Wiltshire, ENG to Kent Co., VA to Orange Co., VA to Culpeper Co., VA to Burke Co., NC to Rabun Co., GA; Early Sixteen Hundreds to Mid-Eighteen Hundreds

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Head of Tennessee Baptist Church, Dillard, Rabun Co., GA:

  GEORGE DILLARD was born Abt. 1629 in Wiltshire, ENG, and died Abt. 1704 in State of Virginia. He married MARTHA WILLIAMS.

 

Child of GEORGE DILLARD and MARTHA WILLIAMS is:

1. EDWARD DILLARD, b. Abt. 1668, Kent Co., VA; d. Abt. 1740, Orange Co., VA.

  EDWARD DILLARD was born Abt. 1668 in Kent Co., VA, and died Abt. 1740 in Orange Co., VA.

 

Child of EDWARD DILLARD is:

1. EDWARD DILLARD, b. Bef. 1719; d. Abt. 1761.

  EDWARD DILLARD was born Bef. 1719, and died Abt. 1761. He married ELIZABETH UNKNOWN Abt. 1747.

 

Child of EDWARD DILLARD and ELIZABETH UNKNOWN is:

1. JOHN DILLARD, b. 12 August, 1760, Culpepper Co., VA; d. 05 June, 1842, Rabun Co., GA (Probable).

  JOHN DILLARD was born 12 August, 1760 in Culpepper Co., VA, and died 05 June, 1842 in Rabun Co., GA (Probable). He married RUTH VAUGHAN Abt. 1775 in Pittsylvania Co., VA (Possible), daughter of THOMAS VAUGHAN and SARAH UNKNOWN.

 

Children of JOHN DILLARD and RUTH VAUGHAN are:

1. RUTH DILLARD, m. JAMES DRYMAN.

2. JAMES DILLARD, m. SARAH BARNARD.

3. JOHN DILLARD, m. RHODA LEE.

4. WILLIAM F. DILLARD.

5. THOMAS DILLARD.

6. MARY POLLY DILLARD, b. Abt. 1786, State of North Carolina or Virginia; d. 01 August, 1873, Rabun Co., GA (Probable); m. OBEDIAH TERRY DICKERSON.

John Dillard was a Lieutenant in the Virginia Militia during the Revolutionary War.  He enlisted at age 16; served 2 periods in company commanded by Capt. James Dillard; other sources say he served in the North Carolina Militia during the Revolution; was wounded and lost his right arm near the shoulder; fought in Greenwood Bottoms with Andrew Pickens against the Indians.  Additional information shows that John served in the American Revolution while residing in Pittsylvania Co., VA, and that he was described as a "backwoodsman" in his pension papers, his service ranging from an encounter with the British fleet on Chesapeake Bay to building a stockade on the Kentucky River near Boone's Fort.

John was in Burke Co., NC in 1791; entered 150 acres of land in NC between Sandy & Turkey Creeks.  After his marriage he moved to the Flat Creek area of Buncombe Co., NC, about ten miles north of the present city of Asheville.  He owned 460 acres of farmland at Flat Creek and also on the adjoining Ivy River, obtaining a state land grant to the first property in Buncombe County in 1789 when it was part of Burke County.   John and Ruth Dillard remained at Flat Creek for many years along with their children, John Jr., James, William, Mary and Elizabeth.  By 1803 he was a Justice of the Peace in Buncombe Co., NC.   In 1812 the family split apart with John Sr., his son James and two daughters and families moving to Rabun Co., GA where they settled in what is now the town of Dillard, Rabun Co., GA.  John bought land in Rabun Co., GA at about 60 years of age.  He is buried at Head of Tennessee Baptist Church Cemetery, Dillard, Rabun Co., GA.

Ceremony commemorating the service of John Dillard at Head of Tennessee Baptist Church, fall 2002:

 

Descendant of John Dillard, William L. English:

More information on descendants of this family is available.  Please email us.  [email protected]

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Original background graphics by Elaine Randall English

Copyright ã Elaine Randall English, 1999-2002