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Dilmus Lyle

Male 1774 - 1847  (73 years)


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  • Name Dilmus Lyle  [1
    • Grave stone is a field stone that seems to be marked "W D LYLE"; full name may have been Winston Dilmus Lyle
    Born 23 Jun 1774  Bedford, Bedford, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Census 1820  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Residence 1820  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    With a boy and three girls under age 10, three boys age 10 to 15, a woman age 16 to 25, a man and woman age 26 to 44, and eight slaves 
    Census 1830  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Residence 1830  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    With a boy and girl age 15 to 19, a woman age 40 to 49, a woman age 60 to 69, and sixteen slaves 
    Census 1840  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Residence 1840  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    With two men age 20 to 29 and a woman age 50 to 59 
    Died 1 Nov 1847  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Probate 11 Feb 1848  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Estate appraisal, total value not given but the list of items (including slaves) is quite long 
    Probate 23 Mar 1848  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Estate sale of personal property excluding slaves raises $10,171.56¾ 
    Probate 5 Sep 1848  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Sale of lands in "the Cherokee counties" for $499 
    Probate 3 Oct 1848  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [8
    Sale of lands in Jackson Co., Georgia for $2,021.31¼; a sale of slaves for $7156.25  
    Buried Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    • Lyle Cemetery [1]
    Dilmus Lyle (1774 - 1847) - Find A Grave Memorial
    Dilmus Lyle (1774 - 1847) - Find A Grave Memorial
    Includes biographical information and headstone photo.

    Created by: MaryLynn Strickland
    Record added: Jul 05, 2010
    Find A Grave Memorial# 54535361
    Notes 
    • "Dilmus Lyle was married to Kathrine Reed. Shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Dilmus and his young bride left Virginia to enter a new and practically unknown country. Leaving behind them all signs of white men, the intrepid pair penetrated the wilds of northwest Georgia. They were the first white people to see much of the new country. For years theirs' was the only white family in that part of the state. Dilmus intended to build a mill close by some mountain stream, whose swift current would turn the stones and furnish him and his family with flour. While searching for the stream, he found gold. Dilmus and his wife lost no time in staking a claim on the banks of the little river. They also decided to give their families a chance to share in their good fortune. Turning their backs on the bonanza, the pioneers set out on the long journey back to Virginia (probably the writer meant South Carolina). As may be imagined, their families lost no time in beginning the long trip to Georgia. Maher Shalal Hashbaz Lyle, father of Dilmus was as enthusiastic as his son over the discovery. Two brothers of Dilmus, John and George Lyle, decided to move their families to Georgia. They hastened to close up their affairs at home and to join the party on its return trip. Dilmus never had the slightest doubt of his ability to lead the party straight to the gold, but after months of searching the party was forced to admit their failure. The creek with its precious contents, to this day has not been found. The pioneers settled on the north shore of the Mulberry River, near the spot where the Winder-Gainesville Highway now crosses that. At that time the Mulberry River, was known as the Tishmauga. As soon as homes had been built and the bare necessities of life provided for, Dilmus began work on the first grain mill in northwest Georgia. By the turn of the century the Lyle home was a scene of rushing business. Indians and a few white settlers, the closest of whom, with the exception of the Reed family, lived ten miles away, brought corn and wheat to the grist mill and lumber to the first saw-mill.

      Another important industry which sprang up on the banks of the Tishmauga was the distilling of whisky. Reared in Virginia, Dilmus Lyle could and did make the best whisky to be found anywhere in the new country. In fact, his reputation became so great that when the War of 1812 broke out the neighbors were unanimous in their refusal to allow Their Friend to go off to war. No amount of pleading on the part of Dilmus could convince the pioneer Georgians that duty to country was as important as the production of 'Spirits'.

