DILS GRAVEYARD (Old Dils Graveyard)
Wood Co. WV

Some Pioneer Graveyards of Wood Co. by John A. House

They came and found a wilderness.
They strove, they forged, they wrought,
An lo, from out their cares and stress
Left monument, by gold ne'er bought.
(R. H.)

The Old Dils Graveyard lies over two miles from the uttermost
limit of the Parkersburg of one hundred years ago, yet it is now
inside its eastern suburb.  On my first visit to this burying ground,
soon after coming to Parkersburg, in December, 1913, I wrote:

"The graveyard encloses about one half acre on a flat, one
corner (the southeast) sloping over, so as to be intersected by
two steep hollows, three or four rods long, with graves on the
point between.

The southwest corner has the oldest graves, dating back to the
Twenties and Thirties (and earlier), with the name of Dils most
common.  Creel and Foley seem connected with the Dils family,
who lived about one fourth mile north."  (It was less than a fourth
of a mile, and east to the old Dils homestead or farm.)

The farm was approximately a mile wide, and reached from the
north of Holmes Run to the Kanawha River.  Many of the bodies
have been removed from the graveyard, and most of the graves
have no name, simply flagstone markers.  (Frequently, even that
is absent.)

The Dils graveyard is one of the very old cemeteries of Wood
County, but not the oldest, even of the Parkersburg settlement.
The oldest marked grave I found here is that of "James Foley,
July 8, 1808."

There was a burying ground here several years prior to that
date, however, but nothing to show the date of the first grave.

Philip Dils (Dilts, they first spelled it, Dilz would be correct) was
buried here in 1801.

He was the owner of the surrounding hills and valleys, and made
the first improvement on lower Worthington Creek, unless there
were squatter cabins before him.

There is no way of fixing the date of Dils' coming, but it was
probably not far from 1797.  He bought fourteen hundred acres
of land of Thomas Clare, and gave farms to each of his six
children, five of whom came with him, and four settled on the
land before Wood County was organized, in 1800.

The Dils graveyard was at first (probably) a family burying
ground, used later also by the Foleys, who intermarried with
the Dilses, and to some extent by other neighbors.

Later, the boundaries were extended, and the spot became a
public cemetery.  After the building of the Northwest Turnpike,
in 1837, the grounds were enlarged so as to reach its line.

There was no legal title for the ground, however, until March
24th, 1870, when James M. Stephenson, the then owner of
that part of the old Dils farm, deeded to David H. Dils,
William M. Evans, Andrew Murdy, and K. B. Stephenson,
a tract of land which was - as described in deeds for lands
adjacent -
S. 12. 29 W. 269 feet.
S. 83. 05. E. 147.3 feet.
N. 12. 29 E. 187 feet.
N. 63. 09 W. 150 feet with Northwest Turnpike.

The boundary now "occupied by sufferance of said J. M.
Stephenson and parties he purchased from for many years as a
graveyard", one acre on the Northwestern Turnpike, near the
Catholic Burying ground, and known as the Dils graveyard.

Reserving the use of twenty-five feet next the Catholic cemetery
and running in the back line as a private burying ground.

The surface of the ground is smooth, sloping gently from east
of the middle to the western line.  The northern end of the
Stephenson reserve strip is nearly level.  The southern half is
cleft by the two steep hollows mentioned, at the junction of
these hollows is a spring.

Philip Dils came to Worthington from Fayette County,
Pennsylvania.  He is said to be from Bavaria, perhaps himself
born in that country.

He had six children, all of whom were married before he came
to Wood County, and some of whom had children from six
to ten years old.

Dils deeded each of these children a part of his land, and
also left some by will.

The all built on these farms.  They built cabins and cleared
ground before receiving deed for the same, except Anna
Lyons, who would appear to have remained east, and
Elizabeth Stephenson, who was but a temporary resident
on her land, if indeed she ever lived on it.

Dils was building a mill near his residence at the time of
his death, in 1801, and he left the place to his wife, under
supervision of his three sons, William, Henry, and John.

Philip Dils died in 1801.

Mary Dils, his wife and widow, afterward married a man
named Ruble.  She willed her property to her children.
(Her maiden name was Hoffman, says one record.)  No
doubt she was buried in this graveyard.

William Dils was born in 1761.  He died in 1910, aged
forty-nine years.

