James Stephen Dillard Sr (abt. 1658)

Born about 1658 in Wiltshire, England

Died [date unknown] in Colony of Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Disproven Existence WikiTree [send private message]

Research has shown that this person never existed. See the text for details. Join: Disproven Existence Project Discuss: Disproven_Existence

Biography

James Stephen Dillard is a fictitious person. There are no known instances in his time period of a person with a double given name, and no credible sources have been found for facts attributed to him. Please refer to a parallel profile for a real James Dillard which contains only verified facts.

Research Notes

Source of Legendary Information

Dorothy Dillard Hughes^[1] states that there is no Virginia record of a James Stephen Dillard.

Augusta B. Fothergill, an authority on Virginia records, wrote Terry Moorman Dillard that during the supposed James Stephen's lifetime, said to be from 1658, double forenames were not used. (Katherine Reynolds, The Dillard Family, p. 83.) Anyone can verify this in Virginia records of that time. Not even the governor, Sir William Berkeley, or the greatest landowners used double given names. ^[1]

In 1906, Henry Moorman Dillard published an answer to a query in the genealogy column of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the Montgomery (Alabama) Intelligencer. ^[2]

Dillard presented material concerning George Dillard and James Stephen Dillard and their descendants. The material was subsequently copied by many later works, notably the 1925 entry on the Dillard family in a book on Henry County. ^[2]

While some of the descendant material has been proved accurate, the material concerning George and James Stephen has proved fictititous. ^[1]

Hughes asserted: "Numbers of people trace their Dillard lineage to a man living about Revolutionary War times. The frustration begins when these researchers look for the father of a particular James, John, George, Thomas, Nicholas, Edward, or another Dillard of that era. Several books have brief sketches of Dillard ancestry. Invariably they name James Stephen Dillard as second (or first) of the Dillard surname in Virginia. Yet there is no Virginia record of a James Stephen Dillard. So the logical question, then, is: Was James Stephen Dillard, of Virginia, a myth -- or was he a real person? ^[1]

The usual order of research is to look first in printed material and then try to verify it by actual records. Hughes found Judith Parks America Hill's A History of Henry County, Virginia ^[3] Hughes then found an earlier publication, H. M. Dillard's 1906 account. ^[1]

"This seems to be the real source of most printed versions of Dillard ancestry, including the Hill History. The explanation is that HMD carried on a voluminous correspondence, and letter writing was the chief method of discovering ancestors before large genealogical collections became available during the last half of this century. ^[1]

"In more than sixty photostatic copies of printed Dillard sketches or pedigrees, those which trace a Dillard line back to the 1600's have the same first three generations, none documented, but often in the same words as the 1902 clipping: George Dillard, his son James Stephen Dillard (born in 1658), his son James (or James Stephen, Jr.). Credit is occasionally given to Hill's Henry County, which is itself undocumented and therefore not an adequate source.^[1]

"When a researcher attempts to verify the existence of James Stephen Dillard and his son James -- since printed statements are not necessarily true --the trouble begins. No James Stephen Dillard is in any early Virginia record in any county. No James Dillard appears until 1758 -- a hundred years after James Stephen's supposed birth -- when a James Dillard patented 269 acres, part in New Kent and part in James City County, Virginia; hence the frustration of Dillard researchers. ^[1]

Specific Legends

In his 1906 material, Henry Moorman Dillard gives the following specifics for James Stephen Dillard:

Birth in Wiltshire, England

James Stephen Dillard was born in Wiltshire, England in 1658 ^[2]

No records of persons named Dillard have been found in Wiltshire, England.

Migration to James City, Virginia

James Stephen Dillard settled in the James City District (afterwards County) in 1694. ^[2]

Hughes posted the question: "there is no Virginia record of an early James Stephen Dillard, and no living person can testify of his own knowledge that James Stephen Dillard existed. So the logical question, then, is: Was James Stephen Dillard, of Virginia, a myth--a made-up name--or did he really exist? The puzzle can be solved, but not easily." ^[4][1][5]

Inherits Acreage from Father George

H. M. Dillard asserted that the will of John Stephen Dillard's father, George Dillard, makes provision for 289 acres to be given to a son, James Stephen Dillard of James City County, and his two sisters.

No such will has been found.

Marriage to Louisa Page

• This James Stephen Dillard married, but the name of his wife is somewhat clouded, but was probably a Miss Lewisa Page. ^[2]

No record of such a person have been found.

25,000 Acre Royal Grant

• In 1694 James Stephen Dillard appears with the Carys, Wises and Pages with a Royal Grant of 25,000 acres of land which they located according to "Williamsburg Founders" in a body and called it "The Williamsburg Plantation." ^[2]

There is no record of such a grant.

Children

H. M. Dillard reports four children for James Stephen Dillard and gives as his source "the will of James Stephen Dillard now in possession 'of H. M. Dillard of "Hid Away" Bosque Valley, Texas." ^[2]

1. James Dillard, born 1698; married Lucy Wise in 1724.
2. John J., born 1703; married 1725 to Virginia Terry of James City County, Va. #Thomas, born 1706; married Lucy Duvall of Caroline County Va., in 1724, when 18 years old.
3. William, born 1708, married Mary Perkins, (progenitor of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt of New York.) 5.Sally, born 1700; married R. O. Roberts and moved to South Carolina.

