There is a tradition that James D'Oyley was our earliest known Dial ancestor. Tradition is that he married Lady Lindsley and that they had a son, William D'Oyley, of Oxnon and Ireland, who died post 1663, (Burke's Peerage, 96th Edition, page 843), and that William had a son, James D'Oyley of Oxnon who died at great age in 1708, at Kilconney County, Carlow, Ireland. Tradition says that James, the son of William, had four sons William, John, Owen and Isaac Malcolm Dyall.
There is a strong tradition among descendants of our ancestors that Isabella May Hastings, who was an immigrant to America, with her husband, that the surname of Hastings was taken from the town of Hastings in Sussex County, England, by our original ancestors of that name. They say that the Hastings were in possession of the estates in Sussex County at the time of the Norman Conquest and that they were in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. They claim that our family of Hastings who came to America are descendants of the famous old family of Leicestershire, the Earl of Huntington. I have not sought to document the tradition nor do I deem it important to do so.
There is a widely accepted tradition in our Dial family that our emigrant ancestor, Henry Arthur Dial, was a son of Isaac Malcolm Dyall, who was born about 1671 and who married Harriett Blackwell in 1697 at Oxfordshire, England. It is generally agreed that Henry Arthur Dial had at least three brothers, James, John and Isaac Dial. Descendents of Thomas Dial say that he was a of Isaac Malcolm and Harriett Dyall. I am accepting their tradition as probably true even though there are those who claim otherwise.
Tradition concerning the emigration of our Dial ancestors is that after the Battle of Culloden, (April 16, 1746) a great company of Interrelated families, including members of Hastings, Blackwell, Powers, Abercrombie and Lockhart families, and members of of the Henry Arthur Dial family who had not already done, came to America, principally from Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, England. No doubt other members of all of these and kindred families had preceded them to the Colonies. There are deed and other records of a Thomas Dial and his wife, mary, in North Carolina, as early as 1715, and in Craven district, South Carolina, as early as 1737. His descendents claim that he was a brother of Henry Arthur Dial.
Tradition is that Henry Arthur Dial and his fellow immigrants landed in Virginia. It is said that there is still a place known as "Dials Landing" on the Virginia shore. … In their migratory wanderings these families nearly always kept together because of ties of kinship and love and for collective security. Some settled in Maryland and some in New Jersey; others went to Delaware County, Pennsylvania, thence to Virginia and North Carolina by the route of the Scotch-Irish migration through the Shenandoah valley.
Henry Arthur Dial was born about 1703 at Oxfordshire, England. He married Isabella May Hastings in Great Britain in the winter of 1729-30, called Isabel. She was born about 1709 in England and died in Laurens County, South Carolina. Children of Henry Arthur and Isabella May Dial, all said to have been born in North Wales, England, were:
Tradition, long accepted as a definite fact, is that Henry Arthur Dial was killed by the Indians about 1764 in an engagement that took place near the North Carolina - South Carolina border. It is believed that he had come into North carilina about 1753 during that part of the French and Indian War that was known as the Spanish Alarm.
After the death of Henry Arthur Dial, his widow, Isabella and their oldest and youngest sons, Hastings and Martin and their unmarried daughter Isabella, moved to Laurens District in the S.C. colony, where all of them lived until death. ...
There is a strong tradition that Isabella Hastings was the daughter of Peter Hastings of Millcreek Hundred, Delaware, a Quaker, whose will was proved in Delaware County on Dec 15th, 1750. Peter was the son of Henry Hastings of London, a son of Charles, a son of Sir George Hastings, who died in London in 1641. … Peter Hastings must have been a man of affluence since it is known that his son, John Hastings, was one of the wealthiest men in Pennsylvania.
Henry Arthur and Isabella May Dial's youngest son Martin was a private soldier in Colonel Hays' Regiment of South Carolina. He also served several months in Capt. Ridgeway's S.C. Company. He was with Capt. Ridgeway when 'Bloody Bill Cunningham's Toey Gang attacked them at a place on the Saluda river, now known as 'Cane-Brake Massacre by the Cunningham Tory gang' in Laurens County revolutionary history. Martin Dial was one of the few soldiers who escaped. Captain Ridgeway with a few of his soldiers was left to tell the story.
There has been a strong tradition in the family that Martin Dial was taken prisoner two times and that the second time he was facing execution and that he was saved by his oldest brother, Hastings Dial, who is said to have been a Tory who served as a Colonel in the British Army.
It is a well known fact that the Martin Dial family for generations have generally been Methodists and that his older brother, Hastings dial and his progeny have been Baptists.
Under British law a father left his entire estate to his eldest son. The reason for this was the fact that the eldest son was in a measure to take his father's place and look after the welfare of his mother, if alive, and his brothers and sisters, as his father would have done had he lived. This law was wonderful for the eldest brother but it was often hard on his brothers and sisters and their descendants. It seems apparent that when Henry Arthur Dial died that his estate was inherited by his eldest son hastings, which undoubtedly accounts for the great difference in the financial status of Martin Dial and Hastings Dial and their descendants.
Hastings Dial was born on November 8th, 1732, in Wales, and married Rebecca Abercrombie about 1768. She was born on February 4th, 1739 in England and died on June 1st, 1825 in Laurens county. Their children were:
Hastings Dial and his father-in-law, James Abercrombie, Jr. were two of the wealthiest men in South Carolina. It is said that he, like most wealthy men in the Colonies, was a Tory and that he served as a Colonel in the Tory Army during the American Revolution. Deed and other records reflect the fact that Hastings and Rebecca lived on the south side of Laurens, in the area of Boyds Mills. The 1800 Census records for Laurens Co. shows that the Hastings Dial household included 16 slaves. The legacy of Hastings and Rebecca to their children was that of high character, strong leadership, and a substantial financial fortune. Tradition has it that they were buried in the Dial family cemetery.
Rebecca outlived her husband by fifteen years. When Hastings died in 1809, he left his great estate to his wife, Rebecca, his sons, Hastings Jr., James and Issac Malcolm; three of his four sons-in-laws, Mabra and Abraham Madden and John Woody, and 100 acres of land to his grandson, Hastings, the oldest son of Jams Dial. His property consisted mainly of extensive land holdings and 22 slaves.
Isaac Malcolm Dial, the third son of Hastings and Rebecca Dials, was born on Feb 19th, 1772. He was a man of outstanding ability, Character and standing in his community. He owned 2600 acres of land at the time of his death and substantial personal property, including ten slaves. He married 17 years old Nancy Amanda Coker in 1801, she bore him 13 children:
Nancy Amanda Dial died on Aug 16th, 1827, soon after the birth of her thirteenth child. Isaac Malcolm Dial married again, his second wife, Mary Coker, is said to be the cousin of Nancy Amanda Coker. Isaac and Mary had two more children: Drury Thadden Dial (1830-1890) and Louisa Dial (1835-1913).
Isaac Malcolm Dial Jr., was born on Oct 14th, 1808. He married 19 years old Jane Patton on Apr 23rd, 1829. They had twelve children, one who died in infancy in 1846. It is believed that the death of several of their children was due to what we now call Polio.