The Diller Family 
(Published in November, 1877) 
By 
J. L. Ringwalt, of Philadelphia 
and 
Additional Data Provided by 
Theodore Diller Alfred Diller 
Isaac Diller 
Reprinted in August 1942 
New Holland, Pa. 
Forward 
Since the pamphlet, entitled "The Diller Family," is out of print, The 
Diller Family Association deemed it wise to reprint it with some additional 
data, and this booklet is the result. 
It is published with the hope that the younger generations of the Dillers 
will, perhaps after the duration of World War II, find time to make other 
additions from historical data which may have come to light by that time. 
--- 
Theodore Diller 
6861 Penn Ave. 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
August, 1942 
T H E D I L L E R F A M I L Y 
_______________ 
Most of the accompanying information, relating to the Diller family, or 
families, now living in various portions of Pennsylvania and other States, 
whose ancestors resided in and near New Holland, Lancaster County, has 
been furnished to me during the last few years by different members of those 
families. 
While fully conscious of the incompleteness of the record, I have , at the 
request of several of the parties interested, combined the facts obtained up to 
this time and herewith transmit them in printed form to you, partly because I 
suppose you will be glad to receive even this imperfect memorandum, and 
partly in the hope that you will correct any errors you may see in the 
statements made, and supply such additional information as will help to 
eventually form the basis of a more complete record. 
J . L . R I N G W A L T 
, 
November 1877 
No. 1218 North Tenth Street, Philadelphia 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
1 
CASPAR DILLER'S MIGRATIONS 
On July 24, 1877, my uncle, George W. Ringwalt, who resides near Al- 
len P.O., Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, visited David Diller, MD, resid- 
ing at York Sulphur Springs, Adam County, Pennsylvania, and obtained from 
him the following interesting statement relating to the name Diller, the cir- 
cumstances that led to Caspar Diller's emigration from Europe, and his de- 
scendants: 
--- 
Where did Caspar Diller come from? And what caused him to come to 
America? Let us examine history. Religious wars disturbed Europe after the 
Reformation, 1517. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew took place in France, in 
1572. In 1598 was published the Edict of Nantes, granting equal rights to 
Protestants. In 1685 this Edict was revoked, and Protestants were again per- 
secuted in France. Children, at the age of seven, by apostatizing, were de- 
clared independent of their parents; military executions were employed to 
enforce uniformity of worship; Protestant marriages, were declared illegal, 
and their offspring illegitimate. Hereupon 15,000 persons fled to Hamburg 
and Amsterdam in Holland; and , in the five years following, no less than one 
million fled to Holland, England, and America - for William Penn, in 1682, 
had already colonized Pennsylvania. Alsace was nearly depopulated, because 
it was on the German line. The Prince of Orange raised three regiments of 
French Protestants, which he collected in Holland, etc.. Now, the probability is 
that Caspar's father went from Alsace, in France, about the your 1685 or 1690 
to Holland. From there Caspar went to England. Caspar was about 10 or 15 
years old at the time. He lived to be about 100 years old. he was still living on 
the 16th of December 1769. He died about the year 1770 or 1775. Tradition 
has it that this Caspar married a woman in England, who was of large stat- 
ure, masculine development, and had a bountiful supply of hair. It may be re- 
marked here that in Alsace the people speak both French and German. That 
Caspar was of French extraction is evident from the names of his two oldest 
sons, Han Adam and Han Martin. This name Han is a corruption of the 
French name Jean, which, as pronounced in the provinces where French and 
German intermingle, sounds pretty much like Han. Jean is our English 
John 
. 
As proof of Caspar's nativity, I may add that, at the present day, there are 
Dillers in Alsace, France (it is now German territory), who I am told, resemble 
us in features, and in character - being impulsive and energetic. Now the 
whole matter may be stated as follows: The father of Caspar, with his family, 
fled from Alsace, France, in 1685, when the Edict of Nantes was revoked, and 
came into Holland. His name in France was 
De-ller 
, pronounced De-lare. Now 
in Holland to pronounce De-lare, they had to spell it 
Dullor 
or 
Dulor 
[with um- 
laut vowels. editor's note]. Mark this spelling! It was in Holland that he 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
2 
learned to make, or did make wooden shoes. (Juliana Diller, now Dietrich, of 
New Holland, had a pair of wooden shoes of his manufacture.) 
That Caspar went to England is proved by his marriage with an Eng- 
lish woman. Whether his father also went to England is not known. Now for 
the name again. The English have no [umlaut u], so they put a double e for it; 
and on this first syllable placed the accent, thus 
Deelor 
. They also dropped the 
German or Dutch [umlaut o], and made it simply o. Some one in America 
knowing the origin of the name, restored the letters as nearly as possible, 
without greatly varying the original pronunciation. Thus 
De-ller 
--- 
Diller. 
Caspar's affection for his French kindred, country, and language must 
have been very strong, because he called his two oldest boys by the name of 
Jean, or as corrupted, Han - the first Han Adam and the second Han Martin - 
a common way of naming in France - and the youngest Caspar. 
Now I will give my genealogy as follows: 
1st Generation in America. 
Caspar, Sen. 
2nd Han (Jean) Adam. 
(2) Han (Jean) Martin 
(2) Caspar, Jun. 
3d Adam 
(3) Adam 
(3) Martin 
4th Peter, married 
(4) Anna Margaretta 
5th Daniel married 
(4) Anna 
6th 
(6) David 
Here is another method to reckon my genealogy. 
1. Caspar, Sen. begot (2) Han Adam, and (2) Han Adam begot (3) 
Adam, and (3) Adam begot (4) Peter (who married his second cousin, (4) Anna 
Margaretta Diller, who was the daughter of (3)Adam, who was the son of (2) 
Han Martin, who was the son of (1)Caspar, Senior), (4) Peter begot (5) Daniel 
(who married (4) Anna, who was the daughter of (3) Martin, who was the son 
of (2) Caspar, Junior, who was the son of (1) Caspar, Senior), (5) Daniel begot 
(6)David. 
I was born near Hanover, at Plum Creek, York County, Pa., January 
18th, A. D. 1836. 
Reside at present, York Sulphur Springs, Adams County, Penna. 
_________________________ 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
3 
I have sought in vain in Rupp's book of 30,000 names of original Ger- 
man immigrants in Pennsylvania for an exact record of the time when Caspar 
Diller went to Lancaster County. The date of the various settlements in that 
county indicate that it was some years later than the beginning of the last 
century. Rupp's history of Lancaster County says the original Diller immi- 
grants arrived there about 1731, and this theory is, in substance, although not 
explicitly, adopted in the interesting history of the Three Earls, read by Mr. 
Frank R. Diffenderfer at the Centennial Celebration in New Holland, on July 
4, 1876. Some members of the family now residing in the vicinity of New Hol- 
land think the date of immigration was about 1729. It is certain that the 
original Caspar Diller was in Lancaster County in 1738, because the land rec- 
ords of Lancaster County show that , on May 28, 1738, Amos Lewis conferred 
to Caspar Diller a part of a 500 - acre tract patented to him (Lewis) June 15, 
1733, viz., 250 acres. There is also a record showing that Caspar Diller, and 
Barbara, his wife, on November 17, 1744, conferred to their son, Adam 
(presumably Philip Adam) 100 acres of the 250. There is a tradition commu- 
nicated to me by my uncle, George W. Ringwalt, that when the original Caspar 
Diller immigrated he brought with him two sons and three daughters (his 
other children being born in this country), and if we suppose that he was the 
father of Philip Adam Diller (the progenitor of the New Holland and Hanover, 
York County, branch of the family) whose Bible record says he was born in 
Pfalx, or the Palatinate, about 11 1/2 miles from Heidelberg, in 1723, and 
that this son of Caspar came to this country with his father some time previ- 
ous to 1738, all discrepancies will be reasonably well accounted for. 
There is nothing forced or unnatural in the supposition that the first 
Caspar Diller, after being driven with his father from Alsace to Holland and 
going thence to England, subsequently went to Germany be fore he emigrated 
to America. This course was pursued by many of the sorely persecuted French 
Protestants and German Palatines. The introduction to "Rupp's Collection of 
upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French, and 
other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776," says that of the large 
number of refugees "that came to England in 1708 and 1709, 
seven thousand 
, 
after having suffered great privations, returned, half-naked and in despon- 
dency, to their native country. Ten thousand died from want of sustenance, 
medical attendance, and from other causes. Some perished on ships. The sur- 
vivors were transplanted to English colonies in America." 
Thinking that possibly Caspar Diller might have been among the num- 
ber of those who were sent to New York by Queen Anne, about 1710, I exam- 
ined the lists of many of those persons, published in the Archives of New York, 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
4 
but without finding his name; and although this fact is not in itself of mate- 
rial importance, it forms a link in the chain of circumstances which has led 
me to believe that Caspar Diller was on e of the seven thousand refugees, 
mentioned by Rupp, who went to Germany from England, and if he selected as 
his new home Baden, in the lower portion of the Palatinate, such action would 
correspond with the fact that he was the father of Philip Adam Diller, pro- 
genitor of the New Holland and Hanover Dillers. 
The Dillers of the Old World are evidently children of the great historic 
River Rhine; and a friend of mine who recently visited Holland, says the name 
is very common on the signs of that country, near the Rhine. One of the profes- 
sors in the Heidelberg University, who is reputed to be a very eminent scholar, 
is named Diller. As the vicinity of Heidelberg (formerly in the Palatinate, but 
now in Baden) was the birthplace of Philip Adam Diller, son of the immigrant 
Caspar Diller (and probably the home of Caspar Diller himself for some time 
before Philip Adam Diller was born), the following brief references to the his- 
tory of Heidelberg, extracted from an encyclopedia, throws an interesting light 
upon the position of affairs in that part of Germany for some years previous to 
Caspar Diller's emigration to the American colonies: "Heidelberg was plun- 
dered and partly ruined by Tilly in 1622, by Turenne in 1674, by Melae in 
1688, and by Marshal de Lorges in 1693. These misfortunes led to its decline 
in political importance, which was finally completed by the residence of the 
electors being removed to Mannheim in 1719. It was united to Baden in 
1802." 
An eloquent resume of the characteristics and history of the region in 
which the Dillers of the olden time dwelt is contained in the address delivered 
by E. K. Martin, Esq., at the centennial celebration in New Holland, in 1876, 
from which I extract the following: "On two sides of the Rhine, nestling among 
the provinces of Bohemia and Baden, Alsace and Lorraine, its ancient territo- 
rial boundaries obliterated today from the he world, lies the garden of Europe, 
furrowed by valleys the fairest on the continent, on whose sunny slopes still 
dwell the happiest and most peaceful peasantry on the face of the earth, 
stretching backward to dikes of Holland, and forward to the Vosges of France, 
and the foothills of the Alps; on its right the womb from which issued the 
Saxon on his mission of civil liberty; upon its left the nation of sturdy traffick- 
ers, at whose knee England caught the mystic art that distinguished her in 
the markets of the world. Today is the brightest jewel in the crown of the 
German Empire. Bigoted its people may have been, but it was the stern big- 
otry which stepped into the breach with Luther when England was treating 
for terms at the Pontifical Court. It was the bigotry that bolstered the falling 
fortunes of Gustavus Adolphus, and bared its breast to the sanguinary cruelty 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
5 
of Tilly. Superstitious they may have been, but it was not a superstition that 
interfered with the consciences or the happiness of others. There was in it nei- 
ther persecution nor proselytism; it was a reverential awe for the workings of 
nature, which they could not understand, for the attributes of Deity, which 
they might not comprehend - the simple childish veneration of a religious 
deposition, expending itself in ways sometimes, perhaps, fantastical and ab- 
surd, but never cruel nor malicious. Upon such a people, lulled to security by 
the conciliatory temper of Richlieu and the kindly offices of Mazarin, sur- 
rounded by the comforts of more that a quarter of a century of peace, burst the 
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, to be followed by the brutal soldiery of 
Turenne and Montclas. Spires and Worms, Heidelberg and Mannheim went 
down in flames. The electorate of Treves and the margravate of Baden were 
covered with desolation. Such was the Palatinate and its fate. It is the story of 
out ancestors, yours and mine." 
FAMILY TRADITIONS 
Dr. David Diller, after seeing proofs of most of the matter published 
herewith, kindly writes to me in reference to the subjects discussed above as 
follows, under date of November 19, 1877 : - 
I think you are about correct in your hypothesis that the original 
Caspar Diller was one of the seven thousand that returned from England to 
the continent, and from thence migrated to America. But that he resided for 
some time in Holland prior to going to England, seems incontestable from the 
differences in the orthography of the name, and various other circumstances. 
However, this may be, tradition has it , and I have often heard my aunts say 
so, that he married in England; and that when he went to the neighborhood of 
New Holland, and bought property, his wife had a linen apron full of silver. 
Taking all the evidence together, it appears that after his marriage in Eng- 
land he turned his face again toward his native land, whither he went with the 
seven thousand returning German emigrants; but that his wife, being of Eng- 
lish origin, and unable to adapt herself to the language and customs of the 
Continent, or, perhaps owing to the unsettled condition of the country, they 
concluded to seek a peaceful abode in the new world. It also appears evident 
from your statement that the Han (Jean) Adam is synonymous with Philip 
Adam. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
6 
In regard to the relationship between the New Holland, Hanover, and 
Ringwalt branches of the Diller family, and various traditions of general in- 
terest, I have received the following statements. Mr. Charles Diller, who like 
myself, is a descendant of two branches of the Diller family, in a letter he sent 
to me from Sterling, Illinois, dated December 8, 1875, says: - 
"Of the oral family history, our grandmother Ringwalt (born Catharine 
Diller) was better posted than any person of my acquaintance. Some thirty 
years ago, while on a visit to Carlisle, she gave me a full, and I believe a com- 
plete, history of the family, from the first emigrant down to that time. I have 
always been impressed with the thoroughness of her narrative. For a long 
time I remembered the most of it, but don't feel confident of my remembrance. 
"Aunt Betsy Diller (sister of Catharine Ringwalt) was well acquainted 
with the history, but her knowledge was not so full or perfect as grand- 
mother's. They were the only persons who trace the relationship between the 
different families. 
"I have no written account of grandmother's history. As I now remember 
it, the first Diller lived over towards the Welsh Mountain. He had three sons. 
She gave their names; also the names of their children. One of the sons was 
the father of Peter Diller, my grandfather (that is, Philip Adam Diller). One 
was the head of her family, that is, her grandfather (or Han Martin Diller, son 
of Caspar). One was the head of the family living in Cumberland County and 
elsewhere (that is Caspar Diller, Jr.). She called that first Diller, Caspar." 
Other testimony concerning the relationship between the Hanover and 
New Holland branches is contained in the following extract from letters I re- 
ceived from Levi A. Diller, son of Solomon Diller, of New Holland, dated New 
Holland, November 11, 1875: "The Hanover Dillers we know all about here. 
They have visited here, and uncle Roland , them, their grandmother and my 
father were first cousins. 
They are in our direct line of Dillers 
." 
The following extract from a letter I received from Mr. Levi A. Diller, of 
New Holland, son of Mr. Solomon Diller, dated October 18, 1877, in reply to 
inquiries, cleared away doubts I had previously had as to whether Philip 
Adam Diller from whom they are descended, was the son, or the grandson, of 
the immigrating Caspar Diller. He says: - 
"We fail to understand exactly the link wanting to connect our family 
with the Hanover branch. We have it plain enough here, and if the Hanover 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
7 
Dillers are descended from Caspar Diller, so is my father. I enclose you the 
names of Philip Adam Diller's sons, who came of age and were heads of fami- 
lies." 
This enclosure is as follows: 
--- 
Philip Adam Diller had four sons, Adam, Leonard, Peter, Isaac: 
--- 
Adam 
had sons - Peter, 
1 
John, George, Adam. 
Leonard 
had sons - George, Jeremiah, Adam. 
Peter 
had sons - Isaac, Samuel, Roland, Solomon, Levi. 
Isaac 
had sons - Jonathan, William, Isaac, 
and by second wife has sons - Graybill, Adam, Amos. 
My grandmother Ringwalt, Solomon Diller, and Dr. David Diller are 
doubtless correct in their presumption that the Hanover and New Holland 
families are closely related. There is an exact agreement, too, between my 
grandmother Ringwalt's statement that one of the three sons of the original 
Caspar Diller was the father of the Philip Adam Diller from whom Solomon 
and Roland Diller are descended, and the statement of Solomon Diller that he 
is the first cousin of the grandfather of the Hanover Dillers. 
Another interesting statement is given below, from Peter Diller, of 
Cumberland County, on of the descendants of the Caspar Diller who was the 
son of the original Caspar Diller. I received from him a letter in November, 
1877, which embodied a revision and several important additions to the 
statement he had made in writing to George W. Ringwalt in October, 1876. As 
thus amended, his account is as follows: 
--- 
"I will try to state as much as I know about out progenitors. In the first 
place, I begin with my great-grandfather and your mother's great-grandfather, 
who was Caspar Diller, from Germany, who settled near New Holland, Lan- 
caster County, Pennsylvania, and bought a place called Hole Place (Loch 
Platz), and was a shoemaker by trade, and got to be very wealthy. He lived to 
be near a hundred years old, and had ten children living when he died. The 
name of the oldest son was Philip Adam, and second son's name was Han 
Martin; and then he had seven daughter - their names I do not know, but the 
names of their husbands were Breckbill, Keiner, Sweiger, Imboda, Croft, 
Ensminger, and Sensabach. And, last of all, he had another son, and gave him 
1 
Peter married a sister of Mrs. Jacob Ringwalt, and moved to Hanover. Therefore, Peter (of Hanover), 
Adam's son, and Solomon (of New Holland), son of the Peter whao was the son of Philip Adam, were first 
cousins, and in this manner we trace our connection with the Hanover Dillers. Everybody here is under the 
impression that Philip Adam was a son of Caspar. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
8 
his name, Caspar and this Caspar was my grandfather, who came across the 
river, after he had five children, and lived in this (Cumberland) County, and 
died at the age of fifty-six years. His surviving family consisted of seven sons 
and five daughters. Of the other two male tribes I do not know very much; but 
what I do know is this: that Philip Adam had a son called Adam, and this 
Adam had a son called Peter, and lived near Hanover, and was marred to 
Anna Margaretta Diller, daughter of Adam Diller, his second cousin, which 
last-named Adam Diller was a son of the above named Han Martin, who was 
a son of the above named Caspar Diller from Germany, had, no doubt, a large 
family left, as well as the other two tribes; but I only know of four - your 
mother (Mrs. Ringwalt), Anna Margaretta Diller, Mrs. Susanna Sheaffer, and 
Betsy Diller, who lived to be eighty-four years old when she died, and was un- 
married at the time of her death. Mrs. Ringwalt was the mother of eighteen 
children, fourteen sons and four daughters, who were all alive when Louis, the 
youngest, was twenty-two years old, and then Mrs. Strine died in her forty- 
seventh year. 
"Caspar Diller, the youngest child of Caspar Diller from Germany, emi- 
grated from the vicinity of New Holland to Cumberland County in the year 
1772 or 1773, when my father was five years old, and he was the third child of 
this second Caspar Diller. What little I know of the original Diller family I 
have from my father. 
