Dillman*

Descendants and Ancestors (*Including other known variations of Dillmann, Stillman, Tillmann, Dielman, Dhyllmann, Dihlmann, Dillaman, Tighlman, Dieleman, etc.)

The Official Publication of the Dillman Family Association – Published Quarterly www.dillmanfamilyassociation.org “Cousins by Choice” We are a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Volume 11, No. 3

1. President’s Corner Mar– May 2019 2. Local Reunion Schedules 3. Bradford Dillman’s Recollections of Czechoslavakia Phil Dillman – Editor Part 2 of 3 4. Shoes!!! [email protected] 5. Tillie Dillman and Charlie Thompson 6. OOPS! Wrong Etta Dillman! Don Dillman – Co-Editor 7. Daisy Dillman Band Andrew Stillman – Co-Editor

The Janssen Library and the Historical Society of Berks County, both in Reading, PA, are a short distance from Harrisburg where the Dillman Genealogical Conference is slated to be in August 2020. With many Dillman immigrants having lived or passed through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the past few centuries, researchers will benefit from attending this conference. The exact dates and location should be available in the next newsletter but mark1 your calendars now.

1. President’s Corner - by Don A. Dillman For more than a decade our DFA Newsletter has reported “all things” Dillman, ranging from reports of our Biennial Dillman Genealogical Conferences to the experience of taking trips to other countries to understand our international connections. In addition a steady stream of results from DNA testing, newly found ancestor photos, visits to cemeteries, announcements of upcoming reunions of various families, and human interest stories that portray Dillman experiences across many generations have been reported.

In the last issue (Volume 11, No. 3, Mar-May 2019) we did something new! We included Part 1 of a diary kept by one of the best known Dillmans in the U.S., Bradford, a well-established movie actor. He wrote it in 1968 while in , acting in a movie, “The Bridge at ”. We wanted to include it in its entirety because of how vividly it captured this experience at the height of the East-West Cold War. This is the first article in our newsletter included in multiple parts. If you have not seen Part 1 you might want to read it before Part II.

This issue of our Newsletter is quite varied, as are all issues, and brought smiles to my face when I discovered the existence of “Dillman tennis shoes” and learned about the existence in Minnesota of the Daisy Dillman Band, written by Daniel Dillman, our DFA web master. Also a part of this issue is an “OOPS” written by our Newsletter editor, Phil Dillman, to correct who a previously identified “Etta Dillman” really was. This correction, illustrates in a small, but important way, one of the main accomplishments of the DFA since our founding in 2002, continuing our research to make sure our understandings of the heritage of the many family lines is accurate.

Finally, I would offer a word of appreciation to German communities who have assembled records of families over multiple centuries. Last week I received a huge (18 pound, 1229 page) book from a German friend that lists the births, marriages, children, and deaths of 5791 individuals who lived in or near Eggenstein, a municipality in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, in the years 1702-1920. This book compiled by Walter August Scheidle in 2015, list Dillmanns connected to this region between the years of 1709 and 1823. Hans Georg Dillman and his wife Euphrosina, my sixth great grandparents, whose first five children were born from 1709-1718, were on this listing, a likely result of being baptized there, because the protestant church in nearby Neureut, where they resided, having been destroyed in the War of the Palatine Succession (1688-1697). (See Dillman Descendants and Ancestors, Volume 5, No. 1 for more detail). As I worked through listings in the book, I was impressed with how the coverage of more than two centuries and a very helpful index made it easy to follow marriages, name changes, and families of later generations for all residents. German books of this nature are a much appreciated source of information for all who are trying to piece together knowledge of their German ancestry.

Don Dillman, 2018-2020 DFA President [email protected]

TREASURERS REPORT 25 May 2019

Balance - 30 April 2019 Credit Union $3,820.22 PayPal $104.29

Total $3,924.51 2 DILLMAN DESCENDANTS & ANCESTORS

2. “DILLMAN REUNIONS”

Several groups of Dillmans hold reunions in different locations each year. In this part of the newsletter, those reunions will be posted with times and locations updated as they become available to us. All dates, locations and times are subject to change. Please send photos and info that you would like to share from any past gatherings or to announce any upcoming Dillman reunions to Phil Dillman at [email protected]. Thanks! Past Reunion dates are listed here for possible 2019 reunion planning.

