Blann-Watts Genealogy

Welcome to The Dilling (Dillon) Family Page, which furnishes historical detail beyond the site index, exploring three generations of Dillings in the line of Joshua Dilling Sr. of Liverpool, England and the related family of Sir John Bright of Yorkshire, England
 

7. Margaret "Peggy" Dilling--Mother of Nancy Myers, Margaret was born Jan. 14, 1811 in Jackson Co, TN. and died in 1901. She appears as a widow at age 70 in the 1880 Montgomery Co., Tennessee census (later in the year after her husband's death) in the household of her daughter, 30 year old A.A. Dilling (Araminta), her husband, Lewis Clark Dilling (grandson of Margaret's brother, John Breeden Dilling), and several children. (Margaret lists the birthplace of her parents as Maryland in the 1880 census.) In about 1828 Margaret married Levi S. Myers (b. Nov.14, 1807; d. Feb. 8, 1880 in Palmyra, TN). Her parents had moved from Jackson Co. TN to Montgomery Co. TN by the 1830 census. According to the 1850 Montgomery County census, Levi was a blacksmith and had seven children with Margaret.  Goodspeed's History states that to create the new county of Houston, an election was ordered to be held on February 22, 1871. Several places were designated to vote including at the mill of Levi Myers, on the east fork of Yellow Creek, for the Montgomery County fraction. Levi appears to have a brother named Hugh (1815-1870) who also lived in Montgomery Co. TN. Hugh married Sallie Breeden (or Braden) and they had a child named Levi (b.1854) as well as seven other children. The children of Levi and Margaret were: Lindsey O. (1830-1900), John A. (1831-1900), James O. (1833-1912), Mary Elenora (1834-1880), Nancy "Nannie" (1838-1906), Henry H. (1842-1871), and Araminta "Mintie" (1849-1885). Margaret Myers died in 1901 in Kentucky, at the age of 90. Margaret Myers appears as an 89 year old widow, born in TN in 1811, in the 1900 Kentucky census, living with the family of Nathan and "Fanny" Joiner in Long Hollow, Trigg, Kentucky just over the state border from Montgomery Co. TN. "Fanny" Joiner (b.1861) was Margaret's grandaughter, born Margaret Frances Myers (1861-1932), the daughter of John A. Myers, the second son of Levi and Margaret Myers. Records show John had died recently in Hopkinsville, KY in Sept. 1900. (On the 1900 census Margaret says her parents were born in North Carolina, however her 1880 census statement that they were born in Maryland is probably to be preferred.) Margaret Dilling Myers was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Campbell Co., Kentucky in Oct. 1901 per Find-a-grave. Her parents were Joshua Dilling Jr. and Mary Jane Breeden. I have 35 DNA matches to siblings of Margaret Dilling Myers.