"I have a deed in my possession, dated December 16, 1769, of the sale 
of 336 acres of land from Caspar Diller to his son Caspar. 
His 
His Signature: 
CASPAR [CED] DEELOR 
Mark 
Sincerely yours, 
PETER DILLER" 
[It will be perceived that in the above signature the letters CED are 
substituted for the "x" commonly used where a name is not written. A learned 
friend suggests that they are intended to represent the words 
Christus est 
Deus 
, or Christ is God, and this form may have been adopted by Protestants 
embittered by persecution, for expressing an idea analogous to that which led 
to the use of the "x" in signatures in Catholic countries.] 
DESCENDANTS OF HAN MARTIN DILLER 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
9 
The matter in the preceding pages relates more particularly to the de- 
scendants of the two sons of Caspar Diller, name Philip , Adam, and Caspar, 
Jr.. In regard to the descendants of the other son of the immigrating Caspar, 
named Han Martin, who was the father of the Adam Diller, who was, in turn, 
the father of Mrs. Catharine Ringwalt, born Diller (who was my grand- 
mother), I have received the following information: 
--- 
The date of the birth of my grandmother, and her three sisters, was as 
follows: Anna Margaretta Diller, born November 29, 1773; Catharine Diller, 
born January 17, 1776, died in 1858; Susanna Diller, born October 3, 1777; 
Elizabeth Diller, September 23, 1788. Being informed that the dates of the 
birth and death of the parents of the Dillers, named above, were on their 
tombstones in the Lutheran graveyard in New Holland, to obtain those in- 
scriptions; I wrote to New Holland, and obtained the following reply from Levi 
A. Diller, son of Solomon Diller, dated New Holland, January 12, 1876: 
Below, find inscriptions on tombstones as requested. 
P H I L I P A D A M D I L L E R 
Born January 31st, 1751; 
Died December 27th, 1792; aged 41, 10, 27. 
IN MEMORY 
E L I Z A B E T H D I L L E R 
Wife of Adam Diller 
Died January, 1842; aged 92 years. 
"Weep not for me. 
For all your tears are vain; 
Prepare to meet your God, 
That we may meet again." 
The above is a correct copy of your great-grandmother's tomb; no date of 
birth, and no day of the month is given. It is evident the stone was put up 
some time after her death, and by some one who did not know of the day, and 
nobody here has any record of her birth. 
[It is my individual impression that she died some years earlier that 
1842, because I left New Holland in 1840, and I think she was dead before 
that time. J. L. R. ] 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
10 
The name Philip, also, is not recognized on her tomb, merely Adam. My 
father pointed the graves out to me, and he even had forgotten or did not 
know, his name was Philip Adam, the same name as his grandfather. 
[I think it probable his name was Adam, as it is so reported by Dr. 
David Diller, and so recorded on my great-grandmother Diller's tombstone, 
and so remembered by George W. Ringwalt. J. L. R. ] 
During a considerable portion of the life of this Adam Diller he owned 
and resided on a farm located between the Blue Ball and Churchtown, Lan- 
caster County, Pennsylvania. I learned this fact from my uncle, George W. 
Ringwalt, who added that my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Diller, drew her 
widow's dower from the purchaser of that farm for an unusually long period, 
about fifty years, according to the tombstone inscription. The presumption is 
also raise by the locality of this farm that the Dillers who now reside near 
Blue Ball and towards the vicinity of Churchtown, Lancaster County, were, 
like my great-grandfather Adam, descendants of the son of Caspar Diller, 
named Jean (Han) Martin. I mentioned this fact partly because one of the let- 
ters I received from Levi A. Diller, dated November 11, 1875, says: "Uncle Ro- 
land and my father can account for all the Dillers around this section, except a 
family living about Churchtown, the count. They never could learn where they 
descended from. They never claimed any relationship. Both my father and un- 
cle Roland have tried to find from what stock they were descended, but to this 
day have not succeeded in doing so. There is a link dropped in our own county. 
The family is an old one, too. 
[They may be descendants of Francis Diller, who settled in the vicinity 
after Caspar settled, and was the ancestor of J. S. Diller, the distinguished 
geologist. - T. Diller.] 
In addition to the Ringwalt and Sheaffer descendants of Han or Jean 
Martin Diller, the Hanover branch is also descended from Han Martin, 
through their maternal ancestry Anna Margaretta, who married Peter, a de- 
scendant of Philip Adam. The Maryland Dillers, too, are descended from Han 
or Jean Martin, through their ancestor John, who was the brother of Adam, 
son of Han Martin. It is also exceedingly probable, if not absolutely certain, 
that the Lebanon Dillers are descendants of Han Martin, as will be seen by 
letters published elsewhere. 
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -- NEW IMMI- 
GRANTS 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
11 
I extract from Mr. Levi A. Diller's letters the following statements of 
general family interest, viz., speaking of the New Holland recollections of the 
Hanover branch, he says: "They are a family of very large stature. All their de- 
scendants, particularly the men, were of enormous strength. Some wonderful 
stories were told of their Herculean deeds, such as loading a hogshead of 
sugar on a wagon, unassisted, in the days when it was fashionable to haul by 
wagon all the goods between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; holding a barrel of 
whiskey at arm's length and drinking out of the bunghole. My father says he 
remembers some of them well, and of striking stories told of their strength." 
A considerable number of the Dillers and descendants of the Dillers of 
the present and preceding generations are, and were, unusually strong, large, 
and bulky. The height of from six feet to six feet two inches, and a weight of 
from two hundred to three hundred pounds, with proportionate strength, has 
been by no means uncommon among any of the branches of the family. 
Mr. Levi A. Diller also says: "There are other Dillers in Germany, and 
they are still coming to this country slowly. I met one fresh from there three or 
four years ago, in Sterling, Illinois. Having heard my name, and it being the 
same as his, he called on me. He had only been in this country three or four 
months, and could speak no English. He was a young man and intelligent. he 
was very much disappointed on meeting me. He had expected to find one from 
the Fatherland, who could sympathize with him, and talk about Germany, 
and he had a very severe attack of home-sickness. He was a baker, and was 
traveling looking for work. He had an uncle in Chicago. He did not know there 
was any family besides his own by the name of Diller in the wide world, and 
when I told him that in the county I came from the woods were full of them 
and their name was legion, he was struck with astonishment. I the name in 
Chicago, Illinois, Directory, while there once, of Julius Diller. I called on him, 
found him to be a German, a printer on a German paper. He took no interest 
in the name. The interview was short. This man was the uncle of my friend the 
baker, and had been in this country some twelve of fifteen years." 
I have been informed that the leader of Dodworth's band in New York, 
about 1867, was a Diller, who had recently immigrated from Germany. A few 
years ago there was a Diller living in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who was also a 
recent immigrant. There are several Dillers now living in Philadelphia, who 
immigrated to this country from Germany about thirty years ago. 
DEVOTION TO AGRICULTURE -- FIRST AMERI- 
CAN HOMES OF CASPAR DILLER 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
12 
During the last century, nearly all members of the Diller family were 
engaged in agriculture at various places within the townships of Earl, Lea- 
cock, and Salisbury, Lancaster County, where some of their descendants still 
reside. Many of them were skillful and industrious farmers, and deeply im- 
bued with the earth thirst, as it has been called, which forms a leading fea- 
ture of the character of the Pennsylvania Germans. 
In Governor Pownal's topographical description of various portions of 
North America, published in London in 1776, he made the following interest- 
ing reference to the district immediately south of that in which the immigrat- 
ing Dillers lived more than a century ago, and it is doubtless, to a great 
extent, also descriptive of their homes. Governor Pownal says: "There are 
amongst the hills into which this mountain (the Kittatinny) spreads itself, 
between the Susquehanna and Schuylkill Rivers, to a breadth of from fifteen 
to thirty miles, several valleys. A succession of such, divided from each other 
by little hilly branchings of the main hills, run from Wright's Ferry, on the 
Susquehanna, to the Swedes Ford, near Norristown, on the Schuylkill, some 
two miles broad, some more. The lands are of a limestone, good farming soil. 
Every farmer has linekiln, burnt for the dressing of his land, and they raise a 
great deal of wheat. The sides of the hills are covered with woods, the timber 
is generally oak, chestnut, and hickory. The first valley which the road from 
Philadelphia to Lancaster passes through, runs from the Swedes Ford to the 
middle branch of Brandywine Creek, and is about two miles wide. Hence the 
road runs slanting over three ascents and three rivulets, about thirteen miles, 
and comes to a second valley, 
which runs along the south side of the range, 
called Welsh Mountains, to Lancaster. 
Hence, it continues in a bosom of gently 
swelling hills, to Wright's Ferry, on the Susquehanna. These successions of 
valleys appeared to me, as I rode along them, 
the most charming of landscapes. 
The bottoms of the vales were full of cultivated farms, 
with houses, such as 
yeomanry, not tenants, live in. Theses were busked up with gardens, and with 
peach and apple orchards all around them, and with every convenience and en- 
joyment that property and plenty could give to peace and liberty. 
My heart felt 
an overflowing of benevolence at the sight of so much, and such real happi- 
ness." 
The local habitation of the Dillers who remained in Lancaster County a 
few years ago, in the adjoining townships of Earl, East Earl, Leacock, Upper 
Leacock, and Salisbury, confirms the supposition that they gradually removed 
over short distances, from a central point located a short distance south of 
New Holland. A Roland Diller operated an iron mill in Altoona about 1845. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
13 
In the directory of Lancaster County, issued in 1869, the names of the 
following Dillers remaining in Earl Township are published: 
--- 
Diller, Adam, farmer, New Holland. 
Diller, Mrs. Ann, widow of Luther, New Holland. 
Diller, Amos, A. Diller & Co., New Holland. 
Diller, Edwin, merchant, New Holland. 
Diller, Nathaniel, farmer, New Holland. 
Diller, James, farmer, New Holland 
Diller, Roland, Esq., surveyor, New Holland. 
Diller, J. Roland, farmer, New Holland. 
Diller, Solomon, farmer, New Holland. 
Diller, Wm. G., merchant, New Holland. 
The record of citizens of East Earl Township at that time, embraces the 
following names: 
--- 
Diller, Elias, farmer, Blue Ball. 
Diller, Lewis, farmer, New Holland. 
Diller, George, farmer, Blue Ball. 
Diller, Graybill, farmer, Blue Ball. 
Diller, Nathaniel, gentleman, Goodville. 
Diller, John, farmer, Blue Ball. 
The record of citizens of Leacock Township embraces the name of Dan- 
iel Diller, drover, of Intercourse. 
The record of citizens of Salisbury Township embraces the following 
names: 
--- 
Diller, Elizabeth, widow, Salisbury. 
Diller, Isaac, farmer, South Hermitage. 
Diller, George, proprietor Gap Hotel, Gap. 
Diller, H. M., physician, Pequea. 
In the record of Upper Leacock, the name of John Diller, gentleman, of 
Leacock, was reported. 
The following interesting statements in a letter from Mr. Levi A. Diller, 
of New Holland, dated November 21, 1877, appear to be conclusive in regard 
to the first residence of the immigrating Dillers. The homestead referred to is, 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
14 
I suppose, the Kinzer homestead, located between New Holland and the 
Welsh Mountain: 
--- 
"Mr. B. Frank Kinzer informs me there is on the old homestead a pear 
tree that his great-grandmother on his father's side (who was Barbara, wife of 
Caspar Diller), brought with her from Germany about 1729. This tree was a 
graft from the original pear tree in Germany, known as the Diller Pear. It bore 
an abundance of fruit until a few years ago, when it commenced to fail. It is 
now beginning to decay. She brought the tree or graft over in a trunk, one of 
those enormous trunks or chests, in which you could stow very comfortably two 
or more of the modern Saratoga trunks, and still leave room for others." 
The locality of Loch Platz or Hole Place, however, is alleged by Mr. 
George W. Ringwalt to be the farm on Mill Creek, about one mile south of 
New Holland, on which Adam Diller lived and died about 1835. There is a 
small family graveyard on this farm in which the immigrant Caspar Diller 
and his son Han Martin are buried. Further particulars in regard to it will be 
found in the Appendix. It seems probable that Caspar Diller settled first on 
the Kinzer homestead, and subsequently removed to and died on the adjacent 
Adam Diller farm (Loch Platz). 
[The grave of Caspar Diller has since been discovered in Lebanon 
County. 
--- 
T. D.] 
Dr. Diller Luther informs me that, about fifty years ago, he and Roland 
Diller, of New Holland, counted up about two hundred and fifty Dillers, and 
descendants of Dillers, then living at various places between the Conestoga, 
at or near Hinkletown on the north, and Mill Creek on the south, and it was 
then believed that a very large portion of the land between these streams, at 
the points indicated, had belonged to various branches of the Diller family, 
and the families with which they were intermarried. 
Love of agriculture was very deeply implanted in my father, Samuel 
Ringwalt, and nothing could exceed the delight he felt in good crops, and in the 
careful attention to all the details of farming operations which lead to suc- 
cess. He received a premium, of a silver cup, from the Chester County Agricul- 
tural Society in 1859, for the best cultivated and productive farm submitted 
for competition, and this incident is typical of the earnest devotion to agricul- 
tural pursuits which has characterized many members of the family. Other 
illustrations of this spirit are furnished by the tradition communicated to me 
by my father, that the grafts from which the Diller Pear (famous in the po- 
mological annals of the country) has sprung, was brought to this country from 
Germany by the wife of the original immigrant, and by the additional fact 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
15 
that my uncle, George W. Ringwalt, now living in the vicinity of Churchtown, 
Cumberland County, near Allen P. O. , has produced a new grape, highly ap- 
preciated by the proprietors of Cumberland County nurseries, which he has 
called the Lucky George; and by many incidents which are doubtless familiar 
to many of the Dillers, or their descendants of the present generation. 
POLITICAL, MILITARY, PROFESSIONAL AND 
BUSINESS RECORD 
While devotion to agriculture was a leading characteristic of the family, 
and nearly all its members during many years after the first immigration, 
and while many of them still cultivate the soil successfully, either in Lancas- 
ter, York, Adams, Franklin, or Cumberland counties, Pennsylvania, or in por- 
tions of Maryland and Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and other States, 
some of its branches were not slow to embark in other pursuits with the ad- 
vancing diversification of American Industries. 
I know too little of the history of the family to attempt to do justice to 
these movements, and shall only recapitulate the few leading facts that have 
fallen under my notice. 
One of the first members of the family to exercise a considerable influ- 
ence in politics, was Peter Diller, the father of the New Holland branch. He 
removed to Lancaster City about the beginning of the present century, and af- 
ter remaining there a few years, returned to New Holland. His influence with 
his large circle of relatives, friends and acquaintances was eagerly courted by 
the rich young Lancaster politicians, and my father told me that one of the 
aspirants materially aided by his friendship was James Buchanan, during his 
first struggles to be made a member from Lancaster County of the State Leg- 
islature of Pennsylvania. During Buchanan's term as State legislator, one of 
his colleagues was my grandfather, Jacob Ringwalt, the husband of Catharine 
Diller, and it will be seen in the record herewith appended, that one of the de- 
scendants of the Dillers, at a later period, married a niece of James Bucha- 
nan. It is worthy of note, too, that the wife of Philip Adam Diller, born 
Ellmaker, was a member of the Ellmaker family, which has won distinguished 
political renown, partly explained elsewhere. 
During the second war with Great Britain, General Adam Diller, son of 
Leonard, took an active part as captain of a troop of cavalry, in connection 
with the movement of Lancaster County militia to Maryland, for the protec- 
tion of that State from invasion, and these services facilitated his election as 
sheriff of Lancaster County, in 1827, and gave the bent to his tastes and pro- 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
16 
clivities that led to his appointment as Adjutant General of the State of 
Pennsylvania by Governor David R. Porter, in 1839, which office he held for six 
years. 
General Adam Diller's successor as Sheriff of Lancaster County was his 
first cousin, Adam Bare, son of Anna Maria Diller, who married John Bare. 
Adam Bare was subsequently elected Commissioner of Lancaster County 
soon after his term of service as Sheriff had expired. His official career em- 
braced service from 1827 to 1830 as Auditor, 1830 to 1833 as Sheriff, and 
1834 to 1837 as Commissioner. 
About, or shortly before, 1828, when the Anti-Masonic excitement, 
which subsequently exerted a very important influence upon the politics of 
Lancaster County and the State of Pennsylvania, was gaining strength, New 
Holland was a central point of agitation, and Roland Diller, Esq., of that town, 
was one of the most active participants in that movement. The following ref- 
erences to this subject are made in a brief sketch in the Biographical History 
of Lancaster County, published in 1872: "Upon the organization of the Anti- 
Masonic party, Mr. Diller was amongst the most prominent and active in that 
movement. He contributed actively towards the establishment of the first 
Anti-Masonic paper in the county, and in all the political movements of his 
party he has ever maintained a leading position . . . He has frequently been 
mentioned for Congress, but he rather chose a life of retirement than one that 
brought with it great sacrifices and responsibilities." 
Solomon Diller, his brother, was an attentive and respected member of 
the State Legislature during the years 1836, 1837, 1838, and 1839. 
My father, Samuel Ringwalt, was elected to serve one term as Brigade 
Inspector of Lancaster County, ending about 1837. This office was considered 
important while the old militia system was rigidly enforced. Subsequently he 
was appointed Brigade Quartermaster of the regiments of Pennsylvania Re- 
serves under command of General George G. Meade, and in that capacity ren- 
dered service in the early stages of the late war, which won the highest 
encomiums from the victor of Gettysburg. Samuel Ringwalt also successively 
exercised considerable influence upon partisan movements in Lancaster and 
Chester counties, at various periods between 1828 and 1870. 
Of other descendants of the family who have participated in politics, 
one of the most prominent was Joseph B. Baker, who was Superintendent of 
the Columbia Railroad, before its sale to the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
17 
pany, and Collector of the Port of Philadelphia during Buchanan's admini- 
stration. 
Dr. Esaias Kinzer, grandson of Margaretta Diller, represented Lancas- 
ter County in the State Senate of Pennsylvania, from 1852 to 1854 inclusive, 
and from 1857 to 1860. 
Isaac R. Diller, now residing in Chicago, Illinois, took an active part in 
the politics of that Sate, and in Pennsylvania prior to his emigration to the 
West. He was Chairman of the Illinois Democratic State Central Committee 
in 1856, and Consul to Bremen during the Buchanan administration. 
[He was later Consul to Florence, Italy, where he was highly honored 
and respected. 
--- 
T. D. ] 
Dr. Diller Luther, of Reading, was a Collector of Internal Revenue dur- 
ing the Lincoln administration, and is now agent of the Pennsylvania State 
Board of Charities. 
Joseph C. Ringwalt, after a successful career as an active and promi- 
nent merchant in Cincinnati, Ohio, is now (1877) Mayor of Clifton, Ohio. 
Peter Diller, during his sojourn in Texas, was elected Mayor of Bren- 
ham, one of the flourishing towns of that State. 
It will be seen by the accompanying records that some of the members 
of the gentler branch of Dillers have, by matrimonial alliances, connected 
themselves with several of the most distinguished families of this country, 
notably the Washington's and Madison's. One also married a descendant of 
General Packett, of the Revolutionary Army; and another one of the Revolu- 
tionary soldiers who was present at the surrender of Cornwallis. 
