[McGowan.FTW]
[Neet3.FTW]
Notes for JOHANNES TILGHMAN:
The name Tilghman is derived from the occupation of its first bearers, either as "tileman," one who covered roofs with tiles, or as "tillman" , a husbandman or farmer. The family motto of "Spes Alit Agricolam" (Hope sustains the farmer), would indicate the later origin.
It is believed that the family originated in Southern France from whence they settled in the Reinland (territory along the River Rhine), as the Von Till family. This name later appeared in Germany as Tillman. When the first of the Tilghman family appeared in England it was Tilman. About the year 1000 it became Tilghman.
In the absence of factual information on the family prior to 1225 A.D.,it may be assumed that the family came to Kent County,England, with the Jutes, one of the three great Teutonic Nations, in their invasion ofEngland in 449. As early as 690 (Volume 1, Beade's Opera Historical), theTilghman family was established in Kent County, for it is recorded that"Tilman was the name of one of the English priests who accompanied the ill-fated Hewalds in their mission to the Continental Saxons," and was a "man of great renown and also noble, as the world judgeth, who from athane (thegn) was become a monk."
The dictionary states that in Anglo-Saxon England the word thegndenoted orginally a warrior companion of a King, assigned a particular military duty. A later meaning of the word is a "freeman who possessed five or more hides of land and had a special appointment in the King's Hall, and was bound to render services in war as a landowner."
Thus it was found that "Tilman, the Thegnman," was in Kent County as early as 690.
The records indicate that Johannes or John Tilghman lived in Snodland Parrish, Kent County, England. Several of the descendants settled in Faversham Hundred or Parrish, Kent County, England.
"Tilghman- Tillman Family 1225-1945" by Col. Stephen Tillman, USAF. Published 1945.