James Tilghman (1716–1793) was a prominent lawyer and public servant in colonial

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Biography

The fourth son of Colonel Richard Tilghman and Anna Maria Lloyd, he was born at his family's estate, the Hermitage, on the

Chester River The Chester River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 and its waters ...

in Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Early life

After studying law, Tilghman began his practice in

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

and in 1743 married Anne Francis (1727–1771), daughter of

Tench Francis (Sr.) Tench Francis (? probably in Philadelphia – 16 August 1758) was a prominent lawyer and jurist in colonial Maryland and Philadelphia. Early life Francis was the son of Rev. John Francis, Dean of Linsmore and Rector of St. Mary's Church in Dubli ...

. About 1760 Tilghman moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he held many positions of public service, including Secretary of the Land Office of Pennsylvania (appointed by John Penn in 1765), Philadelphia City Councilman (1764), and member of the

Pennsylvania Provincial Council The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776. The provincial council was based on the English parliamentary system and was analogous to the Upper House or House of Lords. From the Frame of Govern ...

(1767). During 1768 he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

as a member.Bell, Whitfield J., and Charles Greifenstein, Jr. Patriot-Improvers: Biographical Sketches of Members of the American Philosophical Society. 3 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1997, 3:95–101. At the outbreak of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, Tilghman at first favored compromise between England and the colonies; while he called for a repeal of the

Intolerable Acts The Intolerable Acts, sometimes referred to as the Insufferable Acts or Coercive Acts, were a series of five punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists fo ...

, which was so abhorred by colonists, he at the same time denounced the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...

. He was regarded, however, as a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

and was placed under arrest by Pennsylvania state authorities until 1778. Tilghman was a trustee of the College of Philadelphia (now the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

) from 1775 to 1788, when he resigned. Tilghman's youngest brother was

Matthew Tilghman Matthew Tilghman (February 17, 1718 – May 4, 1790) was an American Planter class, planter, and Revolutionary leader from Maryland. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776, where he signed the 1774 Continental Asso ...

, a delegate to the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

es.

Marriage and family

In 1743 he married Anne Francis (1727–1771), daughter of

They had two sons: *

Tench Tilghman Tench Tilghman (, December 25, 1744April 18, 1786) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He served as an aide-de-camp to General (United States), General George Washington, achieving the Military rank, rank ...

(1744 – 1786), aide-de-camp to

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

during the

. *

William Tilghman William Tilghman (August 12, 1756 – April 29, 1827) was the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit and chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Education and career Born on Augu ...

(1756 – 1827), who became chief justice of Pennsylvania in 1806. James Tilghman died at his family home in Chestertown,

Kent County, Maryland Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,198, making it the least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Chestertown. The county was named for the county of Kent in ...

, in 1793.

References

External links

Biographical sketch
at the

1716 births 1793 deaths Members of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council People from Talbot County, Maryland University of Pennsylvania people People from colonial Maryland Politicians from Annapolis, Maryland People from Chestertown, Maryland Tilghman family 18th-century American lawyers {{US-law-bio-stub