I believe, too, that the wife of Peter Diller, of New Holland, was a 
granddaughter of Colonel John Huber, a colonel of one of the battalions 
formed in Lancaster County in 1777, for service in the Revolution. 
In George Lippard's "Blanche of Brandywine," published about 1850, a 
stirring battle scene has, as a leading character, Major Diller, and the author 
in a footnote, says: "The Major, Enos Diller (a relative of General Diller, for- 
merly Adjutant-General of the State), was a brave soldier of the Revolution, 
and distinguished himself at the battle of Brandywine." When this statement 
was published, the author frequently saw General Adam Diller, and it was 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
18 
doubtless made on his authority. He called the attention of members of his 
family to it, and said, "There is something you should remember." 
In the Mexican War, and in various important military operation of the 
regular army, Captain Roland A. Luther, a graduate of West Point, partici- 
pated actively and honorably; and his associates in the regular army had a 
very high opinion of his acquirements as a scientific soldier. Isaac R. Diller 
also served as a quartermaster with the rank of captain, in the Mexican War. 
In the late war the Hanover branch of the Dillers were strongly repre- 
sented by Cyrus Diller, Colonel of the 76th Regiment Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers; William S. Diller, who served as Major; Luther Yundt Diller, who served 
as Captain and was wounded in the battle of Cold Harbor; and Simon J. 
Diller who served as Lieutenant. 
Two of the sons of Mrs. Peter Filbert (born Diller), Henry M. and Ro- 
land D., entered the Union army and gave up their lives in the service of their 
country. Henry M. was captain of a company of which Roland D. was a mem- 
ber, and they were killed in one of the battles on the Peninsula. 
William R., son of General Adam Diller, served creditably for three 
years in two cavalry regiments from Philadelphia, first as a volunteer, after- 
wards as a commissioned officer. 
Levi A. Diller, of New Holland, served faithfully with one of the Lancas- 
ter regiments. 
William Walker Campbell, of Topeka, Kansas, husband of the daugh- 
ter of Catharine Maxwell, born Ringwalt, served with distinguished gallantry 
throughout the war as an officer of one of the Western artillery regiments. I 
think it was from Illinois, and that he entered the service as a captain and 
rose to be a colonel. 
I have understood that one or more of the sons of Lydia Amos, born 
Ringwalt, served in Ohio regiments during the late war, but have never been 
able to learn particulars. 
Samuel Ringwalt was at the outset of the contest quartermaster of the 
brigade commanded by General George G. Meade, and two of his brothers, 
Louis and Levi B., were Union soldiers. One of them, Louis Ringwalt, gave up 
his life in a gallant discharge of his duty near Winchester, Virginia. There 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
19 
were doubtless many other participants in the late struggle, of whose services 
I have received no information. 
Some served voluntarily or involuntarily on the Southern side. Peter 
Diller was pressed into home guard service in Texas; and Adam Bare, another 
descendant of the Dillers, who was a skillful mechanic and engineer, was 
obliged to superintend a large manufactory in Alabama, in which shovels and 
tools were made for the use of the Confederate Army. 
One of the descendants of the Diller family, Samuel Houston Baker, is 
a Commander in the United States Navy. he was commissioned as Lieuten- 
ant March 12, 1868, and commissioned Lieutenant Commander December 
18, 1868 
The list of clergymen ho are descended from the Dillers, embraces the 
names of Rev. John Baker Clemson, an Episcopal clergyman, of Claymont, 
Delaware; Rev. Jacob W. Diller, rector of St. Luke's Church, Brooklyn; Rev. 
Alonzo P. Diller, rector of St. John's Church, Marietta, Pennsylvania; Rev. 
Walter North, and Rev. Simon Diller, of the United Brethren denomination, of 
Churchtown, Cumberland County; and Rev. H. W. Diller, rector of Trinity 
Church, Pottsville, Pa. 
[Both Rev. Jacob Diller and Rev. Alonzo Diller met tragic deaths. The 
former burned to death on a steamer; the latter perished with his wife and 
child in the Johnstown flood, in 1889. He was at the time rector of St. Mark's 
Church, Johnstown. 
--- 
T. D. ] 
Samuel Diller, who recently died near Dillsburg, built a church on his 
farm, in which he frequently conducted religious services, and he made the 
building free to clergymen of all denominations. 
Samuel Diller, of Hanover, took a prominent part in the construction of 
the Hanover Branch Railroad, commenced in 1851. 
The list of editors, authors, and writers embraces Miss Kate Barton 
(now Mrs. Neilson), Isaac R. Diller, G. B. Porter Ringwalt, William W. Davis, 
of Sterling, Illinois, Adam Henry Diller (now deceased), Mrs. Lydia A. D. Zell, 
daughter of the late William Diller, of Lancaster, and John Luther Ringwalt. 
In the medical profession, Dr. John Luther, husband of Elizabeth Diller, 
and her son, Dr. John W. Luther, labored long and successfully. The list of 
other physicians of the family embraces Dr. Martin Luther, of reading, Penn- 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
20 
sylvania; Dr. David Diller, now practicing at York Sulphur Springs; Dr. Joseph 
Morritz Diller, of Ohio; Dr. Samuel Ringwalt (my brother, now dead), who 
formerly practiced at new Holland; Dr. H. M. Diller, of Pequea; Dr. John 
Diller, of Westminster, Maryland (deceased), Dr. Charles H. Diller, of Double 
Pipe Creek, Carroll County, Maryland; Dr. Washington h. Baker, of Philadel- 
phia; Dr. John r. Diller, of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania; Dr. Winfield Scott 
Yundt, of New Holland; Dr. Esaias Kinzer (deceased), who practiced medicine 
in Lancaster County for a number of years previous to his election as State 
Senator; Dr. Willoughby Walling, of Louisville, Kentucky, who was, at one 
time, a member of the faculty of the Medical University of that city. 
One of the most eloquent and able lawyers and distinguished judges of 
the State, Hon. George W. Barton, was the husband of Miss Elizabeth Clem- 
son, now Mrs. Barton, a descendant of Philip Adam Diller. Her daughter, 
Kate, married Thomas Neilson, a lawyer already eminent at the Philadelphia 
bar, whose talents promise to advance him to the front rank among the ora- 
tors of the day. George Washington Baker was at one time judge of one of the 
courts at San Francisco. Stewart Leidich, Esq., of Carlisle, a member of the 
Cumberland County Bar, is a descendant of the Diller Family, through the 
second Caspar. A descendant of Philip Adam Diller, viz., Horace Roland, is a 
member of the Berks County Bar. So, also, is Horace Yundt, and his brother 
Harry is a member of the Lancaster County Bar. 
Thomas G. Clemson, a descendant of Margaretta, daughter of Philip 
Adam Diller, devoted his early life to scientific pursuits. He was the first 
American who graduated at the school of mines in Paris. For many years he 
represented the United States in Belgium. 
In general business, the iron industries of the State have engrossed the 
labors, for many years, of descendants of the Baker branch of the Diller fam- 
ily, and at one time Roland Diller, Esq., on New Holland, was interested in 
the same pursuit. Dr. Diller Luther and his brother, Peter D. Luther, were ex- 
tensively engaged for some years in coal mining in Schuylkill County, Penn- 
sylvania. 
So many descendants of the family have been extensively and success- 
fully engaged in mercantile and mechanical pursuits of nearly all kinds, that 
if the list could be rendered complete it would expand over a large proportion 
of the honest and gainful occupations of the age. 
In the migrations of the family at least two of those who went to Cali- 
fornia were successful in business there. One was J. Vogan Diller (now de- 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
21 
ceased), son of William Diller, of the vicinity of New Holland; and the other 
was a member of the Hanover branch, whose death is recorded in the following 
obituary notice, published in the Hanover 
Spectator 
of June 13th, 1877: "On 
Friday morning last the sad intelligence was received here of the death of our 
esteemed former townsman, Isaiah P. Diller, Esq., at his residence at Dividing 
Creek, near Rehobeth, Northumberland County, Virginia on Wednesday 
morning, from an attack of paralysis, superinduced by a heavy sprain received 
a few days previous while assisting a neighbor in lifting some weighty articles 
of merchandise. Mr. Diller was the second son of the late Samuel Diller, Esq., 
of out town, and was a most genial and estimable gentleman, enjoying the 
high esteem and confidence of all who knew him. About twenty-two years ago 
Mr. Diller left here for California and British America, where he amassed 
quite a handsome fortune in gold mining. In 1864 he returned here, and mar- 
rying, remained a number of years, until a few years since having purchased a 
magnificent estate in Northumberland County, Virginia, facing that noble 
sheet of water, Chesapeake Bay, removed thither with his family, where he 
dispensed his hospitality with that lavish liberality and gentlemanly courtesy 
for which all of his family are proverbial. He was in the very prime and vigor of 
life, being aged about fifty years, and his sudden cutting off has caused a gen- 
eral feeling of sadness among his many friends. Green be his memory!" 
While none of the Diller family, of whom I have any knowledge, have ac- 
quired very great fortunes, a number of them have accumulated considerable 
wealth; few have suffered the direst evils of poverty, and I never heard of any 
who were arraigned for disgraceful crimes. In their day and generation, and 
their varied positions, they have borne an honorable and useful part in the 
great battle of life, and the main body of the present generation, of whom I 
have any personal knowledge, are creditable representatives of the American 
advancement of this era. 
The women of the family, especially those of the older branches, of 
whom I know most, and some of their descendants, deserve infinitely more 
credit than it is in my power to give, for the faithful, industrious, praisewor- 
thy, and irreproachable manner in which they have discharged all true wom- 
anly duties. As wives they were models of rectitude and propriety, and true 
helpmates. As widows, charged with the responsibility of leading young fami- 
lies through the perils of childhood, they displayed a heroism that could not be 
too highly praised. As daughters and sisters they were self-sacrificing, and 
serviceable to all who had claims upon their aid, or within the circle of their 
influence, to an extent that commands my heartfelt admiration. These re- 
marks are particularly true of my two grandmothers, born Dillers; of the wid- 
owed sisters of my grandmother Luther; of my mother; of some of my cousins, 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
22 
notably of Mrs. Catharine Maxwell, of Topeka, Kansas; and of my sister, 
Louisa C. Ringwalt; and if similar traits have been displayed by all the fe- 
male members of the family it has better reason to be proud of its women 
than its men, however highly they may justly be esteemed. [One of the lady 
members of the family insists that I shall make this addition here: "It can be 
truthfully said of 
them 
(the men) that they were proverbially kind and atten- 
tive in their homes, excellent providers for their families, and zealous advo- 
cates of the education of their children."] 
CASPAR DILLER'S DESCENDANTS 
Dr. David Diller also furnished me a genealogical chart, and from it and 
other sources, I compile the following: 
--- 
FIRST GENERATION 
Caspar Diller, Senior, born in Alsace, about 1670 or 1675. Died at Loch 
Platz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, about 1770 or 1775, aged 100 years, 
nearly. 
SECOND GENERATION 
1. Philip Adam Diller. 
2. Jean (Han) Martin Diller. 
3. Caspar Diller, Jr.; 
and seven daughters, whose husband's names were Keiner, Croft, Sweiger, 
Breckbill, Imbodia, Ensminger, and Sensabach. 
THIRD GENERATION 
1. Philip Adam Diller had a son named Adam, besides other sons and 
daughters. [A full list of these descendants is given hereafter under the head 
of Philip Adam Diller.] 
2. Jean (Han) Martin Diller had a son Adam, a son John, and perhaps 
other sons and daughters. 
3. Caspar Diller, Jr., had seven sons and five daughters, named Caspar, 
Martin, John, David, Benjamin, George, Solomon, Elizabeth, Catharine, Mag- 
dalene, Juliana, Christiana; one of the daughters was Mrs. Frederick Myers, 
and another Mrs. George Diehl. 
FOURTH GENERATION 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
23 
1. Adam Diller, son of Philip Adam, had three sons, Peter, Adam, John, 
and a daughter, Catharine, who became Mrs. Grove. 
2. Adam Diller, son of Jean (Han) Martin, was twice married, first to a 
Fessler, and second to Elizabeth Brown. 
It is from this branch of the Caspar Diller family that I (J. L. Ringwalt) 
am descended on my father's side, and I personally know of three of the 
daughters of this Adam Diller, as well as his second wife, born Elizabeth 
Brown, who died while I was a child residing in New Holland. These daughters 
were: 1. Catharine, who married Jacob Ringwalt, and became the mother of 
fourteen sons and four daughters (one of the sons being my father, Samuel 
Ringwalt). 2. Susanna, who became the wife of Adam Sheaffer, and had one 
daughter, who became Mrs. Mary Jacobs; 3. Elizabeth, who never married. 
There was, besides, another daughter by the fist marriage, Anna Margaret, or 
Margaretta (Peggy), who married the Peter Diller, her second cousin, from 
whom the Hanover Dillers are descended. 
John Diller, brother of the above-mentioned Adam, lived in the vicinity 
of Churchtown, Lancaster County, and George W. Ringwalt says that he and 
his wife and some of his daughters are buried in the Lutheran graveyard, at 
New Holland, near or by the side of the grave of his brother Adam Diller. 
George W. Ringwalt also recollects that one of his daughters, named Mag- 
dalene, married Simon Mentzer, and that he had two other daughters, one of 
whom was named Elizabeth, who married Joseph Weaver, and another 
named Mary, who died unmarried. It also appears, from letters received by 
Dr. David Diller, in August, 1877, from members of the Maryland family of 
Dillers, that they are all descended from the above-mentioned John Diller, 
and that the list of his descendants included several sons as well as daugh- 
ters. John Diller, of Mount Pleasant, Maryland, in a letter dated August 23, 
1877, says: I am related to Mrs. Simon Mentzer of Maryland, she being my 
father's sister. My father's name was Martin. John Diller, son of Han Martin, 
had three sons, as well as I can recollect, though he may have had one or more 
that died young. The three I have reference to were Adam, Martin, and John, 
and he had four daughters, viz., Magdalene Mentzer, Hetty Sneder, Polly (or 
Mary) Diller, and Betsy (or Elizabeth) Diller. Martin Diller (the youngest) was 
my father. Therefore my genealogy is as follows: John Diller, son of Martin 
Diller, who was a son of John Diller, who was a son of Han Martin Diller, who 
was a son of Caspar Diller, the first Diller in America. My father, Martin 
Diller, had four sons, viz., Levi, Jacob, John, and William H. Diller (who is now 
dead), and two daughters, who are now living, viz., Mary Spurrier and Louisa 
Wright. Levi Diller's address is Green Center, Noble County, Indiana. Jacob 
Diller's address is Mount Pleasant, Frederick County, Maryland. Mary Spur- 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
24 
rier's address is Johnsville, Frederick County, Maryland, and Louisa Wright 
resides near Eureka, Kansas. Martin Diller removed from Musselman's farm, 
adjoining William Bachman's farm, near New Holland, Lancaster County, to 
Johnsville, Frederick County, Maryland, in 1828. Adam Diller, Martin's 
brother, and a son of John Diller, died a few months before I was born. He had 
a son John, who was educated to be a physician by his grandparents on his 
mother's side, and who died at about the age of 67 or 68. A few years ago his 
widow lived in Westminster, Maryland. I have six sons and one daughter liv- 
ing. Dr. Charles H. Diller is my oldest son. He married, and lives at Double 
Pipe Creek, Carroll County, Maryland. My other children are unmarried. Dr. 
Charles H. Diller also states that he was born in October, 1851, that he 
graduated at Maryland University, Baltimore, in March, 1872, and has been 
practicing medicine for nearly six years. 
The following letter, written on November 15, 1877, by Mr. John Diller, 
of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, suggests the query whether the John Diller of the 
vicinity of Churchtown, from whom he is descended, is not the John Diller who 
was the progenitor of the Maryland branch described above, and the brother of 
Adam, progenitor of the Ringwalt family. It will be noticed that the coinci- 
dence of names of the children of the John Diller or John Dillers, from whom 
the Maryland and Lebanon families are respectively descended, is so striking 
that it strongly indicates a common origin. John Diller, of Maryland, says his 
grandfather John had three sons (and may have had more) named Adam, 
Martin, and John, and four daughters, named Magdalene, Hetty, Mary, and 
Elizabeth, while John Diller, of Lebanon, says his grandfather had eight chil- 
dren, named Michael, John, Adam, Martin, Elizabeth, Mary, and two others. 
The Letter of John Diller, of Lebanon, is as follows: 
John Diller, from whom we are descended, lived a number of years ago 
on the Conestoga, one mile from Churchtown, Lancaster County, adjoining the 
Pool Forge. He had eight children: Michael, John, Adam, Martin, Elizabeth, 
Mary and two others. Michael married and removed to Dauphin County. John 
married Stuch's daughter, and lived in Duchmanstown. Adam married Mar- 
garet Mark, of Lebanon, and had four children: Justina, John (myself), David, 
and Mary. Justina married J. Roedel, of Lebanon, and had eight children. I 
married Elizabeth Seltzer, of Jonestown, and had eight children. David mar- 
ried Ann Matthias, of Westminster, and had four. After the death of Justina, 
Mary married J. Roedel, and had on child. I was but five years old when my 
father (Adam) died, which accounts for my knowing so little of his family rec- 
ord. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
25 
3. Martin Diller, son of Caspar Diller, Jr., married first Miss Immel, of 
Chamberburg, and their only child was named Eliza. After the death of this 
first wife, he marred Miss Young, who became the mother of three sons and 
six daughters, the sons being named Martin, Peter ( who is presumably the 
Peter Diller whose statement is published elsewhere), and Joseph, and the 
daughters Mary, Anna, Catharine, Rebecca, Leah, and Juliana. 
4. Samuel Diller, who died some time ago near Dillsburg, was also of 
the fourth generation, through one of the descendants of Caspar Diller, Jr. ; 
and Dr. Joseph Morritz Diller, of Ashland, Ohio, was a son of Benjamin, an- 
other son of Caspar Diller, Jr. 
Of this Samuel Diller the creditable fact is related that he built a 
church on his farm near Dillsburg, free to ministers of all denominations, in 
which he frequently exhorted. 
FIFTH GENERATION 
1. Peter Diller (son of Adam Diller) who married Anna Margaretta 
Diller, his second cousin, and became the progenitor of the Hanover branch of 
the Diller family, had four sons and five daughters, viz., Adam (no issue), Pe- 
ter (no issue), Daniel, Samuel, Anna (married to Alleweit), A. Margaretta 
(married to Grebe), Salome (single), Catharine (married to Johns), and Eliza- 
beth, (married to Marshall). 
The 
Hanover Spectator 
of July 4, 1851, has the following notice of the 
death of the Mr. Daniel Diller, named above: 
--- 
"Died on Wednesday morning last, July 2, 1851, in the vicinity of Hano- 
ver, after several months severe affliction, Mr. Daniel Diller, aged 56 years, 1 
month, and 9 days. Thus has passed away from out midst one of our most es- 
timable citizens. Few men have been able to maintain a more consistent and 
upright course for strict integrity in every department of life. His last mo- 
ments were eminently peaceful, and in the full possession of his faculties, and 
in the enjoyment of the clearest assurance of his readiness for a change. He 
leaves a wife and several children, with many relatives and friends, to mourn 
their irreparable loss, but they sorrow not as those who have no hope." 
