Thill Family
Foreword
This is a collection of facts, stories, reminiscences, legends and lies about the extended Thill, DeLay, Wilson family. It contains some geneology and limited published references. It is also based on oral histories and vignettes passed along by family members. Two of our best family history resources are the written accounts of Belle DeLay Covey and Irene Thill. Many thanks to Jackie Covey Tobin for sharing her information on the Covey’s and DeLays. My Father-in-Law, William Bogardus, was instrumental in helping me locate genealogical information on the Thills, going back to their origins in Luxembourg. The late George Schemmp provided some genealogy on Pansy Wilson’s Schemmp and Stockdale family roots.
BIOGRAPHIES
Thomas Thill
Thomas Thill (1824-99) is the first American Thill and the common ancestor to all of our Thill family members. He was born in Luxembourg (Ancestry.com says he was born Oct 27, 1823) and emigrated with his mother from the port of Antwerp, Belgium. He debarked at New York City from the ship “Viola” on August 9, 1848.
1848 was a tough year for immigrants. Thousands were pouring in from Europe due to poverty, famine, social unrest and revolution. As Catholics, the Thills would have felt the viscous anti-immigrant feelings of the Do Nothing Party. At the same time some were advocating the abolishment of slavery, many Northern workers feared competition from foreign labor and freed slaves.
Thomas’ wife was Catherine Brick, who had emigrated from Prussia. They were married on Sep 2, 1851 in Langford, Erie County, NY. He next turns up on the 1870 US Census farming near the village of Concord, Erie County, NY. (The 1870 census spells his name as Thiel, but identifies his true birthplace as Luxembourg, not Germany). He died of “apoplexy” on February 14, 1899 and is buried in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in New Oregon, New York. Thomas’ parents were Stephan Thill , born September 3, 1779 in Welscheid, Luxembourg and Anna-Margaretha Deheck, born December 25, 1790 in Wahl, Luxembourg.
Reuben DeLay
Reuben DeLay was from Appanoose County, Iowa. He is the father of Brazillia “B.B.” DeLay. In 1856, he settled in “Bleeding” Kansas where he no doubt saw or got involved in the troubles between the Free-Staters and the Border Ruffians from nearby Missouri.. Each group was trying to drive the other out so Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War. After surviving the war and imprisonment in Confederate prisons, he left his wife, Margaret, and started another family. He moved around a lot, finally settling in Plainville, Kansas, becoming sheriff of Rooks County in the 1880”s. His Granddaughter, Belle, later described him as living in a big two story house in Topeka., Kansas. He died in 1900 and is buried in Downs Cemetery in Rooks County, KS. More info at Lieut Reuben Russell DeLay (1834-1900) – Find A Grave Memorial
Draft Biography for Reuben DeLay- https://azrockdodger.com/2026/02/02/trooper-delay/
Obituary for Reuben DeLay contains more info: Reuben DeLay Obituary – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)
Civil War Military record of Reuben DeLay: (I will be adding more to the record as I am able to decipher it.) G11-811318067E Pvt. Reuben Delay Military Service Records.pdf – Onehub
My Pages on Reuben DeLay’s Civil War service:
Reuben DeLay’s POW record:
https://azrockdodger.com/2023/06/22/reuben-delay-civil-war-records/
Reuben DeLay may have heard the first performance ever of the Civil War hit song, “Sherman’s March to the Sea.”. https://azrockdodger.com/2023/07/09/shermans-march-to-the-sea/
Reuben DeLay’s Jan 1, 1864 Reenlistment document:
https://wordpress.com/post/azrockdodger.com/4456
Company I Third Iowa Cavalry- Recollections of Reuben DeLay’s Company Commander-
Company I History – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)
Excerpt from book- Trooper DeLay- Interrogation– Interrogation – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)
Margaret Thomas DeLay
Our ancestor Margaret Thomas DeLay. Margaret is the Mother of B.B. DeLay. She was born on Nov 28, 1839 in Union, Indiana. Margaret’s first husband was Reuben DeLay.. Cousin Jackie Tobin says that as a soldier he was away from home for extended periods of time. His unit was moved to another location and Margaret lost track of him. She is said to have contacted the Army and was told that he had run off with a nurse. Later Margaret married William Cochran on Apr 28, 1867 in Appanoose County, IA. They were divorced by 1878. She was living near her son Reuben in 1912 when the extended family pulled up stakes in Oklahoma and homesteaded in southern Valley County, Montana. She married a man named Rejan(?) and moved to Kalispell, Montana. She died there on Sep 11, 1929 at the age of 89.
