TILLINGHAST
INCLUDES:
JUDGE WALDO, FRANK HOWARD, & FRED WALDO TILLINGHAST
AND
THE DODGE FAMILY

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.

PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 332-335

TILLINGHAST. One of the families of New England which has for generations been prominent in many walks of life, is that of Tillinghast, its representatives having ever been identified with progressive citizenship, loyal adherence to duty and high religious influence since its founder in America made a home here in 1645.

(I) Pardon Tillinghast was born at Seven Cliffs, near Beachy Head (now Eastborn), Sussex, England, in 1622, and became a soldier under Cromwell, taking part in the battle of Marston Moor. In 1645 he emigrated to New England, settling in Providence, R.I., where he was admitted a resident of the town with a quarter interest of the original proprietors of the Providence Purchase. Much of the history of this noted family can be found in the records of the Baptist Churches in the localities in which they lived, for from this earliest American ancestor, who became the pastor of the first Baptist Church in Providence, and the builder of the first meeting-house of that denomination in the Colonies, down to the esteemed living representatives of the family, they have been, almost without exception, active in the work of that religious body. From 1678 until his death, on Jan. 17, 1718, Pardon Tillinghast preached and performed the ministerial office in the church in Providence, without thought of remuneration. In 1700, at his own expense, he built what is the oldest Baptist Church edifice in America. Mr. Tillinghast was a merchant, and being a man well versed in public matters in his Colony was sent many times as a deputy to the General Court in the town of Providence. For twenty-five years he held positions of trust and confidence. His second wife, Lydia, was probably a daughter of Philip Taber, of Tiverton. By his first wife, whose surname was Butterworth, he had the following named children: Sarah, born in 1654, died when young; John, born in 1657, married Isabel Sayles, and was a resident of Providence and Newport, R.I.; and Mary, born in 1661, married Benjamin Carpenter. To the second marriage came children as follows: Lydia, born in 1666, in 1738 married John Audley;
Pardon, born in 1668, married a Miss Keech, and lived in Providence and East Greenwich, R.I.; Philip, born in 1669, in 1692 married Martha Holmes, and was the father of Joseph of Providence; Benjamin, born in 1672, married Sarah Rhodes, and was a merchant at Providence; Abigail, born in 1674, married Nicholas Sheldon; Joseph, born in 1677, married (first) Freelove Stafford, (second) Mary Hendron, and was a merchant at Providence and Newport, R.I.; Mercy, born in 1680, married Nicholas Power; Hannah married John Hale; Elizabeth married Philip Taber.

(II) Pardon Tillinghast (2), son of Rev. Pardon, was born Feb. 16, 1668, in Providence, R.I., where he lived to manhood, and then moved to East
Greenwich, where he engaged in farming and died in 1743. His wife’s maiden name was Keech. They had a numerous family.

(III) John Tillinghast, second son of Pardon (2), was born in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

(IV) Charles Tillinghast, the eighth child of John, was born April 5, 1729, at East Greenwich. His first marriage was to Mercy Green, born in 1729, who died in 1759, and his second marriage was to Abigail Allen, born in 1732, died in 1792. Charles Tillinghast located at North Kingston, R.I., about the time of his first marriage, but at the time of his death he lived at Quidnessett Neck, R.I., where he had located about 1771. At the outbreak of the war of Independence he was appointed by the General Assembly an officer to secure soldiers and arms for Washington’s army, then gathering near Boston. In this way he became a marked character, and one evening some masked Tories broke into his house after he and his family had retired, took Charles from his bed without permitting him time to dress, hurried him to a boat, and conveyed him to prison on Block Island, where he died in November, 1775, seventeen days after capture, from injuries inflicted by his enemies. The children born to this noble patriot were: By his first marriage: John, born at North Kingston, R.I., in 1757, also died in the hands of the Tories, in November, 1775; Charles, born in 1758, married Hannah Talbot, and died Oct. 10, 1791; Mercy, born in 1759, married Capt. George Spooner, who lost his life at sea; by the second marriage: Deacon Pardon, born in 1765, is mentioned below; Elder Joseph, born Feb. 10, 1767, died in Voluntown, Conn., on March 3, 1715(**footnote), married Sarah Gorton and his son, Charles A., died in Moosup at an advanced age; Phoebe, born Sept. 15, 1769, married Simon James, and died May 3, 1848; Col. Allen, the first of the children born at Quidnessett Neck, was born in 1772, married Ruth Lewis, and died Aug. 18, 1843; Amy, born May 5, 1774, married Joseph Nichols, and died July 4, 1834.

