Etymology

My ancestor, Harrison Dills, was known as Dils in Parkersburg, western Virginia, until moving west, settling in Quincy, Illinois after a short stay in Danville in 1833. He considered himself "Dutch" American, although part of his line was German. His grandmother, Arianthe Tunison Dils was from one of the early Dutch families to reach the shores of America. His great-grandfather, Philip Dilts, had inherited land in New Jersey before settling in Fayette Co, PA and finally to Wood Co.WVa where he died in 1801. Dilts were also known as Diltz in New Jersey though old records also record "Dilss" as a an early spelling.
The family helped to shape the American experience and this is an ongoing record of bits relating to these pioneering Americans.
 I started my project to do some family research and study the periods for personal info. My grandpa, who visited his grandpa Harrison Dills in Warrensburg, Mo. between 1897-99, spoke with me about his kin in 1978. He wanted me to find out what happened to his father as his parents divorced after his dad "Harry" went off to New Orleans to work. During our conversation, he said that our name was originally Diltz [perhaps in New Jersey] and that his grandfather was a weathy man who owned stock and properties.
My grandfather stayed with his uncle Howell whilst attending art college in Kansas City [1913-16] so he had seen the titles and stock besides antiques that his uncle kept after Harrison was buried [he brought his body back to Quincy, Illinois]. Anyway, my father and grandfather have sinc...e died, though I've managed to reconstruct the Dills family tree over the years speaking to people, while learning about kin on both sides of my family tree.
I was communicating with Hank Jones [actor,researcher] when he was studying the Palatine movement into America and he made the Dilts link into Germany [east of Koln, above Neuwied where some went to Holland and on to New York/New Jersey]. My ancester, Phillip Dilts, lived near Trenton though kin were all over Hunterdon County at the time. I know that some of the Dilts men fought with George Washington when they took over the British emcampment nearby.
When I was staying near Heidelburg on the Neckar River, I visited Dilsberg, Germany a couple of times though didn't learn about the Dils who the mountain was named after. In the 13th century [1208]when Latin was the written language and knights were on the go, they spelled it "Dilighes" though i have a theory that the name might have been connected to a large knive that a tribe of Slavonic people in Prussia carried [the "tilitz"(dilitz) as well as the "stilitz" are recorded in the Grimm Brothers encyc. of middle german words]. I saw a few varieties of messers [large knives with sword handles] in the Palatine museum in Speyer. Anyway, it's an unproven theory but seems to fit better than other theories of how the name came to be.

Many of the sandstone graves that were still visible when the 1930 survey was taken in the Dils Cem. in Parkersburg, WVa. The stones of William and Arianthe [Tunison] Dills are not fully legible though still standing. We know that Tunis Dils's mother Arianthe [who married William in NJ] lived from 1768- 1846 so would have been an influence on Harrison and his siblings. William Dils [son of Phillip and Mary [Hoffman] Dilts] died at 50.He was born in Trenton, NJ in 1761 and died 11 August 1811 in Parkersburg. William and Arianthe had 11 children together.
William and James returned to Parkersburg and brothers Harrison and Henry D Dills started families in Illinois after having lived in Ohio from 1826-33]. Their mother, Mary Cain Dills died in 1824 and buried in the Cain Cem, WVa.
 David Dills William, the first son of Phillip and Mary [Hoffman] Dils was born in 1764 not 1761 [most accounts]. Here are grave survey records of Phillip and Mary: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=65912246 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=65925229

 http://www.museum.speyer.de/English/Who_we_are/The_Palatine_Society_for_the_Advancement_of_the_Sciences.htm