B.B. (Brazilla) DeLay
Brazilla (or Brazella) “Boen” DeLay was born on Dec 15, 1860 in Centerville, Appanoose County, Iowa. He married Nellie Anne Wiley on Feb 7, 1886 in Plainville, Rooks County, Kansas. Some of their kids (Leona) were born in Kansas and some in Iowa (Belle born Centerville, IA Feb 7, 1892). About 1896, the family moved to the Ozark Mountains area of Arkansas. Around 1899, the were bound by train for California, when the kids started coming down with Small Pox. They got off the at Guthrie, Oklahoma while the kids were quarantined in a “Pest House” and wound up settling there. From Guthrie, they moved on to Anadarko, OK. B.B. ran a brickyard there. His daughter, Belle says they also had a farm where she remembers raising and canning peaches. Between 1912 and 1914, almost the entire extended family moved to Valley County, Montana where they homesteaded about 25 miles south of Glasgow. B.B. died Mar 23, 1928. His wife, Nellie, died Sep 28, 1931. Both are buried in Glasgow.
More on B.B. DeLay from a 1967 article in the Glasgow Courier: https://azrockdodger.com/2022/04/14/b-b-boen-delay/
Leona (Loney) Alma DeLay
Leona DeLay Stockton Thill Lewis was born Dec 17, 1887 in Plainsville, Kansas. Her parents were B.B. and Nelle DeLay. She married M.C. (Calvin) Stockton in Caddo County, Oklahoma in 1905. Together, they had two children, Belle (Stockton) Wilson and De Stockton. The marriage was over by 1914 when Loney filed on homestead in Valley County, Montana. (Here’s an story she told about the end of the marriage: https://azrockdodger.com/2022/08/04/leona-delays-first-marriage/ ) She subsequently married Adolph Carl Thill on Sep 8, 1915 in Valley County, MT. They had five more sons: Rex, Victor, James, Robert and Donald. The two separated in the mid-1930’s, with Loney raising the children who remained in the household. In the early 1950’s, Adolph and Loney had a brief reconciliation and moved to Modesto, CA. Loney died there in Oct 1975.
Cornelius Thill
Cornelius Thill was the son of Thomas and the father of Adolph C. Thill. He was born on May 7, 1861 in Springville, NY. The 1900 and 1910 US Census have him living in North Collins, NY with his wife, Anna Schaus. In 1900 his occupation was listed as Grocery Keeper. In 1910, his occupation was listed as a farmer. The 1920 and 1940 census both show the family running a dairy farm. (Adolph was working with his brother Victor on the farm in 1940.) Cornelius died of cancer at Lancaster, NY on August 16, 1932.
ADOLPH THILL
Adolph Thill, father on Rex, Vick, Jim, Bob and Don Thill has always been somewhat of an enigma to me. Adolph was born in New York on Sep 3, 1886. Early in the 1900’s he struck out from New York and headed for Montana where he turned up on the 1910 census working on a farm in Valley County. In 1915 he married Leona (Loney) DeLay who already had two kids (Belle and De) from her marriage to Calvin Stockton. Loney had homesteaded in her own name at a place called “Ninth Point’ on the Missouri River, in South Valley County, MT. (Now under Fort Peck Lake.) Together, they had the five sons.
Nobody seems to agree whether Adolph was a mean SOB or a gentle old man. Maybe he was both at various points in his life. Sometime after 1935, he left his family rather abruptly. Bob and Don told me he sold the farm, bought a car and left in a huff, with them crying in his dust. Vick told Irene that he and Rex ran him off with a gun. Family lore says Adolph’s Catholic faith may have played a part in his departure. Some say he didn’t feel responsible for the family, since he and Loney hadn’t married in the church. The fact that they didn’t divorce at the time may also be due to his Catholicism.
