Rev. Richard Dill

Biography

Richard Dill's ministry at Knowhead, County Donegal, in northwestern Ireland, began in December 1793 and continued into his old age. W. D. Killen's congregational history dates his ordination to December 9. More than fifty years later, as his health declined, John M. Bleckley was ordained to assist him in June 1848. The two appointments give substance to the family's recollection of a pastorate lasting more than half a century.

Born around 1770, Richard is identified in the compiled pedigree as a son of John Dill and Susan McClure. He married Grace Cochrane on August 3, 1801, according to the same record. Their children included John, Richard, Susannah and Edward Marcus. Two sons followed him into the ministry; John became a doctor.

Marriage notices show Richard still conducting weddings in the last decade of his life. In February 1842 he married John Wiley of Derry and Mary Witherow of Gortcormican. In November 1847 he officiated at the marriage of William Craig and Rachael McCarter at Knowhead, several months before Bleckley's appointment as his assistant.

The Londonderry Sentinel reported that Richard died on November 14, 1850 at the home in Derry, now in Northern Ireland, of his son-in-law, Dr. Thompson, in his eighty-first year.

His son Richard became the Presbyterian minister at Usher’s Quay in Dublin; Edward Marcus was known as the Rev. Dr. Edward Marcus Dill.