Mr. Daniel Diller's widow, Anna, died June 1, 1854, aged 52 years, 3 
months, and 10 days. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
26 
Of the Samuel Diller, son of Peter, of Hanover, named above, the follow- 
ing incident in connection with the commencement of work on the Hanover 
Railroad, on March 20, 1851, is published in the 
Local History 
of Hanover, by 
Joseph S. Gitt: "First appeared the president of the board, Mr. J. Forney, on 
whose shoulder a shovel was gracefully resting. Then came Mr. Samuel Diller, 
a director, bearing the brother implement, the pick. His portly figure gave 
ample assurance of the vigor he subsequently displayed . . . To Mr. Diller be- 
longed the glory of wielding the first pick 
--- 
to him is due the renown of begin- 
ning the actual construction of the Hanover Branch Railroad . . . The company 
returned to town, and were addressed by Mr. Gonder, the contractor, and by 
Mr. Diller." 
2. Adam Diller (son of Adam Diller) had three sons, Adam (no issue), 
Peter (has issue), and Enos (bachelor); and four daughters, Naomi (married to 
Herr), Julia (married to Dietrich), who died a few years ago, Abigail (single), 
and Diana, who married Hoover, both now deceased, leaving two sons. 
3. John Diller (son of Adam Diller) had two sons, John (who has issue), 
and Nathaniel (who has issue); and daughters (whose names are not given). 
4. Catharine (daughter of Adam Diller), who became Mrs. Grove, had a 
daughter named Mary, who married Mr. George Basehoar. 
5. Joseph Diller, of Cumberland County, son of Martin, who was the son 
of Caspar Diller, Jr., had three sons: Edwin (married), Oliver (single), Augus- 
tus (dead), and fourteen daughters, whose names have not been furnished to 
me. One of Joseph's sisters (Anna) was the wife of Daniel Diller, of Hanover, 
and mother of Dr. David Diller, of York Sulphur Springs. It is probable that 
other brothers and sisters of Joseph Diller have descendants, whose names 
have not been furnished to me. 
6. Of the descendants of the children of Adam Diller (in the fifth gen- 
eration from Caspar) there are first, the children of Anna Margaretta, who be- 
came the wife of Peter Diller, and who are enumerated above: second, Mrs. 
Sheaffer, who, according to my recollection, had but one child, a daughter, who 
became Mrs. Mary Jacobs; and third, Catharine, who became Mrs. Ringwalt, 
and who had fourteen sons and four daughters, viz., Elizabeth (dead), Isaac 
(dead), Catharine (dead), Samuel (born in New Holland, July 14, 1799, died 
at Downingtown, May 13, 1875), Cyrus, died December, 1862, Lydia (dead), 
Jacob Diller died December 23, 1871, aged 65, William died May 16, 1871, in 
his 64th year, and Charles (twins), Joseph Clarkson, George W., Margaret A., 
Levi B., Amos, Henry L. (died December 17, 1876, aged 62 years), David, and 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
27 
Louis (who was a member of Sheridan's celebrated cavalry force, and after en- 
gaging in forty-two skirmishes and engagements, was killed near Winchester, 
consistently ending a brilliant and courageous career in bravely defending an 
ambulance of wounded men). 
[All the surviving members of the Ringwalt family named above reside 
in Cumberland County, except Amos, who lives in Lancaster City, and Joseph 
C., who resides in and is mayor of Clifton, near Cincinnati, Ohio. George and 
Charles live near Churchtown, their post office address being Allen P. O., and 
Margaret, Levi, Jacob, and David live in Carlisle. Their father, Jacob Ring- 
walt, husband of Catharine Diller, was the son of Jacob Ringwalt, who emi- 
grated to Lancaster County, from Wurtemberg, where the family is still 
numerous, landing at Philadelphia, September 28, 1753. The immigrating 
Jacob Ringwalt married Barbara Wagner, and had three sons, named Jacob, 
Martin, and George. George died when nineteen years of age, about 1777, and 
was buried in the graveyard attached to Seldomridge's church. Martin lived on 
a farm near Churchtown, Lancaster County. He married Miss Diffenderfer, 
and had children named Ann (who married Mr. Bender, and now lives at an 
advanced age in New Holland), Jacob (who married and had issue, but is now 
dead), George (died without issue), William (who married and had issue, but 
is now dead), John (died without issue), Margaret (dead), Reuben (no issue), 
Martin (no issue), Levi (married), David (married), Elizabeth (who married 
William Smith, of New Holland, and is now dead), Catharine (who married 
Mr. Rutter, and is now dead), Mary (died without issue). All the deceased 
members of the family are buried in the graveyard attached to the German 
Reformed Church in New Holland. After living in the vicinity of New Holland 
until 1825, on a large farm in the eastern end of that town, and being elected 
colonel of a militia regiment, and member of the State Legislature, Jacob 
Ringwalt the second went to Cumberland County in 1825, to take charge of 
sixteen farms of several hundred acres each, belonging to the immense estate 
of Judge Duncan; and one of these farms, on which his family lived, was the 
farm subsequently owned by judge Watts, Commissioner of Agriculture, long 
noted for having the largest barn in the United States. He died December 24, 
1828, in his sixty-third year. His wife survived him nearly thirty years, dying 
March 27, 1858, after discharging with great industry and skill all the duties 
that had been imposed upon her during a useful and eventful life. At the time 
of her death she was in her 83rd year, and sixteen of her children were then 
living. Her grandchildren then numbered eighty-four, so that she had one hun- 
dred and two descendants during her own life, without counting her great- 
grandchildren. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
28 
Of Samuel Ringwalt, who is buried in Northwood Cemetery, near 
Downingtown, a number of obituary notices were published in the journals of 
Philadelphia, Chester, and Lancaster counties. I extract the following from 
the notice in Forney's 
Press 
: "Deceased in early life took a prominent part in 
the affairs of Lancaster, his native county, where he filled many positions of 
tryst and responsibility; and also served as deputy sheriff and brigade inspec- 
tor. His duties in this connection brought him prominently before the public, 
who highly esteemed him for the genial courtesy of his manner, and the 
staunch integrity of his character. In 1840 Colonel Ringwalt removed to Ches- 
ter County, where he has since continuously resided, save when his duties as 
brigade quartermaster under the gallant Meade called him to the field in de- 
fense of his country. With Hon. John Hickman, lately deceased, and other dis- 
tinguished men of Chester County, Colonel Ringwalt took a prominent part in 
protesting against the outrage attempted to be perpetrated by the passage of 
the Lecompton bill. He was a patriot in the fullest sense of the term, a valued 
and respected citizen, and a successful, practical farmer. In all the relations of 
life 
--- 
as friend, parent, and counselor 
--- 
Colonel Ringwalt gave evidence of 
the truest manhood, and justly deserved the high reputation he had so well 
earned." Col. John W. Gorney, then in Europe, writing home to 
The Press 
, after 
receiving intelligence of the death of my father, referred to " his deep interest 
in scientific agriculture, his devotion to his State and country, and especially 
his experience in the war, when in his sixtieth year he entered the Union 
army, and served honorably in a most responsible position. he was the type of 
the best condition of a Pennsylvania Farmer. Down to the day of his death his 
fondness for books and society, his earnest devotion to the development of his 
town and country, and his advanced views in everything relating to the im- 
provement and cultivation of the soil, were actively maintained." 
The 
Chester County Jeffersonian 
, in a very kind and extended notice, 
said: "Of strong and massive physique and noble bearing, his mental quali- 
ties seemed to partake of the powerful organization of his bodily powers. De- 
cided in the maintenance of , and mode of manifesting, his opposition to 
whatever encountered his disapprobation, both in respect to public and pri- 
vate affairs, Col. Ringwalt preserved a heart susceptible of the kindest im- 
pulses, and the warmest attachments. Few men exhibited greater detestation 
of pretense and deceit. As a citizen, he was a useful man, possessing a well 
balanced mind, and the capacity to express his views in a terse and forcible 
manner, both in conversation and with his pen. As a politician he was an ear- 
nest and active supporter of the Democratic party until during the political 
contest of 1858, oat which time a division occurred in both the political par- 
ties, Colonel Ringwalt vigorously supported the late Hon. John Hickman. As a 
friend, he was always faithful and true 
--- 
as an opponent he was equally 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
29 
positive in showing hostility to individuals, and to those acts which failed to 
meet with his approval." 
The descendants of the John Diller, of Churchtown, who was the brother 
of Adam Diller, and the grandson of the first Caspar, in this and later genera- 
tions, are mentioned in the letters already printed from the members of the 
Maryland and Lebanon families of Dillers, but they will be recapitulated, as 
far as known, on the theory that they are all descendants of the John Diller 
who was one of the sons of Han Martin. Of the Maryland branch there is, in 
the fifth generation, Louisa Wright, of Eureka, Kansas; Mary Spurrier, of 
Johnsville, Maryland; William H. Diller (dead); John Diller and Jacob Diller, 
of Mt. Pleasant, Maryland; and Levi Diller, of Green Center, Noble County, 
Indiana. Of the Lebanon Branch there are, in the fifth generation, the children 
of Adam, to wit, Justina, John (now living in Lebanon), David, and Mary. 
7. Of the descendants in the fourth generation through Caspar Diller, 
Jr., named above, the following information is given: Martin had one daugh- 
ter; Peter is a bachelor; Joseph had a number of children, one of whom is 
named Edwin; Eliza married Mr. Bollinger, from Missouri, and has several 
sons; Mary married Mr. Leidich, and has two sons, named Adam M. and 
Diller J.; Anna married Daniel Diller, from Hanover; Rebecca married Mr. 
Black, and has a daughter named Salome; Juliana married Mr. Elbert. 
8. Samuel Diller, one of the descendants in the fourth generation 
through Caspar Diller, Jr., left three sons named Simon, who is a United 
Brethren minister at Churchtown, Samuel who resides at the old home near 
Dillsburg, and Cyrus, who removed to Michigan. 
SIXTH GENERATION 
1. Of the descendants of Peter and Anna Margaretta Diller, in the sixth 
generation from the original Caspar Diller, the following information is given: 
Daniel (of the fifth generation) who married Anna (a descendant of Caspar 
Diller, Jr.), had sons named Adam (no issue), Isaac (no issue), Peter Martin 
(no issue), Emanuel, David, Lewis, and three daughters, Clarissa (unmarried), 
Matilda (unmarried), and Eliza (unmarried); Samuel had six sons, named 
Cyrus, Isaiah, Adain, Simon, William, Luther, and two daughters, Belinda 
and Elizabeth. 
The occupation and residence of the living male members of the Hano- 
ver branch of the Diller family is as follows: Cyrus Diller was a colonel in the 
76th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and is a railroad contractor. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
30 
Emanuel Diller is engaged with Cyrus in the same business; their address is 
Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania. William S. Diller served as a major in 
the late war, and is now in the Custom House, New York. Luther Yundt Diller 
served as captain, was wounded in the Battle of Cold Harbor, and is now in 
the coal and lumber business at East Berlin, Adams County, Pennsylvania. 
Lewis Diller is engaged in the milling business near the same place. Simon J. 
Diller served as lieutenant, and is the proprietor of the Diller House, Hanover; 
Adam S. Diller is a farmer near Hanover; and Dr. David Diller is a physician 
at York Sulphur Springs, Adams County, Pennsylvania. 
2. Mrs. Jacobs, daughter of Mrs. Sheaffer, had one son named Adam, 
and one daughter, Susannah, who married Jacob Ranck, and resides on a 
farm near Beartown, Lancaster County. Mr. Ranck is a descendant of the 
Philip Adam branch of the Diller family, through Philip Adam's son Adam. 
3. The descendants of the original Caspar Diller, in the sixth genera- 
tion, through the children of Mrs. Catharine Ringwalt, are as follows: 1. 
Elizabeth, first married Samuel Diller (of the Philip Adam Branch of the 
Diller family), and had by him three children, Catharine Amelia (who died in 
infancy), Peter, who died without issue, and Charles Augustus Diller, who now 
resides at or near Sterling, Illinois; by a second marriage with Aaron Vogdes 
(a widower, whose first wife was the niece of General Anthony Wayne), she 
had one son, named Jacob, and three daughters, named Anna Elizabeth, 
Sarah Worthington, and Catharine Ringwalt. 2. Isaac Ringwalt married Mary 
Wilson, and had seven children, viz., Elmina, Catharine, Elizabeth, and four 
sons who died in infancy. 3. Catharine Ringwalt was twice married; first, to 
Or. Ferdinand Strine, by whom she had two children, Mary Catharine and 
Ferdinand; and second, to John Vaughn, by whom she had one daughter, 
named Isabella. 4. Samuel Ringwalt was married three times; first, on March 
9, 1824, to Sarah McCausland, daughter of Major William McCausland, of 
Leacock Township, Lancaster County; she had one child that died in infancy; 
second, to Louisa Luther, by whom he had four children named John Luther 
(born October 18, 1828), George Bryan Porter, Louisa Catharine, and Samuel; 
third, to Anna Parke, by whom he had children named Thomas Parke (died in 
infancy), Anna Mary, Ella Virginia (died in infancy), Jacob Parke, Jane Edge, 
and Abiah Parke. 5. Cyrus Ringwalt, who married Ann Sheaffer, had ten chil- 
dren, named Catharine, Elizabeth, George W., Mary Jacobs (who now resides 
at Pittsburgh), Margaret Ann (married William Noaker, and died without is- 
sue), John Jacob, Lydia Sarah, Emma Jane (married Henry H. Geyer, of 
Mechanicsburg), Cyrus, Jr., Louis, and Clara (married Herbert Brigton, and 
died without issue). 6. Lydia Ringwalt, who married Abel B. Amos, emigrated 
to Ohio, and had eight children, Ann Caroline, Frederick, Catharine M., Lydia, 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
31 
Cornelia Elizabeth, Sarah Amelia, Jacob Diller, and Eliza Jane. 7. Diller 
Ringwalt married Mrs. Delaney, and had three children, named Catharine, 
Lydia Ann, and Jane. 8. William Ringwalt married Mrs. Hoffman (emigrated 
to Indiana), and had seven children, named Eli, Catharine, Elizabeth, Char- 
les, Mary, Margaret, and William. 9. Joseph Clarkson Ringwalt was twice 
married; first to Cornelia M. Mizner, by whom he had four children, named 
Lansing M., Henry L., Marc C., Anthony Rutgers; and second, to Elizabeth A. 
Price, by whom he had four children, Elizabeth Price, Joseph C. (died in in- 
fancy), Charles Glenn, and Joseph Clarkson, Jr. 10. George W. Ringwalt mar- 
ried Eliza Lehman, and had two daughters, named Emman and Phoebe. 11. 
Levi B. Ringwalt married Sarah Dewey, and had four children named David, 
Jacob, Joseph, and Mary. 12. henry L. Ringwalt married Mary G. Rumney (a 
great-granddaughter of Hugh Gaine, famous in the annals of New York as a 
prominent printer in that city during the Revolutionary era. His wife was 
Cornelia, daughter of Rip Van Dam, second governor of New York), and had 
nine children, named Robert Rumney, Jacob Joseph (died in infancy), Kate 
Kemp (died in infancy), Henry Louis, Gertrude R., Theodore Lyman, John 
Rumney, Bessie Gaine, and Mary Rumney (deceased). The other children of 
Jacob and Catharine Ringwalt, born Diller, are, I believe, either unmarried or 
without issue. Amos married Maria Hambright, who died recently, and who 
was a member of the Hambright family, distinguished in the military and po- 
litical annals of Lancaster County. A large portion of his life was spent a 
Wilmington, Delaware, where he acquired a competence by displaying great 
industry and skill in the management of a saddle and harness manufactory. 
Charles Ringwalt has also been married for some years. 
4. The Maryland Dillers descended from Han Martin, in the sixth gen- 
eration, embraced Dr. Charles H. Diller, of Double Pipe Creek, Carroll County, 
Maryland, and his five brothers and one sister. The Lebanon Dillers in this 
generation embrace the descendants of Justina, who married J. Roedel, of 
Lebanon, and had eight children; the descendants of John, who married Eliza- 
beth Seltzer, of Jonestown, and had eight children; the descendants of David, 
who married Ann Matthias, of Westminister, and had four children; and the 
descendant of Mary, who married J. Roedel after the death of Justina, and 
had one child. 
5. Stewart Leidich, Esq., member of the Cumberland County bar, is a 
son of Adam M., who was one of the sons of Mary Diller, descendant of 
Caspar, Jr., who married Mr. Leidich. 
SEVENTH GENERATION 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
32 
1. Of the seventh generation, Dr. David Diller has children named Or- 
pheus Ulysses Grant, Ira Darius Alonzo, Reuel Marcus Daniel, Lucius Quin- 
tus Curtius, and Hypatia Blanche Anna Eliza. 2. His brother Lewis had 
children named Mary Martha, Anna Naomi, and Cora Catharine (dead). 3. Of 
the sons of Samuel Diller, of the Hanover Branch, Cyrus has one daughter liv- 
ing, named Mabel; Isaiah has a son named William; Adam had children 
named Isaiah, Alta, and Henry (dead); Simon had three daughters; William 
has on daughter. 
2. The descendants of Mrs. Susanna Sheaffer, born Diller, in the sev- 
enth generation, are the children of Susanna S. and Jacob Rank, viz., Diller J., 
Sheaffer N., Roland J., and Edward M. Ranck. The farm on which they reside 
has been in the possession of the family for several generations. 
3. Of the descendants of Mrs. Catharine Ringwalt, born Diller, in the 
seventh generation, I have been informed of the following: 1. Charles Diller, of 
Sterling, Illinois, son of Elizabeth, married Ann Eliza Thompson, and has five 
children, named Laura, Thomas, Samuel, Roland, and William. Anna Eliza- 
beth Vogdes married George J. Duff, now deceased. She resides in Pittsburgh, 
and has three surviving children, Willamenia E., Kate, and Sophia. Sarah 
Worthington Vogdes married Thomas Dunleavy, and now lives in Carlisle, Pa. 
Her children are named Louis, Margaret, William, Kate, David, and Anna 
Vodges. Catharine Ringwalt Vogdes married Ten Eyck Biles, of Princeton, 
Bergen County, Ill., and has children named Edward de Luce and Bessie Vog- 
des. 2. Of Isaac Ringwalt's children, Elmina married Thomas Thompson, of 
Carlisle, Pa., and her children are named Mary, Calvin, William, David, and 
Amelia. Catharine married John Maxwell; she now resides at Topeka, Kan- 
sas, and her children are named Annie E., Mary, Susan Wyeth, Charlotte, 
William Davis, and John Warren. 3. Of Samuel Ringwalt's children John Lu- 
ther Ringwalt, living at 1218 North Tenth Street, Philadelphia, married, June 
15, 1863, Jesse Elder, daughter of Dr. William Elder, a distinguished writer, 
lecturer, speaker and political economist, and had five children living, named 
Roland, William Elder, Katharine, Louise Luther, and Freda. Samuel Ring- 
walt, Jr., (now dead), married Miss Rebecca Evans Wills, of Downingtown, 
and has a son named John Luther, now living at Downingtown, Pa. 4. Of the 
children of Catharine Ringwalt, Mary Catharine Strine married William 
Gould, and removed to Ohio, and her children are named Harry, James, and 
William. 5. Of the descendants of Cyrus Ringwalt, George W. married Miss 
Lee, and has two children, named Laura and Kate, and probably others. 
