William Joyner Stilley was born 9 November 1846 and died 30 November 1935. He was the youngest known child of Stephen Stilley and Nancy Rice. On April 14, 1867, he married Elizabeth Taylor Dunn, the daughter of David D. Dunn and Sina Rowe Dunn.
I have been unable to locate where they first lived when they married, but William Joyner first purchased land on 8 January 1879 from Julia A. Whitford (Craven County Deed Book 93, pages 12-13). This 54.25 acres of land lay between Spring Branch and Deep Branch in Number 1 Township. Currently, the land is somewhere down the pulp wood road beside where the Old Addison Whitford place was located (also known as where Buddy and Sybil Cayton lived, or more recently where Mr. Isaac Jones lived, or for those who still do not know, the sharp curve between McRay Whitford’s and Jerry Miller’s).
William Joyner Stilley was active in the Free Will Baptist Church and helped organized Good Hope Free Will Baptist, which joined the Conference of Free Will Baptists in 1876. Good Hope apparently became Friendship Free Will Baptist, then Saint Luke’s FWB, before becoming New Haven FWB. W.J. Stilley was active in them all.
His obituary published in the Free Will Baptist on 10 June 1936, reads as follows:
“STILLY. It is with sad hearts that we attempt to write the death of Brother W.J. Stilly. Uncle Bill as every one called him was born November 9, 1846, and died November 30, 1935, making is stay on earth eighty-nine years and twenty-one days.
He was united in marriage to Elizabeth Dunn, who preceded him to the grave several years ago [1909]. To this union were born eleven children, six of whom survive. He also left quite a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, besides a host of friends.
He joined the Free Will Baptist Church when he was quite a young man, and served as deacon until his death. New Haven Church has lost one of its oldest and most loyal members. He was never absent unless illness prevented him. We miss him more than we are able to tell, but we have the assurance that we will meet him again on the other shore.
On Sunday afternoon the funeral was conducted at his home by his pastor, Rev. M.C. Prescott, to a large crowd of sorrowing relatives and friends. He was laid to rest in the family cemetery beneath a beautiful mound of flowers to await the resurrection to mourn. By the committee: J.A. Toler, L.J. Lane, D.K. Purifoy.”
His obituaries in the Sun Journal and the New Bern Tribune (Dec 4 and Dec 3 1935 respectively), indicated he was buried in the “Dunn cemetery near his home” [Now the Stilley Cemetery] and that he was survived by “one daughter, Mrs. J.R. Toler [Celia Stilley Toler]; and five sons J.W. [Jesse W.], J.C. [John Calvin], H.B. [Henry Bryan], S.I. [Shadrick Ishmael] and J.I. [Joshua Ivan] Stilley all of Craven County.”
Other research indicates the children who died before 1935 were an unnamed infant (dates unknown), Stephen David Stilley (3 May-5 Sep 1870), William Joseph Stilley (died 12 Apr 1920), Sina Elizabeth Stilley Rowe (died 6 Dec 1933), and daughter Mary J. Stilley Edwards (died 24 April 1934).
A receipt dated 1 December 1935 from Joe K. Willis & Co. indicates that the funeral service with sales tax and one other fee cost $162.56. [Photocopy of receipt in possession of the author.] Two year later, tombstones were purchased for $33.50. [Receipt from New Bern Monumental Works to J.I. Stilley dated 3 Feb 1937, photocopy in possession of author.]
Doris Stilley Toler remembered that her Grandpa Bill stayed with them toward the end of his life and that he slept in the living room of the house. One night a gust of wind blew down the fireplace and covered him with soot from head to foot. [Interview with Doris S. Toler by Victor T Jones Jr on September 14, 1986]