By his side is the grave of his wife, Ariantha Dils, died
July 26th, 1843, in the eighty-sixth year of her age (so
born about 1757).

They had been married several years before coming to
Wood County, and lived on the "Snakeville Road", on
what is known as the "Little farm" for several years,
either down next the "Big Spring", where the house is
now, or up on top of the hill above.

The farm was later divided between the twelve heirs,
and by them sold to Moses Pilcher and Hugh Dils.

Philip W. Dils - a son of William above - was born
September 17th, 1788.  He died November 7th, 1849,
sixty-one years and one month old.  He married Lucy
Foley in 1810.  They were the parents of Milan, Barcum,
and W. Smith.

Smith Dils, son of Philip W., was born about 1816, and
died July 8th, 1876, aged sixty years.  His wife was
Belinda J. Dils, who died June 2nd, 1896, aged seventy-
one years, three months.  Smith Dils was married, I think,
in Kentucky.  He served in the Union Army.  Was in Co.
A., 35th, Kentucky.  William Smith Dils had a one third
interest for a time in the Claysville mill, which he sold
in 1866.

Samuel P. and Mrs. M.E. Fleming were their children.

William Dils, Jr., son of William Dils, was born November
1st, 1797, died May 21st.

(There are two unmarked graves between these two
William Dils graves.  Are they those of Philip and Mary
Dils?)

A William Dils, born November, 1792, died August 29th,
1817, monument by Dryden Parker, grave at south end.

Hugh P. Dils, one of the younger of William Dils' children,
was born December 26th, 1802.  He died September 30th,
1868, at the age sixty-five years, nine months.  He was
married in 1825, to Susan Logan, a daughter of Henry
Logan, Sr.  She was born September 29th, 1807, died
February 29th, 1884, aged seventy-six years, five months.

He was prominent in the affairs of Wood County, both as
to business, and political matters.  He built the brick house
by the Catholic graveyard.  He divided his many lands
among his children, two sons, two daughters and a grandson,
the heir of Hugh P. Dils, his son.

In the plot in the Dils graveyard, by Hugh P. and Susan Dils,
are buried their children -
George Dils, 1836 - 1839.
Sarah Dils, 1839 - 1840.
Albert L. Dils, 1834 - 1843.
Hugh P. Dils, 1843 - 1863.

Henry Dils died July 25th, 1865, in his sixty-sixth year.  He
was married to Catharine Pilcher, daughter of Moses
Pilcher, in 1815.  He lived for some years on that part of the
old "Mill Lot", beyond the bridge, and later on land above
the mouth of Holmes Run, willed to his wife by her father.

Henry Dils grew quite wealthy for a farmer of his day.  He
used to drive hogs to the market at Baltimore, before the
building of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and was known
by the name of "Hogs Henry" to distinguish him from other
Henry Dilses of the vicinity.

Peter E. Dils, a Lieutenant in Company F., 6th West Virginia
Infantry, born December 8th, 1831, died June 4th, 1881, is
buried in the fourth row of the cemetery, beyond the middle.

This Henry and Peter E. Dils were brothers, and were sons of
Philip.

(Mrs. Fleming said John Dils married a Radcliff.)

Samuel P. Dils died August 1st, 1890, aged thirty-seven
years.  He was born in 1853, and was a son of Smith Dils.

William Diles died in 1840, aged nineteen.

James Dils died March 9th, 1853, aged thirty-nine years,
eleven months.  He, it is said, married Sophronia, daughter
of Mason Foley, in 1837, and to have died from injuries
received in a fall from a cherry tree.  He is buried in the
Creel lot.

Lieut. Peter E. Dils, Company G., 6th West Virginia
Infantry, was born in 1831 - died in 1881 (must be in some
other graveyard, perhaps the Odd Fellows).

Arthur Alonzo Dils, a child, died in 1853 (son of P. & E.
Dils).
Louisiana Dils, child, died 1840.

Louisiana, Stephen P., Moses P., Sarah Ann Hill, Lorene
Dils, are buried in the third row, and at the foot of the
Pilcher grave.  Mrs. Sutherland says are all children of
Henry and Catharine Pilcher Dils.
Stephen P. Dils is the grave next the fence, in the third
row at the foot of the Pilcher graves.