From New York, he sent money to Loney every month to support the kids. Irene puts the amount at $10 per month. In the Fifties, Loney and Adolph reconciled and moved to Modesto, CA until they finally divorced with Loney claiming physical cruelty. Adolph lived alone outside of Modesto tending to his large garden for the rest of his life. He was always welcoming to his sons and their kids. Adolph died in 1973 at age 87 in Modesto, CA. His ashes were scattered at sea before most of the family knew of his death.
Irene’ Thill’s Memories of the Family
Irene shared her memories of he interactions with the Thills. Her first visit to our house got pretty exciting. https://azrockdodger.com/thill-family-recollections/
Joseph and Mary Stockdale
https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LZ6D-M68/joseph-thomas-stockdale-1830-1912
The Stockdales were the Grandparents of Pansy Schempp Wilson.
John Wesley Stockdale and Joseph Thomas Stockdale
Joseph is the one on the right. John is his younger brother.
The Life of Joseph Thomas Stockdale
When Joseph Thomas Stockdale was born on 26 April 1830, his father, Seneca Linear Stockdale, was 23 and his mother, Elizabeth Barker, was 22. He married Mary* on 1 July 1854, in Brownstown Township, Jackson County, Indiana, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 7 daughters. He lived in Saratoga, Howard County, Iowa, in 1880 and Jamestown Township, Howard, County in 1885. He died on 9 January 1912, in Riceville, Iowa, at the age of 81, and was buried in Riceville.
*Tracking down Mary’s identity is difficult. Either Joseph Stockdale married two women named Mary or some records have incorrect entries. Most records say her maiden name was Hicks and give an age that differs from earlier records like the 1980 Federal Census. The 1900 Census shows Joseph and Mary had only been married for 1 year which might explain the discrepancy. Perhaps Joseph had two wives both named Mary.
Pansy Mary (Schempp) Wilson
Pansy Wilson was the daughter of George Grant Schempp and Anna Stockdale. She was born May 17, 1898 in Riceville, Howard County, Iowa. The story goes that early in life she was adopted within the family. This was probably because her mother, Anna, died in 1901, when Pansy was about three. In her teens, she was getting postcards addressed to Pansy Stockdale. (Somewhere I have what looks like a hand-written legal document that might shed more light on this.) Later in life she always claimed to be a Schempp. Pansy married Charles “Wes” Wilson on March 12, 1918 at Malta, MT. Together they ranched in Phillips County, about 20 miles North of Malta. (The area was called Freewater.) Their only child, Marian, was born in 1919. Old photos show them using lots of horsepower to put up hay. Marian rode a horse to a country school.
Times got tough during The Great Depression. They had to sell off all their cattle. Pansy and Marian went around to neighboring ranches and collected “bum lambs” that had been abandoned by their mothers. This helped the family survive and get back into the cattle business. In 1936 they mortgaged the land for $315 with the Resettlement Administration. The loan was supposed to be paid back by Nov 1, 1937, but the final payment was not made until 1945. After WW II the ranch was sold and the Wilson’s moved to Malta where Wes died in 1949.. Pansy worked at the Safeway store until moving to Oregon in the mid-’50’s. She cooked first at the Breitenbush Resort and later for the US Forest Service. In the late ‘60’s she returned to Montana to be near Marian’s family in Havre. She died about 1977 and is buried in Malta next to Wes.
For more photos and info on the Thill, DeLay, Wilson, Schempp and Stockdale families, see my flikr albums. L. Thill’s albums | Flickr
A good place to find info and relationships for our ancestors is findagrave.com. I have been working to add more family members and links to the site. Here are a couple of pages you can start at to get more info on family members:
Charles “Wes” Wilson: Wesley “Wes” Wilson (1892-1949) – Find A Grave Memorial
Adolph C. Thill: Adolph C Thill (1887-1974) – Find A Grave Memorial
Leona “Loney” Thill Leona “Stockton” Delay Thill (1887-1975) – Find A Grave Memorial
SCHEMPPS RELATED TO FIVE PRESIDENTS?
