Military Monday

I would like to take a moment on this Military Monday that is also (in the United States) Memorial Day to remember, honor and thank all of those who serve or have served in our nation's armed forces.   This includes a number of my ancestors, both living and dead.  If you are reading this and are a veteran, it especially means you!  Your service is appreciated!

Peter Dillman Co. D 144th Ind. Inf.

 This stone is for my ancestor, Peter Dillman.  He served in the Union Army during the last part of the Civil War in Company D of the 144th Indiana Infantry.  Records I have found say that he enlisted as a Private, but was mustered out as a Corporal.  I have found only a basic synopsis of what his unit did:

Name of Regiment: 144th Infantry Regiment Indiana
Date of Organization: 06 March 1865
Muster Date: 05 August 1865
Regiment Type: Infantry
Officers Killed or Mortally Wounded: 0
Officers Died of Disease or Accident: 0
Enlisted Killed or Mortally Wounded: 0
Enlisted Died of Disease or Accident: 47

Regimental History
One Hundred and Forty-fourth Infantry
INDIANA
(1-YEAR)

One Hundred and Forty-fourth Infantry. -- Col., George W.
Riddle; Lieut.- Col., Henry C. Ferguson; Maj., Thomas Clark.

The 144th was organized at Indianapolis in March, 1865, being
composed of companies raised in the 2nd Congressional
district. It was mustered in March 6, and left the state on
the 9th for Harper's Ferry, Va., where it was assigned to the
1st brigade, 1st provisional division, Army of the Shenandoah.

It was ordered to Halltown, and was stationed at different
times at Charlestown, Winchester, Stephenson's depot and
Opequan creek. It was on guard duty until Aug. 5, 1865, when
it was mustered out.

Its strength was 1,036; and it lost by death, 46; desertion,
19; unaccounted for, 1.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 3, p. 188

Military Monday – We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History..   (Blurb shamelessly stolen from Thomas McEntee at Geneabloggers.)

Surname Saturday - Straugh(a)n

I'm attempting to do a better job of crediting others where they provide data or inspire me.  I've neglected to credit the sources of the memes I've been using.  Here's the one for Saturdays:  

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

This Saturday's surname is Straugh(a)n.  I've seen it with and without the 'a', more often with than without.  I tend to include the 'a' when I use it, and will continue to do so here.  That said, my surname should be Straughan!

If you've been following my previous blog entries, you will have noted Peter and Elizabeth Dillman, who had (among others) a daughter named Jemimah Hattie Dillman.  She was born 03 Aug 1866, married John W. Straughan on 12 Feb 1885, and died young on 26 Apr 1886, shortly after giving birth to my paternal great-grandfather, Clyde.  Around that time, John abandoned them.  After Jemimah died, her parents Peter & Elizabeth adopted Clyde, and he was raised as a Dillman with the Dillman surname.  On Clyde Taylor's Social Security application, he listed his surname as Dillman, and his parents as Peter & Elizabeth.  For some reason he also gave his middle name as 'Pabler'.  As I mentioned in other posts, Clyde is pivotal in my paternal line, being my great-grandfather.

John W. Straughan was an older man.  Much older.  He was born 05 Feb 1819, which makes him significantly older than Jemimah's father, Peter, who was born 05 Dec 1833.  In fact, John W. Straughan and Peter Dillman both served in the Civil War in the 144th Indiana Infantry, Company D, together.  There's something pretty odd going on here, but the story is pretty well hidden or forgotten.

Family history notes claim that John was a cruel man, and beat Jemimah.  Was he responsible for her death?  Why did he marry Jemimah, who was almost 50 years younger, was it a shotgun wedding?  Did he leave before Clyde was born, or was he unable to deal with being a single parent when Jemimah died?  I don't have answers to these questions, but would dearly love to know!

The modern twist on this is that my family has been Dillman, but the DNA testing (Y chromosome) should show us as Straughan, which makes it difficult to link us with other Dillmans.  I am part of the Dillman Family Association, which is involved in DNA testing to link family groups, but I have held off on testing in part due to the fact that those Y chromosome tests will likely fail to link us. 

I have not yet found a death location or date for John W. Straughan.  However, he is buried in Dillman Cemetery in a plot very near Jemimah.  The cemetery is near Curby, Crawford County, Indiana.  In that same section of Dillman Cemetery is another gravestone, for Lucy J. Straughan, wife of John W. Straughan!  Her death date is shown on the stone as Sep, 13, 1883, aged 27 Ys.9M.9D which shows her as being yet another much younger wife of John, who died early.  As Lucy died before John married Jemimah, it makes me wonder if Jemimah knew anything about John's history?  How could she not, that area of Crawford County is rural, and the sort of place where everyone knew everyone else's business!  But if Peter knew, why would he have allowed his daughter to marry a potential abuser? 