Catharine Elizabeth married Mr. Leidig, of Philadelphia, and her children are 
named Anna S., Cyrus David, and Horace Ringwalt. 6. Of the descendants of 
Lydia Ringwalt, wife of Abel B. Amos, who resides in Ohio, Ann Caroline mar- 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
33 
ried Thomas H. Griffith, and their children are named Amos Bradford, Fre- 
derick Thomas, and William Ash. George R. Amos married Mary Dillon, and 
his children are named Frederick Ringwalt, Lydia, and James Handley. 
Catharine Amos married Henry Welsh, and has a son named William Brad- 
ford Welsh. Sarah Emily married Frederick Hartstine, and her children are 
named Willie Amos and Harry Marston. 7. Of the children of Joseph C. Ring- 
walt, Lansing M. married Mary Jeffreis Brown, of Philadelphia, and has a 
daughter named Mary Cornelia. Anthony Rutgers married Rosa B. Riely, of 
Winchester, Virginia, and has children named Robert Joseph and Grace 
Mizner. 8. of the children of George W. Ringwalt, Emma married Joseph Lu- 
ther Herman, and had children named Charlie Clayton and John Luther 
(dead). Phoebe married Harry Musser Rupley, and had children named Ar- 
thur Ringwalt and Lucy Ellen. 9. Of the children of Henry L. Ringwalt, Robert 
Rumney, who now lives at Detroit, Michigan, married Catharine Dermont, 
and has a daughter named Gertrude Rutgers. Gertrude R. Ringwalt married 
Noel O'Brien, of Detroit. 
EIGHTH GENERATION 
1. Of the daughters of Catharine Maxwell (daughter of Isaac Ringwalt), 
Annie E. married William Walker Campbell, of Topeka, Kansas, and has a 
daughter named Mary Catharine. Susan Wyeth married George H. McCollis- 
ter, of Topeka, Kansas, and has a daughter named Maud. 2. Anna, daughter of 
Catharine Elizabeth, the daughter of Cyrus Ringwalt, married Charles F. 
Weber, of Philadelphia, and has a daughter named Florence Gertrude. 3. Wil- 
lamenia E. Duff married Henry Balkan, one of the proprietors of the Kensing- 
ton Iron Works, of Pittsburgh, and has a son named Edward Duff Balkan. 
DESCENDANTS OF PHILIP ADAM DILLER 
During the progress of the labors connected with the preparation of this 
sketch, I have become convinced that the Philip Adam Diller who was the 
grandfather of Roland and Solomon Diller, of New Holland, was that son of 
Caspar Diller whose name is given in Dr. Diller's list as Jean (Han) Adam. I 
base this opinion, first, on the statement of my grandmother Ringwalt, born 
Diller, already reported. Second, on the belief entertained in New Holland, by 
members of the family now residing there, as reported in the extract I have 
quoted from Mr. Levi A. Diller's letter. Third, upon the impossibility of recon- 
ciling the acknowledged close relationship between the New Holland and 
Hanover branches of the family on any other theory; and upon other reasons 
elsewhere stated. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
34 
Information that has a bearing upon the history of all branches of the 
family, and the original immigration, is therefore derived from the fact, that a 
record in this Philip Adam Diller's Bible, now in the possession of Roland 
Diller, Esq., of New Holland, contains a statement that he was a native of 
Phaltz, or the Palatinate, and born at a place about eleven and a half miles 
from Heidelberg. He was born March 8, 1723. The probability, stated else- 
where, that his father after going from Alsace to Holland, and thence to Eng- 
land, returned to the Palatinate, in Baden, near Heidelberg, is greatly 
strengthened by the fact that Philip Adam was his son. His Bible was printed 
in Nuremberg, in 1747. It is a volume of 1274 pages, embracing the Augsburg 
Confession, Chronological table, and origin and meaning of names. 
Of Philip Adam Diller, the only information I have gleaned, beyond the 
list of his descendants, is herewith submitted. I have kept it distinct from the 
previous portions of this sketch, partly to avoid confusion, partly on account of 
the doubts as to the exact nature of the relationship between Philip Adam 
Diller and Caspar Diller, which confused me when I commenced the labors 
submitted herewith, and partly because the sources of information are wholly 
distinct from those on which the preceding pages are founded. As Philip Adam 
Diller must also have been a immigrant, I have, in this list, put him in the 
first generation, notwithstanding the fact that he was probably one of the two 
sons who, according to tradition, came over here with the original Caspar 
Diller. 
Mr. Levi A. Diller informs me that while nothing is now remembered of 
the personal characteristics of Philip Adam Diller, by the New Holland de- 
scendants, they know where he lived. It was on what is now known, and has 
been known for many years, as the Isaac Smoker farm, located on Mill Creek, 
about one and a half miles south of New Holland, and not far from the Welsh 
Mountains. There all his children were born, including Adam (progenitor of 
the Hanover branch), and Peter (progenitor of the branch to which my mother 
belonged). On this farm, Philip Adam Diller's youngest son, Isaac, lived after 
the death of his father. His oldest son, Adam, lived on a farm adjoining, which 
descended to his son Adam, who was a drover and dealer in cattle, was well as 
a farmer, and was commonly called Adam Diller the drover; and the largest 
portion of this estate has always since been in the possession of his heirs and 
descendants, until a few years ago, when it was purchased by Henry Mussel- 
man. The property mentioned above, as far as know, was the only land he 
(Philip Adam) owned. His son, Peter Diller, owned what is now five good sized 
farms, between New Holland and the Welsh Mountains. He also owned a 
large tract north of the turnpike, from New Holland to Hinkletown. This land, 
however, he got through his wife, and it was sold early. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
35 
FIRST GENERATION 
Philip Adam Diller, a native of Pfaltz, or the Palatinate, was born at a 
place about eleven and a half miles from Heidelberg, on March 8, 1723. Died 
September 8, 1777. Elizabeth Ellmaker, his wife, born August 9, 1727; died 
December 4, 1807. [She was the daughter of Leonard Ellmaker, who emi- 
grated from Germany, and settled in Earl Township in 1726. His son, Nathan- 
iel Ellmaker, was a member of the State Senate in 1796; and his grandsons 
were, first, Levi Ellmaker, who became a prominent citizen of Philadelphia, 
and had six daughters, viz., Mary, who married Mr. Willis; Matilda, who suc- 
cessively married Mr. Stewart and Rev. John Chambers; Laura, who married 
Robert Pettit of the navy; Caroline, who married William Patterson; Louisa, 
who married Dr. Maris, and Julia, who married rev. Mr. Waller; and second 
Amos Ellmaker, born in New Holland in 1787, who was in turn a President 
Judge, tendered a Cabinet position by President Monroe, candidate of the 
Anti-Masonic party for Vice President in 1832, and a candidate for United 
States Senator in 1834, as the opponent of James Buchanan.] 
SECOND GENERATION 
Their children were: 
--- 
1. Adam Diller, born 1746, of Mill Creek, father of Peter, John, George, 
Adam, Catharine, and Sallie. [The descendants of this Adam Diller are more 
particularly enumerated in the preceding pages, from the information fur- 
nished by Dr. David Diller.] 
2. Anna Maria (commonly called Mary) Diller, born 1748, who married 
John Bare. 
3. Christina Diller, born 1750, married Peter Baker and emigrated to 
Virginia. 
4. Magdalina Diller, born 1752, married Michael Kinzer. 
5. Margaretta Diller, born 1755, married Frederick Baker. 
6. Leonard Diller, born 1759, died 1798, ancestor of General Adam 
Diller, Sheriff of Lancaster County in 1828, and other children named hereaf- 
ter. 
7. Peter Diller, born April 20, 1761, died December 13, 1816, father of 
Squire Roland Diller, Solomon Diller, Mrs. Wilson, and Mrs. Luther, of New 
Holland, and other children named elsewhere. 
8. Isaac Diller, born 1763, died 1835; father of William Diller, a farmer 
near New Holland, and Jonathan Diller, who married Ann Weaver, who sub- 
sequently became Mrs. Morgan L. Reese, of Downingtown, Chester County. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
36 
THIRD GENERATION 
1. Adam married Salome Yundt. Their children were Peter 
2 
, George, 
John, Adam, Sallie, and Catharine. 
2. Anna Maria married John Bare, who kept a tavern at the place 
which has now become Bareville, on the New Holland and Lancaster turnpike, 
four miles west of New Holland. her son, Adam Bare, born March 21, 1789, is 
still living (1877) at the advanced age of nearly 89 years. He remains as ac- 
tive as most men of 60, and in full possession of all his faculties. He was suc- 
cessively elected auditor, sheriff, and commissioner of Lancaster County. He 
had sisters, who respectively married Michael Johns, Henry Good, and Henry 
Bare, who have each left a number of descendants. Mr. Levi A. Diller saw 
Adam Bare in the latter portion of November, 1877, and states that " he says 
he recollects well when Peter Diller moved to Hanover, and he visited him 
there once." He also substantiates, from personal knowledge, the statement 
that Peter Diller, of Hanover, was the son of Adam Diller who married Salome 
Yundt, and who was one of the sons of Philip Adam Diller. 
3. Christina Married Peter Baker, and removed to Virginia. They had 
several children. One of their daughters married Jacob Diffenderfer, of New 
Holland, who was in the Revolutionary army. I believe he entered it as a 
drummer boy, and, according to histories of Lancaster County, he was present 
at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Another daughter married a man 
named Harding. 
4. Magdalena married Michael Kinzer, and had children named Wil- 
liam, Mary, Elizabeth, Catharine, George, Amos, and Margaret. 
5. Margaretta married Frederick Baker. Their children were Elizabeth, 
Mary, Frederick Diller, Catharine, Margaret, and Elias. 
6. Leonard married Mary Magdalene Hinkle, of Hinkletown (one of the 
family who founded that town), Lancaster County; and their children were 
Jeremiah, George, Elijah (died in infancy), Adam, Elizabeth, and Mary. 
7. Peter married Elizabeth Roland on May 18, 1784. Their children 
were Isaac, born February 7, 17--, died July 21, 1813 (no issues); George (died 
in infancy); Catharine (who died in infancy); Elizabeth, born October 28, 1789, 
died September 30, 1869, at 5 o'clock A.M.; Amuel, born November 21, 1791, 
died November 20, 1820; Mary, born July 2, 1793, died June 10, 1866; 
Catharine, born June 7, 1795; Lydia, born March 21, 1797; Roland (no issue), 
born December 5, 1799; Solomon, born February 10, 1802; Amos (died in in- 
fancy); Levi (no issue), born February 1, 1805, died September 17, 1829; and 
Maria, who died in infancy. 
2 
This son Peter, according to the understanding of the New Holland branch of the family, is the progenitor 
of the Hanover branch 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
37 
8. Isaac Diller married Susanna Rolan, and had children named Jona- 
than, Catharine, William, Julia, Isaac, and Rachel. His second wife was 
Maria Graybill, by whom he had Graybill and Emma Crise (twins), Adam 
(who subsequently lived in Illinois), and Amos. 
The Peter Diller named above, who was my great-grandfather, was born 
April 20, 1761, and died December 13, 1816. He married, on May 18, 1784, 
Elizabeth Roland, who was born June 23, 1767, and died October 11, 1830. 
During nearly all his life he resided in New Holland, in the old stone mansion 
east of the brick residence of Roland Diller, Esq., which house was subse- 
quently occupied and owned by my father, Samuel Ringwalt, from about 1837. 
Peter Diller, however, removed to Lancaster City in the spring of 1800, and 
subsequently returned to New Holland in the spring of 1802. He combined the 
business of farmer, merchant, and innkeeper, and in these labors was greatly 
assisted during his life by his energetic wife, who conducted many of them 
with great success after his death: superintending the operations of the farm, 
stare, and tavern, and also directing with great skill and carefulness the nu- 
merous household duties connected with domestic manufactures of clothing, 
linen, and food. She was, I believe, the granddaughter of Col. John Huber, 
whose name is mentioned in a history of Lancaster County, published since 
Rupp's, as the colonel of one of five battalions formed in 1777, for the support 
of the cause of Independence. Peter Diller, as elsewhere stated, exercised an 
important influence in politics by promoting the selection of his favorite can- 
didates. 
The Peter and Frederick Baker, named above, were brothers, who mar- 
ried sisters 
--- 
Christina and Margaretta Diller. Peter lived in Manheim 
Township, Lancaster County, from whence he emigrated to Virginia, where 
some of his descendants attained distinction. Those named Harding formerly 
resided in Powhatan County, not far from Richmond. Frederick Baker came 
from Germany, and lived with his brother Peter, until he purchased about 300 
acres of limestone land in Pequea, Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, 
seven miles south of New Holland, and two miles north of the present Gap 
station on the Pennsylvania Railroad. he had some capital, was intelligent 
and energetic, and quite a scientific farmer. At considerable expense he 
dammed the Pequea Creek, and built works to raise water to irrigate his 
farm, the land of which was considerably higher that the creek. The records of 
Saint John's Church, at the Compass, one of the earliest Episcopal churches 
in the State, show that he was an active member of the vestry. He was suc- 
cessful as a farmer and business man. He died in Philadelphia in 18--, after 
undergoing a painful and dangerous surgical operation by Dr. Physic, and was 
buried in Christ Church graveyard, Philadelphia. His widow died at Millwood, 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
38 
on Pequea Creek, 183-, and was buried in Saint John's churchyard in Chester 
County, Pa. 
FOURTH GENERATION 
1. Of the descendants of Adam Diller, the son of Philip Adam, further 
information is given in the preceding pages, based on Dr. David Diller's 
statements, as he was presumably the father of Peter Diller, founder of the 
Hanover branch of the family. I have also been informed that George had sons 
named Lewis, George, and Jacob, and that John was the father of the John 
Diller living near New Holland in 1875, Mrs. Jacob Ranck, who died about or 
shortly before that time, and other children; but Susanna S. Ranck, wife of the 
Jacob Ranck, now living near Beartown, writes me as follows in regard to his 
Diller ancestors; "My husband's mother was Lucy Diller, a daughter of John 
Diller, who was a brother of Adam, Daniel, and George Diller; and her broth- 
ers are Nathaniel and John Diller; her sisters were Polly Geigley, Joanna 
Sheaffer, Savilla and Racheal Diller." Adam had several sons, and also sev- 
eral daughters, who still reside in the vicinity of New Holland. 
2. Adam Bare (son of Anna Maria Diller, wife of John Bare) was mar- 
ried to Sarah Graybill in 1814. They had twelve children, five of whom died in 
infancy and childhood. The others are as follows; Elias, he kept the Bull's 
Head Hotel, on Market Street, Philadelphia, for many years, and died in the 
fall of 1877. Diller married (his second wife) a daughter of Isaac, grandson of 
Philip Adam. Wayne, not married. Adam (no issue) emigrated to Alabama in 
1859, died in 1875. He was a skillful mechanic and engineer. During the war 
he was pressed into the Confederate service, and was compelled to oversee a 
large shovel manufactory, making shovels and tools for the army. He was also 
for some time engaged in the superintendency of the building of bridges. He 
was in comfortable circumstances before the war, but,. like many thousands of 
others, the war ruined him. Wilson's cavalry raid capped the climax of his pe- 
cuniary losses. John G. emigrated to California in 1856, where he still resides, 
engaged in prospecting and mining for gold. Caroline married twice. Her first 
husband was Samuel W. Groff, and second Isaac R. Brubaker. Catharine mar- 
ried Levi W. Groff, a great-great-grandson of Hans Groff, one of the first set- 
tlers of Earl Township. Caroline (her sister's) first husband, Samuel W. Groff, 
was a brother of Levi W. Groff. The latter has a large family. 
3. Of the descendants of the daughter of Christina Diller, who married 
Jacob Diffenderfer, there were four sons, Peter, William, Jacob, and Samuel, 
and one daughter, Date, married to Hawkins. They all had issue except Peter. 
Samuel settled in Circleville, Ohio. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
39 
4. Of the descendants of Magdalena Diller, who married Michael Kin- 
zer: 
A). William Kinzer's children were B. Franklin, William Weidler, 
Louisa, who married Lemon, Maria (deceased), who married Abraham 
Smoker, Caroline, Elizabeth, Lucetta, who married Hurst (deceased), Lydia 
(deceased), and Margaret, who married John Wallace. 
B). Mary Kinzer married George Bender, and had children named Kin- 
zer, who is married and has issue; and William, who was killed in a steam- 
boat explosion on one of the Western rivers or lakes; a daughter, who married 
Benjamin Owens; and a daughter who married Benjamin Hull, of Philadel- 
phia. 
C). Elizabeth, who married John Bender, and has children named 
David, Michael, John, George, and Maria. All the sons married and have is- 
sue. Two of the sons met with violent deaths, one being drowned and one 
thrown from a horse and killed. 
D). Catharine married Jacob Rhoads, and had children named Isaac, 
Eliza (deceased), who married Isaac Kurtz and had issue, Margaret, William, 
Julia, who married Jacob Worst, and had a daughter named Margaret. 
Catharine subsequently married John Sweigart (deceased), and had issue 
named Eveline and Jacob, who married and has one child. 
E). George Kinzer had children named Maria Magdalena, Amos, 
Esaias, Nathaniel Ellmaker, Elias, Anna, Margaret, George W., Harriet, Levi 
E., William P., Caroline T., and Elizabeth. 
F). Amos Kinzer had children named Catharine, who married Samuel 
High; Theodore A., who married Mary G. Roland and has issue; William 
Henry Harrison, who married and has issue; Anna Margaret, who married 
Mr. Mellvaine and has issue; George Hines, who was lost on the ship Golden 
Gate, in 1861, when on his way home from California; Dr. Esaias Kinzer, who 
represented Lancaster County in the State Senate, and married Catharine 
Roland, daughter of Henry Roland, deceased, of New Holland, and had a son 
named Roland (deceased), and a daughter name Annie; Nathaniel Ellmaker 
Kinzer (deceased), who married Lydia Wallace, but left no issue; Elias, who 
married and had two children, named Margaret and Annie; Anna Margaret, 
who married George Diller, and has children, named Emma, Lucinda, Anna, 
and George; George W., who married and has one daughter, Annie, now resid- 
ing in California; Harriet, who married Mr. Vanbuskirk and has children, now 
residing in Pottstown, Pennsylvania; Levi E., who married and has issue; 
Elizabeth, who married Aaron Custer, and has issue, now residing in 
Pottstown; Wm. P. (deceased), who married Jane Slaymaker, and had three 
children; and Caroline T. (deceased). 
G). Margaret married George Weidler. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
40 
5. Of the descendants of Margaretta Diller, who married Frederick 
Baker: 
A). Elizabeth married Thomas Clemson, a prosperous merchant of 
Philadelphia, and had children named John Baker, Louisa, Thomas Green, 
Elizabeth, William Frederick, and Catharine M. 
B). Mary married David Ferree, of the vicinity of Parkesburg, Chester 
County (a representative of the old Huguenot or French Protestant Ferree 
family), and had children named Diller, Margaret, Maria, Elizabeth, Sarah, 
Catharine, Sophia, Lydia, Louisa, David, Adam, and a child who died in in- 
fancy. 