      As soon as the English blockade was broken and shipping again resumed, Dilmus Lyle sent to Nova Scotia, for two pairs of the finest flint millstones that could be obtained. They were four feet in diameter, eighteen inches thick and made of the hardest blue white and yellow flint, commonly know as quartz. Finally they arrived and were deposited on the wharf at Charleston, there the real work began. It was necessary to haul those four massive rocks by ox cart through an almost impassable wilderness. After weeks of cutting trails and laying corduroy roads over swamp stretches, the four huge rocks were finally delivered at the Lyle mill. From that time until around World War I, the rocks second in hardness only to diamond, ground almost incessantly. For years they were the only millstones within a radius of thirty miles. All corn and wheat to be converted into meal and flour had to be hauled to the Lyle home.

      Thirty two years after their arrival in this country, the rocks caused the death of the man who had imported them. At intervals, it was necessary to hoist the massive millstones out of their places for re-dressing and cleaning. It was during one of these periods of repair that one of the rocks, which had been propped up on edge for work, fell on Dilmus Lyle's foot and crushed it. The pioneers were miles from medical aid, and knew nothing of the dangers of infection. In a short time gangrene had set in and Dilmus Lyle was dead. Dilmus Lyle died on November 1, 1847 and is buried near the Mulberry River, in the Lyle cemetery, in what is now south Jackson County. Dilmus Reed Lyle, son of the pioneer, continued to operate the mill until his death in 1889."

      (This information from an article by Robert Poor, published in an Atlanta newspaper, 1934)
    Person ID I3295  Wm L Gann Ancestors
    Last Modified 13 Oct 2017 

    Father Maher Shallal Hashbaz Lyle,   b. 14 Mar 1737, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Jan 1814, Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 76 years) 
    Mother Elizabeth Gibson,   b. 13 Feb 1741, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 15 Jan 1831, Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 89 years) 
    Family ID F1486  Group Sheet

    Family Catherine Reid,   b. 19 Aug 1781, Rowan Co., North Carolina Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 25 Dec 1856, Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 75 years) 
    Married 14 Feb 1799  Jackson Co., Georgia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • Children:
      Elizabeth Lyle (B 27 June 1800 Jackson Co., D 07 Oct 1866 Barrow Co.)
      Frances Lyle (B 03 Apr 1802 Jackson Co., D 25 Jan 1891)
      David James Lyle (06 Oct 1803 Jackson Co., D 03 Sept 1857 Athens, Clarke Co.,)
      William A. Lyle (B 1802 Jackson Co., D Aug, 1862 Elmore, Ala.)
      Thomas G. Lyle (B 1807 Jackson Co., D 1860 Chambers, Ala)
      Catherine Reid Lyle (B 20 Dec 1809 Jackson Co., D 11 July 1867 Jackson Co.,)
      Sarah Lyle (B 1811 Jackson Co., D?)
      James B. Lyle (B 06 Aug 1813 Jackson Co., D. ?)
      Dilmus Reid Lyle (B 03 Dec 1815 D 03 Oct 1889 Jackson Co.,) [1]
    Last Modified 6 Jan 2014 
    Family ID F1488  Group Sheet

  • Sources 
    1. [S40191] Find a Grave, Jim Tipton, founder, (http://www.findagrave.com), Memorial# 54535361 (Reliability: 2), 6 Jan 2014.

    2. [S40181] 1820 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), p. 306, Jackson Co., Georgia (Reliability: 2), 16 Jan 2014.

    3. [S40180] 1830 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), p. 27, Jackson Co., Georgia (Reliability: 2), 16 Jan 2014.

    4. [S40179] 1840 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), p. 33, Jackson Co., Georgia (Reliability: 2), 16 Jan 2014.

    5. [S91] Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Jackson Co., Returns, 1840-1848, pp. 372-77 (Reliability: 3), 13 Oct 2017.

    6. [S91] Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Jackson Co., Returns, 1840-1848, pp. 377-81, 465 (Reliability: 3), 13 Oct 2017.

    7. [S91] Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Jackson Co., Returns, 1840-1848, p. 465 (Reliability: 3), 13 Oct 2017.

    8. [S91] Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Jackson Co., Returns, 1840-1848, pp. 465-66 (Reliability: 3), 13 Oct 2017.