I really wonder if we have a criminal abuser on our hands!  So many questions!  I know there's more to the story here, if only I can find it...

Have any odd stories in your history?  How have you solved the mysteries?  I'd love to get ideas, post them in the comments below!

Tombstone Tuesday - Jemimah Hattie Dillman

Tombstone of Jemimah Hattie Dillman, Dillman Cemetery, Curby, Crawford County, Indiana

Today's Tombstone Tuesday subject is Jemimah Hattie Dillman, daughter of Peter & Elizabeth Dillman, subjects of a previous Tombstone Tuesday.  Jemimah (also spelled Jemima, Gemina) was the seventh child of ten (plus one adoption I'll discuss later).  She's my direct ancestor.  The gravestone shown above reads as follows: Jemimah H. Dillman, Dau of Peter and Elizabeth b Aug 3, 1866, d Apr 26 1886, 19 yrs, 8 mths, 23 days.

Documentation of  Jemimah is sketchy.  I have notes pertaining to a spouse named William Wiseman, but no record I have found.  I've even seen some other researchers' data showing five children for this marriage, but the children are NOT from that marriage as I have them documented from another marriage entirely.  Other notes (and some documentation) show her marriage to John Straughan on 12 Feb 1885 in Crawford, Indiana when she was 19 years old.  She had one child, Clyde Taylor Straughan, and died soon thereafter, possibly from complications of childbirth.  Family lore has it that John Straughan was much older than Jemimah, and a cruel man, so it's possible there was some abuse there that ended up in her death?  I have no documentation to show cause of death yet.  In any case, John Straughan shortly made himself scarce, and little Clyde Taylor was adopted by his mother's parents, Peter & Elizabeth Dillman.  This explains the Dillman surname coming down to me instead of Straughan.  I mentioned Clyde Taylor in an earlier post, and I'm sure he'll come up again and again.  He's a pivotal figure in my tree.

Tombstone Tuesday - Arminthea "Belle" Wiseman

Arminthia Belle Dillman grave marker in Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.

 This tombstone belongs to my paternal great-grandmother, Arminthea "Belle" Wiseman.  She was born in April of 1886 in Leavenworth, Crawford County, Indiana and died 01 Feb 1920 in Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.  She married Clyde Taylor Straughan nee Dillman on 14 Aug 1904 in Crawford County, Indiana.  She is buried in Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Jeffersonville, Indiana, in the Old Singles section, Row I, Grave 1.  The grave site sits right next to the roadway through the cemetery.

Cheap aggregate material is showing heavy weathering and wear.

You can see from this image of the top of the stone that it is a cheap aggregate stone, not a carved stone, which indicates it was done as inexpensively as possible.  Weather has not been kind to the stone as you can also see.  Rubbing it causes particles to come off.  It also has lichen or moss on most surfaces and is very difficult to read.

Belle shows up on the 1900 US Federal Census:

Name: Belle Wiseman
Titles:
Residence: Ohio Township, Crawford, Indiana
Birth Date: Apr 1886
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head-of-Household: Daughter
Spouse Name:
Spouse Titles:
Spouse Birth Place:
Father Name: Abe Wiseman
Father Titles:
Father Birthplace: Indiana
Mother Name: Mary O Wiseman
Mother Titles:
Mother Birthplace: Indiana
Race or Color (expanded): White
Head-of-household Name: Abe Wiseman
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Years Married:
Estimated Marriage Year:
Mother How Many Children:
Number Living Children:
Immigration Year:
Enumeration District: 0028
Sheet Number and Letter: 6A
Household ID: 104
Reference Number: 38
GSU Film Number: 1240365
Image Number: 00125
Collection: United States Census, 1900

She has two sons after the 1900 Census.  Orville Wayne Dillman is reportedly born 03 Jan 1902.  I say reportedly because Arminthia's wedding date is 14 Aug 1904, and there is no record or family lore of Orville being born out of wedlock.  Also, Orville left home early to join the Navy, and may very well have fudged his birthdate to be allowed to enlist.   Estel Elmer Dillman is born 21 Dec 1908.  Estel's middle name in old family records and on at least one census is given as Ottes, but I always knew him, and many other records as well show his middle name as Elmer.  This family had some issues, and I don't have good information on why the name may have been changed.  Unfortunately, Estel, my grandfather, died on 06 Nov 1982, so I can no longer ask him.