C). Frederick Diller Baker married Alice Abigail Boyd, whose father 
was a descendant of the Boyd family, of Scotland, of which the Earl of Kilmar- 
nock, who was beheaded for being an adherent of the Stuarts, was a distin- 
guished representative. Their children, all living at this time, are Margaret 
Elizabeth, Jane Catharine, William Frederick, born 1817, Joseph Boyd, born 
September 21, 1820. [He now resides on a finely situated farm, near Down- 
ingtown, Chester County. He entered the service of the Reading Railroad Co. 
in 1835 as rodman in the engineer corps stationed at Pottstown. In 1838, he 
was an assistant engineer in the State service in governor Porter's admini- 
stration, and assisted in the resurveying of the celebrated Tape Worm Rail- 
road, which had been laid out and built by a previous administration. Chief 
Engineer Wm. K. Huffnagle made from this survey his report of that extraor- 
dinary work to the Canal Commissioners in 1838 or '39. While in the service 
of the State he had charge as engineer of the Columbia and Philadelphia 
Railroad, and the Canal from Columbia to Duncan's Island. In 1852, he was 
appointed Superintendent of the Columbia and Philadelphia Railroad, which 
at that period was considered one of the most important political offices in 
the State. He resigned in the spring of 1857 to accept the appointment of Col- 
lector for the Port of Philadelphia, tendered to him by his distinguished 
friend, President Buchanan.] George Washington, born 1822, graduated at 
Harvard, studied law in Lancaster, went to San Francisco. [He was elected 
judge of one of the courts, discharged the duties of that position in an impar- 
tial and satisfactory manner, and has lately been engaged in literary and sci- 
entific pursuits.] La Fayette, born 1824, continued to live at Millwood until 
his mother's death, sold the property and removed to Philadelphia, where he 
is successfully engaged in the grain and commission business. 
D). Catharine, married Col. Frederick Eichelbeger, at one time a mem- 
ber of the State Legislature from York County, and a handsome and agreeable 
gentleman. Their only child, a daughter, named Margaret, died in childhood. 
E). Margaret, married James McClelland, and had one daughter, 
named Louise, who was the first wife of Abraham Russel, and who left at her 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
41 
death a number of children, and two sons, one of whom is Elias McClelland, 
now living in Western Pennsylvania, and another, Henry, who lives at Alle- 
gheny Furnace, near Altoona. 
F). Elias married Hetty Woods, a daughter of David Woods, of Lancas- 
ter County. He was a thorough business man, of indomitable energy. In 1834 
he sold his property in Lancaster County, having previously purchased the 
large and grand estate known as Allegheny Furnace, near Huntingdon, to 
which he removed. Part of Altoona is built on this property. He died in 185-. 
Their children are named David Woods, Sylvester H., and Annie. 
6. Of the descendants of Leonard Diller: 
A). Jeremiah went to seek his fortune in Kentucky about 1807, going 
the whole distance on foot, which is an evidence of the enterprise and perse- 
verance which characterized him; after accumulating considerable means by 
cabinet making, he invested in steamboats; he owned and commanded several 
which ran between Louisville and New Orleans. He married Elizabeth Abell, 
and had four daughters, viz., Caroline L., who married Christopher Greenup 
Castleman; their descendants are living, some in Texas, and some in the In- 
dian Territory, while Mrs. Elizabeth Duffield lives with the widowed mother 
in Nebraska City, Neb., and has for a number of years been a prominent 
teacher there. Angeline married John Lee, and resides at Eureka, Missouri; 
Sarah E. married James P. Thompson (both are deceased). Ellen M. married 
Dr. George M. Walling; they reside in Louisville; their son, Willoughby Wall- 
ing MD, is a rising young physician, and was at one time a member of the 
Faculty of the Louisville Medical University. In 1864 Jeremiah Diller was 
married a second time, to Lucy Shirley, of Lancaster, Pa., and he died in 1869, 
aged about 80 years. 
B). George married Lydia Souder, a woman of remarkably good mind 
and sound sense. Their children are William (deceased), who married 
Catharine Schweitzer; Rev. Jacob W., who married Angeline Van Nostrand; 
Catharine (deceased), who married John Reilly; George J., who married Mary 
Kreider; Samuel, who marred Mary Dautz; Isaac, who married Anna Frey; 
Sarah A., who married William Wallace Fisher; and Mary A., who was a suc- 
cessful teacher in Lancaster, and now lives in Chambersburg, Pa. George died 
December 21, 1858; his wife, Lydia, February 22, 1845. 
3 
C). Adam married Barbara Hoffman, February 20, 1813. Their children 
are Jeremiah, who was lost on a steamboat on the Ohio River, near Louisville, 
October 4, 1835; Amos, now living in Philadelphia; Adam Henry, who was 
admitted to the bar in 1847, removed to Springfield, Ill., where he died De- 
ceiver 20, 1848; and Eliza (died in childhood). In 1831 he married a second 
3 
Their graves are in St. James Churchyard, Lancaster, Pa. --T. D. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
42 
wife, Mrs. Mary A. Risdel Owen, and had a daughter, Eliza J. Diller, now liv- 
ing in Philadelphia. In 1840 he again married, taking for his third wife Susan 
Riehle; their son, William R., also resides in Philadelphia. Adam took an ac- 
tive part in forming and leading a Lancaster County cavalry troop to Balti- 
more, or that vicinity, during the second war with Great Britain. In 1827 he 
was elected Sheriff of Lancaster County, was subsequently appointed Adju- 
tant General of Pennsylvania under David R. Porter's administration, which 
office he held for six years. He removed to Philadelphia in 1840. Under Gen- 
eral Taylor's administration he received the appointment of Naval Store- 
keeper. He was known through life as General Adam Diller, and died April 2, 
1859, in his seventieth year. 
D). Elizabeth, who remained unmarried was known as Mess Betsy 
Diller, during a long and useful life; she was, in all respects, an example to her 
younger relatives, by whom she was regarded as such, and greatly beloved; her 
sweet temper, and lovely Christian character, won the hearts of all who knew 
her. She died August 1, 1869, aged 75 years. 
E). Mary married Jacob Weaver; they soon afterwards removed to 
Franklin County, Pa. Their children are Elizabeth, married to Jacob Hege; 
John, married to Fanny Lehman; Maria, married to Daniel Lehman; Rebecca, 
married to Michael Hege; Anne, married to Moses Shank; Lydia, married to 
Isaac Burkholder; George D. (deceased); Fanny, married to John Reifsnyder; 
and Hannah. This branch of the family belong to the religious body known as 
Mennonites, are most exemplary people, and are all engaged in farming 
around Chambersburg. 
7. Of the descendants of Peter Diller: 
A). Elizabeth, born October 29, 1789, died September 30, 1869, mar- 
ried Dr. John Luther, of New Holland, and had issue: 
1. Louisa, died February 28, 1835 (who married Samuel Ringwalt). 
2. Dr. Diller Luther, now agent of State Board of Charities of Pennsyl- 
vania, Collector of Internal Revenue of Berks County under Lincoln's admini- 
stration, and at an earlier period a practicing physician, and extensively 
engaged in mining coal in Schuykill County. 
3. Dr. John Weaver Luther, died April 25, 1870, who practiced as a phy- 
sician for a number of years in New Holland, with great success and accept- 
ability to the entire population of that vicinity. 
4. Martin (who died in infancy). 
5. Roland Augustus (who entered West Point in 1832, and graduated in 
1836, when he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the second regiment 
of artillery, made first lieutenant in 1838, promoted to a captaincy in 1847, 
went with his regiment to Florida, and there participated in several of the en- 
gagements with the Seminole Indians; took part in troubles with Creeks and 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
43 
Cherokees; marched to the northern frontier in Michigan, when troubles with 
Great Britain were impending; joined forces of General Taylor in the Mexican 
War, distinguished himself by gallantry at Palo Alto, where he was so se- 
verely wounded that he was compelled to come north; then received his com- 
mission as captain, recruited a company in New York, and sailed to join the 
forces of General Scott, then in the city of Mexico; after this was stationed in 
Charleston harbor on garrison duty, but continued to suffer from the wound 
and diseases contracted in Mexico, and his health failing rapidly, returned to 
New Holland, where he died in 1853; he was a skillful soldier, well versed in 
the literature and practical duties of his profession). 
6. Peter Diller (who, during most of his active life, was engaged in man- 
aging coal mining operations in the vicinity of Pottsville, Schuylkill County, 
where he now resides). 
7. and 8. Catharine and Elizabeth (who now reside in New Holland). 
9. Cornelius Hiester (who died in infancy). 
10. Martin (who is a leading physician of Reading, Pennsylvania). 
B). Samuel Diller, born November 21, 1791, died November 20, 1820, 
married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Ringwalt, and had issue a daughter, 
who died in infancy, and two sons, Peter and Charles Augustus. Peter was 
married to Sarah Simpson, of Philadelphia, but he died without issue in De- 
cember, 1872, in Texas, to which State he emigrated a few years before the 
rebellion, and where he became a prominent citizen, having been elected 
Mayor of Brenham, in Washington County; Charles, born April 28, 1818, mar- 
ried Ann Elizabeth Thompson, of Newville, in June, 1840, and removed to vi- 
cinity of Sterling, Illinois, in 1850. 
C). Mary, born July 20, 1793, died June 10, 1866, married Henry Shirk, 
and formerly lived in New Holland. Her children were Elizabeth Diller, who 
married Cornelius F. Roland, of New Holland, Maria Louisa, Mary Anna, who 
married Luther Diller, Henry, Diller, Luther, Lydia, who married Jacob R. 
Johns, Roland, two children who died in infancy, and Catharine Amelia, who 
died in 1832, when in her sixteenth year. 
D). Catharine married Morris Wilson, and had issue, one daughter, 
Anna E., who married Dr. John G. Moore, surgeon-dentist of New Holland. 
E). Lydia, born March 21, 1797, married Rev. Peter Filbert, a Lutheran 
clergyman, who was in charge of the congregation of the Bergstrass Church, 
near the northern boundary line of old Earl Township, from 1813 to 1823, and 
who for a considerable period also had charge of the congregation at New Hol- 
land and other Lutheran churches in that vicinity, but who subsequently 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
44 
abandoned the ministry, and removed to Reading, Pennsylvania, of which city 
he was at one time mayor. Her children were Peter Diller, deceased, Samuel, 
who has long been extensively engaged in the lumber business at William- 
sport, Pennsylvania, Anna E., married to John T. Craig, Henry M. (deceased), 
Lydia A., Mary Louisa, William F., deceased, Catharine A., married to Harvey 
Birch, Roland D., deceased, John R., deceased, and two children, Catharine A. 
and Susannah, who died in infancy. Of these sons, Henry M., and Roland D. 
were both killed in the late war, while engaged in the Union service, Henry M. 
being captain of a company of which Roland D. was a member. 
F). Solomon Diller, born in Lancaster City, February 10, 1802, to which 
place his parents removed in the spring of 1800, returning to New Holland in 
the spring of 1802, has always since resided in the neighborhood of New Hol- 
land, and been a successful farmer. In 1836, 1837, 1838, 1839, he was one of 
the representatives of Lancaster County in the State legislature. He married 
Margaret Ann James, of Chester County, September 16, 1834. Their issue are 
Elizabeth Grace, who married Levi Jones, James, Levi Augustus (who mar- 
ried Julia Barton Davis, daughter of Gabriel and Susanna R. Davis, of Ster- 
ling, Illinois), John Roland, who married Susan Styer, only daughter of John 
and Susanna Styer, Emma Catharine (deceased), Anna Mary (deceased), 
Sarah Emeline (who married George W. Styer, son of John and Susanna 
Styer), Horace (deceased), Alfred Newton, and Annie Elvina. 
8. Of the descendants of Isaac Diller: 
A). Jonathan, who married Ann Weaver, had issue named, Weaver, 
Susanna (who married Gabriel Davis, and now lives at Sterling, Illinois), 
Maria, who married Reuben Ruth, Isaac R., who now lives in Chicago, Illinois. 
(In early life he learned the printing business, and subsequently took an ac- 
tive part in literary, military, and political affairs in Pennsylvania and Illi- 
nois. He was a quartermaster with the rank of captain in the Mexican War. 
Edited and published in Philadelphia about 1843, in conjunction with Adam 
Henry, son of General Adam Diller, a newspaper called the 
Citizen-Soldier 
, in 
which the early stories and sketches of George Lippard were first published; 
also printed at Harrisburg a Democratic newspaper called the 
Pennsylvania 
Reporter 
. After he removed to Illinois, in 1848, he was clerk of one of the 
branches of the legislature of that State, and Chairman of the Democratic 
State Committee in the exciting campaign of 1856. He was an active friend of 
Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, and was appointed by James Buchanan Consul at 
Bremen, a position he held until some time after the inauguration of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. With that President Isaac R. Diller was also well acquainted, 
and at his request he instituted a number of experiments about the year 1862 
or 1863, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, which had reference to the manufac- 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
45 
ture of a superior explosive substance to be used in the war of the Rebellion), 
Roland W. married Miss Ridgway, of Philadelphia, and lives in Springfield, 
Illinois, Annie, who married Augustus Ayers, a banker in Jacksonville, Illi- 
nois. 
B). William Eiller, married Mary Vogan, and had issue named Roland, 
Vogan (who went to California, and was pecuniarily successful in that State), 
Luther (who married Mary Ann Shirk, of New Holland), Margaret (who mar- 
ried Isaac Hull, of New Holland), and Susan, who married George W. Smith, of 
New Holland. 
C.) Julia, who married Mr. Graybill, had issue named Eliza Binkly, 
Abraham, Susan Bowman, Kitty, Maria, Julia Getz. 
D.) Isaac, who married, successively, two Miss Graybills, had issue by 
the first wife (Susan G.) named Susie and Nancy, and by the second wife, 
named Sallie G., his issue were named Rachel and Roland. 
E.) Rachel, who married Philip Sprecher, had issue named Susanna 
(who became Mrs. Styer), Jonathan, Rachel (who married Mr. Miller), Wil- 
liam, George, and Date, who married John Reigart. 
F.) Of Isaac Diller's issue by his second wife, Maria Graybill, there was, 
1. Graybill, who married Lucy Miller, and had issue named Maria, now 
the wife of Col. Joseph C. Hess, of Philadelphia; Isaac, who at last accounts 
was living at Holly Springs, Mississippi; Levi, and George, who married 
Theresa, daughter of Christian Rine, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; 
2. Emma, who married Henry Crise, and had issue, Maria, Graybill, 
Lucinda, and Henry. Maria married Cyrus Mentzer; 
3. Adam, who removed to Illinois; 
4. Amos, of New Holland, who married Mary Carpenter, and has issue 
named Edwin, Emman, and William. 
FIFTH GENERATION 
To this generation belong, 1st, descendants of Adam Diller; 2. Grand- 
children of Jacob Diffenderfer and his first wife, the daughter of Christina and 
Peter Baker. 3. The great-grandchildren of Magdalena Diller, who married 
Michael Kinzer. They are numerous. Independent of those already mentioned 
under the head of fourth generation, there are the children of Maria Mag- 
dalena, daughter of George Kinzer, who married Henry Yundt, who for a num- 
ber of years kept the Blue Ball Tavern, on the Downingtown and Harrisburg 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
46 
Turnpike, fifteen miles east of Lancaster, and has issue named Anna Marga- 
ret, who married Michael Witmer, and has issue; Henrietta Caroline, who 
married B. Frank Kinzer, and had children named Kate (deceased) and 
Maria; Louisa, who married Reuben Seidel, and had ten children; Elizabeth, 
who married Dr. Samuel Welchens, surgeon dentist, of Lancaster, and has 
several children; Emma, who married Bodo Otto, of Williamsport, and has is- 
sue; Edwin Henry, a lawyer in Lancaster, Horace A., a lawyer in Reading; Har- 
riet C., Clarissa A., and Cr. W. Scott, who married Emma Glue, and has issue. 
4. The descendants of Margaretta Diller, who married Frederick Baker, 
in this generation, include the following: 
--- 
A.) The children of Rev. John Baker Clemson, of Caymont, Delaware. 
His first wife was Margaret Bull, and their children were Lizzie, who married 
Fisher Hazzard, of Mauch Chunk; Annie, who married George L. Washington; 
Thomas G., who married Miss Ogden, of New York; and Maratha. Mr. Clem- 
son's second wife was Phoebe Waln Lewis, of Philadelphia, and their children 
embraced a daughter, now dead, who married Mr. Joseph Hartel, and a 
daughter named Mary. 
2. Louisa Clemson married Dr. Walter Washington, of Charlestown, 
Jefferson County, Virginia, who was a great-nephew of General George Wash- 
ington, and a nephew of James Madison, the fourth President of the United 
States. Their children were Lucy, who married John Packett, a descendant of 
Gen. Packett, of the Revolutionary Army; Christine, who married Mr. Wash- 
ington, a son of John A. Washington, who formerly owned Mount Vernon; 
George L., who married Annie Clemson (as mentioned above), and Annie 
Steptoe, who married Thomas A. Brown, of Jefferson County, Virginia. 
3. Thomas Breen Clemson married Anna, daughter of Hon. John C. 
Calhoun, formerly United States Senator from South Carolina, and had four 
children, two of whom died in infancy, a daughter, Florida, now dead, wife of 
Mr. Gideon Lee, of New York, and a son named Calhoun, who is now dead. 
4. Elizabeth Clemson married Hon. George Washington Barton, a dis- 
tinguished lawyer, and judge of one of the courts of Philadelphia, and had one 
daughter named Kate. 
5. William married Susan Dore, of Nova Scotia. 
6. Catharine married George Washington North, of Philadelphia, and 
had eight children; one died in infancy; Clemson, who married Harriet Delford, 
of Mauch Chunk, and now lives in Wilkes-Barre; George H., who married Hat- 
tie Robins; William Frederick, who married Fannie Delleker; Rev. Walter 
North, who married Mrs. Eleanor Clinton, of Buffalo; and Bessie, Clarence, 
and Herbert. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
47 
B.) Of the children of Mrs. Mary Ferre, Diller married Miss Dewees, 
and had several children; Margaret married Peter Worrest, and had several 
children; Maria married Park McClelland; Sarah married Mr. McPherson, 
and had four children; Catharine married Mr. Pettit and had Alexander, of 
Kennet Square, Chester County; Lydia married Dr. Kirkwood, and removed to 
Arkansas; she has three children, one daughter and two sons; Louisa married 
Jesse Miller, of Kennett Square, and has several children; David, who resides 
on the old homestead, one mile above Parkesburg, married Miss Elizabeth 
Ann White and has several Children; Adam is also married and has issue. 
C.) Of the children of Frederick Diller Baker (son of Frederick Baker) 
and Alice Abigail, his wife: 
1. Margaret E. Baker married Abraham A. Russel, merchant, of Lan- 
caster. They have no children. 
2. Jane Catharine Baker married Dr. William M. Gemmill, of Kent 
County, Maryland. Their children are Frederick, Baker, and Alice Boyd. 
3. William F. Baker married Martha C. Houston, daughter of Samuel 
Houston, Esq. His mother was a daughter of John Hopkins, the grandfather of 
Generals Augustus and Alfred Pleasanton, and other prominent men. Their 
children are Frederick D., who died in California, Samuel Houston, who is now 
a commander in the US Navy, Horatio, and William. 