Those of us descended from Pansy (Schempp) Wilson are distant relatives to five United States Presidents. Our ancestor, Henry Adams I, was the Great-great grandfather of President John Adams. John Quincy Adams and Calvin Coolidge are also direct descendents of Henry’s. Henry’s father-in-law, Henry Squire , a humble English blacksmith is the ancestor of these three, plus two more presidents, Millard Filmore and William Howard Taft. Reference: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adams-277
MILITARY SERVICE
KING PHILIP’S WAR
Lt Henry Adams II, an ancestor of Pansy (Schempp) Wilson, was killed while standing in his doorway during a Wampanoag Indian attack on Medfield, Massachusetts on Feb 21, 1672. His wife, Elizabeth, was wounded by an accidental discharge of a firearm during the same battle and died a few days later. More on the Medfield Massacre here: https://azrockdodger.com/2023/05/20/the-medfield-massacre/
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Most of us can claim we had one or more ancestors who served in The Revolution. Joseph Morse (b. 15 Sep 1738 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts) , an ancestor of Pansy Schemmp Wilson was killed at Stillwater, NY, on 19 Sep 1777 during the Battle of Saratoga. (Morse’s mother was the daughter of Henry Adams (III) (1662-1713) of Medford, Mass. Henry is a descendent of the Henry Adams (1583-1646) who was also President John Adams’ Great-Great Grandfather.
Captain Ephriam Kimberly
Or 2d Lieut Ephraim Kimberly
A distant Wilson relative (Ardis Harris) sent me a copy of a will from one of our ancestors, Zenas Kimberly. In the will he makes a bequest of $40 for a head stone to mark the grave of his father, The inscription was to read: “Ephriam Kimberly late a Captain in the Revolutionary Army; and by special act of Congress, first proprietor of this land. Born 22d October 1738; and died 8th September 1795. The grave was located at Warrentown, Jefferson County, Ohio. According to Ardis, she is the daughter of Mildred and Curtiss Smith. She lists “our” Grandmother as Eva Trout WILSON, who is the mother of Wes and Merrill Wilson. Eva was the daughter of Ezra Martin Campbell (1848-1916). His parents were Cynthia (Kimberly) and Hugh Campbell. Cynthia was Zenas’s daughter. Capt Kimberly was born Newtown, Fairfield , Connecticut and according to some sources served with the 2nd Connecticut Regiment. His current grave marker spells his name as “Ephraim”, and that says he was a 2d lieutenant , 8 Continental Line who died in 1796. Perhaps Zenas got some of the details wrong in his 1835 will. Internet historical records substantiate the fact that he did get a 300 Acre Grant, signed by President George Washington.
CIVIL WAR
William (Russell) Thomas
Margaret DeLay’s father, Russell Thomas, served in the Union Army during the Civil War. According to Jackie Tobin, he was captured by rebels, severely beaten and left in the woods for dead. His wife, Mary Jane (Black) Thomas, found him and drug him home. (This incident most likely happened in Missouri, as the Thomas‘s lived in Appanoose County, IA, which borders Missouri. One of only four slave states to remain in the Union, Missouri had numerous citizen insurgents who sided with the South.)
Frederick Buckmaster
Though not one of our an ancestors, Private Frederick Buckmaster was the son of of one, Mary Ann Adams Buckmaster who is Nellie DeLay’s Grandmother. Buckmaster served in Company k., 15th Iowa Veteran, Volunteer First Division, 3rd Brigade, 17th Army Corps. He sent his mother a poem from Clifton, Tenn. on May 9, 1864. (Poem link https://azrockdodger.com/guest-poets/ After that he was wounded and captured by the rebels during the battle for Atlanta. He died from the unhealthy conditions in the notorious Andersonville, Georgia Prison. He rests in grave number 8265.
