Transcribed by Mary Ann Kaylor

Page 1180:

DILLON, EBENEZER B., of Cooper Township, is one of Sangamon County's old and honored farmers and a highly esteemed citizen of the town of Roby, Ill. Mr. Dillon is a native of Sangamon County, having been born in Cooper Township, November 1, 1833, a son of James and Hannah (Williams) Dillon natives of Ohio and New York respectively. James Dillon came to Sangamon County as a pioneer at a very early day and, settling in Cooper Township, engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he continued to follow until his death in 1851, his widow surviving until 1864. Of their family of three sons and five daughters, Ebenezer B., is the sole survivor.

Mr. Dillon's education was secured in the old log schoolhouse, with its slab benches and puncheon floor and was taken when he could get it, or when he could spare the time from his duties on his father's farm. Raised to the life of a a farmer, on attaining his majority he decided to make farming his life work, and this he has done. Mr. Dillon is a Democrat in his political views, but has never aspired to office, preferring to give his time and attention to his farm.

On January 18, 1862, Mr. Dillon was married in Cooper Town ship, to Lucetia Cantrall, daughter of Willis and Pauline Cantrall, the former born in Kentucky and the latter in Alabama. Mr. Cantrall, who was a farmer, operated in Indiana for some years but came to Sangamon County, Ill., in 1851, and here both he and his wife resided until their death. Of their family of five boys and five girls, Mrs. Dillon, her sister, Mrs. Mary Becraft, of Pleasant Plains, and one brother, Edward, of Quincy, Ill., survive. To Mr. and Mrs. Dillon there have been born ten children, as follows: Melinda, the wife of Canada De Souza, living on a farm near Jordan; Mary Ann, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Driscoll, also deceased; Hannah, wife of Q. Spinnell, a farmer of Sangamon County; Luella, wife of Frank Cantrall, of Springfield; William and Ebenezer, deceased; Alice, wife of Norman Ridgeway, a farmer of Cooper Township; Josephine, wife of Yankton Holmes, of Mechanicsburg; Georgia, wife of Charles Smith, of Kansas City; and David, who lives at home. Mr. and Mrs. Dillon have twenty-six grandchildren. Mrs. Dillon is a consistent member of the Roman Catholic Church.