FPC History: Rev William H Dilts (1926 - 1935)

1926

William Henry "Bill" Dilts was born 11 Feb 1897 in Wernersville, PA, to Thomas Baird Dilts (1873 - 1963) and Christie (MacCallum) Dilts, according to a biography at Find-a-Grave. His date and place of birth were confirmed on his WWII draft application.

The 8 Jun 1944 edition of The Matawan Journal noted that Rev Dilts was born near Reading, PA, the son of Mr and Mrs Thomas Blair Dilts, who were living at the time in Greensburg, PA.

The 1910 Federal Census showed the household of Thomas B (36) and Christian (30) Dilts with sons William H (13) and Horace J (10) Dilts. They were living in Latrobe, PA in Westmoreland County. Thomas and Christian had been married 14 years and Christian had borne 2 children and lost none.

The 1920 Federal Census showed Thomas B (45) and Christie (41) Dilts living in Greensburg, PA in Westmoreland County with sons William H (22) and James H (20) Dilts. Thomas was an insurance agent; William a student; and James a clerk in retail supplies.

He graduated with honors from Greensburg High School and found work with the Pennsylvania Railroad. He received his BA from the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH in 1923, according to Find-a-Grave and the 8 Jun 1944 edition of The Matawan Journal..

MATAWAN, NJ (1926-1935)

Rev Dilts, still at Princeton, was called as pulpit supply for a six month term in February 1926, according to The Journal.

Rev Dilts officiated at the funeral of Anna (Messereau) Tompkins, wife of Silas P Tompkins, who died on 21 Mar 1926, according to the Happenings of Yesteryear section of the 12 Apr 1956 edition of The Brewster Standard. As the first woman to vote in Matawan, Tompkins voted for Warren G Harding as President of the United States in 1921. As a child, she dined with President Lincoln and said she heard the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Before his interim period ended, the congregation at Matawan unanimously called him to serve as the church's pastor, according to The Journal. He cleared his examination at the summer meeting of Monmouth Presbytery, but only after a rigorous examination. Rev Frank Lukens, chair of the Presbytery's Education Committee, oversaw the examination.

The 8 Jun 1944 edition of The Matawan Journal noted that Rev Dilts was called as pulpit supply in January 1926 and began that service on 4 Feb 1926. He replaced Dr Charles H Bruce. He was unanimously called by the congregation on 13 May 1926.

Rev Dilts graduated Princeton Theological Seminary with the Class of 1926 and was subsequently ordained and installed as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Matawan on 24 Jun 1926, according to the 25 Jun 1926 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1 col 4).

Details of the service and surrounding events published in The Journal:

• The ministers involved in the ceremonies were feted at the home of Henry S Terhune.
• Rev H J O Rinker, Moderator of the Presbytery of Monmouth, conducted the ordination.
• Mrs W A Close sang "Just as I Am."
• Rev J H Owens, from Red Bank, read the Scriptures.
• Rev D L Parsons, from Shrewsbury, offered the ordination prayer.
• Rev John Muyskens, pastor of the Red Bank Presbyterian Church, delivered the ordination sermon.
• Rev John Van Ness, from the Presbyterian Church at Narberth, PA, delivered the charge to the pastor.
• Rev Joseph Lyons Ewing, Synodical Superintendent of National Missions of New Jersey, delivered the charge to the people.
• Mrs Lucile Parsons played several selections on the piano during the reception afterwards.
• Mrs W H Diggin chaired the refreshments committee.

Rev Dilts was to preach at the union service at the Baptist church at 8 pm Sunday evening, according to the 16 Jul 1926 edition of The Matawan Journal. He also officiated at the funeral of Margaret (Dunn) Scoby, widow of Spencer Scoby, which was held at Rose Hill Cemetery.

Rev Dilts traded pulpits for the week with Rev W Wylie Young of the Second Presbyterian Church in Cranbury, according to the 25 Jan 1929 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 5 col 2).

Rev Dilts married Anne Gertrude McCulloch (1904 - 2006), of Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada on 5 Sep 1929 in Truro, where her parents had started the local church, according to Find-a-Grave.

Mrs Dilts returned on 20 Feb 1920 from a one-month visit to her old home in Canada, according to the 21 Feb 1930 edition of The Matawan Journal.

The Rev and Mrs Dilts were living in Matawan for the 1930 Federal Census. William H Dilts was 33 and Ann M Dilts was 25. William was a Presbyterian minister. William's brother James had moved to Chagrin Falls, OH in Cuyahoga County and had a wife and three children, one named for their father, Thomas B Dilts.

Rev Dilts' daughter Joan Christine was born 29 Aug 1930 during his tenure at the Presbyterian church in Matawan, according to her father's Find-a-Grave website. Joan graduated with a MA degree from Harvard University's School of Education and went on to teach American history in Attleboro, MA beginning in the fall of 1953, according to the 26 Nov 1953 edition of The Livingston Leader.

Mrs Dilts and daughter Joan were baptized Tuesday by the moderator of the General Assembly, the Rev Hugh Thompson Kerr, of Pittsburgh, at the Old Tennent Church, according to the 17 Apr 1931 edition of The Matawan Journal.

Rev and Mrs Dilts were planning a year of study leave at Edinburgh University in Scotland, according to the 26 Jun 1931 issue of The Matawan Journal, as recounted in the 6 Jul 1961 edition of the same newspaper. His leave would begin 1 Sep 1931, at which time the church would use pulpit supply.

