Genealogical Sketch of Thomas Dill (1755-1839) and Hannah Horton (1761-1796) Family of Eastham, Massachusetts

This is a genealogical sketch of the lives of Thomas Dill (1755-1839) and Hannah Horton (1761-1796)  family of Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.They are my fourth great-grandparents. 

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THOMAS DILL'S EARLY YEARS

Thomas Dill (1755-1839) was born in about 1755 in Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, the eighth and last child and seventh son of Thomas Dill (1708-1761) and Mehitable Brown (1714-1758), who married in 1733. Thomas Dill and Mehitable Brown had the following children:

• Thomas Dill was born on 11 Oct 1734 in Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony He died before 1737 at the age of 3 in Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Samuel Dill, born 10 Dec 1736, Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married Lydia Higgins, 16 Mar 1762, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; died before3 Mar 1766, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony, .
• Thomas Dill was born on 6 Nov 1737 in Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Aaron Dill was born on 30 Jul 1739 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• James Dill, born 15 Oct 1741, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony,; married Abigail Hickman, 16 Mar 1762, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; died 3 Apr 1816, Wellfleet, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.
• Moses Dill was born before 1751 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He died before 31 Oct 1771 at the age of 20 in Wellfleet, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Betty Dill was born before 1753 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Thomas Dill, born abt 1755, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married Hannah Horton, 18 May 1782, Wellfleet, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Ruth Linkhornew, 8 Jun 1797, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Susanna Hatch, Jan 1813, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States; died 16 Sep 1839, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts.

There are no birth records for Thomas Dill, son of Thomas and Mehitable (Brown) Dill, in the Eastham or Wellfleet town records. Documents in his Revolutionary War Pension File[1] indicate that he was age 62 in June 1818 and age 64 in August 1820, which would indicate a birth year of 1755 or 1756. He was age 45 and over in the 1800 U.S. census[2], which would indicate a birth before 1755. In the 1810 census he was age 45 and over.[3] In the 1820 census he was between the ages of 60 and 70[4], and in the 1830 census was between the ages of 70 and 80[5]. Based on this information, he was probably born in the 1754 to 1756 time period.

Thomas Dill served as a Private from 1 January 1776 to 1 January 1777 under Captain Naylor Hatch and Colonel Bond's regiment in the Massachusetts Line during the Revolutionary War. In addition, he served from January to August 1777 on the brig Sophia Defiance under Captain Salew.[1]

HANNAH HORTON'S EARLY YEARS

Hannah Horton was born on 28 April 1761 in Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts Bay Colony,[6] the ninth child of ten, and the third daughter of Nathaniel Horton (1721-1771) and Eunice Snow (1722-1816), who married in 1742 in Eastham. Nathaniel Horton and Eunice Snow had the following children:

• Elnathan Horton was born on 11 Jun 1743 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Nathaniel Horton, born 2 Feb 1746, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married Eunice Brown, before1776, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Obadiah Horton was born on 30 Oct 1747 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• William Horton was born on 11 Apr 1750 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Elizabeth Horton, born 1 Mar 1753, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married James Nesbit, 4 Feb 1777, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; died 7 Apr 1813, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
• James Horton, born 8 Nov 1755, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married Elizabeth Atwood, 26 Apr 1774, Wellfleet, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Eunice Horton, born 24 Feb 1757, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married Ezekiel Brown, 14 May 1775, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married Deacon Jonathan Higgins, 9 Mar 1785, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States; died 11 Oct 1819, Wellfleet, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
• Jabez Horton was born on 7 Jun 1759 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He died on 19 Jul 1759 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• Hannah Horton, born 28 Apr 1761, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married Thomas Dill, 18 May 1782, Wellfleet, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States; died before 1797, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.
• Anne Horton, born 28 Dec 1763, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony; married William Peeks, 23 Dec 1793, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts.

MARRIED LIFE TOGETHER

Thomas Dill married first on 18 May 1782 to Hannah Horton, daughter of Nathaniel and Eunice (Snow) Horton of Eastham.[7]  He was 27 years old, and she was 21 years old. The marriage record in the Eastham town records says:

“Thomas Dill of Wellfleete and Hannah Horten of Eastham was published 18 May 1782”

The marriage record in the Wellfleet town records says:[8]

“May 18^th 1782 Thomas Dill of Wellfleet and Miss Hannah Horton of Eastham”

Thomas Dill and Hannah Horton had the following children:

• Ezekiel Dill, born 6 August 1784, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Mary Hickman, December 1808, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, seven children; died 15 January 1872, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
• Obadiah Dill was born on 19 May 1786 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, no further record.
• Seth Dill was born on 15 June 1787 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married 15 August 1813 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, no known children.
• Isaiah Dill was born on 13 September 1788 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, no further record.
• Jabez H. Dill, born 11 December 1789, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Elizabeth B. Pratt, 6 November 1817, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, five children; died 10 September 1872, Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
• Elizabeth Horton Dill, born 9 May 1791, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Alpheus B. Smith, 30 November 1826, Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, two children; died 28 Nov 1869, Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts.
• James Horton Dill, born 20 July 1792, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Ruth Thomas Cushing, 11 March 1819, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, two children; died January 1862, Madison, Morris, New Jersey.
• Daniel Dill, born 6 October 1793, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Jerusha Knowles, September 1822, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, seven children; died May 1850, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
• Asa Dill was born on 17 July 1795 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, no further record.