4. Joseph Boyd Baker and Lafayette Baker married sisters; the former 
Annie and the latter Mary Franklin Hopkins, daughters of Washington 
Hopkins, a brilliant and fascinating young lawyer of Lancaster, who died in 
the very beginning of a career already made bright by his genius, and grand- 
daughters of James Hopkins, a distinguished lawyer of the same place, with 
whom Ex-President Buchanan studied law. He always maintained the highest 
veneration for his preceptor, as being a courtly gentleman, and a brave, able, 
and dignified lawyer. James Hopkins' wife, Anne Ross, was a granddaughter 
of Col. George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Their mother, 
Mary Franklin, was a daughter of Walter Franklin, of Philadelphia, who was 
appointed by Gov. Snyder President Judge of Lancaster, York, and Lebanon 
counties, which at that time formed one judicial district. His wife, Annie Em- 
len, was a direct descendant of George Emlen, who accompanied William Penn 
to Philadelphia. Joseph B. And Annie H. Baker's children are named Emily 
Mewbold, born 1847, married in 1870 to Henry B. Griffith, issue James 
Buchanan Griffith, born in 1871; Alice Boyd, born 1852, married 1877 to Ed- 
mund Graff Hamersly, lawyer, of Philadelphia; and Joseph B., Jr., born in 
1853, resides in 1877 with his parents in Engleside, Chester County. Mary H., 
Walter F., and George Ross died in childhood. George Washington Baker mar- 
ried Miss Mary Lane, niece of Ex-President Buchanan. She died without issue 
in San Francisco, California. Lafayette, as already stated, married Mary F. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
48 
Hopkins. Their children are Dr. Washington H., Mary F., Frederick Diller, Wil- 
liam Boyd, and Emily N. 
D.) The children of Elias Baker and Hetty Woods his wife, are: David 
woods, who married Sarah Tuthill, of Princeton, NJ, daughter of Mrs. Louisa 
Tuthill, the author of several interesting and instructive books for children. 
He graduated at Washington College, had good address and fine abilities, 
was attached to the US Army Coast Survey, and was employed in the North- 
ern States; was killed when returning to his station, after visiting his wife 
and young daughter at Princeton, by inhaling hot steam, caused by the explo- 
sion of the steamboat Reindeer on the Hudson River. His daughter, Louisa 
Woods, recently married a Swedish professor, Ernest Beckman, son of Rev. 
Professor Beckman, of Sweden, and she now resides in Sweden. Sylvester H. 
Is unmarried and lives with his mother at Allegheny Furnace, conducting the 
extensive business left by his father, Anne also lives with her mother. 
E.) The descendants of Leonard Diller, in the fifth generation, embrace 
the children of William R. Diller (son of General Adam Diller), who now re- 
sides in Philadelphia. He married Harriet Ashmead, daughter of James 
Ashmead, of Hartford, Connecticut, and has issue named Charles Ashmead 
and Henry Leonard. The descendants of Jeremiah Diller, George Diller, and 
Mary Weaver are numerous, some living in Pennsylvania, and some in Ken- 
tucky, Nebraska, Texas, Indian Territory, and Missouri. 
F.) Of the descendants of Peter Diller, in the fifth generation, there are: 
1. The grandchildren of his daughter, Elizabeth, who married Dr. John 
Luther, viz.: The children of Samuel Ringwalt and Louisa Luther 
4 
, as follows: 
4 
The following obituary notice of Mrs. Louisa Ringwalt (whose remains were buried in the Lutheran 
graveyard, New Holland), written by Dr. Henderson, appeared in a newspaper punlished in Waynesburg, 
Chester County, shortly after her death; 
Died, at New Holland, on the 25th of February, 1835, Mrs. Louisa Ringwalt, in the 29th year of 
her age, wife of Col. Samuel Ringwalt. 
The announcement of the death of the aged or the very young seldom excites in us an unusual sen- 
sation. Because each season, as, with its vicissitude of weather, it successively comes, threatens to sever the 
attenuated and brittle cord of the one, while the latter are grequent subjects of disease, which their tender 
frames enable them long to endure, and whose sufferings, generally short, we are well assured, are but the 
preludes to a blissful change. But when we hear of those taken away in the noon of life, while dispensing 
usefulness and felicity around them, our tenderest sensibilities are awakened; and a feeling thrills coldly 
through every nerve. 
This fact we behold strikingly exemplified in the decease of Mrs. Ringwalt in the prime of wom- 
anhood, a wife with a young and interesting family, one a tender babe, growing up around her, whose infan- 
tile years allow them not to estimate the loss which in a mother's death they have sustained. Her character 
was domestic; she was kind and conciliatory to all who knew her; to an attentive and affectionate husband, 
always attractive and engaging. As a daughter and a sister, her value is best learned amid the tears and regrets 
of her own kindred. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
49 
John Luther, George Bryan Porter, Louisa Catharine, and Samuel. The chil- 
dren of Dr. Diller Luther, who married Amelia H. Spayd, of Reading, Pennsyl- 
vania, and had children named Emma and John Martin. The children of Peter 
Diller Luther, who married Elizabeth Mills, daughter of Thomas Mills, of 
Pottsville, and had children named Roland Cornelius, Thomas Mills, Walter 
Scott, and Henry Morris. 
2. The children of Charles A. Diller, of Sterling, Illinois (who was the 
son of Samuel Diller), viz., Laura, now Mrs. Hugh L. John, Thomas, Samuel, 
Roland, and William. These children were all born in New Holland, except 
William, their father having removed from New Holland, in 1850, to Illinois, 
where William was born. 
3. The grandchildren of Mrs. Mary Shirk, in the fifth generation, are as 
follows: Elizabeth Diller Shirk was married to Cornelius F. Roland, of New 
Holland, on October 22, 1846, and their issue are Charles Augustus (died in 
infancy), Horace, Henry Shirk, and Cornelia Elizabeth. Mary Ann Shirk was 
married to Luther Diller in 1842, and had six children. Her husband died 
about 1855. Three of her children, Henry, Abigail, and Enos, died in infancy. 
Three survive, Margaret, who married George Ream in 1869; William, now 
engaged in the commission and produce business in Philadelphia; and John 
Vogan, who manufactures saddles and harness in New Holland. Henry Shirk 
married Ann Dick, who died without issue. Diller married Rachel Wilson, but 
has no children. Roland married Clara Showers, and has children named 
Henrietta, Elizabeth Showers, and Frederick Showers. Lydia married Jacob 
R. Johns, and died January 19, 1867, leaving seven children, named Anson, 
Mary, Annie, Isaac, Alice, Christian, and Louisa. Five of them reside in Dau- 
phin County. Where their father removed; Alice resides in Philadelphia, and 
Louisa in New Holland. 
4. Anna E. Wilson, who married Dr. Moore, has a son named Roland 
Moore. 
5. The grandchildren of Mrs. Peter Filbert, of Reading, are in the gen- 
eration. 
6. The grandchildren of Solomon Diller, of New Holland, are in the gen- 
eration. Those now living (1877) are as follows: Elizabeth Grace, who married 
Levi B. Jones, has children named Annie, Harry Diller, Edward and Emeline 
Torbert. Levi A., who married Julia Barthon Davis, has children named Hor- 
ace Eskine, Susan Davis and Annie Elizabeth. John Roland Diller, who mar- 
ried Susan Styer, has a son named Charles Styer. Sarah Emeline, who 
Her disease, one of the worst of a pneumonic character, though short, was exceedingly severe; yet 
it did not deter her from fixing her attention on that "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
And as the last scene of her earthly existence approached, as well as throughout her whole sickness, she 
exhibited a marked instance of Christian patience and resignation, awakening in all who surrounded her dy- 
ing bed the wish that their latter end might be like hers. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
50 
married George W. Styer, has children named Horace Diller and Elizabeth 
Grace. 
G. The great-grandchildren of Isaac Diller, son of Philip Adam, are de- 
scendants of the latter in the fifth generation. This list includes: 
1. The children of Gabriel and Susanna Davis, viz., William White, 
Julia Barton, Hervey Gabriel, Newton (deceased), Edward Eiller, Henry 
Laurens, and Charles Augustus; of Roland W. Diller, of Illinois, who had a son 
named Isaac R., Emman, who married John Ayers, and other children; and the 
children of his sisters, Maria, who married Mr. Ruth, and had two sons 
named Diller and Frank, and Annie, who married Mr. Ayers, of Jacksonville, 
Illinois. Their children are Florence, who married Eugene Trainor; Ann Reese, 
lately married to Mr. Alexander, a son of the Illinois cattle king, John W. Al- 
exander; Augustus, Grace, and Elizabeth, deceased. 
2. The children of Luther Diller (given above); Mrs. Hull, wife of Isaac 
Hull and daughter of William Diller, has children named Hannah Roland, 
Laura, Charles, harry, Margaret, and Vogan; and Mrs. George W. Smith, of 
New Holland, has children named Edward, Ida, married to G.W. Townsley, 
Annie, and Mary. 
3. And doubtless a number of other descendants, whose names have not 
been furnished to me. 
SIXTH GENERATION 
This list embraces: 
1. John Luther Ringwalt, of Downingtown, who is the son of Dr. Samuel 
Ringwalt, deceased, formerly of New Holland, who married Rebecca Evans 
Wills, of Downingtown. 
2. The children of John Luther Ringwalt, of Philadelphia, who married 
Jessie Elder, daughter of Dr. William Elder, Katharine, Louise Luther, and 
Freda. 
3. Granddaughters of Dr. Diller Luther, of Reading, Date, married to 
Reuben Hale of Reading; and Louisa. 
4. The children of the sons of Peter D. Luther, Roland C., who married 
Theresa Yengling, of Pottsville, where he now resides; and of Thomas Mills 
Luther, who married Rose Behm, of Reading, where he now resides. 
5. Horace Roland, grandson of Mrs. Shirk, married Ellen S. Daly, of 
Easton, and has a son named Charles. There are, also, a number of descen- 
dants in this generation, of whose names I have not been informed, as the list 
would include all the great-great-great-grandchildren of Philip Adam Diller, 
and the descendants of the persons and families already named. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
51 
A P P E N D I X 
THE FAMILY GRAVEYARDS ON LOCH PLATZ. 
Reference is made on one of the preceding pages to the family grave 
yard on Loch Platz, established there in accordance with a custom common 
among the early settlers in the vicinity of New Holland, in which Caspar 
Diller is presumably buried. As that farm, after remaining in the possession 
of various members of the Diller family for more than a century, was trans- 
ferred during the last few years to new purchasers, the following statements, 
forwarded to me by Mr. Levi A. Diller, suggest the desirability of a removal of 
the remains of some of the early Dillers to one of the public graveyards in New 
Holland, if such a step is feasible. Under date of December 11, 1877, he writes 
as follows: 
I have just returned from a visit to the graveyard mentioned in your let- 
ter, which I received last evening. I found there the tomb of Adam Diller, born 
December 23, 1783; died February 16, 1835. Beside him is buried Julianna 
Dietrich, who died in 1876; one tomb of Diller Hoover, a young man, a son of 
John and Diana Hoover, the latter was a sister of Mrs. Dietrich; also a tomb- 
stone of another young child, which I could not decipher, being in German, and 
very indistinct; besides all these there are three or four more graves, with 
nothing but common stones at head and foot to indicate that they are graves. 
This and nothing more could I make out in this particular graveyard. But Mr. 
Abraham Smoker (a con of Isaac Smoker, who for many years lived on the 
Philip Adam Diller farm), who has lived all his life on a farm adjoining the 
Adam Diller farm, in fact, it is part of the original tract of the Philip Adam 
Diller farm, pointed out to me the spot where Han Martin Diller was buried. 
This information he got when he was a boy or young man, and he had often 
seen the grave-stone there. It is a few hundred yards south of the Adam Diller 
graveyard. The story, as he heard it, was that Han Martin would not be buried 
in the old graveyard for some reason, and before his death selected this spot, 
under a chestnut tree, not far from the Welsh Mountains. It is all cultivated 
now, and has been for some years. The chestnut tree is gone, and nothing 
whatever remains to mark the spot. He (Mr. Smoker) recollects seeing the 
grave or graves there, but can only recall the name of Han Martin Diller as 
one of the occupants of those graves. I asked him whether he ever heard of 
Caspar Diller in connection with the graves. His reply was, he often heard the 
name of Caspar mentioned by the old Diller folks, but whether it had any con- 
nection with that burial-place he cannot recollect, but the name, Han Martin, 
he recollects distinctly, being told often by the Diller boys ( viz., Peter, Adam, 
and Enos) who was buried there, and how he came to be buried there, and not 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
52 
in the old graveyard. At any rate nothing remains there now to indicate the 
spot or place of burial. My father is under the impression he, Caspar, must be 
buried in the old Adam Diller graveyard. The graveyard is very old; it was 
there during his recollection, and it may be one of those unmarked graves is 
his. Mr. Smoker thinks others were buried under the old chestnut tree, at 
least there was more than one grave. 
After writing the above, I met Mr. William Dietrich (Julianna Diller's 
husband). I inquired of him about the chestnut tree graveyard. He says it has 
not been more than five or six years since the tombstones were removed, but 
where to he is not able to say. Mr. Dietrich says there were five or six large 
sized stones, some very old, but the names he knows nothing of. No doubt 
Mrs. Dietrich and her sisters had them removed, but where, nobody here 
knows. 
APPENDIX, AUGUST, 1942 
to 
THE DILLER FAMILY BOOK 
Published by J.L.Ringwalt, November, 1877 
(By Theodore Diller, MD) 
The Diller reunions, 1910, 1915, and 1939, have been held in New Holland, 
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, since this publication; and at the last of 
these the Caspar Diller Family Association was formed. In the interim be- 
tween the meetings, a Council, of which Alonzo Diller, Lancaster, Pennsylva- 
nia, is president, represents the Association. Dr. Theodore Diller, 
6861 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, is secretary. Two of the original members of 
the Council, since it was created, namely, Mr. George S. Townsley, of New Hol- 
land, and Dr. Samuel W. Diller, Jr., of Lancaster, who had faithfully served on 
it, have since passed away. The council records its sense of great loss in the 
death of these two men. Both were deeply interested in the welfare of the As- 
sociation. Mr. Townsley had served faithfully as its secretary. The Council, 
with Amos Diller, of Chambersburg, recently visited Lebanon, Pa., and there, 
in the Hill Cemetery identified the grave of Caspar Diller. The marker reads: 
Hier Ruhet 
Caspar Elias Diller 
Geb. in jahr anno 1696 
Junius den 25ten 
Ist alt worden 91 jahr, & 5 monten 
Near Caspar Diller's grave is that of one, Imboden, who married one of 
Caspar's daughters. It is supposed that Caspar's last years were passed in 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
53 
the home of his daughter and her husband in Lebanon. The graves of Philip 
Adam and Leonard, are in the Lutheran graveyard, at New Holland, and are 
clearly marked. George, son of Leonard and wife (Souder) are buried in St. 
James' churchyard, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 
THE BROOKLYN DILLERS 
(By Albert Diller, Norwalk, Conn.) 
Rev. Jacob William Diller, DD, son of George Diller, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 
son of Leonard, son of Philip Adam, son of Caspar, progenitor of the New Hol- 
land Dillers, was one of eight children, viz., Jacob, William, Isaac, George J., 
Samuel, Sarah (M. Fisher), Catherine (M. Reilley), and Mary (M. Fisher). 
He was persuaded by Rev. Dr. William Augustus Muhlenberg to study for 
Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. [He was rector of St. Luke's Church, 
Brooklyn, for 38 years, and perished in a steamboat fire in 1880. He was 
highly honored and respected. His name was a household name in his com- 
munity for genuine piety and benevolence.] 
A tablet to the memory of the above named Diller brothers was, a few years 
ago, placed in St. Johns' Episcopal Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, com- 
memorating their labors in the foundation of this parish, called the "Free 
Church", since from its beginning no pews were ever rented. 
A splendid photograph of these five Diller Brothers is extant, and is highly 
prized. 
Jacob William Diller, DD, born September 25, 1810, son of George Diller, of 
Lancaster, Pa., came to Brooklyn in 1835 as assistant to Rev. E. M. Johnson, 
Rector of St. John's Church in what was then the village of Brooklyn. In 1837 
he married Angelina Van Nostrand, daughter of Losee and Elizabeth Van 
Nostrand, of Brooklyn. Soon after his marriage, Dr. Diller moved to Vermont 
and was Rector of St. Stephen's Church in Middlebury for four years. Three 
children were born there: William Augustus Muhlenberg, 1837; Elizabeth Ly- 
dia, 1839; and Angelina, who died in infancy. 
In 1842 Dr. Diller returned to Brooklyn and accepted the first rectorship of St. 
Luke's Church, "situated in a cornfield," which charge he retained until 1880, 
the date of his death in the burning of the SS Seawanhaka. Four children were 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
54 
born in Brooklyn: Katherine Mary, 1842; George, 1844 (died in infancy); Sarah 
Christina, 1848; and Ellen Caroline, 1850. 
William A. M. Diller, married Mary Abigail Welles. He was a distinguished 
musician. He had for some years charge of the organ of Trinity Church, New 
York. Later he was organist and choir master of St. Mary's and Grace Church, 
in Brooklyn. He died in the year 1880. 
There were two sons and two daughters: 
1. Francis Jacob William Diller, born 1863. Retired vie president of the 
Brooklyn Trust company. He married Jean Pollard, 1900. Residence: La Jolla, 
California. Two sons: 
A.) Eliot Van Nostrand Diller, Ph. D., born, 1904. Professor. Married Berta Ill, 
1929. Residence: Mills College, Oakland, California. One son: 
1a). Anthony Van Nostrand Diller, born 1940. 
B.) Britton Welles Diller, born 1908. Married Elizabeth Driscoll, 1938. Resi- 
dence: San Diego, California. 
2. Helen Elizabeth Diller, born 1866. BS Columbia University, New York. Re- 
tired Instructor of Teachers' College. Residence: Rock Hill, S. C. 
3. Alfred Welles Diller, born 1872. Advertising Agency, New York and Nor- 
walk, Connecticut. Married Marion Hamilton Wiggin, 1904. Residence: Sil- 
vermine, Norwalk, Conn. Two sons and one daughter. 
A.) Kendrick Welles Diller, born 1909. Advertising and Public Relations. Mar- 
ried Gretchen Davis, 1940. Residence, Center Ossipee, N. H. One son Peter 
Welles Diller, VI, 1941. 
B.) Barbara Hamilton Diller, born 1911. Textile designer. Residence: Nor- 
walk, Conn. 
C.) Theodore Van Nostrand Diller, born 1917. Advertising. Residence: Nor- 
walk, Conn. 
4. Angela Diller, born 1877. Musician. Residence, New York. 
Elizabeth Lydia Diller, unmarried. Died, 1880. 
Katharine Mary Diller, married George F. Matthew, D.Sc., LL.D., Scientist 
and Customs Officer for 63 years at St. John, N.B., Canada. Eight children: 
1. William Diller Matthew, born 1871. Ph. D., Columbia University, New 
York. Curator, Natural History Museum, New York. Married Kate Lee, 1905. 
Three children. Died 1930. 