She also appears in the 1910 Census:

Name: Belle Dillman
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Residence: South Ellensburg, Kittitas, Washington
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Female
Immigration Year:
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Family Number: 50
Page Number: 3
Collection: United States Census, 1910

Arminthia Belle (Wiseman) Dillman circa 1910

At this point she's been married to Clyde Taylor Straughan nee' Dillman for almost six years.  She's moved to Kittitas, Washington and is pregnant with her third child, Clyde Landis Dillman.  She won't stay in Washington very long as her fourth child Howard Carter Dillman will be born back in Leavenworth, Crawford County, Indiana.  I have no indications of why she went to Washington, or what happened there to cause her to return to Indiana.  Her final living child, daughter Reva Dillman, was born 19 Sep 1916 in Harrison County, Indiana.  Another daughter was either stillborn or died very early in infancy.

At some point near 1920, Clyde Taylor abandons his family and moves across the river to Louisville, Kentucky.  As far as I can tell, he will stay there the rest of his life, and die there in January 1967.  Clyde Taylor has some issues, and I will deal with him more fully in another post.  In any case, Belle Dillman appears one last time in the 1920 US Census, which is surprising with her death coming in early February of 1920.

Name: Belle Dillman
Residence: , Clark, Indiana
Estimated Birth Year: 1886
Age: 34
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Film Number: 1820425
Digital Folder Number: 4300600
Image Number: 00329
Sheet Number: 3
Collection: United States Census, 1920

By this point, Orville Wayne is enlisted in the Navy.  Belle dies in February and Clyde abandons the remainder of his family, who are fostered with Belle's relatives.  Again, fodder for another post, but clearly a very interesting family!

Tombstone Tuesday - Peter & Elizabeth Dillman

Peter Dillman (b. 05 Dec 1833, d. 01 Oct 1899) married Elizabeth D. Landiss (b. 06 Mar 1834, d. 02 Jun 1908) on 06 Oct 1853 in Crawford County, Indiana.  Peter was the third child of Michael & Cynthia Dillman (subjects of a previous Tombstone Tuesday) and had eight siblings.  Peter and Elizabeth are one of my main anchor couples, as they seem to be the focal point of a number of family connections.  Peter was well known, being employed as a Land Agent and farmer in Crawford County.  He also was a charter member of the Grantsburg, Indiana Independent Order of Foresters Lodge #407 in 1873, where he received honors as the lodge's Grand Master in 1874.  I have found Peter on the 1850, 1870 and 1880 censuses in Jennings Township, Crawford County, Indiana.  At the end of his life, Peter moved to Wabash County, Illinois, where his death was recorded in 1899.  Elizabeth remained in Illinois, living with their daughter Cynthia Jane and grandson Clyde.  Clyde is an interesting figure about whom I will go into more detail in future posts.  Elizabeth, Cynthia and Clyde appear on the 1900 Census in Mount Carmel, Wabash County, Illinois.  Peter and Elizabeth are both buried at this marker in Dillman Cemetery near Curby, Crawford County, Indiana.

Peter Dillman served in the Union Army during the Civil War.  This little military tombstone sits next to Peter & Elizabeth's large granite marker.  Peter served in the 144th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company D.  Many other men from the area also served in this company.  They primarily served on guard duty late in the war, being away from Indiana part of 1864 and 1865 until the end of the war.  Peter received a pension from this service, and after his Death, Elizabeth received a widow's pension as well.

Surname Saturday - Dillman

It seems appropriate for my first Surname Saturday to go with my surname, the one on the blog title.  I am a member of the Dillman Family Association, a group formed to research and link as many Dillman lines as possible.  To date we've got over ten separate groups, and have successfully linked a few groups together using a combination of both old fashioned paper trail detective work and up-to-the-minute DNA testing.  That said, my line happens to be in a niche not connected to any of the other Dillman lines like the best known, which is connected to the Houser-Rhorer lines and very well documented.

My Dillman line originates in Germany, more specifically Lautzenhausen, Rhein-Hunsrueck-Kreis, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.  If you google Lautzenhausen, you'll find many references to a US air base there, but it's a fairly small town in western Germany.  I must admit that the information I have on my emigrating ancestor was researched and passed along by someone else, but the notes are pretty extensive and the reasoning looks good.  I don't possess any of the primary documentation to verify.