Reuben H. DeLay
Margaret (Thomas) DeLay’s first husband, Reuben, was a Union Civil War veteran. In August 1861, Reuben , his brother and two cousins answered the call by joining the Union Army. They served in the 3rd Iowa Cavalry Regiment. Reuben served through the enlisted ranks, making Sergeant before being commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1864. The Third Iowa saw service throughout the war in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia. One of the cousins, Sgt. John Wesley DeLay, was killed in Georgia late in the war. On June 10 or11, 1864, Reuben was captured by the Confederates at Ripley, Mississippi. He was first said to have been confined at the Atlanta Officer’s Prison. When Sherman’s Army threatened Atlanta in mid-July, the prison was evacuated. Reuben wound up in the Camp Asylum near Columbia, South Carolina. (This was a walled prison for about 1500 officers in the former South Carolina State Mental Asylum.) The Asylum was itself evacuated on Feb 12, 1865 as Sherman’s troops approached during their swing North through the Carolinas. I have the E-book “Cavalry Men of the Third Iowa” by David Hunter which describes all of the Regiment’ actions during the War. Though the DeLays don’t get a lot of ink, they should have been part of any action that involved Company I.
Stockdale
Pansy Wilson’s Grandfather, Joseph Stockdale, served in Company G, 25th Indiana Infantry. Pansy once related to me a story about a relative who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. She said his unit moved out and left him sleeping in territory soon occupied by the Confederates. He had to sneak back to friendly lines.
Spanish-American War
I’m not sure if we had any ancestors in the Spanish-American War. If we did, it may have been this fellow. On the back of the photo, I found the initials “GSK”, but that could be who it was sent to, not who it is. The uniform appears appropriate for the 1890’s. Given that the picture belonged to Pansy Wilson, it could be that this soldier is a Schempp or a Stockdale.
THE GREAT WAR (WWI)
I have two pictures of a Wilson from Montana that appear to have been taken in France during World War I. This is probably Virgil T. Wilson. On July 20, 1917, The Glasgow Courier reported that a Virgil Wilson of Freewater had enlisted. On Nov 30 the Courier said PFC Virgil T. Wilson was part of the 163rd Infantry awaiting embarkation at Camp Mills, Long Island, N.Y. After re-locating to Camp Merritt, NJ, the regiment departed for Europe via England aboard the U.S.S. Leviathan on Dec 14, 1917. Upon arrival in France, the unit was broken up to serve as replacements for other American units. Wilson ended up in the 1st Machine Gun Bn., 1st Infantry Div in WWI. I have an unidentified picture of what appears to be a different “doughboy” from the WWI era. Wes Wilson was classified “4C” (family dependent on his labor) and considered his draft card significant enough keep in a pocket holder and retain after the war.
NATIONAL GUARD
I have Rex Thill’s discharge from the 163rd Infantry of the Montana National Guard. He joined on Jan 15 1931 and was discharged on Sep 10, 1931 due to a permanent change of residence. That means he was barely 14 when he joined. He also made Private First Class and qualified as a Sharpshooter with the rifle. Family lore has it that he had to move to New York after stabbing someone with a screwdriver in the school shop. According to Marian, during WW II, Rex once snuck off to Malta and tried to enlist. He was spotted by one of her friends who told the recruiter he was a married father with an essential job with the railroad. Johnny also served in the Montana National Guard before joining the Navy. I think he may have been underage at the time too (16).
WORD WAR II
Jim and Bob Thill both served in the Navy during World War II. Bob was an Aerographer (Weather Man) who flew into all kinds of weather to gain information for the fleet. Pictures from 1943 show him as a Petty Officer 2nd Class. In 1945 Bob was awarded the Air Medal for flying hazardous missions over the Japanese home islands. (See Glasgow Courier October 4, 1945 at Chronicling America.) John Espeseth was also in the Navy. I have other unidentified pictures of soldiers wearing leather “Sam Browne” belts dating them to around the beginning of World War II.
“Buck” Covey was an Army Air Force (later USAF) pilot in WW II. He flew numerous missions over Europe in medium bombers. After the war, he transitioned to fighters. He was killed in the crash of his F-80 Shooting Star jet in 1950. One story is that he may have had a heart defect that caused him to black out.
