Susan J. Spiller, BURIED DANVILLE CEMETERY, OLD DANVILLE, TEXAS

Susan J. Spiller, BURIED DANVILLE CEMETERY, OLD DANVILLE, TEXAS

SUSAN J. (DIUGUID) SPILLER

Buried Danville Cemetery

Willis, Texas
(Originally Danville, Texas)

Inscription:

SUSAN J.
Wife of G.A. SPILLER
Born Dec. 11, 1825
Died Nov. 4, 1897
Gone Home

Susan J. Spiller was born in Campbell Co., VA. Given the name "Jemima Susanna" at birth, later on in life she preferred to go by "Susan J." She was the daughter of William Sampson Diuguid and wife, Susannah Thornhill, both of Virginia. Her parents lived in the Spout Spring area of Campbell Co., VA, which later became Appomattox county. The Diuguid family can be traced back to Scotland, and some researchers believe that they may have been originally of French origins. However, we know that Duguid is a Scottish name of great antiquity. Spelled "Duguid" in Scotland, it became "Diuguid" at some point in America and the family was keen on saying that the name could be spelled the same forward and backwards!
Her great-grandfather, William Diuguid, Jr., immigrated to Virginia from Aberdeen, Scotland ca. 1740. William's parents were William Diuguid and Jean Henry. Jean was a sister of Col. John Henry of VA which made her aunt to Gov. Patrick Henry of VA and William Duguid a first cousin of Patrick Henry. There exists a letter dated 1790 from William's half sister, Margaret Donald in Aberdeen, to Patrick Henry in Virginia which gives an account of the Henry family back in Scotland and the Diuguid connection. From this letter we learned that when William Duguid first arrived in the Virginia colony, he lived with his uncle Col. John Henry and family. This letter can be found in the Library of Congress in the Personal Correspondence of Patrick Henry. A transcript can also be found in the book, "William Diuguid of Buckingham County, Virginia" by Eleanor Harris MacRae. This book is an excellent source of information about the Diuguid family.
Read Margaret Donald's Letter.
Both of Susan's grandfathers, George Diuguid and Jesse Thornhill, served in the Revolutionary War. Click here for GENEALOGY.
On 16 May 1844, she married George Anderson Spiller, in Lynchburg, Campbell Co., VA. Four years later, the young family, now with the addition of son, William Fielding, set out on an eleven-week journey by wagon to Texas where George's brother had already settled. They arrived in Danville on 22 Dec 1848 at the home of Dr. Samuel Fielding Spiller and his wife, Elizabeth (Kyle) Spiller. Susan bore two more children, Mary Susan and Harriett Susan, after their arrival in Texas. But, by 1867, her husband and two daughters were all dead. When both daughters died (at different times), Susan and a servant buried the children themselves due to fear of infection in the community. She never remarried and spent the rest of her life in Danville, at one point owning a hotel.

Back row: SUSAN J. (DIUGUID) SPILLER, Elizabeth "Bess" Irvine, Spiller, Margaret Henry "Miss Maggie" (the Governess), Elizabeth Catherine (Irvine) Spiller. From far left, next row: Charles Spiller (holding baby), Mabel Spiller, Irmalie Spiller, William Fielding Spiller (with beard), George Irvine Spiller, Mary Lucy Spiller, Allie Diuguid Spiller, William Fielding Spiller, Jr. (on tricycle). Child on horse in front: John Browder Spiller.

There is a family story that she used to sit on her front porch at the same time every day and gaze off into the distance towards the cemetery. We can only imagine what she may have been thinking and feeling.
Another family story is that the infamous Sam Houston used to pass through Danville from time to time. He would stop at Susan Spiller's, perhaps her hotel, for a refreshment of buttermilk and the townspeople would congregate. Reportedly, Sam usually carried something a bit more "spirited" than buttermilk in his saddlebag. He would sit on the porch and whittle pecan shells while visiting with the townspeople. Later, the Spiller family had several baskets on which these whittled pecan shells had been affixed to the outside as decoration. Sadly, they have disappeared over the years.

Susan died 4 Nov 1897 at the age of 71 and is buried in the Spiller plot near her husband, children, and many descendants.
Several articles on the history of Old Danville, the Spiller family and other early Danville families have been published in the 2008 Montgomery County Genealogical & Historical Society's annual publication "The Herald." It can be purchased directly from the Society or through Barnes & Noble and Borders Bookstores in The Woodlands, TX.

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Created January 5, 2005