William Dils, born November, 1799, died August 12th,
1817, is buried near the southern fence, in same row
with Ariantha and William Dils.  Is he their son?  His
slab was "erected by Dryden Parker".  Was he son of
William, and name duplicated, or a son of Henry or John?
There is a sandstone marker at foot of grave, south of
Ariantha Dils, with letters "W. D.", but headstone is gone.

Others of the name buried in the old graveyard are -
Sarah An, wife of Alf Hill, 1819 - 1846.
Moses P. Dils.
Lorena Dils, 1829 - 1831.

Henry Dils, son of Philip, and brother of William, Sr., sold
his farm on Worthington, which included all between
Twenty-third Street and the creek, and between Laurel Oak
Run at the bridge and Putnam Street, as also the top of the
hill to Park Avenue, and the City Park, to Moses Pilcher,
and he went to Indiana, but some of his children may have
remained.

John Dils, I think, went to Rising Sun, Indiana.  I have
nothing as to his family.

John Sotherland, died September 4th, 1836, aged sixty-five
years, ten months.
Mason Foley, February 24th, 1876, aged nine-five years,
one month.  Born June 21st, 1771.
Hannah Foley, June 9th, 1866, seventy-four years, five months.
Hugh P. Foley, April 4th, 1862, forty-eight years, one month.
Priscilla (wife), born December 25th, 1819 (no date of death).
Olivia, wife of J. H. Rose, May 20th, 1872, aged twenty-eight
years, six months.
Bushrod W., August 17th, 1862, aged thirty-two years, five
months.
Mary, wife of Barnett H., Jr., November 11th, 1870, aged
thirty-nine years, eleven months.
James, about 1727.
Mary Langfitt, 1763.

James Foley was an old man when he came to Wood County
and bought land.  The Foley family came from Virginia to Wood
County, in 1802.

James Foley died January 8th, 1808, in the eighty-first year of
his age.  This would make his birth about 1727.  His grave is at
the southern end of the graveyard.  When I first visited the
graveyard, in December, 1913, the large old fashioned headstone
was lying on the ground, by the fence, under a cherry tree.  I
think it has been reset at the grave since.

It bears the oldest date I have seen.

A broken marble slab lying nearby has the inscription -
Mary, wife of James Foley, died March 12th, 1835, in the
seventy-second year of her age.  This makes her born in
1763, and about thirty-six years younger than her husband.
This is a wide variance in the age of husband and wife.  Her
maiden name was Langfitt, and she had two brothers, Francis
and Philip, who, as well as her husband, were soldiers in the
American Army in the Revolution, say their descendants,
Mary Foley's father and two brothers were also in the army.

Mason Foley, born March 16th, 1782, died February 24th,
1876, aged ninety-five years, one month.
Hannah H. Foley, daughter of Hugh Phelps, died June 9th,
1866, aged seventy-four years, five months.  (This would
make her birth May 13th, 1791.)  They lived on the upper side
of the John Dran farm, and above the Big Spring.
Hugh P. Foley, their son (?) died April 4th, 1862, aged forty-
eight years, one month.  His wife, Priscilla, daughter of
Thomas Creel, was born on Christmas Day, 1819.  Date of
death not inscribed.
A child of Mason Foley was buried here, 1839.
Barnett H. Foley, Jr.
Mary, wife of B. H. Foley, died November 11th, 1870, aged
thirty-nine years.
Bushrod W. Foley, son of Mason, died August 17th, 1862,
aged thirty-two years, five months.
Olevia, wife of J. H. Rose, May 20th, 1872, aged twenty-eight
years, six months, is buried in Mason Foley lot.  (Probably a
daughter of Mason Foley.)

A stone - a plain marble slab lying under a tree by the southern
fence, reads -
Hannah, wife of Thomas Brown, died May 7th, 1818, in her
seventy-sixth year.  (Who was she?)

Away out near the southeast corner of the graveyard are some
children's graves, with iris growing around them, among the
weeds and brush.  One is marked -
Esther, daughter of H. E. and M. E. Marr, 1898 (an infant).

In the southwest corner of the graveyard, in the first row, are
the graves of -
Joseph Lyons, November 15th, 1824 - October 11th, 1874.
Margaret Lyons (daughter of Henry Dils) 1827 - 1909.
Joseph Lyons, Jr. 1855 - 1899.
Next, a Lyons child, and then H. P. Foley.

