I am seeking any further information that anyone might have in relation to the ongoing search for the parents of Nicholas Dillman (b. 1786, Pennsylvania, d. 1859 Whitchurch, ON). At the risk of providing too much information, I thought I would outline what I know. There seem to be two active threads.

One suggestion is that Nicholas is the son of a William Dilman who appears in the 1790 US Census for Montgomery Co., PA. The case for this suggestion is based on the census indicating that William’s household included 3 males under 16, one of which could have been Nicholas, and that the census lists a Jacob Bogart in the same town, which is suggested how Nicholas Dillman came to know the Bogarts of Muncy, PA. and eventually marry their daughter Mary in Whitchurch, ON.

The case against this suggestion is that Montgomery Co., PA, is some 200 km away from the Bogart’s home in Muncy, PA., and that church records for William Dilman in Pottsville, Montgomery Co., only record two births, Catarina in 1788 and George in 1790, and no record for Nicholas.

However, this also suggests that William and his family may have lived elsewhere before moving to Montgomery Co. A possibility in support of this is a William Dilman who was born around 1758 in Philadelphia and entered the 1st Philadelphia Regiment out of Reading, Berks Co., PA in 1777 at the age of 19 to fight in the Revolutionary War. Church records suggest that William had a son, named Emanuel, in Berks Co. in 1786. I speculate that Emanuel may be the saint’s name, and not the real given name of this child. More work needs to be done to determine if this record of a son born to William in 1786 is indeed Nicholas.

Finally, this William Dilman was a private in the 1st and then the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment and after the war received a Warranty Land Grant at Lot 523, Section 3 of the Donation Lands north of the Allegheny River, which he appears to have perfected in 1791, which may also be why his records in the Emanuel Lutheran Church do not go past 1790. More work needs to be done to follow up the land grant information to determine if any connection to Nicholas can be found.

The other possibility is that Nicholas is the son of a Nicholas Thilman who may appear in the 1800 US Census for Muncy, Lycoming Co., PA, which is the same town where the Bogarts lived and from where they travelled to Ontario in 1802. The substitution of “D” for “T” is well documented in German records, as well as the variation of and anglicization of Germanic names, meaning that Thilman could easily have become Dilman. This census record shows the household to include 2 males under 16, which might include a Nicholas (Jr.). Against this is the difficulty in clearly deciphering the handwritten census record, which is indexed against Nicholas Thilman but which could belong to Nicholas “_______” (possibly Prilman?).

If anyone could shed any light on this puzzle, I know there are several people who would greatly appreciate it.

Name You Are Researching Nicholas Dillman (b. 1786 Pennsylvania)

It appears as if the Thilman/Dillman connection to Muncy is not reflected in the 1800 census after all. Although the record is indexed as being in Muncy, a second examination of a copy of the source document indicates that the Nicholas Thilman shown there came from "Tyoga," which I didn't understand at the time but now take to mean Tioga County, which is about 150 km away near the New York boundary.

Name You Are Researching Nicholas Dillman (b. 1786 Pennsylvania)

A third and perhaps most logical possibility is provided by publisher J. H. Beers in its summary of the Dillman family in the History of Schuylkill Co., published in 1916. It is indicated there that Georg Friederich Dillman travelled from Germany on the ship Neptune, which arrived in Philadelphia on October 7, 1755--which is confirmed by immigration records--and that he then settled in Northumberland Co., which, as we know, is where Muncy is and where the Bogarts resided after 1788.

If anyone has any information on the descendants or ascendants of Georg Friederich Dillman, that would be greatly appreciated.

Name You Are Researching Nicholas Dillman (b. 1786 Pennsylvania)

I am following up on the mysterious parentage of my 4th great grandfather Nicholas Dilman (b. 1786 Pennsylvania, d. 1859 Whitchurch, ON).

I am looking for records connected to a Michael Dilman, Andrew Dilman, and Peter Tillman, each of which appears in the 1790 US Census record as heads of household in Northumberland Co., PA.

A few folks have accepted the suggestion by Frederick Reid that Nicholas is the son of William Dilman (who was Wilhelm Tillman(n) in church records), who appears in the 1790 Federal Census in Montgomery County, PA. This despite any evidence in church records in Montgomery County, which only record him as having two children, born in 1788 and 1790, and despite Montgomery County being some 200 km to the east of Muncy, Lycoming County, PA, which at the time was the home of the Bogart family into which Nicholas later married in Ontario. It is true that the Montgomery Co. census data show a Jacob Bogart living near to William Dilman. So, while Mr. Reid may well be correct, and I wish he is, I am unconvinced that the connection is anything but highly coincidental.

It seems to me that the three records referred to above for Michael Dilman, Andrew Dilman, and Peter Tillman are equally relevant to Nicholas Dilman, even more so than William Dilman to the extent that at least they pertain to the same county where the Bogarts lived at the time. I have found no other records of any of these 3 potential ancestors, suggesting that they moved away or died by the time of the 1880 census.

If anyone can shed more light on this I’d be very grateful.

Name You Are Researching Nicholas Dillman (b. 1786 Pennsylvania, d. 1859 Whitchurch, ON)