(V) Deacon Pardon Tillinghast, son of Charles, and grandfather of Judge Waldo Tillinghast, of Plainfield, Conn., was born in North Kingston, R.I., June 8, 1765, and died Nov. 20, 1816, at West Greenwich, R.I. By occupation he was a farmer. For many years he was a deacon in the Baptist Church. On Dec. 18, 1785, he was married to Mary Sweet, daughter of Sylvester Sweet, born Oct. 2, 1770, at Exeter, R.I.; she died Aug. 19, 1854. Their children were Charles, born Sept. 16, 1787, passed his later years in Griswold, Conn., engaged in farming; Susan, born Sept. 13, 1789, married an Avery; Sylvester, born July 24, 1792, lived in West Greenwich; Mary, born March 28, 1794, married a Tillinghast, of West Greenwich; Allen, born May 26, 1790, lived in Greenwich, R.I.; Pardon, born April 1, 1798, was a resident of Killingly, Conn.; Joseph, born April 26, 1800, lived in West Greenwich, and later at Sterling, Conn.; Abbie, born May 13, 1802, married (first)
Pardon Bates, of West Greenwich, by whom she had three children, and (second) a Mr. Bowen, of Woodstock, Conn., by whom she had five children (she died at Killingly); Tabitha, born Sept. 7, 1804, married (first) Allen James, by whom she had three children, and (second) Josiah Love, of Coventry, R.I.; Phoebe, born Aug. 7, 1806, married Caleb Tillinghast, and lived in Plainfield, Conn., dying without issue, June 25, 1875; Thomas, father of Judge Waldo, born April 9, 1810, in West Greenwich, died in Griswold, Conn., Nov. 29, 1871; John, born Oct. 12, 1812, served in the Baptist ministry for almost fifty years, much of the time in Coventry, Rhode Island.

(VI) Thomas Tillinghast was early thrown upon his own resources, as he was but seven years of age when his father died. His educational opportunities were confined to the district schools. When a child he went to live with his brother Allen, in Sterling, Conn., and grew up in that town, giving his attention to farming and milling. The latter occupation pleased him best, and he became the owner of valuable mill properties in both Plainfield and Griswold, and carried on saw and grist milling for some thirty years. He united with the Baptist Church at an early age, and was always a zealous worker, becoming so earnest in his labors that he qualified as an ordained minister and preached for almost forty years. He had no special church, but his labors extended through eastern Connecticut. His death occurred Nov. 29, 1871, in Griswold, Connecticut.

Rev. Thomas Tillinghast was three times married; he reared a family of fourteen children. On Aug. 11, 1830, in West Greenwich, R.I., he married (first) Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Sabin) Howard, of Woodstock, Conn. She died Sept. 29, 1842, leaving five children, as follows: Harriet S., born June 23, 1831, in Woodstock, died June 2, 1875, she married (first) John Kegwin, of Griswold, and (second) George Segar, of Lebanon, Conn., and had three children by each union. Waldo is mentioned below. Henry S., born Nov. 25, 1835, at Killingly, Conn., married Catherine Crane, of New Jersey and had six children; during the Civil war he was a soldier in the Union army; he conducted a hotel business for a time, but is now a farmer at Flushing, L.I. Jared, born June 17, 1838, at Foster, R.I., died at the age of twenty-four years, on June 4, 1862, in Plainfield, Conn. Caleb Edward, born Nov. 24, 1840, at Plainfield, Conn., married, in Hope Valley, R.I., Mary A. Reynolds, and had six children, four of them still living; she died Nov. 1, 1901.