8. Joshua Dilling Jr.--The father of Margaret Dilling, Joshua was born May 10, 1773. According to the 1850 census for Montgomery Co. TN, he was born in South Carolina, but the 1860 census says Joshua was born in Maryland and lists him as 88 years old. (Other  evidence suggests he was likely born in Dorchester Co. Maryland.) About 1828 he married Mary Jane Breeden (born Oct. 18, 1780 in South Carolina and died April 23, 1848 in Montgomery Co. TN), whose parents are unknown. The 1800  census places Joshua in Marlboro, South Carolina, after which he appears on an 1803 tax list in Jackson Co. TN. The Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution states that Joshua Dilling served in Marion's Brigade in South Carolina. However given his young age during the Revolutionary War this likely pertains to his father, Joshua Dilling, Sr. A 1797 Revolutionary Warrant document specifies that Joshua was a private in the NC Continental line for 2 1/2 years in Capt. McRee's company.  North Carolina and Tennessee, U.S., Early Land Records, 1753-1931 further states that in consideration of his military service in North Carolina dated Feb.9, 1797 and entered on July 22, 1812, he is granted land (228 acres) in Dickson Co. TN on Dec.6, 1813. If Joshua's military service was rendered in 1797, when he was 24 and his father was 77, then this record and the Tennessee land grant undoubtedly pertain to the son, Joshua Dilling Jr.  Joshua Jr. still appears in Jackson, TN on the 1820 census and thereafter in Montgomery Co. TN (which borders Dickson Co. TN) in the 1830 and subsequent censuses. Children of Joshua and Mary are: John Breeden (ca.1799-1865), Mary "Polly" (1804-1870), Adelia (1807-1877), Arminta (1807-1887), Margaret "Peggy" (1811-1881), Elizabeth "Betty" (1817-1870), James Bright (1820-1891), and Patrick Henry (1823-1900). Joshua died ca.1868 in Montgomery Co. TN. A court Administrative Bond record dated Jan.27, 1869 refers to him as "Joshua Dilling, deceased" and lists his son-in-law, Levi Myers, along with P.H.Dilling (estate administrator, Patrick Henry Dilling) and W.H. Dilling as bound to the State of TN for $600 (Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008, Will Books, Vol Q). Joshua’s parents were Joshua Dilling Sr. and Mary Bright (the first of his three wives). I have 10 DNA matches to siblings of Joshua Dilling Jr. 

     What little is known about Joshua's wife, Mary Jane Breeden is that she was born in 1780 in South Carolina. On the 1880 census, her sons, James Bright Dilling and Patrick Henry Dilling each state that their mother was born in South Carolina and their father in Maryland. The only Breeden in South Carolina in the 1790 census is John Breeden (ca. 1740-1817). He is in St. Thomas, in the Cheraws District and has 4 females in his household, one of whom could be Mary Jane. In the 1800 and 1810 censuses, he is in Marlboro, South Carolina, where Joshua Dilling Sr. also lives. In 1810 John Breeden and his wife are designated as over age 45, the right age to be Mary Jane's parents.
    The name of John Breeden's first wife and mother of Mary Jane and most of her siblings is not known. John's second wife is thought to be Nancy Beverly (ca.1755-after 1801), who first married Lewis Conner (1757-1793) around 1780, then some years after his death married John Breeden. Nancy Conner appears as a widow in the 1800 census (age over 45, ie. born ca. 1755), and so must have married John Breeden around 1801. If Nancy was the mother of any of John's children it would likely be Major Aaron Breeden (b. ca. 1801 per the 1830 census), as a book entitled A History of Marlboro County states that Aaron was born just after Nancy remarried John Breeden (Nancy would have been around age 46 in 1801, maybe slightly younger). It is possible that Nancy died soon afterwards as the 1817 probate of John Breeden names his widow Mary--a third wife. John Breeden Sr. died intestate so there is no will naming all his children. The probate of John Breeden also cites two children named Elizabeth (b. 1806) and David Anderson Breeden (b. 1810), who are probably sons of third wife, Mary. The probate record further cites a daughter of John Breeden named Mary (1790-1835) who married Joshua David Jr. (1791-ca. 1850) around 1811, their first child, Henry, being born in 1813. Two other inferred sons of John Breeden listed in his probate are: (Peter) Lindsey Breeden (1794-1857) and John Breeden Jr. The latter is probably James John Breeden (1774-ca.1840) whose wife was named Mary, and whose sons, Joshua Breeden (1809-1865) and John Breeden (1810-1854), moved to Montgomery County, TN, near Mary Jane Dilling, who was likely their aunt. One further possible son of John Breeden Sr. is Jesse Breeden (b. ca.1775). I have 40 DNA matches to siblings of Mary Ann Breeden, 27 through James John Breeden, 9 through Peter Lindsey Breeden, 1 through Aaron Breeden and 2 through Jesse Breeden, strongly supporting the likelihood that John Breeden is Mary Jane's father.