• The above is according to the will of James Stephen Dillard now in possession 'of H. M. Dillard of "Hid Away" Bosque Valley, Texas.^[2]

While H. M. Dillard asserted the possession of such a will, it was never produced for inspection by others.

Cross-Reference: Dillard American Founding Legends

This profile forms part of a series of profiles associated with Dillard family origins in North America which are undocumented or false accounts. For convenience of reference, annotated links to these profiles appear below:

• George Dillard, born 1638, was said to be son of John Dillard. Some records of a real George have been identified, which appear at George Dillard (Dillard-85). George is said to have married Martha Williams born Wiltshire 1624 and/or Martha Breckenridge, born Wiltshire 1620. There is no documentation of these marriages or even the existence of these women and the links have been broken.

• George Dillard and George Dillard. His son, George Dillard, was a barrister of the British Government and was sent to James Town, Virginia, as attorney for George III. From George Dillard, who came to America in 1660, all lines of the Dillard families descend."^[6] However:
  • No barrister named George Dillard has been found.
  • There was no George Dillard who was an attorney for George III.

• James Stephen Dillard, born 1658, was said to be the son of George Dillard. The existence of anyone named James Stephen Dillard is disproven. Some records of a real James Dillard have been identified, which appear at James Dillard. H. M. Dillard reported that "According to George Dillard's will he had one son, but it is believed he had more and two daughters. This son, James Stephen, came to America at the age of two. He married Louise Page and settled in James City County, Virginia. He, with Captain Wise, was granted 25,000 acres of land known as Williamsburg Plantation."^[6] However:
  • No record of a John Stephen Dillard has been found.
  • There is no record of such a person being granted 25,000 acres known as the Williamsburg Plantation.
  • Dorothy Dillard Hughes asserts, This person was not from Wiltshire, did not live in Virginia and was not the son of George Dillard. ^[5]
  • Hughes adds that "There was no James Stephen Dillard, but there was a James Dillard of record, who very well could have been George Dillard's son. This James Dillard had a son, James, also of record, who probably was the ancestor of some later Dillards, but he was not the progenitor of all later Dillards, as a number of printed genealogies imply. Dillards with other given names also had children. ^[5]

• James Dillard, son of James, born 1710. This profile contains some documented information and also legendary information, as well as Henry Moorman Dillard's listing of Dillard descendants.

James Dillard and Lucy Wise had children: ^[2] 1. Thomas, born 1725. 2. Nicholas, born 1726; married Sally Govan, 1746, and then Frances Cary. 3. James, born in 1727; married Mary Hunt of New Kent County, Va., 4. Stephen, born 1735; married Miss Branch. 5. John, born 1739, married Milly Gloucester. 6. William Terry, Born 1742, married his cousin, Louisa Page. 7. Mary. 8. Sally.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Dorothy Dillard Hughes. James Stephen Dillard: Dillard Myth or a Real Person? Dillard Annual. Volume 1; January, 1992, pages 8-10. Copyright © 1998 by Dorothy Dillard Hughes. The Dillard Annual is a non-profit journal of Dillard family history published annually by the Dillard Family Association beginning January 1, 1992.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} H. M. (Henry Moorman) Dillard, Meridian, Texas, A Partial History of the Dillard Family Montgomery Advertiser, 2 February 1906. Moorman's material was presented to the Daughters of the American Revolution as an answer to a query and was found by Dorothy Dillard Hughes in 1976 in the vertical file at the Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama. The associated WikiTree Free-Space article contains a transcript and photo of the original 1906 article. H M Dillard also noted that he had "also obtained curious and interesting traditions of the European family from Thomas Dillard, an Episcopal rector of Cumberland, England, and his uncle an Admiral in the British Navy. In addition, he cited these books of reference in his work:
   • "The Tide Water Families of Virginia."
   • "The Old Colonial Days of Virginia."
   • "Reminiscences of Wm. and Mary of Virginia and its Escapades."
   • "Bishop Meade's Churches and Families of Virginia."
   • "The History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia."
   • "Burke's Lowlands of Virginia and its Traditions."
3. ↑ Judith Parks America Hill. A History of Henry County, Virginia..., first published in 1925. (pp. 67-70, 152-156.
4. ↑ Dorothy Dillard Hughes, To Test Tradition: Ballad to George Dillard--Immigrant 1650, in Carlton M. Dillard, Back to Old Virginia, pp. 135-153.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Updating Dillard Family Traditions, by Dorothy Dillard Hughes, from the: DILLARD ANNUAL, Vol. 4, Jan., 1997, Compiled and edited by John M. Dillard. Previously published at the "Dillard Family Association website." Dillard Family Association. Last attempted access on 22 October 2019 by SJ Baty revealed that the website is down ("404 Not Found" page error). An archive copy was found at Archive.org.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Pamela D. Hudson [http://www.redbirdacres.net/dillard.html My D'illard History and Genealogy of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia] Accessed 10/21/2019 jhd

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Dillard-84 created through the import of clements.GED on Jul 9, 2011 by John Clements. See the Changes page for the details of edits by John and others.