The second marriage of Rev. Thomas Tillinghast, in Voluntown, Conn., was to Laura Kinne, daughter of Avery Kinne, and to this union came the following children: Thomas Avery, born April 5, 1844, in Plainfield, Conn., is a farmer in Brooklyn, Conn.; he married Jane S., daughter of Charles A. Tillinghast, of Moosup, Conn. Laura Jane, born Oct. 22, 1845, married Dr. Raymond Eddy, of East Providence. Mary, born Dec. 2, 1846, in Plainfield, married (first) Clark Corey and (second) Myron Austin, and resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. Emily, born April 28, 1848, at Sterling, Conn., married Dr. Elmer Eddy, of Olneyville, R.I., and died in December, 1899, leaving one child. Fannie K., born June 6, 1850, in Sterling, Conn., married Henry Weaver and lives in St. Louis, Mo.; she has four children. Adaline, born April 22, 1852, married Alfred A. Esten, of Providence, later of New Jersey, where she died Nov. 22, 1887.

The third marriage of Rev. Thomas Tillinghast was to Sarah Dawley, of Griswold, Conn., and the children of this union were: Jared, born March 17, 1864, is a minister in the Methodist Church and at present stationed at Valley Stream, L.I. (he is unmarried); Jeanette, twin of Jared, married Calvin Videon, and resides in Tottenville, Staten Island, N.Y.; and Ernest, born Aug. 4, 1866, married Edith Edwards, and is a farmer of Prince’s Bay, New York.

JUDGE WALDO TILLINGHAST, Probate Judge and prominent citizen of Plainfield, Conn., was born June 10, 1833, at Killingly, son of Rev. Thomas and Mary (Howard) Tillinghast. At the age of six years he came to the town of Plainfield, which has been his home ever since. His attendance at school was much interrupted, as it was necessary for him to pass early into active, workday life, and he was a post-graduate in business before he had reached his majority. His first independent work was done at the age of fourteen years, when he engaged at farming, receiving as wages the munificent sum of $9 per month. His ambition was to secure a good education and he bent every energy in that direction, managing to attend three winters at the Shepard Hill school, seven winters in the Goshen District, and during the succeeding
five years, by good management and hard work at farming and teaching, he was enabled to study the higher branches at Plainfield Academy, which at this time was a very popular school. It was under the able management of Rev. William A. Benedict, a noted educator, and the roll mustered one hundred pupils. Among this number were twenty-four Indian boys from the Chickasaw Nation, and during this time two of them died and were buried in the Plainfield cemetery.

Between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one young Tillinghast devoted his summers to farming and his winters to attending or teaching school, his experience as a teacher covering four winter terms, one at South Killingly, two at Scituate, R.I., and one at Griswold. These were busy years, but during that time the character of the youth was developing along with his body and mind, and much of his later success in life may doubtless be attributed to the habits of thrift and self-control which marked those years.

In October, 1885, in association with an uncle, Henry Sabin, Mr. Tillinghast embarked in mercantile business, buying out Mr. Sabin’s interest in the following year. For seventeen years Mr. Tillinghast conducted a prosperous business at the same stand, and in 1871 he built the two and one half story business block in Plainfield which he still occupies, his business connection in that place having continued for forty-seven years. Expansion has taken place in every line, and the volume of the business now managed by Judge Tillinghast is greater in a single month than it was in the two years at the beginning. For twenty-eight consecutive years he was the efficient and popular postmaster at Plainfield.

Although so eminently successful in his mercantile enterprises, Judge Tillinghast by no means confines his attention to that line. Few men in the locality have shown more local pride and public spirit, and he has served his town in many official positions. He is now honorably serving his twenty-eighth year as Judge of Probate, twenty-five years in succession. His connection with the office, however, and experience in its work, goes much farther back, as he served as clerk of probate, under the late Hon. David Gallup, for fourteen years. For thirty-nine years he has been a member of the board of education for the town of Plainfield, serving during the past three years as its chairman. In 1901 Judge Tillinghast represented the town in the State Legislature and served on the important committee on Incorporation. Judge Tillinghast is also something of a farmer, owning and operating an estate of 200 acres, and he has been connected with several business enterprises of his section.