In the 1790 United States Census, the family of Thomas Dill resided in Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts with:[9]

• one male under age 16 (probably son Ezekiel)
• one male over age 16 (certainly father Thomas)
• five females (certainly mother Hannah, perhaps four other females, perhaps siblings of Hannah or Thomas, perhaps misclassified as females)

Hannah (Horton) Dill died in about 1796, perhaps soon after the birth of son Asa, having had nine children between 1784 and 1795, with at least six children living at the time.

THOMAS DILL'S LATER LIFE

In 1797, Thomas Dill married, secondly, to Ruth Linkhornew on 8 June 1797 in Eastham.[10] The marriage record in Eastham records says:

"Thomas Dill and Ruth Linkhornew were married by Mr. Shaw June ye 8th 1797"

Thomas Dill and Ruth Linkhornew had the following child:

• Nancy Dill, born 2 June 1799, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; married Lewis Dodge, 15 March 1819, Pelham, Hampshire, Massachusetts, seven children; died 23 April 1791 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts.

In the 1800 United States census, the Thomas Dill family resided in Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts with:[2]

• three males under age 10 (James, Daniel and Asa?),
• four males aged 10-16 (Ezekiel, Obadiah, Seth and Isaiah?),
• one male over age 45 (Thomas),
• one female under age 10 (Elizabeth? Nancy?),
• one female over age 45 (Ruth).

Thomas Dill, yeoman of Eastham, granted all of his homestead, including six parcels of land in Eastham and Wellfleet, to his sons Ezekiel and Seth Dill for $300 in 1809.[11] The parcels included:

• The field where his dwelling house stands
• a southward field
• a parcel northward of John Praro's dwelling house
• a Brush lot in Wellfleet
• a Salt meadow in Wellfleet
• Cleared land on a deed signed by Obed Knowles

In the 1810 United States census, the Thomas Dill household in Eastham had:[3]

• one male age 10-16 (Asa?),
• five males age 16-26 (Daniel, Jabez and three others, Ezekiel had his own census entry),
• one male over age 45 (Thomas),
• one female age 16-26 (Elizabeth?).

Ruth (Linkhornew) Dill had, apparently, died before 1810.

Thomas Dill married, thirdly, to Susan Hatch in January 1813 in Eastham.[12] The record says:

"Thomas Dill & Susan Hatch Jany 1813"

In the 1820 United States census, the Thomas Dill household of Eastham had:[4]

• one male over age 45 (Thomas)
• one female over age 45 (his wife Susan?).

In the 1830 United States census, the Thomas Dill household in Eastham included:[5]

• one male aged 70-80 (Thomas)
• one male aged 5-10 (a grandson?)
• one female aged 50-60 (wife Susan?).

REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION LIFE

Thomas Dill applied for a Revolutionary War pension file on 19 June 1818.[1] The abstract citation reads:

"THOMAS DILL, S34747, MA Line, applied 19 June 1818 at Boston, MA a resident of Eastham MA in Barnstable Cty MA, in 1820 soldier was aged 64 with no family, soldier's son James H. Dill made inquiry 22 Aug 1836 in NY about BLW."

Thomas Dill's affidavit concerning his service says:

"United States of America
State of Massachusetts, Suffolk Co. Boston Jun 1818
I, Thomas Dill of Eastham, a Citizen of the United States, now resident at said Eastham, in the County of Barnstable in the State aforesaid, do, on oath, solemnly declare, that I served, in the War of the Revolution, the full term of time required by a Law of the United States, made and passed in the month of March, A.D. 1818, entitled 'An Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States, in the Revolutionary War,' as a requisite to entitle me to be placed on the pension list of the said United States, having entered the Land service of the said United States, on the Continental Establishment, and served as a private Soldier against the common enemy, from January 1st A.D. 1776 to January 1st 1777, being twelve months, in the company commanded by Captain Naylor Hatch and Colo. Barns' regiment, Massachusetts Line, and served a considerable part of said term of one year in the Lakes. My discharge which upon honorable discharge, I have lost. I also served in the United States Brig Sophia Defiance eight months. from the fore part of January 1777 to the latter part of August same year. Said Brig Sophia was under Continental Officers - Her Commander's name was John Salew (I do not know how the name is spelled) and we were employed during said term of eight months in transporting flour from Alexandria ??? Virginia to Boston, for the Continental Service. I am now sixty two years old.

