|
(a) (b) Early childhood photo of Nettie Dillon, the last child of William Cyrus Dillon(1817-1903) and Elizabeth Sowards(1826-1873). Nettie grew up in
Windsor Twp of Lawrence Co., OH, not far from Scottown. Following the death of her mother, Elizabeth, 18 days after her birth, Nettie was taken in by her half sister, Mary Lewis Zimmerman(1845-1917), 28 years her senior. Mary, the wife of John Zimmerman(1837-1909), was the daughter of Wilson B. Lewis(1821-1859) and Elizabeth Sowards. Mary and John had lost one or two infant children just prior to Nettie's birth. As Mary and John never had children additional children, Nettie was raised as an only child, a unusual experience at a time when most local farm families were quite large. Nettie was known early by her future husband, Vincent F. Dillon, a nearby neighbor, who advised all competitors for her attentions that Nettie was "his girl". She eventually married Vincent Dillon at the age of 22 in 1895, probably at the Rome Chapel in La Belle. Nettie and Vincent raised nine children to adulthood and shared the responsibility for the 'upbringing' of four grandchildren. Nettie spent the remainder of her life in the Proctorville-South Point area. She is buried with her husband, Vincent, in the New Rome Cemetery, not far from the gravesites of John and Mary Lewis Zimmerman. Nettie was a member of an extensive line of Dillons which traced their heritage back to Virginia. The abundance of these Dillons throughout Lawrence Co. and the nearby counties of West Virginia continues to the present.
|