9. Joshua Dilling Sr.--The father of Joshua Dilling Jr., Joshua Sr. was born in 1720 in Liverpool, England (Some sources cite his birthplace as Ireland) and died Aug. 1, 1824 in South Carolina. He married three  times; his first wife is thought to be Mary Bright (ca.1744-1783) of Dorchester Co. MD (mother of Joshua and his sister Mary Marcy). His second wife was the widow Priscilla Cole (1 son, Matthis Cole, and one daughter, Priscilla Cole, from her first marriage) and his third wife was Mary Blackwell. Joshua came to America with his family in 1737. Another Dillon named Luke, and his wife, Susan Garrett, who were from Ireland, landed in Nantucket,  and it seems probable that they were in company, as they all seem to have gone to Virginia about the same time, perhaps during or after the year 1741. (p.508, "Makers of America..."Vol.3 by Albert B. Osborne) Probate and census records indicate that Joshua and his first wife resided in Maryland for a time and had several children there prior to 1790. On March 14, 1773 Joshua signed as a witness of George Andrew's Will in Dorchester County, Maryland. George Andrew had children who married both a Dillon and a Bland, the latter selling Joshua Dillon land in South Carolina. Per the 1860 census, two of  Joshua's children, Joshua Dillon Jr. (b.1773) and Mary Leah Dilling Andrew (b. 1783) were born in Maryland. There is evidence that Joshua visited England in 1775. Upon hearing of the conflict in America Joshua returned to enlist in the Army. (Ibid, Osborne). Joshua and his brother, William, served for seven years in the Revolutionary War and fought in Marion's Brigade (under Gen. Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox"). They both appear as privates on a list of Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants. The Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution also states that Joshua Dilling served in Marion's Brigade in South Carolina.

    After the war, Joshua Sr. settled in the Marion district of South Carolina, after living for a time in Guilford, North Carolina. (A son named Daniel Dilling by Joshua's third wife, Mary Blackwell, is documented as born in Guilford, NC in 1789, while another son named William was born in Marlboro, South Carolina in 1796.) Joshua Sr. is curiously elusive in the censuses. Only the 1810 Marion, South Carolina census shows a Joshua Dilling over 45 which is the right age for Joshua Sr. yet too old for Joshua Jr. (age 37 in 1810). Joshua Sr. died in South Carolina in 1824. His known children are: James, Charles, Mary Marcy Tucker (b.1771) Joshua Jr. (1773-1860), Mary Leah Dilling (1786-1870), Daniel (1789-1781), William (1789-1829) and Henry. Page 96 of History of South Carolina, Vol 3 (Edited by Yates Snowden and Harry Gardener Cutler) furnishes a biographical sketch of Joshua Dilling Sr. and his grandson James W. Dilling.

Here is a quote:
 

[The Dilling family] possessed many titles and landed estates and for two centuries the Earl of Roscommon in Ireland was a Dillon. The founder of the family in America was Joshua Dillon, who was born in 1720 in Liverpool, England. After the death of his mother he was placed in the home of an uncle, a London ship owner, and spent ten years of seafaring life. He first came to America, it is said, about 1737. He made one or more trips back to England, being there in 1775, but soon afterward sailed for America, and he and his brother William were staunch patriots throughout the war for independence. After the war he settled in South Carolina in the upper part of Marion County [now Dillon Co], near the site of the town of Little Rock. He died suddenly at the home of his son Henry in Marion District, August 1,1824, when nearly 104 years of age and was buried in Montgomery Co. Tennessee. He was tall and weighed 300 pounds at the time of his death. Like his family for a generation or so preceding he was a staunch Quaker, but evidently reconciled his part in the Revolution with his profession of faith.

    No further ancestry is given for Joshua but there are indications that he may have been descended from one of the Earls of Roscommon in Ireland. (Some Ancestry trees cite the names of his parents as Lord Charles Dillion, 1700-1776, and Lady Jane Dillon, 1709-1757, but without supporting evidence.) The family name alternates between the spelling Dilling and Dillon.

