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129) John Dillon Lefthand

On the reverse of this old photo is written "This is Grant Lefthand, son of Old Man Lefthand, Katie Lefthand, Grant's wife and Little John Dillon Lefthand." This photo was found in the personal possessions of Vincent F. and Nettie Dillon of South Point., Ohio, first cousin of John Hamilton Dillon. An explanantion may be possible as described below. "Ironton Register, July 18, 1895 - On a visit - John H. Dillon, of Watonga, Oklahoma, came home several days ago, in answer to a summons that his father, Henry Dillon was seriously ill, and whose death is elsewhere referred to. John went west to Colorado, in 1887, and has not been back to Lawrence county since. He remained in Colorado for two years, and then went down to Oklahoma, and was in the grand rush for a town lot, but afterward it was discovered that between a railroad survey and a town street there wasn't any lot left, so he left. He is now in Blaine county. He is Treasurer of the county. He returns West today." John Hamilton Dillon, son of Henry Dillon, was the grandson of Vincent Dillon Sr (1809-1892) and Hannah Jackson Dillon of Windsor Twp., Lawrence Co., Ohio. He became a prominent member of the Oklahoma community which was to become Blaine Co. He was a founder of the First National Bank of Geary, Oklahoma, was a Blaine Co. Treasurer and was even mentioned in the local press as a possible candidate for Governor of Oklahoma. William A. Dillon, also, a first cousin of John Hamilton Dillon, recorded interactions and visits with local indians in 1902, during a visit to the John H. Dillon Oklahoma ranch in a 1902, in a letter to his brother, Vincent, which was printed in the Ironton, Ohio Register, September 18, 1892. It may be a bit of a stretch to speculate, but it would seem possible that John Dillon may have befriended a local indian family, who in turn may have named one of their sons after the John Hamilton Dillon, described in the above several paragraphs.

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