Sunday, June 30, 2019 Conrad/Hans Georg Dillmann Group through Andrew and Elizabeth Bruner Dillman (Group 2) Stinesville Lions Club Building, 8060 N. Stinesville Rd., Gosport, IN West of Ellettsvile off of Highway 46 Plan to arrive around noon and eat around 12:30 or 1:00, with table service and drinks provided For questions or directions, contact Sue Conder 812-327-7587 or [email protected]

Saturday, July 13. 2019 Conrad/Hans Georg Dillmann Group through John Wesley Dillman Sr’s son, Samuel (Group 2) First Church of the Nazarene 2207 N. Towanda Barnes Rd., Bloomington, Illinois 61705 Meet at 11:00 AM, Eat at 12 Noon. Provided will be chicken, tableware, and drinks. Please bring a dish to share. Contact Bruce Dillman 309-838-8390 OR Brenda Hester 309-838-9095.

Saturday, October 12, 2019 Conrad/Hans Georg Dillmann Group through John Wesley Dillman Sr’s son, John Jr. (Group 2) Tamms Community Center, Tamms, IL Start arriving at 10:30. Potluck Lunch served around noon.

Sunday, June 7, 2020 Pennsylvania Group

August 2020 The 10th Dillman Family Association Genealogical Conference Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Exact dates and location to be determined

Obituary

ANNA, Ill. — Juanita Ruth “Nita” Cauble, 82, of Munford, Tennessee, formerly of Anna, was born October 30, 1936 and died Sunday, June 16, 2019, at her home. Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. Funeral will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home, with Bill Littrell officiating. Interment will follow at St. John’s Cemetery in Dongola, Illinois. She was the daughter of Jesse Loren and Emma Webb Dillman. (Group 2) www.dillmanfamilyassociation.org

3 3. The Bradford Dillman Recollections of filming in Czechoslavakia in the 1960s Part 2 of 3, written by Bradford during the filming of the movie “The Bridge at Remagen”

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Continued in the next issue...

12 4. Shoes!!! A fun novelty item spotted on Facebook recently.

13 5. Tillie Dillman and Charlie Thompson - by Phil Dillman

In my obsession to locate photos of my ancestors and their siblings, one of my ggGrandfather, Frank Dillman’s, siblings had been elusive for a long time. I was able to locate and/or copy photos of most of his brothers and sisters through various cousins such as Delbert Earle Dillman (descendant of John Charles “Charlie” Dillman) and Steve Arney (descendant of William Scott Dillman). However, I couldn’t find an image of his sister, Matilda Florence Dillman. It seemed like Charlie, Tillie, and their children were living in a different town in each census and in each of the other family member’s obituaries. On a rare evening of spare time, I went onto Ancestry.com and started searching for Matilda Dillman Thompson. SURPRISE! A woman named Lisa McDougal had posted a few images, including this photo of the Charlie, Matilda, Eva Edna, Nellie, Bessie, Johnnie, Pearl “Nettie”, and niece Meryl Sutton, in front of their home, circa 1910! Also posted was the top right image of Pearl and Nellie Thompson. The bottom left image is of Eva Edna Thompson who married Marcus Royal Swedberg. The bottom right image is Jane Elizabeth Swedberg, daughter of Marcus and Eva. The inclusion of Matilda’s niece, Meryl Sutton, confused me as she was listed as the daughter of Matilda’s youngest sister, Etta Dillman. Why was she in the family photo? And, where was Etta? I had her obituary from 1945. Or, did I? (Next Page)

