The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1871-08-04
A VISIT TO A HERMIT

A few days ago the Commonwealth
gave an account of visit to hermit
by the name of William Dill, who
| lives in den on the line of the extern
sion of the A. IT. and S. Fe road. The
White Cloud Chief gives the follow
| ing additional particulars of this strange
| human, from which it will be seen that
| our "Visit to Hermit" was not a
| H'humbug."
That railroad has unearthed what we
| have for several years been trying in
vain to find. Commend us to a railroad
| or any army selecting ground for bat
| tie, to run across and disturb the repose
of some forgotten graveyard, dilapida-
ted church of the past, or living recluse
| who has fancied himself withdrawn
from the reach of the world.
This man Dill came to Kansas from
Germantown, Ohio, and we have known
him for almost quarter of century.
| He was always q singular sort of man !:
| and over twenty years ago his mind
| was very much unsettled by religious
| excitement. He is q bachelor, and has
always had inclination to wander away
from human society. In the summer
of 1860, he came to White Cloud to
leok up a location in Kansas. That
summer he went ont with party to
| the Little Blue TO hunt buffalo. From
| this trivial cause he became angry with
the company and left them, saying that
there was more honesty and friendship
amongthe Indians than thewhites, and he
| would go and live with them. He was
gone several days when he returned in
a deplorable condition. He had be-
come lost, and for three days had had
nothing to eat. lie was almost starved
and fatigned to death, and was willing
to associate with the whites once more.
He returned to Ohio that fall, and
came here in the spring of 1861. He
had q few hundred dollars in money,
| and contemplated purchasing piece of
land to start @ nursery. But the war
broke out; q recruiting officer came
around, and he enlisted in Lanes brig
ade, serving in the Kansas Tenth until
/ the regiment was mustered out. DUR
| ing his term of service lie had spent
| some time in Topeka, and took great
| notion to that country. When muster
ed out he went there with what money
he had, and purchased piece of land
on the north side of the Kansas river
| probablp the same on which he now
burrows. @ - sN
Dill has brother and other relatives
| in Ohio, who have been anxious to
know what and how he was doing. His
brother wrote to him, but the letters
were always returned to him through
the dead letter Office. When we were
at Topeka, in the winter of 1866, we
managed to get talk with him, but he
| said ne had never received letters from
his brother, and thought he had not
written. Since that letters addressed
to him have met the same fate. Several
| years ago, Mr.. Grumley, of this place,
happened to meet him, but failed to
learn his location. Since then no letters
| cnf1lH no rT7Qdo n V4aaPf1 him and Tryf,
have repeatedly tried to ascertain his
whereabouts, for the benefit of his
| friends in Ohio; but nobody could be
| found who knew anything about him.
/ Among other plans adopted, we re-
Iquested Judge Morton to look and in
| quire for him, when on some of his big
hunts on the north side of the Kaw. He
did so, but the case proved too knOtty
for him. Now the railroad runs through
his cavern, and newspaper reporter
| dishes him mp as hermit, or miser.
The poor old man, as those who WISH
ted him cannot fail to see, is far from
being in sound state of mind. We do
not believe that he has any money, and
| think that poverty is one of the main
causes of his squalid condition, assisted
by his disposition to wander away and
| seclude himself. We hope that the
Commemorative intimation that he is
supposed to be a miser, and to have
plenty of money by him may not tempt
some covetous scoundrel to do the old
man harm, in the hopes of securing the
hidden treasure. If his friends could
but manage to reach him with q COM
/ munication, they might be able to ascer-
| tain something relative TO his real situa-
ton, and perhaps could induce him to
change mode of life 90 unsuitable to
/ one of his age.