DILLY, Levi 1826-1901

DILLY, RAYMOND

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 10/17/2016 at 12:09:04

Ex-Sheriff Dilly Passes Away

Mr. Levi Dilly died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Fred J. Frost, Wednesday noon after a brief illness with paralysis of the bowels. The Republican will have an obituary of the deceased next week.

Funeral services will be held at the house, Friday afternoon, August 23, at three o'clock.

--The Grundy Republican (Grundy Center, Iowa), 22 August 1901, pg 5

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The Passing of Another Pioneer

Ex-Sheriff Dilly Laid to Rest Friday, Aug. 23, 1901

In the death of Mr. Levi Dilly one of Grundy county's pioneer citizens has gone to his eternal home. He was so well and widely known throughout the county and surrounding country that it would be a superfluous eulogy to attempt to describe the many characteristics that endeared him to those who were fortunate enough to be counted among his personal friends. He was one of the upbuilders of the county in his prime, and in his declining years he was content to remain in the community where he had spent many pleasant years and watched the growth of the country around him. He had served the county in the capacity of sheriff and made a good record in such service. Since the death of his wife several years ago he has made his home with his son, Mr. H. Dilly southeast of town and with his daughter, Mrs. Fred J. Frost, of this city. His death occurred at the latter place on Wednesday noon, August 21, 1901. The funeral was a quiet affair in compliance with his own request. Services were conducted at the residence by Rev. J. B. Jones, and the remains were laid to rest in the Clark cemetery west of town. Rev. Jones read the following obituary notice.

Levi Dilly, the deceased, was born in Orange county, New York, March, 12, 1826, and died in Grundy Center, Iowa, August 21, 1901, as the clock announced the noon hour. He had reached the ripened age of 75 years, 5 months and 9 days.

May 31, 1848, he married Julia Raymond with whom he walked life's journey for forty-three years. In 1891, the messenger came who robs us of our dearest ties, and he was called to separate from the companion of his youth and joys. To them were born five children Henry N., Charles W., Jennie C., George F. and Cora B. Of this number three have already passed to the other shore, and only Henry N. Dilly and Cora B. Frost remain. In the homes of these remaining children, Father Dilly took great comfort and was tenderly cared for.

He came with his family to Grundy county in 1869, and he has been a resident here since except a few years spent at Hammond, Louisiana. As soon as he established his home in Grundy county he identified himself with those agencies employed to make society better. He held the confidence and respect of his neighbors and friends all these years, having been elected by them to offices of trust and responsibility. The same year he came to Iowa he identified himself with the M.E. church where his name appears as class leader, steward, trustee and on many special committees. In 1881 he was elected by this church as lay delegate to the Semi-Centennial Jubilee held in Cedar Rapids in commemoration of the introduction of organized Methodism in Iowa.

For many years Father and Mother Dilly helped heroically bear the burdens and endure the heat of the day in christian work. The record of those days is precious to read. His name remains beside the gray haired few toiling on, but is also connected with the sainted many now on the golden shore whose memory is so precious. While in the south he identified himself with the Congregational church, there being no Methodist church in the place, and in the erection of the Union Congregational church of Hammond his name appears as its treasurer. This is a source of pleasure to know that as his divine Master went about doing good so Father Dilly did not tire in the Master's service. During his last years in Grundy Center he was rarely absent from church and Sunday school.

His presence and wise counsel will be missed at the family fireside, in the church and with his neighbors. He was a good, true man; a kind and obliging neighbor, a loyal citizen, a loving parent; a faithful husband, a zealous christian. It is a loss to part with such a man. It is his eternal gain to go at God's summons. When the summons came he said "It is all right." The messenger came suddenly but it found him all ready to go on the journey home. His last words were to one of his granddaughters, "We will have to part for a few days."

We are today mourning over our loss and our tears shall flow for the bereaved children, but we are all comforted with the fact that now Father Dilly is in heaven with the dear wife and children and with Jesus.

"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they rest from their labors; and their works do follow them."

--The Grundy Republican (Grundy Center, Iowa), 29 August 1901, pg 1