14 6. OOPS! Wrong Etta Dillman! - by Phil Dillman Yes, for years I had an obituary for Etta Dillman Fear from 1945 and had photos of the headstones for both Sidney and Etta Dillman Fear in the Mound Cemetery in Willow Hill, Illinois. That’s in the same vicinity as Flat Rock, Illinois where Etta was living when she wrote a letter to her sister, Eva Dillman Fisher, in April 1909. So, why wasn’t I aware that Etta had a daughter named Meryl Sutton? Because, I had the WRONG Etta Dillman! Apparently, there were two Etta Dillmans living in the same vicinity around the same time and, it turns out, they were distant cousins. The Etta Dillman that married Sidney Fear was a daughter of Marcelinus Dillman, a descendant of George Michael Dillman 1764 who was a brother of Andrew Dillman 1753, both being sons of Hans Georg Dillmann Jr 1724. Matilda’s sister, Etta Dillman born 1881 (both descendants of Andrew Dillman 1753), married Arthur E. Sutton in 1899. They had an infant daughter born in 1902 and Meryl Sutton, born 9 October 1904. The letter that she wrote to her sister, Eva Dillman Fisher, reads as follows (with added punctuation by me): “April 4, 1909, Flat Rock Ills. Dear Sister. I haven’t heard from you for so long. Why don’t you write. How are you? We are all well. Mother [Mary Jane Knox Dillman] and Mack surprised us Friday night by coming down. They went to Laura’s for dinner today. Mack is going to Marshall [Illinois] tonight and then our home tomorrow. I do wish you could come and bring the babies and Ed could come with you. Why can’t you? You haven’t been to our house for so long, since John was a baby. How are the children? I would love to see them. Business is picking up a little for us now and I am so glad for I do want to do well this summer and make some money. We have a nice place here and a nice shady yard. Artie is going to sell cream and soft drinks out in the yard this summer. ‘Maril’ is visiting with Laura today. She took her night dress but I think she will be back by night. I am going down a while when I get dressed. I wrote a letter to Frona and now one to you so I will close for this time with lots of love to all as ever. Etta Write soon” When I was allowed to copy that 1909 letter, I already knew who Mother was as well as Etta’s siblings Eva, Mack, Laura, and Frona. However, it wasn’t until I found the information shared by Lisa McDougal on the previous page of this issue who “Artie” and “Maril” (Meryl) were. The desperation in Etta’s writing to her sister makes me wonder if her health was failing as she passed away 26 September 1909. I don’t yet know how she died. I’m also curious if her husband Arthur felt that Meryl would be better off being raised by Etta’s sister’s family. According to Meryl’s obituary from the Los Angeles Times on 11 March 1997: “Ventura resident Meryl Sutton Pittman--who lived in Paris, Vienna, Brussels and Burma while her husband served as a comptroller with the Marshall Plan following World War II--has died. She was 92. Pittman was born Oct. 9, 1904, in Yale, Ill., where her father owned a creamery. She moved from Illinois to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a receptionist at the State Department. In 1944, Pittman moved to Europe with her husband, Robert D. Pittman. "She was very beautiful," said her daughter, Janice Ivey of Ventura. "She loved men, and men loved her." Pittman enjoyed entertaining, and was an excellent hostess, Ivey said. She was also adventurous, learning to skate and going skiing in the Austrian Alps. While living in post-war Vienna, she helped feed the city's poor and hungry children. In Burma, she followed local customs by leaving milk and food out at night to feed the rats. "It's part of their religion--they don't kill anything," Ivey said. "She certainly had some culture shocks along the way." Pittman retired to Florida, then moved to Ventura in 1972 after her husband's death. She was a member of the Ventura Women's Club, a volunteer at the Ventura County Medical Center, and financially supported many charities. In addition to Ivey, Pittman is survived by son George Loving of Lockwood, Colo., five grandchildren, and 10 great- grandchildren. Memorial services will be held Wednesday at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura, with the Rev. Jim Wells officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to a favorite charity.”