COLD WARRIORS
John Thill served in the Navy in the late ‘50’s. He worked on A4D Skyraider aircraft. He was aboard the USS Hornet when one of it’s planes strayed too close to Red China and returned to the carrier all shot up.
Virgil Thill served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1958-63. He was a mechanic assigned to a U.S. Military Advisory unit in Korea for a time.
Calvin Wilson was a Naval Officer during the early ‘60’s.
I think Alan Wilson might have been in the Army during the early ‘50’s.
Bill Bogardus, Karen’s Dad, served in the Air Force in the ’50’s. They sent him to places like Goose Bay, Labrador and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska where Karen was born.
VIET-NAM ERA
I served in the USMC in the early days of the Viet-Nam War. I spent 3 months floating off the coast of Viet-Nam with a Battalion Landing Team in ‘64-’65 and 2 weeks at Da Nang RVN in July of ‘65. (No heroics, I was an Electronics Technician.) After my service I attended college on the G.I. Bill. Upon graduation I worked as a civilian employee of the Dept. of Army. I retired at Fort Sam Houston, TX at the end of 1994 after 28 years of combined military/civilian service. Jimmy Espeseth also served in the Navy during the later years of the Vietnam Era.
Here’s a link to some photos of some of our family in the military: Family in the Military | Flickr
GUNS, BOOZE AND THILLS
I am convinced that some people shouldn’t be allowed to handle firearms. Regrettably, some of my kin fit into this category.
Back in the Fifty’s Jim Thill supposedly fired a shot to scare a neighbor’s horse out of his pasture south of Glasgow. He hit the horse, which I think belonged to a family named Tolzein.
Sometime in the late ‘50’s I recall reading a newspaper article about someone having a horse shot out from under them while riding in the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Western Montana. Years later, an uncle told me that another uncle fired the shot while they were hunting.
Dad and I went hunting with Bob on the Marias River near Ft Benton once in the early ‘60’s. Bob took a shot at a deer that was heading into some brush. Seconds later, it popped back up and he nailed it with his second shot. We forded the Marias with his 4WD International Scout at great peril as the river had thawed and the level had dropped leaving a sheet of ice on the steep bank. We made it across to find that Bob had killed two deer. I had to put my tag on one so that Bob could keep hunting. Afterwards they stopped to drink some beer only to find that they lacked a “Church Key” to open them. “No problem!” said Bob. He propped a can of beer up on a log and proceeded to blow the top off it with a fairly large pistol. Foam erupted all over the place as Bob put the can to his mouth and cut the hell out of his lips trying to save some. When we got back to Bob’s house they proceeded to empty most of a case of beer while lining the empties up on a shadow box in the living room. The empties we’re not discovered until Doris was entertaining the preacher the next day!
Rex bagged a trophy buck in the mid-’50’s in McCone County. I remember the meat being really tough. Some of it got made into sausage. The antlers may still be in the family. I also once saw Dad drunk and wobbly shoot the head off a pheasant in tall stubble with a 22 pistol. In the late ‘40’s Rex had a German Lugar pistol. It was said that he took it off some drunk in a bar in Glasgow.
Aunt Irene relates a story about her first encounter with the Thill family after marrying Vic After stopping at Loney’s they sent Don to alert Rex and Marian of their impending arrival at our house. Upon entering the back porch, she was confronted by 3 gunshots right at her feet!. Vick and Rex howled with laughter at the welcoming ceremony they had prepared for her. Irene sure never forgot it!.
Once Belle and Merrill were visiting us in Glasgow. Dad handed Merrill his newly-acquired 22 pistol, telling Merrill it was loaded. Merrill immediately pumped a round into the floor.
HORSIN’ AROUND
Back in the day everyone in Montana had horses. Rex and De were active rodeo cowboys. I have some great pictures of both aboard saddle broncs. I also have some old rodeo programs that prove they had some good competition. (e.g. Casey Tibbs, who went on to win a number of championships and Oral Zumwalt who still holds the record of 2.2 seconds for steer wrestling/ bull dogging. Bob and Virg also did some rodeoing.
