Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
William W. Dilks
William W. Dilks, farmer, stock-raiser and dairyman, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1842, and is a son of George and Hannah H. (Ritchie) Dilks. He was educated at the schools of Philadelphia, in which place his father was a lumber merchant. At an early age he began to work in a tannery, where he learned the currier's trade, working at it till he grew to manhood, after which he clerked one year in a mercantile house in Philadelphia. From 1860 to 1867 he followed farming in Preble County, Ohio, and in March, 1867, purchased a farm near Chester, Wayne Co., Ind., where he followed agricultural pursuits till 1870. He also owned a farm west of Richmond, which was cultivated by tenants. In 1870 he rented and removed to the farm where he still resides, which he purchased in 1883, and which contains 120 acres of fine agricultural lands. In 1863 he was married to Annie B. Shoemaker, a native of Pennsylvania, who came with her parents, Charles H and Mary S. Shoemaker, to Wayne County, Ind., and settled on the farm now owned by Mr. Dilks in 1860. She was a member of the Orthodox Friends, and died in January, 1880, leaving two sons — Charles S., born Nov. 30, 1864, and William W., Jr., born Feb. 27, 1873. In November, 1882, Mr. Dilks was again married to Sarah E., daughter of Jonathan and Mary Scarce, of Wayne County. Mr. Dilks and wife are members of the Society of Orthodox Friends.
Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2
William W. Dilks, the memory of whose honorable and upright life is enshrined in the hearts of his many friends in Wayne county, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 25, 1842. In that city, aptly termed the "City of Brotherly Love," by reason of the noble, peaceable and kindly lives of the Friends, resided his parents, George and Hanna (Richie) Dilks. His father was born in Gloucester, New Jersey, in 1804, and was married May 30, 1837, to Miss Richie. Throughout the greater part of his business career he was a representative of the commercial interests of Philadelphia, where he carried on a wholesale and retail lumber business. He also engaged in contracting and building and found both branches of business very profitable, owing to the extensive patronage which he secured. He displayed great energy, enterprise and sound judgment in all his trade transactions, was reliable and trustworthy, and by his well directed efforts gained a most comfortable competence. Of the Society of Friends he was a most prominent member, and therein filled a number of offices. He died in Philadelphia, February 16, 1855, and his wife surviving him many years, passed away in Richmond, July 5, 1888, at the age of sixty-four years.
William W. Dilks spent the first eighteen years of his life in the city of his nativity, and acquired his education in the Westtown Boarding School, at Westtown, Pennsylvania. He possessed an observing eye and retentive memory, and therefore largely added to his fund of practical business knowledge as the years went by. In his youth he was employed in the leather store owned by his uncle, Edward Richie, in Philadelphia, and in 1861 he came to Richmond. His father died when William Dilks was only twelve years of age, after which he resided for one year with his uncle, Samuel Richie, near New Paris, Ohio. The mother and the other members of the family of six children then went to the Buckeye state, and resided near New Paris for a time, after which they came to Indiana, subsequently to the removal of our subject to Wayne county. In 1868 he located on a farm a mile and a half south of Richmond, on Green Mount pike, there making his home for thirty years. He was the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land, and to its cultivation and improvement devoted his energies. He also engaged quite extensively in stock-raising and in the dairy business, and prosecuted his labors with diligence, his careful management and untiring industry bringing him a very desirable measure of success. Ill health largely interfered with his business duties during the last ten years of his life, and for three years prior to his death he was an invalid. All of his trade transactions were conducted most honorably, and his reputation in business circles was unassailable. He was a man of superior judgment, and his discretion made his counsel sought by many business associates.
Mr. Dilks was twice married. On the 30th of December, 1863, he wedded Anna Shoemaker, of Philadelphia, and to them were born two children: Charles W., the elder, is a traveling salesman for a lumber firm, and resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He married Clara Kearnes, of Lincoln, Nebraska, and they have two children, Harold and Mildred. William W., the younger son, is conducting the old home farm near Richmond. The mother, who was born May 29, 1840, died January 22, 1880, and Mr. Dilks was again married, November 3, 1881, Sarah Scearce becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Jonathan and Dorcas (Edwards) Scearce, both of whom are natives of Wayne township, Wayne county, and are farming people.
In his political affiliations Mr. Dilks was a Republican, being an influential and leading member of the party in this community. He served as delegate to various conventions and on a number of political committees, and did all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party. He was quite prominent in the Friends meeting and was an elder and overseer of the Whitewater monthly meeting for a number of years. He was an earnest Christian gentleman, plain and unostentatious in manner, but thoroughly reliable and straightforward. The purity of his life and the nobility of his character won him the esteem of all, and many friends mourned his death, which occurred September 3, 1898. His wife and his son William still reside on the farm, which has been in the possession of the family for thirty-one years. The son is a progressive and practical agriculturist, and the neatness and thriftiness of the place indicate his careful supervision. Mrs. Dilks is a most estimable lady and, like her husband, shares in the regard of many friends in Wayne county.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.