Second row, Henry Dils ("Hog" Henry, as above).
Then an unmarked grave, probably his wife, who was
Catharine Pilcher.
Next, Moses Pilcher, April 13th, 1771 - August 13th, 1822,
fifty-one years old.
Sarah Pilcher, December 10th, 1771 - April 20th, 1835.
Next, a grave without a headstone, then that of -
Zachariah Taylor Lyons, born April 9th, 1847, died June 4th,
1910.  He was the oldest son of Joseph Lyons, and was a
soldier in the Union Army.  There is no marker to his grave,
but his brother, the late Lyman Lyons, kept this corner of the
cemetery clean, and planted a flag at the grave on Decoration
Day.  I got the dates from the family record.

Joseph Lyons was from Fayette County, Pennsylvania.  His
father, James Lyons, who came to Wood County, was a son of
William (and probably of Ann Dils Lyons).

James Johnson, 1798 - May 6th, 1844.
James N. Johnson, 1827 - 1853.

James Johnson came from near Uniontown, Pennsylvania,
bought a part of the Griffith land, and settled at the mouth
of Johnson's Run, in the early thirties.  He was killed in a
clearing, a limb falling from a burning tree, knocked him down.
He fell into a log heap and was burned so, he died.

James N. Johnson, the oldest son, died of typhoid fever.  His
grave was unmarked.

A child of Ebenezer and Ann Lyons Johnson was buried in
the Dils graveyard in 1847.

In another part of the graveyard is the grave of Reta Inez
Johnson, born 1874, did 1887.

Near this is a plot formerly hedged with arbor vitae, four or
five feet high, which enclosed several graves.  The hedge has
been destroyed, as has many of the flowers and shrubbery,
by burning over the ground.

In the plot formerly hedged, I noted -
Franklin B., son of H. C. and R. L. Bosley, 1876 - 1897.
William A., son of W. C. and R. L. Bosley, 1876 - 1897.

A nearby monument marks the grave of -
Sivilla, wife of John Nofsinger, born in Belmont County,
Ohio, 1829 - died 1902, and
John Nofsinger, born in Belmont County, Ohio, 1827 - died
1903, aged seventy-six.

Other headstones are for -
Dudley Robinson, 1841 - 1889.
John A., son of J. and C. Earl, died September, 1877, aged
seventeen.
Neil McComas, born in the Parish of Bellecastle, County of
Antrim, Ireland, died August, 1870, aged forty years.
John Sotherland, died September 4th, 1836, aged sixty-five
years, ten months.  (Born November 1st, 1770)

There are no marked graves by this, but it is near that of
James Foley, who was the father of Sotherland's wife, Nancy
Foley.  They came from Prince William County before 1805,
and were married before 1800.  He lived on the east side of the
Old Lyons farm, and built a house, still used as a residence.

John J. Sotherland, his son, lived at the old house after him,
and he was succeeded by Jesse Sotherland, who died there.
John J. Sotherland married first Delila Phelps, 1826, and second
Mary Kincheloe, daughter of Jesse.  He was born April, 1803.
His wife, Mary Kincheloe, died May 5th, 1883, aged seventy-four
years, two months.

David Hopkins was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, September
27th, 1798.  He died at his residence on the Berry farm, at the mouth
of Berry's Run, December 14th, 1862, aged sixty-four years, two
months.

Hopkins bought the farm of William Rice, in 1839.  He lived on it,
built a good frame house, cleared nearly all the land, much of which
has gone back into a second growth woodland.  He was a well-to-do
farmer, an influential citizen, and had slaves to do his work.  He sold
the land to William H. Smith in 1860.

Francis C. Hopkins, born March 2nd, 1799, died March 31st, 1882,
aged eighty-four, wife of David Hopkins.
A child, David Hopkins, died July 1st, 1837, aged five.

In the north east part of the graveyard were many graves, several
broken headstones, probably the result of the cutting of oak trees
several years ago.  The uprooting of a nearby cedar tree may well
be from the same cause.

I note Catharine, wife of Montraville Allton, died October 17th,
1855, in her twenty-third year.
Mary, daughter of A. and E. Murdy, died June 4th, 1852, aged
sixteen.
Jonah F. Smith, died June 23rd, 1872, aged twenty-nine.
Maria Smith - Tombstone broken, balance of inscription gone.
James Thompson, who was born near Lesburn, Ireland - balance
of inscription gone.