Rev Dilts did a year's graduate work overseas at New College, Edinburgh University, Scotland and Marburg, Germany, according to the 26 Nov 1953 edition of The Livingston Leader. He and his wife traveled to Palestine and around Europe during the year sabbatical.

Rev Dilts did a reading of Tennyson's narrative poem Enoch Arden before the South Amboy Women's Club, according to the 21 Sep 1934 edition of The South Amboy Citizen (pg 1, col 3).

Rev Dilts was to be guest preacher on 28 Oct 1934 at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, NY, according to the 27 Oct 1934 edition of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (pg 6).

Rev Dilts served as Moderator of Monmouth Presbytery, according to the 26 Nov 1953 edition of The Livingston Leader. The 8 Jun 1944 edition of The Matawan Journal said he was moderator in 1933 and also served as commissioner to General Assembly.The 17 Apr 1931 edition of the same newspaper said Rev Dilts had been serving as moderator of Monmouth Presbytery for the past six months.

Rev Dilts did post-graduate work at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, , according to the 26 Nov 1953 edition of The Livingston Leader.

The 8 Jun 1944 edition of The Matawan Journal noted that Rev Dilts resignedon 17 Sep 1935 to accept a call to Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Chester, PA.

WEST CHESTER, PA (1935 - 1944)

Rev Dilts accepted a call to serve the Presbyterian church at West Chester, PA, which was twice the size of the Matawan church he was leaving, according to the 8 Aug 1935 edition of The Red Bank Register.

After Matawan, Rev Dilts served Presbyterian churches in West Chester, PA; Newark, NJ; Geneseo, NY; and Holley, NY, according to Find-a-Grave.

Rev Dilts served as Moderator of Chester Presbytery, according to the 26 Nov 1953 edition of The Livingston Leader. The 8 Jun 1944 edition of The Matawan Journal said that he served Chester Presbytery as its moderator in 1942 and as its chair of Christian education. He also chaired the Chester Chester schools' committee on weekly religious instruction.

Rev Dilts registered for the World War II draft in 1942. He and his wife were living at 339 West Union Street, West Chester, PA. He listed his employer as Westminster Presbyterian Church, Church & Barnard Streets, West Chester. 

Rev Dilts' brother, James Horace Dilts, was killed in World War II, according to Find-a-Grave.

NEWARK, NJ (1944 - 1953)

Rev Dilts accepted a call to serve at the South Park Presbyterian Church, 1035 Broad Street, Newark, NJ, according to the 8 Jun 1944 edition of The Matawan Journal. He expected to begin his work in Newark in mid-September 1944. He would replace C Ransom Comfort, Jr as pastor.

Rev Dilts served at the South Park Presbyterian Church in Newark, NJ from about 1944 until 1953, according to the 26 Nov 1953 edition of The Livingston Register. He served as permanent clerk of Newark Presbytery. He was President of the Forest Hill Literary Society of Newark.

Mrs Sarah B Stillwell of Matawan left a quarter of her estate to Rev Dilts, who was living in Maplewood at the time, according to the 20 Jan 1949 edition of The Red Bank Register (pg 2 col 3). Half of her estate was used to establish a trust called the Daniel Schenck and Elizabeth Webster fund at First Presbyterian Church of Matawan. The 7 Jun 1945 edition of The Matawan Journal noted that Miss Sarah B Stillwell and Mrs Edwin H Dominick visited the Dilts in Maplewood.

GENESEO, NY (1953 - 1965)

1953

Rev Dilts arrived in Geneseo, NY in early November 1953 and would be installed as pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church there on 1 Dec 1953, according to the 26 Nov 1953 edition of The Livingston County Leader. In the meantime, he would deliver the ecumenical Thanksgiving sermon in Geneseo. He had recently left the South Park Presbyterian Church of Newark, NJ, which he'd served for 9 years, to accept the call to Geneseo.

The installation service would have the following participants:

• Rev Stanley Gutelius, of Rochester, would ask the ordination questions on behalf of the Presbytery of Rochester.
• Dr Arthur J Adams, of Central Church, Rochester, would preach the sermon.
• Rev W Wylie Young, of Batavia, would deliver the charge to the pastor.
• Rev Joseph Surter, of Bergen, former pastor of Central Presbyterian at Geneseo.
• Rev Valentine S Alison, of Lima, would read the scripture.
• Rev W Edward Stokesberry, of Avon, would deliver the installation prayer.

Rev Dilts, while serving as pastor of the Geneseo Central Presbyterian Church, told the local newspaper about the Christmas eve fire that had consumed his first church at Matawan, according to the 3 Feb 1956 edition of The Livingston County Leader.

Rev Dilts sent a telegram on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Glenwood Mission Band of the First Presbyterian Church of Matawan, according to the 14 Jan 1960 edition of The Matawan Journal. The organization had been associated with United Presbyterian Women (UPW) for the past five years. The Glenwood Circle narrated the event.

HOLLEY, NY (1965 - 1972)

Rev Dilts announced his resignation as pastor of the Geneseo Central Presbyterian Church and his intention to begin serving at the Presbyterian Church in Holley, NY beginning 3 Oct 1965, according to the 8 Sep 1965 edition of The Livingston County Leader (pg 1 col 2). He had served at Geneseo since 8 Nov 1953.

Rev Dilts retired in 1972 and moved to Truro with his wife, according to Find-a-Grave. They are buried together at Robie Street Cemetery in Truro.