Johann Michael Dillmann entered the US on 14 June 1785.  He was born about 1754, and died on 28 Dec 1821in Harrison County, Indiana.  On 14 May 1785 he married Maria Elisabeth Legrand at Saint Leopold Church in Vienna, Austria.  Obviously, the newlyweds immediately left for the New World!  A website listing Vienna marriages including theirs lists them as being of the Catholic faith.  I've seen mention of Johann's possible father, Johann Nicolaus Dillmann, but I have absolutely no documentation on him.  Ah, well, a genealogist's work is never done!

Johann and Maria had children.  Michael Dillman (whose tombstone was featured in my initial Tombstone Tuesday) was born 28 Dec 1810 in Ohio.  I will feature him more fully in a future post.  Christena Dillman was born about 1812 and later married James Wilton on 5 Sep 1832 in Harrison County.  In the 1840 census they are still in Posey County; ages of family listed as follows: 3 males under 5, 1 male 20 to 30, and one female age 20 to 30.  There is another possible sibling, Catherine, but I lack sufficient documentation to be sure she's connected, and when she was born.

Other notes on Johann Michael:
1. Document apparently written in German - Date uncertain.
2. Two dollar bond filed by Jacob Friedly as administer of the estate of John Dillman, Dec. 22, 1821.
3. Appraisal submitted by John Zenor, Amos Blunk, & George Zenor of the estate of John Dillman, dec on Dec 28, 1821.
4. Receipt of purchase - cow and calf and grindstone by Amos Blunk on Sep 21, 1822.
5. Fee of Jacob Friedly 25 cents for administration of estate on Sep 10, 1822.
6. Receipt by Fielding Cromwell, JP accepting payment by Jacob Friedly on three judgments against the estate of John Dillman in favor of Peter Leffler for $5 dated Oct 31, 1822.
7. Receipt from George Hosirnmer to Jacob Friedly accepting payment of $3 on account as payment for medicine to the first of November 1821 for him self, wife and children.  Question?  Does this indicate that John was still alive in Nov 1821 ? It would seem so as indicated!
8. Settlement of court executed on Sep 16, 1823.
9. Court awarded Jacob Friedly 50 cents as his fee for settlement of the estate of John Dillman, deceased.

Hopefully I haven't wandered too far afield.  Although I have these notes about Johann, I hope to someday have more concrete documentation including copies of primary source documents.  Until then, this will have to do.

Sidelines and Surnames

As I've mentioned, my primary interest is my paternal line of Dillmans who lived in Crawford County, Indiana for a long while between 1810 or so and 1950-ish.  Some distant cousins may still live there, I have not yet reached the point where I'm able to keep up with all of the living relations.  However, like everyone else, I have other lines of interest, many in places other than where my main line lived. 

For instance, my maternal line is Williams, based out of various parts of Louisiana including East Feliciana Parish.  This line is giving me some trouble, as some of those Williams ancestors liked to move around a lot without leaving much paper trail to track them down.  Mostly this was economically driven, a need to find employment leading them to distant cities.  Compounding my difficulties, these folks were so busy trying to make a living that they really didn't put any focus on family history, further reducing any trails they might have left.  Other Louisiana surnames I'm researching are McMurry, Dark, Gaar, Sandel, McQueen, Booker and Higginbotham, mostly from the Winn Parish area around Winfield and Sikes.  The McMurry line actually leads to Arkansas, where it brick walls pretty quickly.

As I've hit these brick walls, and gradually added to what I know about my active lines, I have found time to research my spouse's lines as well.  That way I can pass on to my children both sides of their ancestry. Her lines also consist of people too busy living and unconcerned with the past to keep many detailed records.  Most of her living ancestors are not very interested in family history at all, but will assist by answering questions when I ask.  As they get older, it's sometimes interesting for them to think back over their lives to remember places they lived and worked, people they knew and relatives who have died.  I will be discussing those lines in future posts.

I've found it helpful on both sides to utilize a 50 Questions quiz about personal history that each person can answer at their leisure and as they are willing.  Some of the questions are about ancestors and relatives, while others are about lifestyles in the past, and personal experiences.  I strongly recommend you develop or find one of these and use it to interview relatives at your earliest opportunity.  You never know when something will happen that will deprive you of the opportunity to interview someone forever!

On a side note, as I've been getting this blog up and running I'm finding a lot of things I would like to implement, but there are so many it will take some time to get it all done.  Please let me know what you would like to see added so I know what to work on first!  And if you're using a feed reader, please check out the Subscribe button on the right.