert between Missouri and New Mexico to the city of Stantafee where his poor body lies far away from his home.

Oh, sister you may better conceive than I describe my feelings. While I am writing on the subject the tears allmost blinds me. I can scarcely write legible. We have never learned the particulars of his sickness nor death.

Patsey was married two years ago to a Mr. Lea from east Tennessee. She died on the 27 of March past. She left a little daughter five days old. She was perfectly willing to die. She kept her sences to the last. I weaned my baby and am suckling hers. Its a very pretty healthy child. She named it her self. She called it Mary Elizabeth.

The rest of our family is all well. I have had 5 children since I saw you 4 daughters and one son, Dorcas, Diannah, Letitia, Thomas and Ellen. My youngest is about 16 months old.

Margaret was married a year ago. She has a fine daughter about a month old. She married a Tennsyeean by the name of Burnnett. They live about 15 miles from us. She calls her baby Martha. We have a good country notwithstanding our misfortune. I am entirely satisfied to live here. We have a beautiful farm. Mr. Love raised between 3 and 4 thousand bushels of corn last season, something over 3 hundred bushels wheat and a large crop of oats.

I feel so anxious to hear from you all its renders me very unhappy at times but I am compelled to think as little as possible about my own connection as it appears they have allmost all forgotten me. I have not received but two letters from any of my own connection. Since the death of our poor brother John, I own I have been a little neglectful about writing but I have written to that country so often and received no answer that I am more excusable.

I do hope you will not fail to write to me as soon as you receive this. Do write all about all your own family and all the connection and friends. If old uncle and aunt McElroy is living do remember me to them. Tell them I hope they have not forgotten me. Tell all our cousins I want them to write to me and let me know all about their families. Now sister do write as soon as you receive this letter and let me know all about your family as I don’t know how many children you have or whether they are all living with you or not.

I received a letter from sister Dillard a few weeks since. It give me a great deal of satisfaction indeed. She stated she would have wrote before is she had known what P. O. to direct a letter to. If that is the reason you don’t write I hope you will see from this letter direct to Wright County, Mo. Hazelwood P. O.

Mr. Love had placed (?) himself that he could arrange his business so that we would have been able to have went to North Carolina this spring but we have entirely abandoned the idea. I shall write to Father in a short time. It has been almost three years since I received a line from him. I don’t know what can be the cause. I do believe I have an adversary in the family. I may be wrong but I do think I have good reason to believe it but I know that if I have given any cause to be treated the way I have been I was ignorant of it but I submit to may fate as I know this world is but a dream. Mr. Love joins me in love to you and Joshua and all the friends.

Elizabeth Love”

The envelope is addressed in handwriting to “Joshua Young, Burnsville, Yancy County, North Carolina. The return address on the envelope is marked “Hazelwood, Mo. May 9^th” and further marked “fowd from Barnardsville, N. C. June 21^st .”

Reservation Form for 2001 Dillard Reunion

(Please complete, remove and mail back to Claire S. Godwin, Secretary, 707 Garland Street, Lake City, South Carolina 29560-2909)

Name:________________________________________________________________________

Address:______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Number of adults in my party___________ Number of children in my party_________________

Please check the following where applicable:

_______ We plan to attend the Dillard Reunion and lunch on June 16, 2001 at 1:00 P.M.

_______ Enclosed is our check for $20.00 for dues for the year June, 2001-2002

_______ Additional information and suggestions:

_____________________________________________________________________