Since he united with the Moosup Baptist Church, in April, 1850, the Judge has been one of its earnest workers and prominent members. For seventeen years he was superintendent of the Sunday-school, and for the past twenty-one years has been the church clerk. The only fraternal society to which he belongs is the American Mechanics of Moosup.

On Oct. 13, 1859, Judge Tillinghast was married, in Plainfield, Conn., to Miss Mary A. Crary, daughter of Charles Wylie and Anne (Borden) Crary, of Fall River, Mass., and to this marriage children as follows were born: Frank Howard, a merchant of Central Village, Conn., is mentioned below, as is also Fred Waldo, who is likewise a merchant, in association with his brother; Arthur C., born June 28, 1872, his father’s assistant in the mercantile business, married Martha A. Palmer, of Hope Valley, R.I., and has one daughter, Dorothy Elizabeth, born Jan. 1, 1894; Miss Annie Louise was born May 1, 1875.

FRANK HOWARD TILLINGHAST. In his eldest son Judge Tillinghast for a number of years had a very efficient assistant in the probate office. He was born Sept. 24, 1860, in Plainfield, Conn., and his education was pursued along lines that would best fit him for a practical business career. After completing the course in the village common schools he finished the higher branches at Plainfield Academy, and then took a business course at Schofield ’s Commercial College, at Providence. When only eighteen years old he took charge of a store located at Packerville, conducting it with success for a period of two years, and then spent one year as his father’s assistant in the store in Plainfield.

In 1883, in company with Walter L. Palmer, Mr. Tillinghast bought out the store business of C.W. Lillibridge & Co. at Central Village, and under the firm name of Tillinghast & Palmer conducted the same until July, 1885. For the two succeeding years Mr. Tillinghast managed the business alone. On Jan. 5, 1887, he was joined in a partnership with his brother, Fred W., the firm now being F.H. & F.W. Tillinghast. The business is assuming mammoth proportions, and the energetic partners are constantly expanding and covering new lines. In addition to a most complete and well arranged general stock, the firm now carry a well selected stock of furniture and carpets, curtains, and furnishings. In 1896 Mr. Tillinghast bought out the undertaking business of E.M. Anthony, at Jewett City, and since then he not only keeps a representative at that place but controls the business in Central Village.

Like his father, Mr. Tillinghast is competent to grapple with many enterprises and fulfills the ideal of a successful man and useful citizen.
He is a trustee of the Brooklyn Savings Bank. In politics he is a stanch Republican, for several years was clerk of probate under his father, since 1888 has been town auditor, and has also served as county auditor. In 1892 he was honored by his fellow citizens with election as representative of the town in the General Assembly, and while in Hartford he did efficient service on the Military committee and on the committee on Capitol Furniture and Grounds, and was also clerk of the county for both senators and representatives. His political career has been noted for good judgment and close attention to the wishes of his constituents.

Mr. Tillinghast is very prominent in Masonry, belonging to Moosup Lodge, No. 113, of which he is worshipful master, Warren Chapter, of Danielson, Montgomery Council, of Danielson, Columbia Commandery, of Norwich, and Sphinx Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Hartford. He is also a member of the A.O.U.W. and of the I.O.O.F. and Encampment of Central Village. In spite of his many pressing duties he finds time to attend to his fraternal claims and is most highly esteemed in these various organizations. For a considerable period he has been a member of Central Village Congregational Church and is chairman of the Society committee.

On Nov. 23, 1882, Mr. Tillinghast was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Dodge, of Plainfield, and two children have come to this union, namely: Louise Dodge, born July 30, 1889; and Helen Waldo, born Aug. 7, 1896. Mr. Tillinghast is prominent in both business and social circles in Central Village and locality, and is looked upon as one of the leading factors in the progress and development of his section. Energetic, progressive and public-spirited, his influence for the public good is felt in many directions; while his personal qualifications make him one of the most esteemed citizens of his town.

