Individual record
Dan Buell Bills
1830–1914 · 84 years
Life
Notes & Recollections
At a few months of age, his parents moved to Vermont. When he was seven they moved to Chautauqua County, New York. He and Mary Jane lived there until 1860, when they moved to Iowa. Note that he told his sons that his name was Dan; his older brother was Daniel.
Records & Research
Dan Buell Bills (recorded on his gravestone and Find a Grave memorial as Daniel Buell Bills), born February 1830 in New York and died July 1914, is confirmed buried in Riverside Cemetery, Anamosa, Jones County, Iowa — matching the family report's stated burial. His Find a Grave memorial (ID 76400132) is an unambiguous, multi-anchor identity match to the known facts: it independently corroborates his first marriage to Mary Jane Ball (1835-1862) in 1854, a second marriage to a Howard wife (recorded as Emma N Howard Bills, 1833-1912), and all three children — Frank E. Bills (1857), Fred A. Bills (1862-1926, exact match), and Carrie Luella Bills (later Waggoner, 1867). Find a Grave records his exact birth/death days and birthplace slightly differently from the 2006 report (see discrepancies); these are minor day/locality differences within the same month/year and place region, not identity conflicts. Audit note: the strong agreement on burial place, both spouses, all three children, and birth/death year confirms this is the correct individual.
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Daniel Buell Bills is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Anamosa, Jones County, Iowa, matching the report's stated burial place. His individual Find a Grave memorial (ID 76400132) is adjacent to that of his first wife (ID 76400134), confirming they were entered as a family group. Verified directly: the memorial page lists this burial.
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Find a Grave records Daniel Buell Bills's death as 31 Jul 1914 (aged 84). This corroborates the report's 1914 death year and Anamosa-area burial context; the day differs from the report's 28 Jul 1914 (tracked as a discrepancy). The 1914 death event itself is confirmed by the multi-anchor identity match.
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Find a Grave records Daniel Buell Bills's birth as 18 Feb 1830 in New York, corroborating the report's February 1830 birth in New York. A small day discrepancy (18 vs 13 Feb) and a county-level place difference are tracked separately; the February 1830 New York birth is confirmed by the overall identity match.
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Daniel Buell Bills married Mary Jane Ball (1835-1862) in 1854. The marriage year (1854) and both spouses' identities and life-dates match the report exactly. Mary Jane Ball Bills is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Anamosa, and is linked as his first wife on the memorial.
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Daniel Buell Bills's children are listed on his memorial as Frank E Bills (1857-1936), Fred A. Bills (1862-1926), and Carrie Luella Bills Waggoner (1867-1938) — matching all three children named in the report, including Fred's exact 1862-1926 dates. Frank and Fred are also listed as children on the first wife Mary Jane Ball Bills's memorial.
Differs from the report
birth.date: report says “1830-02-13”, records indicate “1830-02-18”. Find a Grave (verified directly) gives 18 Feb 1830; the 2006 report gives 13 Feb 1830. Same month and year; day differs by five. Neither is sourced to a primary birth record. Does not affect identity. findagrave ↗
death.date: report says “1914-07-28”, records indicate “1914-07-31”. Find a Grave (verified directly) gives 31 Jul 1914; the report gives 28 Jul 1914. Same month and year; day differs by three. Does not affect identity. findagrave ↗
Not yet confirmed — probable matches and family lore, shown for research. Treat with caution.
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Daniel Buell Bills's second spouse is recorded on Find a Grave as Emma N Howard Bills (1833-1912). This corroborates the report's second wife 'Emerancy Howard' on the Howard surname; the given name (Emerancy vs Emma) and birth year (1835 vs 1833) differ, so the given-name equivalence is a single-anchor inference rather than a confirmed identity. likely
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Mary Jane Ball Bills's memorial lists her parents as Stephen Munn Ball (1804-1892) and Abigail S. Throop Ball (1809-1843) — i.e. the parents of Dan's first wife (additional family context not in the report). This pertains to the first wife, not to Dan himself, and rests on a single secondary memorial that was not independently re-verified in this audit. likely
likely birth.place: report “Near Fort Ticonderoga, New York (Essex County)” vs. found “Cattaraugus County, New York”. Find a Grave (verified directly) lists his birthplace as Cattaraugus County, NY; the report says near Fort Ticonderoga (Essex Co.), with the family moving to Chautauqua County when he was seven. Cattaraugus adjoins Chautauqua, so the FindAGrave value may conflate birthplace with the later childhood-residence region. Both agree on New York State.
likely mother: report “Mary Day (1790-1852)” vs. found “Mary Jane Bills (1790-1853), no maiden name shown; no father linked”. Dan's memorial (verified directly) lists only a mother, 'Mary Jane Bills 1790-1853' (first name Mary and birth year 1790 match the report's Mary Day; death year differs by one, maiden name 'Day' not shown, middle name 'Jane' added). The report's father, Chester Bills (1791-1845), is NOT linked on the memorial.
likely spouses[1].name: report “Emerancy Howard (1835)” vs. found “Emma N Howard Bills (1833-1912)”. Surname Howard agrees; given name Emerancy vs Emma (plausible variant/nickname, but unverified); birth year 1833 (FindAGrave) vs 1835 (report).
Open questions (6)
- Primary sources (death certificate, obituary, or church/family Bible record) are needed to settle the exact birth day (13 vs 18 Feb 1830) and death day (28 vs 31 Jul 1914); FindAGrave is a secondary source. These day-level differences do not affect the confirmed identity.
- Confirm the true birthplace: report says near Fort Ticonderoga (Essex Co., NY); FindAGrave says Cattaraugus Co., NY. An 1830-era record or the family's documented move would resolve this; both agree on New York State.
- The report's father Chester Bills (1791-1845) is not linked on Dan's FindAGrave memorial; a separate FindAGrave/census record for Chester Bills and Mary Day should be located to confirm parentage. The memorial's mother entry (Mary Jane Bills, 1790-1853) plausibly equals the report's Mary Day but the maiden name 'Day' is unverified.
- Verify whether the second wife's given name was 'Emerancy' or 'Emma' Howard and her exact birth year (1833 vs 1835); the 1864 marriage record was not located. Surname Howard is corroborated.
- The first wife's parents named on Mary Jane Ball Bills's memorial (Stephen Munn Ball; Abigail S. Throop Ball) were not independently re-verified in this audit and rest on a single secondary memorial.
- Census records (1860 Iowa move; 1855 NY State Census; 1860/1870/1880 US Census records offered as Ancestry links on the memorials) could further document Dan's residence and occupation but were behind a paywall and not opened.
Sources consulted (5)
- Daniel Buell Bills (1830-1914) - Find a Grave Memorial (ID 76400132) · findagrave
- Mary Jane Ball Bills (1835-1862) - Find a Grave Memorial (ID 76400134) · findagrave
- Find a Grave memorial search: Daniel Bills, died 1914, Iowa · findagrave
- Riverside Cemetery, Anamosa, Iowa - Find a Grave Cemetery (ID 95954) · findagrave
- My Family · web
Sources
- Esther E. Bills Paulson
- obituary.
Ancestry
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