Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/183

 TILGHMAN

TILLMAN

\srnx, and was president of this corporation for man}' years. He assisted Obed Hussey in the construction of the first reaping machine, and the first field of wheat ever cut by this reaper in the United States was on his farm near Oxford in 1837, under the auspices of the Board of Agricul- ture for the Eastern Sliore of Maryland. (See: "Inventions of the 19th Century;" Munn & Co.). He was a member by heredity of the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland (18-10). and a member of the general Society of the Cincin- nati, holding the office of treasurer-general in 1874. He died in Baltimore. Md., Dec. 22. 1874.

TILGHMAN, William, jurist, was born in Fausley, Talbot county, Md., Aug. 4, 1756; son of James (1716-1793) and Anne (Francis) Tilgh- man, and nephew of Matthew Tilghman ( q.v.). He matriculated at the College of Philadelphia, in the class of 1772, but left before graduating, the family having removed to Philadelphia, where he studied law in the office of Benjamin Cliew, being admitted to the Maryland bar in 1783. He was married to Margaret E., daughter of James and Elizabeth (Lawrence) Allen and granddaughter of John Lawrence. He was a member of the IMaryland legislature, 1789-93; re- moved to Philadelpliia in 1793, where he prac- tised law until 1801, when he was appointed by President Jefferson chief-judge of the U.S. cir- cuit court, holding the office until its abolish- ment in 1802. He was president judge of the court of common pleas of Philadelphia, 1805-06, and chief-justice of the supreme court of Penn- sylvania, 1806-27. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosopliical society in 1805, and was its president, 1824-27. He was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, 1802- 27, and received the honorary degree of LL.D. froQi there in 1807 and from Harvard in 1814. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., April 30, 1827.

TILLINGHAST, Joseph Leonard, representa- tive, was born in Taunton, Mass., in 1790; a de- cendant of Pardon Tillinghast, who emigrated from England, settling in Providence, R.I., in 1045. Joseph Leonard Tillinghast removed to Providence, E.I., where he began the practice of law. He was a representative in the general as- sembly for several years, serving as speaker of the house, 1829-32, and a "Whig representative from Rhode Island in the 25th, 26th and 27th con- gresses, 1837-43. He was a trustee of Brown uni- versity, 1833-44, and from that institution re- ceived the honorary degree of A.M. in 1819. He was married to Rebecca, daughter of Nicholas Power, and their son, Nicholas Power Tillinghast (1817-1869), was an Episcopal clergyman. Joseph Leonad Tillinghast died in Providence, Rhode Island, Dec. 30, 1844.

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TILLMAN, Benjamin Ryan, senator, was born in Edgefield county, S.C, Aug. 11, 1847; son of Benjamin Ryan and Sophia (Hancock) Tillman; grandson of Frederick and Ausibel (Miller) Till- man and of Thomas and Martha (Oliver) Han- cock. He received an academic educa- tion, and in 1864 left school to join the Confederate army, but was stricken with a Severe illness and was an invalid for two years. He engaged in farming and was married, Jan. 8, 1868, to Sal- lie Starke, daughter of S. C. and Adeline (Brewer) Starke of Elberton, Ga. He was elected governor

of South Carolina in 1890; re-elected in 1892. and obtained the passage of a law securing the dis- pensarj' sN'stein of selling liquors under state control. He founded the Clemson Agricultural college at John C. Calhoun's old home. Fort Hill, S.C, in 1893. and established the Winthrop Nor- mal and Industrial College for Women at Rock Hill. He was a member of the state constitu tional convention of 1895. and chairman of tli*^ committee on suffrage; was elected to the U.S. senate in 1894, over Matthew Calbraithe Butle* by a vote of 131 to 21, and was re-elected in 190i for the term ending March 3, 1907, serving rs chairman of the committee on Revolutionary claims, and as a member of the committees on appropriations, forest reservations, interstate commerce, mines and mining, naval affairs, and the relations with Canada.

TILLMAN, George D., representative, was born near Curryton, Edgefield county, S.C, Aug. 21, 1826. He attended an academy at Penfield, Ga., and at Greenwood, S.C, and matriculated at Harvard but did not graduate. He was admitted to the bar in 1848; w^s a representative in the South Carolina legislature, 1854-55; and in 1862 he enlisted in the 3d regiment of South Carolina state troops, later serving in the 2d South Car- olina artillery. He was again a representative in the state legislature in 1864; a member of the state constitutional convention, 1865, a state senator in 1865 and a member of the Democratic state executive committee in 1876. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for represen- tative in the 45th congress, a Democratic rep- resentative from the fifth South Carolina district in the 46th congress, 1879-81, and was seated in the 47th congress, but his seat was successfully