15 7. The Daisy Dillman Band - by Daniel Dillman Dillman is an uncommon name in Minnesota. So, it was only natural that as I was growing up in the 1970’s, I frequently got asked if I was related to the Daisy Dillman Band, a Minnesota-based band that rose to some national prominence in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The band played all over Minnesota, including my home town of St. Cloud. Since my family was not from Minnesota, I always assumed I was not related to the band, and told people as much. This was prior to my interest in genealogy, so I didn’t have much information to base it on, but I was pretty sure. During the time the band was prominent, I was too young to be going to concerts, so I never saw the Daisy Dillman Band in their heyday. I always wondered about them, but never made the opportunity to go see them. They stopped touring, and I enlisted in the Navy and moved away from their touring area. Fast forward to 2019. I was approached at work by someone wondering if I had a daughter that sings, named Lily or something. Well, my youngest is indeed in choir and sings, and I wondered if they were asking about a choir concert. It turns out my co-worker had seen an advertisement for an upcoming concert by the Daisy Dillman Band in St. Cloud. I guess lilies and daisies are both flowers… I made note of the details and looked it up later. The show was scheduled for the next Saturday night at a local intimate theater called Pioneer Place. I quickly purchased two tickets. I spent some time the next day checking the Internet for information about the band. None of that was available back in the day, but now it was pretty easy to

16 find the band’s website (http://www.daisydillman.com/) There’s a little bit of historical information about the band, including where they got the name. According to the website, Daisy Dillman was the grandmother of the wife of the band’s bassist. There were also photos and music clips of the band, which I listened to, to get familiar with their sound as I had never listened to their work before. According to the schedule, the show they were performing in St. Cloud was going to be mostly Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young songs, with a few originals thrown in. The Pioneer Place Theater building was built in 1913 in the heart of downtown St. Cloud, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a small theater, good for intimate shows. The front row is right off the stage. But there’s not a bad seat in the house, and I got tickets in the “balcony” about ¾ of the way to the back of the house. We had an unobstructed view of the entire stage. When we entered the theater, I stopped at the merchandise table and introduced myself. They quickly called “Stymie” the bass player over. Stymie called the band’s manager over and they shook my hand. It was pretty apparent that they don’t typically get Dillmans in their audiences! I said I’d read about the band’s name being from Daisy, and asked if they knew more of the family history. Stymie told me that Daisy was actually the second wife of Willard Dillman who lived in Excelsior, Minnesota. I bought a couple of CDs and went to find my seat. The band played a two-part set with an intermission. The version of the band that was playing was The Daisy Dillman Acoustic, a subset of the full band that omits the drummer and takes a more acoustic approach. The songs were interspersed with anecdotes and historical footnotes about the band members. They have excellent musicianship and great harmonies, and did a great job with the CSNY material that they have been playing since the songs were new. I came home determined to do a little research and see if I couldn’t find out where that line of Dillmans came from. The next day, I jumped on FamilySearch.org and MyHeritage.com to see what records I could find. It didn’t take long at all to find Willard Dillman from Excelsior! And in fact, a few generations proved fairly easy to track through State and Federal Census records and a FamilySearch tree. I’ll be sharing the results of my research in a future article.

17 DILLMAN DESCENDANTS & ANCESTORS “FUTURE ARTICLES” We would like to include any Dillman-related stories and/or photos that you might wish to submit for upcoming newsletters. We will try to include your submitted stories/ photos as quickly as possible. Phil Dillman, 18351 Cowing Ct., Homewood, IL 60430, [email protected]

The DFA newsletter, “Dillman Descendants and Ancestors,” is available by e-mail to all paid members of the Dillman Family Association. Membership is available to any individual with interest in the activities of the Dillman Family Association for $25.00, which covers the two year period between Genealogical Conferences (August 2018-August 2020). Membership in the DFA entitles individuals to receive an e-mail copy of each newsletter, and information on other DFA activities. Membership dues should be mailed to Louise McKinney, Treasurer, at 1510 W. Delmar, Godfrey, IL 62035 ([email protected]).

You can now join the DFA ONLINE through Paypal! Log into Paypal at www.paypal.com , set up a personal account and use the Send Money feature to deposit your payment into the DFA account using this e-mail address: [email protected]

Members may request receiving copies of the newsletter by postal mail instead of e-mail. Donations of $10.00 per year to cover the cost of printing and mailing such copies will be greatly appreciated. Phil’s Phamily Tree Phunnies by Phil Dillman

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