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Matthew Tilghman (February 17, 1718 – May 4, 1790) was an American planter, and Revolutionary leader from Maryland. He served as a delegate to the
Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
from 1774 to 1776, where he signed the 1774 Continental Association.


Early life

Tilghman was born on the family plantation, ''The Hermitage'', near Centreville in
Queen Anne's County Queen Anne's County is located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,874. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensvil ...
, Maryland. Tilghman was the grandson of one of the early settlers in Maryland. His grandfather, Richard Tilghman (1626–1675) had been a surgeon in the British navy and established the family plantation at the Hermitage. His father was also named Richard Tilghman (1672–1738) was a planter. He was educated through private tutoring before moving to Talbot County on the Eastern Shore (of Chesapeake Bay). Tilghman married Anne Lloyd (1723–1794) on April 6, 1741. The couple took up residence on a large plantation in
Claiborne, Maryland Claiborne is an unincorporated community in Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The village is located on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Eastern Bay at , and uses ZIP code 21624. The 2000 U.S. Census listed ...
, known as ''Rich Neck Manor''. Tilghman's first public service was as a
justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
for Talbot County. In 1751 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. He served there through the remainder of its service to the colony, although in 1760 and 1761 he represented Queen Anne's County. (Maryland, like several other colonies, permitted a representative to be elected by any district in which he owned property.) He was elected the
speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
from 1773 to its end in 1775.


Revolutionary period

In the early days of the American Revolution, Tilghman was in the forefront of the political revolution in Maryland. He was an early member of the colony's committee of correspondence. For three years (1774–1776) he effectively headed the revolution in Maryland. He was the chairman of the Committee of Safety, president of the revolutionary assembly known as the Annapolis Convention, and the head of the Maryland delegation to the Continental Congress. While in the Congress, Tilghman debated and supported the Declaration of Independence. He voted for its final approval but was replaced in the Congress by Charles Carroll of Carrollton before a copy was signed. Tilghman had to return home to preside over a longer session of the Annapolis Convention that established a new government for Maryland. Besides being president of the Convention, he headed the committee that drafted the ''Charter of Rights and Plan of Government'' that became Maryland's constitution. When the state government went into effect later in 1776, Tilghman was elected to the state Senate. He served there until 1783, and from 1780 to 1783 he was president of the Senate.


Later life and family

In 1771 Tilghman acquired property near his Rich Neck Manor on Sherwood's Neck. In 1783 he retired from public life and attended to his properties. Tilghman died at his home ''Rich Neck Manor'' on May 4, 1790, and was buried in a family cemetery there. Matthew and his wife Anna Lloyd Tilghman (1723–1794) had five children: Margaret (1742–1817), Matthew Ward (1743–1753), Richard (1747–1806), Lloyd (1749–1811), and Anna Maria (1755–1843). Margaret married
Charles Carroll, Barrister Charles Carroll (22 March 1723 – 23 March 1783) was an American statesman from Annapolis, Maryland. He was the builder of the Baltimore Colonial home Mount Clare (1760), and a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1776 and 1777. ...
. Richard served as a major in militia of Queen Anne's County during the Revolutionary War. Anna Maria married her cousin Tench Tilghman on June 9, 1783. Tilghman's son Lloyd built his own home on Sherwood's Neck, known as Sherwood Manor. Sherwood Manor was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Both Rich Neck Manor and Sherwood Manor are private property.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tilghman, Matthew 1718 births 1790 deaths Continental Congressmen from Maryland 18th-century American politicians Presidents of the Maryland State Senate People from Centreville, Maryland People of Maryland in the American Revolution American planters American slave owners People of colonial Maryland American people of English descent Tilghman family Lloyd family of Maryland Signers of the Continental Association