Samuel Dilley was born 1 May 1818 in Mercer Co., PA, but his mother Mary (Cooper) Dilley died 1 May 1819 when he was 1 yr old. He was raised by his grandmother Rebecca Cooper until she died in 1828 when he was 10 yrs old. In her will (husband dead), she left her grandson Samuel Dilley a 2 yr old colt for which he was to be paid its value when he came of age. Samuel grew to manhood in Mercer Co. and accompanied his older brother William Dilley and other relatives to Roseville, IL about 1841. He married Belinda Axtell on 22 Aug 1844, following a family disaster in her home the first winter at Roseville. Her father Simeon Axtell and their son Zenas died 6 Feb 1843 and daughters Phoebe and Eunice died later that spring and summer. William Dilley was appointed guardian for the minor children Sylvester, Ruth and Eunice according to Roseville court records. Ruth and Sylvester were the only surviving children of the family after 1843. Fortunately, Minerva, the mother, was a peppery red-head who could manage affairs.

Samuel and Belinda had nine children:
Priscella Dilley,
Durilla Loretta Dilley who married Henry Clay O'Hara,
Levi Henry Dilley,
Zenas Dilley who married Harriet Emmaline Culver,
Rebecca Ida Dilley who married James Edward Garnett,
Elbert Alonzo Dilley who married 1st to Florence Ellen Claypool and 2nd to Cassie Hauseto,
Anna Elizabeth Dilley who married William Edgeworth,
William Asaph Dilley ,
Mara Lorinda Dilley.

Samuel and Belinda left Illinois for Kansas in 1873 after he served as minister in various Illinois churches. Veazie Winthrop O'Hara reported that Samuel was not a very good preacherman but he remained active in Kansas parishes by serving churches from Ford, to Sterling, KS. He lived in Partridge, Kansas when his daughter and Veazie Winthrop's mother Durilla were growing up. Durilla lived with her grandmother Minerva in Galesburg, IL while attending the Academy there (later Knox College). Minerva operated a boarding house there. Veazie Winthrop O'Hara (a Dilley genealogist) who was the 10th child of Durilla and Henry Clay O'Hara, also grew up at Partridge. Samuel died 5 Jun 1898 at Partridge.
Belinda was born 22 Feb 1822 and died 9 Jun 1905.