Husband of Rachel Hamilton
Surname is spelled Dillin or Dillon depending on the family member...

CONQUEST IV JOHN DILLON (SR)
Despite extensive research, no documentary evidence has been located establishing John Dillon Sr’s date of birth, particulars regarding his birth, or his relationship to his father, Peter Dillon Sr. As a consequence of this lack of proper information, it is very unlikely that a SAR/DAR application could ever be properly verified. Information obtained by Sherm Dillon from John’s children establishes that John was born about 1785. John probably was born in Pennsylvania, as census records for his son, John Dillon, Jr., list John, Sr. as having been born in Pennsylvania. However, John Dillon, Jr’s certificate of death lists John, Sr’s place of birth as Virginia (see fig.4a - A Contested Region.doc). It is possible that the Peter Dillon family lived in Virginia, on their way ultimately to Greene County, at the time of John’s birth. It also is possible that the family was still living in New Jersey when John, Sr. was born. Most likely, however, it seems the territory now known as Greene Co., PA, was territory claimed by Virginia at the time of John Dillon's birth.

John lived most of his life in Greene County (see fig.4b - Postcard of Greene Co. courthouse in Waynesburg, PA (TODillon collection).JPG). Around 1808, he married Rachel Hamilton (also spelled Hambleton, Hambelton, and Hanebleton). It is likely, but by no means certain, that Rachel’s father was Hugh Hamilton, who moved to Franklin Township with his family between 1800 and 1810 (see Conquest VII. The Families of Denbow, Dillon, Hamilton, Morris and the Hamilton Cemetery.doc). Rachel Hamilton named one of her sons Hugh and another Hamilton. Rachel first appears in Greene County records in 1806. In that year, the records of the Goshen Baptist Church in Greene County indicate that Rachel had expressed an intent to join the church (see fig.4c1. Goshen Baptist Church1.jpg) (see fig.4c2.Goshen Baptist Church2.jpg) (see fig.4c3.Goshen Baptist Church3.jpg).

John first appears in a written record in the 1810 Greene Co., Franklin Twp census. He and his father, Peter, are the only Dillons listed as living in Franklin Township. His older brother, Thomas, was the only other Dillon listed in the 1810 census as living anywhere in Greene County. Thomas lived in adjoining Wayne Township. The census listed the ages of John and Rachel being between 16 and 26 [see fig.4d. 1810 Greene Co., PA Census, Franklin Twp - John Dillon (top).jpg]. Also probably included are Nancy and Vincent, ages 0-10. The additional individuals (2) may have been family members, possibly parents of Rachel, even family members of neighbors.

Like his father - and then his children and grandchildren, John Dillon, Sr. spent time in active military service. During the War of 1812, most of America’s forces consisted of local militias. Those militias were activated at times of crisis and released when trouble passed. In 1814, British troops attacked Baltimore and sacked Washington. Likely in response to these events, the local Greene County militia was called into active service in November of that year. John’s unit was known as Mitchell’s Detachment of Riflemen. They were commanded by Captain Sooy Smith of Greene County, and were attached to the 130th Regiment Pennsylvania Militia under the command of Major Thomas Mitchell (see fig.4e).

John’s unit was called to active service on November 10, 1814. It traveled to Camp Springfield, Baltimore, Maryland, where John was discharged on December 4, 1814. It is unlikely the unit saw battle. The British had left the Baltimore area before the unit was even mustered. Military records reveal that it took John twelve days to travel the 250 miles back to Greene County.

John returned to his farming. During this time, his name appears on court dockets but no known information exists regarding his daily life or experiences. The 1820 census finds John, alone among the Dillons, living where his father’s 402 acres were located. Again, John is the only Dillon in the county.

John’s immediate neighbors, as identified in the 1820 census (see fig.4f), are the same people who show up on the Greene County survey map for Franklin Township (available from the Pennsylvania Archives) as having formerly lived adjacent to Peter. Some of John’s neighbors in 1820 also were the people to whom Peter sold his land or who were related to John through the marriage of their children, or their brothers and sisters, to Peter and Mary Dillon’s children. These included David White (formerly a neighbor of Peter’s), Abner Clark (Michael Clark formerly was a neighbor of Peter’s); John Strosnider (formerly a neighbor of Peter’s); Robert Bradford (same); Thomas Mooney (same); James Bradford (Peter sold two parcels of land to him); Abram Trestin (Tustin) (his daughter married John’s brother, Peter, Jr, and he purchased land from Peter, Sr); Catherine Strosnider (formerly lived near Peter); William Maple (same); Kendale Godwin (Peter sold land to him); Andrew Eisenminger (John’s brother, Abraham, married an Eisenminger); and John Eisenmeyer (Eisenminger) (same).

Based upon the records still existing in Greene County and in the Pennsylvania Archives, it appears that Peter sold all 402 acres of his property in 1819 and 1820. There is no record of Peter giving or selling land to John. It is possible that John rented or owned land next to his father. Consequently he was living in 1820 at precisely the same place where his father had lived. It also is possible that the 1820 census was conducted prior to the time in 1820 that Peter sold the last of his land. If so, John may have been living on the land as a sort of guardian.

