Christopher Tillman, Jr.

613. CHRISTOPHER TILGHMAN, son of Christopher (607) and Anna (Sanders) Tilghman, was b. circa 1600 in Selling, Faversham Hundred, Kent County, England, and d. in James City County, Virginia. He m. Ruth Devonshire.

Issue:

1. (perhaps) Mildred Tilghman, b. ca. 1631 in Boughton Under Bleane, Kent [citation needed]
2. John Tilghman, b. ? in Faversham Hundred, Kent, England
3. Roger Tilghman b: 1641 Charles River, Charles City Co., VA
4. Gideon Tilghman b: ca. 1652 in Accomack Co, VA

The time of his arrival in Virginia is listed in Greer's "Early Emigrants to Virginia," and in "Patents of Virginia," as 9 May 1635. In the "Visitation of Kent," it is recorded that Christopher Tilghman came into possession of Rhodes Court, formerly owned by Thomas Bealde, and that Christopher, in turn, sold this estate to one Thomas Carter. Rhodes Court is described as being a Manor situated in the southeast extremity of the Parish of Selling, in the borough of Rhodes. Selling was parish on the south, or opposite side, of the London Road.

had had a violent dispute with his older brother John, agreed to "seek his fortune" in Virginia. This solution would have met with favor among those who knew his wife's origins and who sought to "export" her to the distant British colony of Virginia.[1]

In "Cavaliers and Pioneers," by Nell Marion Nugent, it is stated that Christopher Tilghman came to Virginia in the party organized by George Mynifie, a merchant, on April 19, 1638.[citation needed] No mention is made of exactly where he settled, nor of his wife and children (leading some to guess that he married Ruth Devonshire in Virginia, but 38 was very old for either a man or woman to marry at that time). Land records indicate that the family settled on land near the Charles River in Charles City County and later moved across the Bay to Accomack County on Virginia's "Eastern Shore".[2]

Christopher Tilghman died in 1673 either in James City County, Virginia, or, as family tradition asserts, at the home of his son Gideon Tilghman, located on the Manokin River in Somerset Co., Maryland.

His wife survived him and died in 1694, most likely also at her son Gideon Tilghman's home in Somerset Co., Maryland.

For those who used the old Christopher Tillman lineage to connect to Magna Charta barons and Charlemagne, that lineage has been disproven.

References

1. Tillman, Stephen F. The record and genealogy of the (Tilghman-Tillman-Tilman-Tilmon) family, 1225-1938. (1939) < FamilySearch >; “Chapter Two: Christopher Tilghman and his family.” < PDF >. Book page 8, PDF page 18. (document attached)
2. Tillman, Stephen F. Tilghman-Tillman family, 1225-1945. (1945) page 98. < Archive.Org >