     The following story from an unsourced book (posted to Ancestry.com) purports to shed light on Joshua's lineage, but contains several inaccuracies: The father of Joshua Dillon, whose first name is not given, was born in England in the 1600s and was bound out to a shipbuilder to learn a trade. He became so successful at ship building that he amassed a fortune. He also served on the King's council and was made a Lord. He had a son named Joshua who was born about 1738. During the reign of King George the 3rd, Joshua joined the English Army, but the laws were so severe that he deserted the Army (an offense punishable by death) and fled to America, changing the spelling of his name from Dillon to Dilling and leaving no paper trail to connect him to his father so as to avoid capture. Supposedly Lord Dillon left millions for his son in the Bank of England which he never claimed.
    The story may be mere legend or may contain some kernel of truth. We know that the name of Lord Dillon, Earl of Roscommon, of that time was Charles, the 12th Viscount Dillon (1745–1813), and his father was Henry Dillion, the 11th Viscount (1705–1787) and neither had a known son named Joshua. Henry's brother, Charles, was the 10th Viscount (1701–1741) and he and his wife Frances had only one known son named Charles who died as an infant. That Joshua was involved in seafaring for 10 years might support one aspect of the story. Joshua was likely born ca. 1720. The birthdate given in the story, 1738, was around the date when Joshua came to America with some of his family. Once in America, many of Joshua's records continued to retain the name "Dillon."

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BRIGHT

9.Mary Bright (born ca.1744-ca.1780 in Maryland), the daughter of James Bright II, married Joshua Dilling Sr., being the first of his three wives, Together they had four children before her death around 1780: James W. Dilling (1760-1805), Henry Dilling (1763-1809), Mary Marcy Dilling (1771-1850), and Joshua Dilling Jr. (1773-1868). While Mary Bright's date of birth is unknown, we can estimate to be about 1744, since we know that her first born, James W., was born in 1760 and records show James W.'s firstborn, Amelia, was in 1775. Also Mary's father was born about 1728, and if Mary was born when he was 16, that would be in 1744. (The evidence suggests that at least three generations in a row were having children around age 16).

10.James Bright I --The father of Mary Bright is James Bright II (born ca.1728 in Maryland and died ca. 1767 in Dorchester Co. MD) His 1767 will names one of his daughters as Mary Dilling. The other children named in the will are: Joseph, John, Elijah, James, Nancy, Elizabeth. James' wife's name is uncertain but might be Ann. James' parents were James Bright I and Elizabeth Spicer .
 

11.James Bright I --The parents of John Bright II are James Bright I (born ca. 1676 in St Mary's County, MD and died Aug.13, 1733 in Blackwater, Dorchester, Maryland) and Elizabeth Spicer (born ca. 1703 in Dorchester Co. MD and died there in 1745). The couple  married ca.1720 and had 6 children: John (b.1722), James (1728-1767), Richard (b. 1730), Mary (1732-1780), Matthew (1733-1776), and Sarah (b.1733). The 1732 will of James Bright mentions his wife, Elizabeth, and sons Matthew, Richard and James as well as daughters, Sarah Bright, Elizabeth Drury & Mary Hayes. James' parents were John Edward Bright Sr. and Isabelle Wright.  

    The father of Elizabeth Spicer Bright was John Spicer (born 1660 in Va and died in 1729 in Dorchester, Maryland). Elizabeth and three other siblings were born to an unknown mother who died before 1708, after which John remarried and had 4 more children .(A St. James Parish, Baltimore, Maryland marriage record shows John Spicer marrying a bride named Hawkins on Nov. 10, 1709). John had a total of 8 children: Thomas (1690-1761), William (1701-1764), Elizabeth (1703-1745, Mary (1690-1761), Phillip (1705-1729), James (1709-1748), John (b.1712) and Rachel (b.1716). 