"I also declare that, by reason of my reduced circumstances in life, I need the assistance of my Country for support. -- And I hereby relinquish all claim to every pension heretofore allowed me by the laws of the United States, if any may be, or hath been, so allowed. Thomas Dill

"BE IT REMEMBERED, That on this 19th day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, pursuant to a law of the United States, entitled ‘An Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary War,’ made and passed on the 18th of March, A.D. 1818, before me, personally appeareth Thomas Dill, abovementioned, and after due examination and caution to testify and declare the whole truth, he maketh oath to the declaration aforesaid, and subscribed the same in my presence.
Jn Daesi [difficult to read!]
Dist Judge
Mass Dist

A property statement was filed in Thomas Dill's Pension File on 9 August 1820. It says:

"SCHEDULE
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
County of Barnstable SS Thomas Dill of Eastham in the County of Barnstable
On this Ninth day of August 1820, before the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the Southern Circuit, proceeding according to the course of the common law with a jurisdiction unlimited in point of amount, having a power also of fine and imprisonment, and keeping a record of their proceedings, personally appeared in open Court, being a Court of record for the said county Barnstable aged sixty four years, resident in Eastham in said County, who being first sworn, according to law, doth, on his oath, declare that he served in the Revolutionary War as follows, viz: Entered the service of the United States January the first 1776 and was discharged about the twentieth of December following. I served in the Company commanded by Capt. Naler Hatch & Regiment commanded by Colonel Bond.

"And I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States, on the 28th day of March, 1818; and that I have not, since that time, by gift, sale, or in any manner, disposed of my property, or any part thereof, with intent thereby so to diminish it as to bring myself within the provisions of an act of Congress, entitled "An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States, in the Revolutionary war," passed on the 18th day of March, 1818; and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me, any property, or securities, contracts, or debts, due to me; nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed, and by me subscribed.

"No Real estate or personal estate; nor any family. I am old and unable to Labour.
Thomas Dill
Sworn to, and declared, on the ninth day of August, 1820, before said court. Attest Abner Davis. Clerk

Thomas Dill received a pension of $8 per month starting in 1833[8,13].

FINAL YEARS

The only document found noting the death of Thomas Dill is the Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledger for Thomas Dill of Eastham, Massachusetts that shows his death date on 16 September 1839. The extracted information from this record is:[13]

• “Name: Thomas Dill
• Rank: Midship^n
• Monthly Allowance: $8
• Commencement: [blank]
• 1833 March: 2
• 1833 September: 3
• 1834 March: 2
• 1834 September: 4
• 1835 March: 2
• 1835 September: 4
• 1836 March: 1
• 1836 September: 1
• 1837 March: 2
• 1837 September: 4
• 1838 March: 2
• 1838 September: 4
• 1839 March: 2
• Note: Died 16^th Sept. 1839 Paid 1^st Qr 1840”

There are no probate records for Thomas Dill in the Barnstable County Probate Court, or for any of his wives.

There are no extant cemetery markers in Eastham or Wellfleet to denote the burial of Thomas Dill or any of his three wives.

SOURCES

[1] "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files," imaged; Fold3.com (https://www.Fold3.com : 2011), original records in National Archives Publication M804, Pension Application S34747, Massachusetts Line, Thomas Dill of Eastham, Mass., applied 19 June 1818.

[2] 1800 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Eastham, page 77; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M32, Roll 13.

[3] 1810 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Eastham, page 46; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M292, Roll 17.

[4] 1820 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Eastham, page 197; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M33, Roll 17.

[5] 1830 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Eastham; page 454; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M19, Roll 60.

[6] "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," page 84 (image 52 of 126), Hanah Horten birth record, 28 April 1761; imaged, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 25 March 2016), Barnstable County, Eastham, Orleans, "Births, marriages, deaths, 1701-1796,"

[7] "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001," imaged, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Barnstable > Eastham, Orleans > Marriages 1763-1905 > image 9 of 105, page 12, Thomas Dill and Hannah Horton marriage entry, 18 May 1782.

[8] "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001," imaged, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Barnstable > Wellfleet >Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1734-1875 > image 144 of 400, page 320, Thomas Dill and Hannah Horton marriage entry, 18 May 1782.

[9] 1790 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Eastham town, Page 212; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.Ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M637, Roll 4.

[10] "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Barnstable > Eastham > Births, Marriages, Deaths, Town Records 1708-1915 > image 297 of 399, Thomas Dill and Ruth Linkhornew marriage entry, 8 June 1797.

[11] "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," imaged, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Barnstable County, Eastham Town Deeds, Volume 1, Page 488 (image 200 of 205), Deed of Thomas Dill to Ezekiel and Seth Dill, 1809.

[12] "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Barnstable > Eastham > Births, Marriages, Deaths, Town Records 1708-1915 > image 300 of 399, Thomas Dill and Susan Hatch marriage entry, January 1813.

[13] United States Revolutionary War Payment Ledgers, Thomas Dill, died 16 September 1839; digital image, "United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 23 September 2016); citing Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication T718 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962), roll 4; accessed on FHL microfilm 1,319,384.

RELATIONSHIP

Thomas Dill (1755-1839) and Hannah Horton (1761-1797) are my paternal 4th- great-grandparents, through:

• their daughter, Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869) who married Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840) in Massachusetts in 1826.
• their daughter, Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) who married Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) in 1851 in Massachusetts.
• their son, Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) who married Hattie Hildreth (1857-1920) in 1874 in New Hampshire.
• their son, Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in Massachusetts.
• their son, Frederick Walton Seaver, Jr. (1911-1983) who married Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942 in California.
• their son, Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living).

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Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

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