T. O. Dillon, reported (c1950) that John Dillon was listed in the 1826 Greene County tax records as owning 40 acres of land in Greene County. Unfortunately, we have been unable to find those tax records. Existing Greene County records also contain no record of John buying or selling land. That does not mean he did not own land. Many land transfers during this period were not immediately recorded with the County. Indeed, three of Peter Dillon’s four 1819-1820 land transfers were not recorded in the Greene County courthouse until 1900 (refer to Peter Dillon land sales links, fig.2s – fig.2zz). It appears that John’s purchases and sales were never recorded or records were lost.

We also do not know why John chose to remain in Greene County when the rest of his family moved west. Perhaps his wife’s closeness to her family and her church played a role. Or it may be that John simply sunk deeper roots in the County. There is support for this idea. Although a number of Peter’s sons were old enough to serve in the War of 1812, only John did. John simply may have had closer friendships, which convinced him not to leave the area with the other members of his family.

There is no evidence that John had any contact with his father or his brothers and sisters after they left Greene County. Sherm Dillon reports, however, that as late as the turn of the nineteenth century, John’s son, John Dillon, Jr. could recollect the names of most of his uncles although none of his aunts. T. O. Dillon similarly reported that descendants of other Peter Dillon children also recollected that Peter Dillon, Sr. had a son named John.

There is no evidence, however, that the two branches of the family had any contact again until the late 1940s.

The 1830 census finds John and Rachel still in Greene County (see fig.4g - 1830 Greene Co. Census)(see fig.4efg – 1810.1820.1830 Greene Co., PA Censuses for Franklin Twp.doc) and reveals that John was still farming his land. Perhaps it was the pressure to acquire land for his sons that led John to leave Greene County in 1835. Like many Greene County residents, John took advantage of cheap federal land to start a new life. Throughout much of the west, the federal government sold good land, better land than the hilly land of Franklin Township, at very reasonable prices. On October 8, 1834, the United States granted "John Dillin of Greene County Pennsylvania" title to 39.58 acres of land in the northwest corner of Monroe County, Ohio. John paid cash. That part of Monroe County was less than 100 miles from those Dillons living in Coshocton, and less than 100 miles from Greene County (see fig.4h1 - John Dillon land grant T7 R7 S13.jpg). Fig.4h2 pictures the land in T7 R7 S7, immediately adjacent to S13.

Three of John’s sons, Vincent, Hugh, and Peter, also purchased land from the federal government in Monroe County near their father. John, Jr., the youngest of John’s children, lived with his parents and helped his father farm his land.

John sold his Monroe County farm on January 18, 1840 (see fig.4h - John Dillon 1840 Deed), signing it with the distinctive Dillin signature. This ends the contemporaneous record for John Dillon. However, Sherm Dillon, writing in 1933 - based upon his 1893 interviews with John’s descendants, chronicled the remainder of John’s life. After the sale, John lived on the nearby farm of his son, Vincent, in Monroe County. John refused to live with Vincent’s family, concerned he might be in the way. Instead, he lived in a separate house. Vincent Dillon is listed in the1840 Monroe Co. Census without elder John shown in census records (see fig.4i - 1840 Monroe Co. Census).

In 1847, Vincent purchased land in Windsor Township in Lawrence County, Ohio. Lawrence County is located at the southern tip of the state, across the river from the junction of West Virginia and Kentucky. John, Sr. moved with Vincent to Lawrence but lived only one year. John passed away in 1848. It is assumed that he is buried in the family cemetery, which still exists, in Windsor Township. The cemetery has a number of older headstones, which time and the forces of nature have erased. These older stones tend to be concentrated in the northern section of the cemetery in and around the prominent gravestones for Vincent Sr., John’s son, and William, Vincent’s son. It is presumed that John’s marker is one of these unmarked stones (see fig.4j. Scottown Cemetery (2006), formerly on the farm of Vincent Dillon Sr.jpg).

Rachel Hamilton Dillon was alive at the time of the January 1840 sale of their land in Monroe County. It is unknown when she passed away. Her descendants reported to Sherm Dillon that she died before John, Sr. moved to Lawrence County. She most likely may be buried in the Hamilton Cemetery (refer to Conquest VII), Summit Twp., Monroe Co., where members of her family lie in rest.

When Vincent Dillon Sr resettled c1847 from Monroe Co., OH to Lawrence Co., OH, he was accompanied by his immediate family, two sisters, Eleanor and Rachel, and his father,
John, per the written family history of his grandson, John William Sherman Dillon. Vincent purchased this land (here pictured) and adjacent land in what is now Windsor Twp and likely established a family cemetery at this location in 1848 according to "Sherm" Dillon. Though no markers are inscribed with his name, John Dillon most likely may have been the first interred here beneath one of the several uninscribed markers. Research in Lawrence Co., has located no official death record for John Dillon.