DILLION Family Genealogy-History

DILLION Family Genealogy-History
(Updated March 19, 2017)


1.	Family folklore has been told to me all my life by my grandmother, Blanche Victoria (WIBRIGHT) DILLION (#0018), my father, Thomas Wayne DILLION (#0033), and my aunts, Doris Annette (DILLION) BAKER (#0015) and Mary Sue (DILLION) AITCHISON (#0016). They told me there was a terrible family feud in the DILLON family sometime in the past in Virginia and West Virginia. The result of the family feud was several DILLON family members chose to no longer be members of the family. Their way of accomplishing this was moving to Ohio and changing their last name to DILLION. Research, so far, has found the families of Jefferson DILLION son of Asa DILLON Sr., Wright DILLION son of Greer DILLON, Henderson DILLION son of Greer DILLON and Quincy Perry DILLION son of Asa DILLON Sr. all used the surname DILLION. Many thanks go to Jerry OFFHOLTER (#0064) for contributing the photo of the tombstone at the gravesite of Quincy Perry DILLION (below).



	A possible explanation for the spelling variations of this surname is the result of many reasons, some of which are listed below: - Most of our ancestors were illiterate and could not write their names - Each census year a different person would collect the necessary census data - These census takers wrote what they heard or spelling phonetic - County clerks recorded data using the same methods. Reinforcement for the explanation is thirteen families were listed in the 1840 Census Index with the surname of DILLON. These same thirteen families were listed in the 1850 Census Index with the surname of DILLION. Another explanation is found on the website: History of the Feuds of the Mountain Parts of Eastern Kentucky I may never prove or disprove this folklore; but, I will continue searching.

2.	The DILLION families traveled through Roanoke, Virginia on their trip north to Ohio.

3.	The DILLION families crossed the Ohio river just after the Civil War from somewhere around Point Pleasant, West Virginia on a flat boat to a Trading Post somewhere close to Gallipolis, Ohio.

4.	When the DILLION family started their trip north from Virginia to Ohio, they started with twelve families. When they arrived in Ohio, there were thirteen families. Another family joined in their trip and adopted the surname DILLION. Research, so far, has not revealed any extra family members. Research has also not found that the DILLION families all traveled together at the same time.