John "Dennis" DILLE was the son of Charles F. and Vernella (KATING) DILLE. The DILLE family came from Kankakee, Illinois to Ringgold County by covered wagon in the spring of 1875. They located on a farm seven miles west of Mount Ayr and two miles north of Benton. Charles and Vernella's children were Joseph Charles, Samuel Edward, Mary Vernilla, and John "Dennis."

John "Dennis" DILLE married on September 28, 1898 to Margaret Ann "Maggie" CORNELISON. They were the parents of two daughters, Grace Verla and Mary Mayzell. Throughout their married life, Dennis and Margaret lived on a farm located near Benton.

Dennis never had much schooling as a boy and young man. He helped on the farm all year long with the exception of four months in the wintertime when he attended the Siloam country school. He never had a pair of shoes, wearing rubber boots with rags wrapped around his feet. Consequently, Deenis suffered from chillblains all of his life.

During the early years of their marriage, Dennis attended normal school at Shenandoah and later Drake University in Des Moines. He was ordained as a Christian Church minister. Dennis loved to preach, holding pastorates at Benton, Diagonal, and Corning. He also farmed to make a living for his family.

Dennis, born in 1869, died in 1936. Maggie was born in 1876 and died in 1929. They were interred at the Benton Cemetery.

SOURCE: Benton Centennial book, p. 158.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2010