b. 02/1826 Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. d. 12/05/1902 Lewistown, Pennsylvania.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 02/04/1865 Petersburg, Virginia.
John Lilley MOH
Born in February 1826 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, John Lilley was a son of Pennsylvania natives William and Catherine Lilley (born, respectively, circa 1795 and 1806). In 1850, he was employed as a plasterer, and residing with his grandmother, Anna, at her home in Granville Township, Mifflin County. By 1860, he was a farmer residing in Lewistown, Granville Township with his parents, William and Catherine, and his brothers, Samuel and James (born, respectively, circa 1837 and 1849), as well as farm labourer, Samuel Jenkins, and domestic workers, Mary Brenan and Ella Hummel.
Sometime prior to this latter census, he became involved with the woman who would become the mother of his daughter, Annie Elizabeth (1859–1908), who was born on March 3, 1859. He continued to work and reside in Mifflin County during the early years of the American Civil War.
Following his honorable discharge from the military, John Lilley returned home, and resumed farming in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Sometime around 1867, he married. In 1880, he and his wife, Maria (1840–1906), resided in Granville Township with his daughter, Elizabeth. Also living with them were Wilson Dellet/Diller, an ore miner who was Maria’s son from her first marriage, and John Ronson, a farm labourer who was boarding with the family. Shortly after the turn of the century, Lilley and his wife, Maria, and his daughter, Elizabeth, were still residing in Granville Township, Mifflin County.
MOH CITATION:
After his regiment had began to waiver, he rushed on alone to capture the enemy flag. He reached the works and the Confederate color bearer who, at bayonet point, he caused to surrender with several enemy soldiers. He kept his prisoners in tow when they realized he was alone as his regiment in the meantime withdrawn further to the rear.
BURIAL LOCATION: FIRST METHODIST CEMETERY, LEWISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.
ROW 15.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