Other inscriptions are -
Virgil O. Tucker, a child of L. M. and S. L. Tucker, died 1898.
Mary Katheryn, daughter of A. N. and Bertha V. Headley (an
infant) died 1901.
Joseph P. D. Watkins, son of J. and E. J. Watkins, died 1860,
aged three years.
Emma Florence, wife of W. N. Lucas, born 1866, died 1903.  (grave
in northeast corner)
William H., son of William H. and Ellan Seargeant, born June 1858,
died July, 1862.
Nancy, wife of Samuel Lenhart, died November, 1877, aged sixty-
five years, seven months.  (Born about 1811)
Sgt. McCully is buried in the next grave north of hers, and a
McCully child on her other side, so she must be of the family.

Jeremiah Willis buried about the middle of the seventh row of
graves.  Some say he was a Union soldier, some that his son,
Henry was, and Jesse Sotherland told me once that Jeremiah was
not a soldier, but that his wife received a pension for a son killed
in the Union Army.  There is a large monument by a row of graves,
and inscribed for -
Jeremiah Willis.

Henry Willis, June 21st, 1848 - May 18th, 1877.
John T. Willis, 1856 - 1877.
Martha M. Willis, 1863 - 1878.
Margaret, 1861 - 1879.
George, 1858 - 1882.
Maggie, 1876 - 1877.
Samuel Kibler, born July 9th, 1802, died May 17, 1896.
Leannah Kibler, September 18th, 1803 - April 12th, 1896.
Same row, Leannah, wife of Richard Ward, died 1851, aged
sixty-one (an aunt of Mrs. Kibler?)
Thomas Kibler, 1833 - 1852.
Samuel Kibler, 1837 - 1862.
Sarah A., wife of D. J. Kibler, May 1st, 1845 - December 2nd,
1899.  Grave under a black oak tree, on a point between two
hollows.
Charles W., son of D. J and S. A. Kibler, died a child in 1868.
Charles Fornash, born 1846, date of death not inscribed.
On his left, Debby, wife of Charles Fornash, born 1846 - died
1886.
On his right, M. C., wife of Charles Fornash, born 1848, date
of death not inscribed, perhaps 1922.
Hugh P. Creel died April 4th, 1862, aged forty-eight years, one
month.  He was a son of Thomas and Priscilla Foley Creel.  Was
in the Union Army.
Edwin, son of H. P. and D. E. Creel, November 3rd, 1866, aged
thirteen years, five months.
James B., son of H. P. and D. E. Creel, March 26th, 1857.
William, son of H. P. and D. E. Creel, died April 2nd, 1874, aged
twenty-four years, five days.
Robert K. Creel, son of H. P. and D. E. Creel, died in 1856, aged
seven years.
James Dils is buried in same part of graveyard, aged thirty-nine
years, eleven months.

James M. Stephenson, a son of Edward and Elizabeth Dils
Stephenson, was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, November
4th, 1796, died April 16th, 1877, aged eighty years.  He and his wife,
Agnes Boreman Stephenson, were buried in the northeastern part
of the cemetery, but later were removed to Mount Olivet.

There are so far as I can find, thirteen Union soldiers buried in the
Dils graveyard -
J. M. Barnes, Co. F., 4th W. Va., third row, about middle.
Hugh P. Creel, Jr., second or third row.
Hugh P. Dils, Jr., nearby, first or second row.
Leiut. P. E. Dils, Co. F., 6th W. Va., fourth row beyond middle.
Charles Fornash, Co. D., 15th W. Va., sixth row, near gate.
Sgt. James McCulley, Co. D., 4th W. Va., sixth row, near middle.
W. S. Dils, Co. A., 39th Ky. Inf., sixth row near middle.
Silas Riley, Co. D., 10th W. Va., by fence, about fifteenth row.
Samuel McHenry, Co. K., 1st W. Va., tenth row, near the middle,
and over next eastern line.  (U. S. stone)
Zachariah T. Lyons.
The grave of Jeremiah Willis about the middle of seventh row,
is decorated as a soldier's.  Some say he was in the Union Army,
others that it was his son, George, buried at his side.