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 Dilman (b. 1786, Pennsylvania, d. 1859, Whitchurch, ON)