Killian/Killion

Martha Jane Killion, our 3rd great grandmother was born in Indiana but moved with her family to Mclean County and at age 21 in 1874 married James Thompson Phillips, a Pennsylvania transplant who worked as a day laborer and later a farmer. Martha had 6 children, including our 2x grandfather, John William Phillips. She died in Bloomington Illinois in 1916 and is buried in Hopewell cemetery in Downs like her father.

Twenty three year old John Phillips married Ida Velletta Reynolds on 4 May 1897 in Downs. Six months later Elmer Willis, Grandma Carroll’s father, was born. In October of 1899 Ida married Lloyd Radcliff, a man twenty years older than herself. Elmer used the name Elmer Radcliff his entire life.

The Killian line can be traced back to at least 16th century Germany, though family lore is it goes all the way back to 7th century Ireland.

Our 10^th great grandfather Wolfgang Kilian (10 May 1581 – 1662) was a German engraver and member of the Kilian family of engravers in Augsburg.

He was the son of Bartholomaus Kilian (11th GGF) the elder and Maria Pfeiffelmann. After his father’s death in 1583, his mother remarried Dominicus Custos and he and his brother Lucas became his pupil. From 1604 to 1608, he travelled in Italy and worked in Venice, Mantua, and Milan. On his return, he married and continued in the family workshop. He was the father of the engravers Bartholomaus the younger and Philipp (9xGGF). Philipp’s son Johannes (8xGGF) was also an artist and architect. Their engravings and portraits can be found in museums all over the world. Family lore is they are descendants of an Irishman with the formidable Celtic name of Clegwallabog who became a student of the famous St. Patrick and adopted the nickname Killian meaning “the gifted speaker” or “the generous one.” Around 640 Killian left Ireland with 11 companions and set out to convert the pagans in the area of Wurzburg, Germany. During the process Killian was martyred and later made a Saint. There is a St. Kilian (Killian) Cathedral in Wurzburg, Germany today.

7^th Great grandfather, Andreas Killian came to America from Germany on the ship Adventure, landing in Philadelphia where he took the oath of allegiance September 23, 1732. He came to North Carolina about 1747 and the Colonial Council granted John Killian two thousand acres of land in Anson County in 1749 while Andreas received eighteen hundred more. He died in Lincoln NC at 85 years old.

His son Leonard, our 6^th great grandfather, who was born in Germany, married Margaret Fry in North Carolina. He served in the Navy during the Revolutionary War for which he was given 640 acres of land in 1795.

Their twelfth child was our 5xGGF David Adam Killian, born in 1762. David married and had 6 children with his first wife in North Carolina. After his first wife died he remarried and had one more child, our 4^th great grandfather Mathias John Killion. Mathias moved with his parents to Indiana where he married and then after the Civil War he moved to McLean County, Illinois in 1865. He lived in Downs township during the 1870 and 1880 censuses. His first wife had 9 of his children, his second wife gave him 12 more. He died in 1888 and is buried in Hopewell Cemetery in Downs.