Rex had some memorable horses over the years. He took “Whisky Bill” to the sales yard in Glasgow to sell him. To prove how gentle he was he put Mom and all three of us kids on the horse and led it around the arena. Later we heard that the horse was so rank it ended up in a string of bucking horses. Old Mexico was another horse’s name I remember. (I think it was this one that was caught running wild in South Phillips County years later.) One of these horses had a bad reputation for eating the straw hats of un-suspecting visitors. Later, when we had some acreage near Havre, Dad got Benzedrine from Bob. He was a retired racehorse and Bob was a Pharmacist, hence the name. Dad couldn’t pronounce it and called the horse “Old Bedizin”. We also had a couple of mule colts after the neighbor’s donkey got in with the horses.
Rex reportedly rode a horse into a bar in Glasgow. It fell through the wooden floor. (I once rode a motorcycle through the Student Union Building in Havre. A barmaid in Columbus, Montana showed us a place where Linda’s son, Dusty, had done a burn-out on the floor with his bike.-guess we haven’t changed much!)
In 1931 Vic was severely injured when a horse kicked him in the head. I believe part of his skull had to be removed, but he lived a full and healthy life.
Wes and Pansy Wilson registered two brands in 1931:
Rockin’ XA and a backwards “L”W with a bar under it.
Rex Thill used an X with an R laying in it’s side intersecting the right leg of the X. Bob, being a pharmacist, always coveted this brand and may have taken it over.
De Stockton was a lifelong cowboy and rodeo competitor. Back in the ‘60’s I saw him rope an Air Force Colonel in a crowd in Glasgow. The Mayor then forced the good Colonel to drink a glass of the Glasgow water he had been complaining about.
Billy Stockton had a long career in rodeo. He participated in National Senior Professional Rodeo Assn. events well into his sixties. He won a championship with them in 1995. He suffered a career-ending injury at an NSPRA event in Drummond, MT in 2009. Billy is also an accomplished cowboy poet.
Rex Thill was killed while riding a horse on the Steve Boyce place near Harlem, Montana on Dec 26, 1972.
Link to Dad’s rodeo pictures on Flikr. Rex Thill Cowboy | Flickr
PLACES IMPORTANT TO THE FAMILY
NORTH COLLINS, NEW YORK
The Thill family began living in and arround North Collins, Erie County, New York prior to 1870. Other nearby towns mentioned in family records are: Springville (where Cornelius was born in 1861), New Oregon (where Thomas is buried), Lancaster, Concord and Collins.
NINTH POINT (LISMAS), MONTANA
The extended DeLay family (DeLays, Stocktons, Coveys and Cochrans) moved from Oklahoma to Valley County, Montana in the years 1912-14. They settled on a bend in the Missouri River known as Ninth Point. There was a small settlement nearby called Lismas. In 1912, Boen B. DeLay and his cousin John Cochran first looked for land near Miles City. Finding nothing, they decided to walk overland to check out land to the north. After what must have been an arduous trip they filed on homesteads on bottom lands on the north side of the Missouri River about 25 miles south of Glasgow. By 1914, the rest of the family had joined them, with the adults also homesteading nearby. By the mid-1930’s all of them had either moved into town or to other rural locations. In 1940, Fort Peck Dam was completed, which inundated all these old homesteads.
It must have been quite a land boom.
GLASGOW, MONTANA
By the late 1930’s much of the family was living in or around Glasgow. The construction of Fort Peck Dam offered steady employment and the town was booming. (See Ed Covey’s account of the day the dam slipped in STORIES.) Many of us were born in Glasgow and some are buried there. Rex and Jim Thill started their railroad careers there in the 1940’s. John Espeseth was also a railroader working out of Glasgow. By 1960 all the Thills, Coveys and Espeseths had moved on leaving behind the remaining DeLays, Wilsons and Finneys.
