Dilley, J.W.

SCHAFER, KELSEY, FLOOD

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 12/17/2009 at 10:50:36

J.W. Dilley, a prosperous and substantial farmer of LeRoy township, has been a resident of Iowa since 1859 and of Bremer county for forty-eight years. During that period he has engaged in various occupations but has given his principal attention to agriculural pursuits, with the result that he is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent land and holds a high place among representative farmers of this locality. He was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, December 28, 1843, and is a son of Joseph and Eliza Jane (Schafer) Dilley, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Pennsylvania. The father was brought to Ohio by his parents when he was ten years of age and in that state his marriage occurred, his wife dying there when she was forty-five years old. The father afterward came to Iowa, driving across country with teams and settling on a farm in Delaware county in 1859. After residing there for six years he moved to Bremer county, settling on a farm in what is now LeRoy township. He engaged in agricultural pursuits in that locality until his death, which occurred when he had reached the age of seventy-one. He was a Campbellite in his religious views and a strong abolitionist. In his family were ten children: Harriet, Heman, Mary Ann, Jefferson W., and Nancy Jane, all of whom are deceased; A.A., a resident of Le Roy township; J.W., of this review; Mandana and L.E., who have passed away; and Miriam Lovette, living. L.E. Dilley was killed by lightning in Chickasaw county, Iowa, in 1892. Of these children four served in the Civil war, namely, Heman, Jefferson W., A.A. and J.W. Heman was a member of the One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and died in service. A.A. Dilley served only a short time, receiving his discharge on account of disability. The ancestors on both sides of this family fought in the Revolutionary war. The paternal branch is of French and Irish extraction and the maternal line of German origin.

J.W. Dilley was sixteen years of age when he came with his father to Iowa. From this state he enlisted in 1864 in Company L, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, under Captain Pinney and Colonel Dorr, of Dubuque. He served until the close of the war, participating in the battles of Franklin, Nashville, Tennessee, and in several skirmishes, and he was mustered out at Macon, Georgia, receiving his honorable discharge at Clinton, this state. After the war he returned to Delaware county but a few weeks later came to Bremer county, where the father had moved during his absence. He afterward worked upon the farm and operated sawmills, making his home with his father until 1872. In that year he married and settled on forty acres of land in LeRoy township, a tract which now forms a portion of his farm. He has since added to this until the homestead comprises two hundred and forty acres and in addition to this he owns three hundred and twenty acres of excellent land in North Dakota.

In Bremer county Mr. Dilley was united in marriage to Miss Jane Ann Kelsey, a native of Vermont and a daughter of Frank Kelsey, deceased, who came to Bremer county at an early date but who moved to Kansas in 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Dilley became the parents of seven children: Bertha E., the wife of Ellery Flood, of Frederika, Iowa; John E., who lives at home; L.L. operating a farm in Frederika townshipl C.H., who makes his home with his brother L.L.; William, who is conducting a creamery near Waverly; Frank, twin to William, who resides at home; and Myrtle, who died in Infancy.

Mr. Dilley gives his political allegiance to the republican party, has been justice of the peace and is now in the twenty-eighth year of his service as school district treasurer. He is one of the early settlers in Bremer county and for many years has witnessed the growth and development of this locality, being widely known and favorably regarded.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914