FRED WALDO TILLINGHAST, the popular junior member of the firm of F.H. & F.W. Tillinghast, is the second son of Judge Waldo Tillinghast, of Plainfield, and was born in what is known as the old Crary house on beautiful Plainfield street, that town, Dec. 18, 1865. His educational privileges began with those of the district schools, and ended with Plainfield Academy, in which institution he was a student for several years. His inclinations led him rather into the commercial than the professional world, and, determining to fit himself as thoroughly as possible for this, he entered Schofield’s Commercial College, at Providence, one of the best institutions of its kind in New England. He applied himself assiduously to his studies. From early boyhood he had spent his vacations in his father’s general store, assisting in various ways, and the practical knowledge gained by that experience, coupled with the thorough theoretical training acquired in the business college, equipped him well for his future work. Upon returning home he was for some time a clerk in his father’s store.

At the age of twenty-two Mr. Tillinghast went to Cleveland, Ohio, with the intention of engaging in the insurance business, but he contracted malarial fever, and was obliged to return to the East in 1886; he located in Central Village, and after clerking for a year, on Jan. 5, 1887, became a partner in the firm of F.H. & F.W. Tillinghast.

On July 31, 1890, Mr. Tillinghast was united in marriage with Miss Jennie F. Carey, of Central Village, and they have two sons, Edward C. and Waldo Elbert. In his political belief Mr. Tillinghast is a Republican, and for the last fifteen years has served very acceptably as clerk of probate. He has, however, little time to devote to party work, as his business cares demand almost his entire time. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Moosup Lodge, No. 113, F.& A.M., of which he is senior warden; with Warren Chapter and Montgomery Council, of Danielson; and Columbia Commandery, of Norwich. Mr. Tillinghast has, in his business management, fully justified the promise of his early years. He is progressive and public-spirited, yet conservative, and his judgement seldom errs.

THE DODGE FAMILY. The records of the Dodge family, of which Mrs. Frank H. Tillinghast is a member, recall an Amri Dodge, who married Lucy Jensen and died in 1832. Their children were as follows: Alpheus, born Nov. 15, 1785; Barney, born Aug. 14, 1786, in Weston, Mass., who died Feb. 12, 1871; John, born Nov. 20, 1789; Nancy, born June 10, 1792; and Olney, born April 8, 1798.

Barney Dodge married Mary Main, daughter of Joab and Mary (Inman) Main, who had the following children: Ariel, born Sept. 30, 1781; Elisha, born April 27, 1787; Mary, June 12, 1792 (married Barney Dodge and died Oct. 12, 1850); Phila, Oct. 27, 1795; and Bonaparte, Oct. 27, 1798. The children born to Barney Dodge and his wife were: Mary Ann, born Feb. 7, 1811, died Oct. 7, 1860; Henry T., born Dec. 15, 1812, died Jan. 23, 1882; Lucy, born Jan. 14, 1815, died Oct. 21, 1880; John, born July 28, 1817, died in 1818; Phila, born July 5, 1820, died Dec. 15, 1886; Elizabeth, born Jan. 29, 1823, died in 1823; Olney, the father of Mrs. Tillinghast, born Feb. 14, 1824, died Oct. 16, 1889; Barney J. was born June 2, 1829; George M., born June 25, 1831, resides in Valley Falls; Daniel, born Jan. 22, 1834, died April 4, 1889; and William H., born May 17, 1840, resides in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

On July 31, 1854, Olney Dodge married Susan H. Shepard, and to them came children as follows: Susan E., born July 31, 1855, who married Daniel D. Earle April 22, 1886; Mary A., born Oct. 13, 1860, wife of Mr. Tillinghast; John G., born Oct. 29, 1867; and Charles O., born Jan. 18, 1872.

(**footnote): Date of death listed as 1715 cannot be correct since he was born in 1767. But I have reproduced it as originally published.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel – great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.