    The following biography for John Spicer is given on Familysearch:
 

     John was a carpenter, living in Dorchester County, Maryland, when he wrote his will in 1724. He lists his children as heirs -- some older -- one daughter was married -- and some not yet of age. The will was not proved until 1730, leading to a probable date of death of 1729 (or, 1729/1730).  John Spicer's will [which names Elizabeth Bright as one of his children], lists "son-in-law Bartholomew Gibbs" as an heir, when he shall be 16. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, son/daughter-in-law was also a term for stepchildren. As Bartholomew was under 16 when John wrote his will in 1724, this shows that (1) Bartholomew was a stepchild; (2) the marriage to Elinor Gibbs occurred 1708 or later if she had a child from a previous marriage born no earlier than 1708; (3) the older Spicer children listed in John Spicer's will [Thomas,William, Elizabeth & Mary] were from a first marriage to a person unknown; (4) Gibbs was not Elinor's birth surname. John Spicer was Mary Mills's son from her first marriage. Thus, this John was John Motley's stepson. John Motley also had a biological son named John from his marriage to Mary. The two are often confused in internet family trees, so be wary. Note that no Motleys or Motley children are listed in John Spicer's will
 

  The parents of John Spicer (Elizabeth Spicer Bright's father) were William Spicer (born in 1640 in Jamestown, VA and died in 1668 in Jamestown, Jefferson, Virginia) and Mary Mills (born  in 1640 in Rappahannock, Virginia and died before 1684). Children attributed to this marriage are: William, Henry, Elizabeth and John Spicer. Nothing further is known of the parents of William Spicer. Mary Mills Spicers' parents are George (b.1607) and Joane (b.1612) Mills of Rappahannock,Va.

12. John Edward Bright Sr. --John (born ca.1649 in England and died July 27, 1710 in St. Marys City, St. Mary's, Maryland) and his wife, Isabella Wright (born 1653 in England and died in 1711 in St. Marys City, St. Mary's, Maryland), were the parents of James Bright I. Isabella's father was William Beckwith Wright (born in 1610 in England and died in 1679 in Middlesex, Accomack, Virginia). William's wife is unknown. John Bright and his wife immigrated to Maryland in the early 1660s. John came as an indentured servant and was freed in 1667. He was a laborer, planter and appraiser, laboring for Capt. Josias Fendall in 1681 in Walsh, Charles Co., MD. One source alleges that John's  wife, Isabella, was prosecuted for witchcraft in 1686, but I have not found any evidence to substantiate this. The couple lived at St. Clements, Newtowne Hundred and were leaseholders of 135 acres on Beaverdam Manor. John Bright left a will dated Jan. 22, 1709 which designates his wife, Isabella as his sole executrix and his son, John Bright Jr. as co-executor after the death. The will also mentions eldest son, William, and two further sons, James and Benjamin and states that William Bright is settled on 50 acres of land (part of a 135-acre tract in Beaver Dam on the Eastern shore of Maryland leased from Col. Henry Darnall on behalf of Lord Baltimore).
  An interesting court document from 1681 quotes extensively from the testimony of John and Isabella Bright who were involved in a hearing concerning John's employer, a controversial former governor of Maryland (1656-1660) who had a history of political opposition and was known for leading an unsuccessful rebellion against the proprietary government in 1660, known as Fendall's Rebellion, which aimed to reduce the power of the Catholic Calvert family, the proprietors of Maryland. A PDF of the court transcript with historical commentary is provided here.

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 Note: The parents of John Bright are not known. Some online sources state that John's parents were  Sir Johnes Brygthe, 1st & Last Baron of Ravensworth (born October 14, 1619 in Ravensworth, Yorkshire, England and died there October 13, 1688) and Catherine Hawksworth (1615-1680). However the evidence shows that their son named John was born in 1660 and married Lucy Montague.