A.) Elizabeth Lee Matthew, born 1906. Married Ira C. Nichols, MD Residence: 
Province, R. I. Two children: 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
55 
1a.) Thomas M. Nichols, born 1935 
2a.) Lee C. Nichols, born 1938. 
B.) Margaret M. Matthew, born 1911. Married Edwin H. Colbert, 1933. Resi- 
dence: Leonia, NJ Three Children. 
1b.) George M. Colbert, born 1937. 
2b.) David W. Colbert, born 1939. 
3b.) Philip V. Colbert, born 1940. 
C.) William P. Matthew, born 1914. 
2. Eliza Catherine Matthew. Unmarried. Residence, Clifton, New Brunswick, 
Canada. 
3. Elizabeth Mary Matthew. Married Edward Manning, LL.B., Musician. 
Residence: New York. 
4. Harrison Tilley Matthew. Agent McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New 
York. Married Agnes C. Hughes, 1908. Residence: White Plains, NY Three 
children. 
A.) George H. Matthew. Married Mary Greene, 1939. Residence: Dallas, 
Texas. 
B.) Dorothy Diller Matthew. Married Lawrence Edmonds, 1937. Residence: 
Willesley Hills, Mass. One son, Peter L. Edmonds. 
C.) Marjorie M. Matthew. Married Frederick H. Porter, Jr., 1937. Residence: 
New Milford, Conn. One son, Frederick H. Porter, III. 
5. George Matthew, MA, Columbia University, New York. Teacher at Massey 
Country School. Bronxville, NY Married Alice Ethel Owen-Jones, 1905. Six 
children. (She died 1918.) Remarried 1923 to Lucille A. Dressler. One child. 
Residence: Bronxville, NY 
A.) Alice K. Matthew, born 1906. Married Robert Huse. Two children, Guy 
Huse and Rupert Huse. 
B.) Helen E. Matthew, born 1907. Married Murray McConnel. Two children, 
Stephen McConnel and Matthew McConnel. 
C.) Lucile G. Matthew, born 1911. 
D.) Enid Matthew, born 1913. Married Ogden Goelet. One child, Enid Goelet. 
E.) Amy J. Matthew, born 1915. Married Hallett Stiles, 1939. Residence: 
Farmington, Conn. 
F.) Deborah A. Matthew, born 1916. Married Dudley G. Butterfield. Resi- 
dence: Rothesay, N. B. Canada. One son, George Butterfield. 
G.) George Matthew, born 1935. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
56 
6. Robert Theodore Matthew. Bank of Montreal, Chatham, Ontario, Canada. 
Died, World War, 1915. 
7. Charles Frederick Matthew, born 1881. Married Margaret E. M. Tyler, 
1907. Residence: Norfolk, Va. Four children, Mary Eloise Matthew, born 1908 
(married); Douglas D. Matthew, born 1910; Lyon Tyler Matthew, born 1911; 
Elizabeth He. Matthew, born 1916 (married). 
8. John Douglas Matthew (deceased). Married Olive McGowan, 1916. Resi- 
dence: Charleston, SC Three children, Robert T. Matthew, born 1918 
(married); Clelia P. Matthew, born 1924; and William McCowan Matthew, 
born 1926. 
Sarah Christina Diller. Married Robert Matthew, merchant and sugar 
planter, Cuba. Three children, Christina Diller Matthew (unmarried); Eliza- 
beth Theodora Matthew (married Rev. Percy T. Olton, who was Rector of 
Christ Church, Towanda, Pa., and later of St. James' Church, Newark, N. J. 
Children.); and Marion Douglas Matthew, married Ralph L. Underhill, 
Teacher (deceased) Children. 
Ellen Caroline Diller. Married Harry F. Wilson, Stock Broker, New York. Four 
children. 
1.) Jacob Diller Wilson, born 1881. President American Elevator Company, 
New York. Married Laura C. Condit, 1902. Two children 
A.) J. C. Diller Wilson, Jr. Married. Two children, Elizabeth A. Wilson, born 
1935; and Ada M. Wilson, born 1940. 
B.) Helen C. Wilson. Married Fullerton. Two children, Polly Fullerton, born 
1926; and Nancy Fullerton, born in 1933. 
2. Henry Fowler Wilson, born 1882. Vice president Bankers Trust Company, 
New York. Married Ruth Gray Ludlow, 1910. Died 1937. Residence: 
Montclair, NJ 
3. Helen Wilson. Musician. Unmarried. Residence: Montclair, NJ 
4. Elizabeth Wilson, born 1886. Married Herbert Delapierre, Treasurer, Kelly- 
Springfield Tire Company, 1907. Residence: East Orange, NJ Two children, 
Janet E. Delapierre, born 1908 (married); and Suzanne Delapierre, born 1913 
(married). 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
57 
Dr. Theodore Diller, son of George, George, Leonard, Philip Adam, Caspar, 
was born 1863. Married Rebecca Craig, 1899. Died 1908. Three Children, 
Winifred, born 1902 (married A. C. Mann and had three children Winifred, 
Donald, and Peter); Theodore, born 1904 (Married Barbara Cox, 1935, and 
have one child, Ann, born 1938); and George Ellmaker, born 1906 (Professor of 
French, Dartmouth College. Married Constance Weeks, and have two chil- 
dren, George Theodore, born January 1, 1940, and John W., born 1942). 
Henry A. Diller. Married Kate Kellar. Four children, George; Rev. Howard 
Keller (married S. Kline. Rector of Trinity Church, Pottsville, have one child, 
Ruth); Henry (deceased); and Ellen (married Reginald Kauffman, Three Chil- 
dren). 
DILLER, NEBRASKA 
This thriving small town was settled by descendants of Francis Diller, who 
settled in Lancaster County, about twenty miles from New Holland, several 
years after Caspar's arrival. His distinguished descendant, Dr. J.S. Diller 
(recently deceased) of the US Geological Survey, has been able to learn but 
very little of him. This town was visited by Hughes Diller, grandson of Isaac 
Diller, of Springfield, late in 1941. He found the town a thriving one, and dis- 
covered Diller names very frequently. He was everywhere received cordially. 
THE ILLINOIS DILLERS 
(Sketch by Isaac Diller, of Springfield, Illinois) 
John Wolfersperger is the son of William White Davis, the oldest son of 
Susanna Roland Diller Davis and Gabriel Davis. John's mother's name was 
Margaret Wolfersperger, and John's wife was Helen Marie Spies. They had 
three children, John, Jr.; Betsy Ann, who married John B. Reinhart, and they 
have two daughters, Betsy Ann and Nancy Reed Davis. The second boy is 
named Robert. 
Augustus Marshall Ayers was the son of my father's youngest sister Annie E. 
Diller Ayers. He married Mary Brown, and they had the following children: 
Augustus Townsend Ayers, born November 28, 1890; Edward Howe Ayers, 
born August 17, 1892, Clara Elizabeth Ayers, born December 23, 1894, and 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
58 
Harmon Allen Ayers, born March 19, 1899. There are also eight grandchil- 
dren, two boys and six girls. 
[Note by Dr. Theodore Diller: Isaac Diller, son of Roland, son of Jonathan, son 
of Isaac, brother of Leonard (grandsons of Caspar), 88 years old, is hale, 
hearty, alert and keenly interested in Diller family history. He attended the 
last Diller reunion. With ease he operates his own automobile. Cousin Isaac is 
probably Springfield's leading citizen. He is the chief Lincoln authority in the 
town, and has been interviewed by all Lincoln writers visiting Springfield. 
Lincoln loafed a good deal in the drug store of Cousin Isaac's father. Cousin 
Isaac has no end of Lincoln stories.] 
BRIEF SKETCH OF THE DOWNINGTOWN DILLERS 
After attending the third reunion of the Diller Family, November 4, 1939, the 
first time I have personally met any number of the name, as Dillers are as 
scarce in our section of Illinois as the proverbial "hen's teeth," I felt glad I was 
one of them. We are from the Diller's of Downingtown, although they moved 
there from "good old Lancaster County: shortly before the birth of my father, 
Roland Weaver Diller, in 1822. 
My grandfather, Jonathan Diller, 1791-1831, was a great grandson of Caspar 
Diller, through Philip Adam and Isaac Diller line. He married Ann Weaver, 
(1795-1870) in Lancaster County, March 4, 1813. While residing at Bird-in- 
Hand, conducting a tavern near Blue Ball, they became the parents of two 
sons and two daughters: Weaver, who died in 1816, and Susanna Roland, born 
in 1915, Maria Weaver, born in 1817, and Isaac Roland, 1819. The opportu- 
nity to become proprietor of the established Swan Tavern, in Downingtown, on 
the main pike from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, and a thirty-mile stop from 
Philadelphia, was presented and taken advantage of. While in the new loca- 
tion, a son, Roland Weaver, was born, 1822, and a third daughter, Annie 
Elizabeth, 1828. Jonathan Diller was a man of great physical strength; but a 
serious illness caused his death in 1831. His widow after a few years married 
Morgan L. Reese, and became the mother of two daughters, Sara E., and Fan- 
nie E. Reese, who both lived to a good old age in Downingtown, where their 
parents both died and rest in the Quaker burial ground. The Diller children all 
found homes in Illinois in the following order: 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
59 
Maria Weaver, was married to Reuben F. Ruth, a native of Reamstown, Pa., 
in Philadelphia, in 1841, and accompanied her husband to Springfield, Illi- 
nois, where he was established in the harness and saddlery business and 
later added a general store of dry goods, groceries, etc. He became a man of 
wealth and for the last fifteen years of his life was president of the Springfield 
Marine Bank, which still boasts it is "the oldest bank in Illinois." He died in 
1883. They were the parents of two sons: Jacob Diller, born 1843, and died 
1879. He married Annie Bacon, and they were the parents of a daughter, 
Georgie, who married Harry Stephens, and died in California in June, 1941, 
and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery on the Ruth family lot, beside her 
parents, husband and grandparents. A younger son, Reuben Francis, born 
1856, married Maude Morgan in 1901, and they became the parents of two 
children, Reuben F., III, and Georgia Morgan. The parents live in La Jolla, 
California, and Reuben, Jr., lives in Los Angeles, where he is in the bond 
business, and has a daughter, Patricia Anne. Georgia married Marcel Jotter- 
and, an architect of Brussels Belgium, and they have two daughters, Anna 
Marie and Anita Lor. Susanna Roland Diller married a merchant of New Hol- 
land in Philadelphia, in 1835. The ceremony was performed by Bishop White. 
In the '50's, they moved to Sterling, Illinois. They were the parents of seven 
children: William White, Julianna Barton, Gabriel Hervey, Isaac Newton, 
Edward Diller, Henry Lawens, and Charles Augustus. All are now among the 
departed. William White was an educator, editor and writer of prominence. 
He always signed his writings "W.W.D." He married Margaret Wolfensperger, 
and they were the parents of a son and daughter, John W., and Susan Roland. 
John graduated from the Engineering Department of Illinois University, mar- 
ried Helen S., and had two sons, John and Robert, and a daughter, Betsy. 
John, Jr., married and had a son, who died in 1941. Betsy also married and 
has two children, and lives in Webster Grove, Mo. Robert lives with his par- 
ents in Kirkwood, Mo., and John, Sr., is a responsible member of a large St. 
Louis construction iron firm. Edward Diller married in Sterling, and was for a 
long time engaged in the mercantile business there, in Contralia, Illinois, and 
afterwards in California, where he died. His widow and daughters reside 
there. Julia married Levi A. Diller, who was engaged in the hardware busi- 
ness in Sterling, and had two children, Horace and Annie E., who live in the 
old Davis home, in Sterling. Charles Augustus was in the hardware business 
in Sterling. He was married, took an interest in politics and was County 
Treasurer of Whiteside County for one term. They had no children. Isaac New- 
ton died quite young, and Hervey and Henry never married. 
W.W. Davis spent the last years of his life in St. Petersburg, Florida, where 
Susie still lives. She graduated from Oberlin College. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
60 
Isaac R. Diller, 1819-1891, was born in Lancaster county, moved with his par- 
ents to Downingtown, and was apprenticed to a West Chester printer. He was 
a close friend of Bayard Taylor. Both became prominent in may fields, and 
always remained close friends. After finishing his apprenticeship he became 
joint proprietor of the Citizen-Soldier, in Philadelphia, and later 
occupied a similar position in Harrisburg. 
On the breaking out of the Mexican War, he enlisted in the First Pennsylvania 
Regiment, was made commissary with the rank of Captain, which title he car- 
ried through life. He accompanied General Scott to the City of Mexico. After 
being discharged he came to Springfield, Illinois, where his sister, Maria, and 
brother, Roland, lived. He was elected reading clerk in the House 
of Representatives of the Illinois Legislature, entered the real estate busi- 
ness, and was appointed postmaster under President Pierce. He took a 
prominent part in Masonry and was state orator, and also chairman of the 
State Democratic Committee, which brought him in close fellowship with 
Stephen A. Douglas. In 1852, he married Lenora Heaton, and built a fine 
home in Springfield, which was torn down only in 1940. But property interests 
in Chicago took him there to live, and there he continued in the real estate 
business. He was U. S. Counsel to Bremen, Germany, under President Bucha- 
nan, and also to Florence, Italy, under President Cleveland. He died in Phila- 
delphia in 1891, and was buried in Chicago, where his wife, who later died in 
Evanston, now lies beside him. Being childless, they adopted a daughter, 
Linda, who is also buried by them. 
Roland Weaver Diller, the first to be born in Downingtown, (1822-1905), fol- 
lowed his brother in apprenticeship to the printing trade, in West Chester; 
and after working long enough as a journeyman printer to earn enough to pay 
his way, came to Springfield in 1844. It took two weeks to make the journey. 
To Harrisburg by train, to Pittsburgh by canal boat, down the Ohio, up the 
Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to Naples, Illinois, where he rook a stage to 
Springfield. He immediately was employed on the Illinois State Register, and 
after two years was made a clerk in the State Auditor's Office. During his last 
year of apprenticeship, he was allowed six months of schooling, and studied 
surveying. While in the Auditor's Office, Iowa was admitted to the Union, and 
Government surveys were in demand. Gen. Ewing secured a contract, and 
when here looking for surveyors, was told that my father was one. He said he 
understood the principles, but had never used an instrument. Gen. Ewing said 
he could show him that, and he did. My father was at Fort De Moines when 
the Indians received their final Government payment. He returned to the 
Auditor's Office, and after the death of his cousin, J. Roland Diller, who was a 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
61 
partner of Dr. W. S. Wallace in the drug business, and also postmaster, their 
clerk, Charles S. Corneau persuaded him to join with him in purchasing the 
store, and taught him the drug business. He was called the "Veteran Drug- 
gist. Abraham Lincoln was a customer; and his recollections were used by 
Miss Ida M. Tarbee, under the of "Billy Brown", in "He Knew Lincoln," "In 
Lincoln's Chair," and "In 1858." During the Great Revival of 1866, with his en- 
tire family he was converted, and until his death in 1905 had an active part in 
the religious life of Springfield. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church 
and a Commissioner to the General Assembly in Baltimore, and again at 
Saratoga Springs. In 1850 he married a Quaker lady, Esther Coates Ridgway, 
and they were the parents of two daughters and one son: Emma (1852-1932), 
Essie (1861-1911), and Isaac Roland (1854). Emma married David B. Ayers, 
of Jacksonville, in 1874, a farmer and stock man. They had two sons, Mar- 
shall Roland and Horace Diller. 
Marshall married Clara Gassler; and they had two children: Gladys, and 
David B., who died when about two years old. Gladys married William Waith, 
Jr., whose father had large cooper interests in Montana, at Butte, and in Mex- 
ico. They have two children, Jane and William, Jr., and live in Mexico. Horace 
married Maude D(?), and they have the following children: Alice Atlanta, 
Frances Eleanor, Virginia May, and Esther Ridgway, and Horace Diller, Jr. 
They live in Butte, Montana. Isaac R. Diller was born July 14, 1854, and "born 
again" April 3, 1866. He followed the drug business and graduated from the 
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in the Centennial Class of 1876. June 30, 
1880, he married Addie May Hughes (1856-1933). They had a son, William 
Hughes Diller, who married Corinne Payne (1891-1920). They were blessed 
with three children, William Hughes, Jr., 1916, Corinne Payne, 1917, and 
Jane Louise, 1919. William Hughes graduated from Yale University in the 
class of 1906, and from Harvard Law School in the Class of 1910. 
On account of the large land holding of the family, Hughes devotes his entire 
attention to the farm management. The second daughter, Essei, married Wal- 
ter Ryan, a most capable physician and surgeon, who accumulated quite a 
large fortune. they were parents of two sons, Charles Diller, who followed the 
profession of his father and grandfather, Charles Ryan, and is a leading psy- 
chiatrist in New York City. Walter Ridgway lives on a ranch in Colorado, and 
is married and has three children, a daughter, and two sons. 
Annie Elizabeth Diller, was born in Downingtown, Pa., in 1828, and died in 
1920. While visiting her sister in Springfield, she met and married in 1852 
Augustus E. Ayers, of a prominent Jacksonville family, and with his brother, 
Marshall P. Ayers, leading bankers, and founders of the Ayers National Bank. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
62 
They were the parents of five children: Mary, who died in childhood, Florence, 
who married Eugene N. Raynor, a banker, and for years manager of the 
twenty-four thousand acre Broadlands tract, formerly owned by John T. Alex- 
ander, called "the cattle king of Illinois," in Champaign County. Their daugh- 
ters were: Mae, who married E. Thomas Rickard, and Annie, who married Mr. 
Fitzgerald, and who live near New York. They are the parents of two children, 
Raynor Huse Fitzgerald and Florence Raynor Phelps, who has two boys. 
Annie Reese Ayers, married John Alexander, and had two daughters: Marie, 
who married Mr. Healey, of the celebrated Chicago music firm of Lyon and 
Healey, (no issue), and Anne Elizabeth, who married John E. Davis, a Chicago 
lawyer, who died in 1941. They had two sons. 
Annie Reese Alexander, met a tragic death by the overturning of her auto 
while driving through New Mexico with her sister, Grace. They also lived in 
California. (She was on a visit with Illinois relatives). She was crushed by the 
car, and Grace had to sit by for several hours until passing motorists could 
raise the car from her crushed body. While Grace was bruised, she still lived. 
Augustus E. Ayers, the only son, married Mary Brown, of Springfield. After 
his conversion, he decided to become a minister of the Gospel, instead of fol- 
lowing the business career his father had planned for him. He was ordained 
by the Presbyterian Presbytery of Springfield, and after serving in a few small 
fields there, he was soon called to larger ones. He was an outstanding pastor. 
His strenuous application caused a nervous breakdown, and he managed a 
southern plantation for few years until recovered. he accepted a charge in a 
prominent southern church, where he accomplished much good and died in the 
harness, and was buried in Diamond Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville, in the 
family lot. They had four sons and one daughter, who live in the South. His 
widow lives with this daughter, who married a prominent business man in 
Jackson, Miss. The youngest daughter of Annie E. Ayers was named Grace, 
and married Mr. Ufford, who met her while attending Illinois College in Jack- 
sonville. They moved to California, where he died. His widow still resides 
there. They had no children. These are but few facts of what might be said 
about the Dillers of Downingtown. 
THE DILLER FAMILY 
63