Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/21

Rh Tilghman was one of the petitioners to have justice done upon Charles I. of England. Certain it is that one Richard Tilghman signed the petition and as Dr. Richard Tilghman had been a surgeon in the British navy and was at that period a parliamentarian, the signature in question was in all likelihood his. He was a descendant of Richard Tilghman, of Holloway Court, parish of Snodland, Kent, England through his son Thomas, his son William (died August 27, 1541), his son Richard (died 1518), his son William (died 1594), his son Oswald, who was born October 4, 1579, died 1628, the father of Dr. Richard Tilghman, who came with his wife in 1661 in the ship "Elizabeth and Mary" to settle upon the tract of land on Chester river, granted him by Lord Baltimore in a patent dated January 17, 1659.

Dr. Richard Tilghman, son of Oswald Tilghman, of London, England, was born September 3, 1626, died at the Hermitage, Queen Anne county, Maryland, January 7, 1675. He married Marie Foxley in England, who survived him more than twenty years. Three of his children, Samuel, Maria and William, were born in England, and two at the Hermitage, Deborah and Richard.

Richard (2) Tilghman, youngest son of Dr. Richard (1) and Marie (Foxley) Tilghman, was born February 23, 1672. He was one of the Lord Proprietors' Council, a zealous member of the established church, and when the second Chester church was built in 1697, he advanced the money for its erection, "the vestry engaging to reimburse him the necessary expenses." He married, in 1700, Anna Maria, third daughter of Colonel Philemon Lloyd, a member of the Maryland legislature, 1701 and 1702, a descendant of Edward Lloyd, a gentleman of conspicuous ability, commander of Anne Arundel county, commissioned by Governor Stone, July 30, 1650, and for many years privy councillor of Maryland.

James Tilghman, eighth child of Richard (2) and Anna Maria (Lloyd) Tilghman, was born at the Hermitage, December 6, 1716, died August 24, 1793. He studied law, practiced at Annapolis, moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1760, and there was attorney to the lord proprietor, a member of Penn's council and secretary of the Proprietary Land Office of Pennsylvania. He retained the position of secretary until the revolution and reduced the work of the land office to a regular equitable system. He was chosen common councilman of Philadelphia, October 3, 1764, and qualified as a member of the provincial council, January 29, 1767. He was a loyalist, but liberal in his views condemning many of the acts of parliament but remaining loyal to the King. He was placed under parole when the British approached Philadelphia, and on August 31, 1777, was granted permission to visit his family in Maryland, and return within a month. Before that time expired the British had occupied Philadelphia, so he remained in Chesterton and on March 16, 1778, he was discharged from parole. He died August 24, 1793. He married September 30, 1743, Anne Francis, who died December 18, 1771, daughter of Tench Francis, of "Fausley," Talbot county, Maryland, clerk of the county court, 1726-34, attorney-general of Pennsylvania, 1741-55, recorder of Philadelphia, 1750-55, son of Rev. John Francis, D. D., dean of Lismore and uncle of Sir Philip Francis, K. C. B., reputed author of the "Junius Letters." Her mother Elizabeth, daughter of Foster Turbutt, of Maryland, married Tench Francis, December 29, 1724.

Colonel Tench Tilghman, eldest of the ten children of "Councillor" James and Anne (Francis) Tilghman, was born at "Fausley," the maternal home in Talbot county, Maryland, December 25, 1744. He prepared under the direction of his grandfather. Tench Francis, and was graduated at the College of Philadelphia, in 1761. He engaged in mercantile business in Philadelphia with an uncle, Tench (2) Francis, and had acquired a comfortable competence prior to the outbreak of the revolution. He at once closed up his business, and as captain of a volunteer company joined the army of Washington. He served throughout the war and participated in many battles. In August, 1775, he was secretary to the congressional commission to treat with the northern Indian. In 1776 he was attached to the "Flying Camp," and in August of that year became aide-de-camp to General Washington, serving as such for five years, mostly without pay, enjoying the friendship and confidence of his commander-in-chief. On May 30, 1781, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel to rank from April