Family tradition says that the Craven County, NC Lilly family descended from Gabriel R. Lilly, who, with his brother Frank Lilly, came from England. Gabriel, according to the tradition, settled in Columbus County, NC. Nothing is known of Frank Lilly. There was a Franklin Lilly listed in the 1850 Stanly County, NC census. Franklin, according to the census, was 28 years old. So he would have been born about 1812. He was born in North Carolina according to the census. Gabriel R. Lilly, according to Confederate records, was born in 1811 in Columbus County, NC. So the family tradition that Gabriel was born in England is probably incorrect. If the Franklin Lilly in Stanly County, NC was Gabriel's brother, then the evidence is ever more conclusive that the brothers were not born in England.
Gabriel married Narcissis Sutton about 1846. The couple reared five chidren. Their names were Elizabeth (born 1847), Henry (born 1849), Mary (born 1851), Louisa (born 1852), and John (born 1856).
Narcissis was listed as head of household in 1860 Craven County, NC census. Gabriel, however, did not die until 1862. Why his wife was listed as head of household in 1860 is not known. Gabriel, as stated, died in 1862 (27 May) as a result of wounds received during the Civil War. His widow remarried after his death to Spicer Wortherington.
The youngest son of Gabriel and Narcissis Lilly was John Franklin Lilly. He married Arminta Wiggins. The couple reared eight children. Their names were Samuel (born ca. 1876), Annie Louise (born 1878), Albert (born 1881), Dennis (born 1883), Stephen Webster (born 1885), Lorena (born 1887), Alonzo (born 1889), and Cyrus Thompson (born 1894).
In 1893 or 1894 the family moved to Carteret County, NC. They lived at Hatsell Point. John Franklin Lilly died 7 April, 1920.
Samuel Lilly, the oldest child of John Franklin and Arminta Lilly, married three times. His first wife was Novella Elizabeth Thomas in 1902. The couple reared three children. Novella Lilly died in 1911. Samuel Lilly's second wife was Mary Dixon. She died in 1921. Samuel's third wife was Marie Weaver. Samuel Lilly died in 1924.