LA SAL JUNCTION, UTAH
In the ‘6’s and 70’s, Vic and Irene Thill ran a truck stop at La Sal Junction. it grew into a major enterprise with gas, diesel, a shop. a lounge, a cafe, rooms for truckers and even am airstrip. https://azrockdodger.com/2021/05/01/la-sal-junction/
FAMILY STORIES
THE DAY THE DAM SLIPPED
At over 4 miles long, Fort Peck Dam was the largest earth-filled dam in the world at one time. many family members and friends worked on the dam in the 1930’s It made Northeast Montana prosper during the Great depression. On September 22, 1938, a huge section of the dam collapsed. Here’s a link to Ed Covey’s harrowing account of what happened next. The Day the Dam Slid – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)
B.B. DELAY’S HOMESTEAD FIGHT
The land B.B. DeLay homesteaded on in Valley County had previously been occupied by someone who failed to register their claim. This almost lead to a deadly encounter with the previous occupant. Here’s how his daughter, Belle Covey described it:
My parents (B.B. & Nelle DeLay) had filed on a very wonderful ranch on the Missouri River bottom, where they could foresee “alfalfa” after the land could be cleared. The land had been fenced by a man who claimed the land, and kept it from being homesteaded by telling everyone it was his. My dad went to the Land Office and found out that this was Government land and open to filing, so he immediately filed on it. This other man tried every way to run them off the land. By this time, they had built a log cabin from their own trees, and were clearing the land and selling wood…
One day while the folks and some of the woodcutters were eating dinner, someone pounded on the door. Your Uncle Walter saw, quick as a wink, this was the one that wanted the land. (He) had a rifle and had knocked on the door with the rifle. He was on a horse, and as my Dad swung the door open, your Uncle Walt leaped and grabbed the rifle. The man intended to kill my Dad, but the bullet (thanks to Uncle Walter) went into the floor at my Dad’s feet. Then your Uncle swung up on this man’s horse as he tried to run away, took the rifle from him, and drew up to shoot him, when one of the woodcutters grabbed his arm, and the bullet went wild. This man then went into town and had my Dad arrested, as the sheriff and the lawmen were in cahoots with these illegal land holders. My Dad had to pay a fifty dollar fine, but they did not get him off his land.
I found this in the Jan 8, 1915 edition of the Glasgow Courier, which may relate to the same incident:
S. H. Miley was taken into custody Tuesday charged with assault in the second degree, the complaint being sworn out by B. B. DeLay. Thehearing will be held on Monday.
Apparently this incident resulted in a trial a few months later. The Courier reported on Mar 19, 1915, that Miley and several members of the extended DeLay family had been granted witness allowances by the county commissioners.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Marian related a story about two of her cousins who were identical twins. It seems that during the Depression one had a job and the other didn’t. The one with the job got in a bar fight and was subsequently sentenced to thirty days in jail. Not wanting to lose a job in such bleak times, his jobless brother served his time for him!
MYSTERIES
The military service of Reuben Floyd and George Lloyd DeLay is cloudy. According to Floyd’s son, Boen, they walked away from their military post and went to Canada. Lloyd died of appendicitis on Nov 1, 1913 in Onaway, Alberta, Canada. This implies their “desertion” took place during peacetime where the consequences might not have been so dire as in wartime. Later records show that Floyd was back in Montana in 1917 and registered for the World War I draft. A document found on familysearch.org shows that Floyd served in the US Army Air Corps overseas from May-Dec 1918. and was honorably discharged. (Copy here- https://azrockdodger.com/reuben-floyd-delay/ ) The following article appeared in the January 3, 1919 Glasgow courier:
“Floyd DeLay, a son of Mr. and Mrs. B. B. DeLay of Lismas, returned Sunday from France, and needless to say, is receiving a hearty welcome homeagain.”
V Marian also lamented the fact that one of her cousins disappeared in Mexico in the 1930’s.
For more information and photos of our ancestors see my Flickr albums at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockdoger/sets
Here’s a link to the Eulogy for Karen’s father, William B. Bogardus: William Brower Bogardus 1929-2020 – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)
Belle (DeLay) Covey (Loney’s Ssister) wrote two excellent accounts of the DeLay family.
THE LOVE STORY OF EDGAR BROWN COVEY & MYRANDA BELLE DELAY
Covey Family History – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)
The Girl from the Ozarks- Miranda Belle Covey- https://wordpress.com/post/azrockdodger.com/3267
Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies 