Matthew Tilghman was an American planter and Revolutionary leader from Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

 from 1774 to 1776.

Early life

Matthew was born on the family plantation, The Hermitage, near Centreville

Centreville, Maryland

Centreville is an incorporated town in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States. Incorporated in 1794, it is the county seat of Queen Anne's County. The population was 1,970 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 21617 and the area code is 410. The local telephone exchange is 758...

 in Queen Anne's County

Queen Anne's County, Maryland

Queen Anne's County is a county located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland.As of 2010, the population was 47,798. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensville is the county's most populous place...

, Maryland. He was educated through private tutoring before moving to Talbot County

Talbot County, Maryland

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*81.4% White*12.8% Black*0.2% Native American*1.2% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.6% Two or more races*2.7% Other races*5.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

 on the Eastern Shore (of Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

). Tilghman married Anne Lloyd (1723–1794) on April 6, 1741. The couple took up residence on his plantation, known as Rich Neck.

Tilghman's first public service was as a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Talbot County. In 1751 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates

Maryland House of Delegates

The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

. He would serve 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 from 1773 to its end in 1775.

Revolutionary period

In the early days of the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, Tilghman was in the forefront of the political revolution in Maryland. He was an early member of the colony's committee of correspondence

Committee of correspondence

The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of American Revolution. They coordinated responses to Britain and shared their plans; by 1773 they had emerged as shadow governments, superseding the colonial legislature...

. For three years (1774–1776) he effectively headed the revolution in Maryland. He was the chairman of the Committee of Safety

Committee of Safety (American Revolution)

Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community...

, president of the revolutionary assembly known as the Annapolis Convention, and the head of the Maryland delegation to the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

.

While in the Congress, Tilghman debated and supported the Declaration of Independence

United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...

. He voted for its final approval, but was replaced in the Congress by Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and later as United States Senator for Maryland...

 before a copy was signed. Matthew 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 was Maryland's first constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

.

When the new state government went into effect later in 1776, Tilghman was elected to the state Senate. He would serve there until 1783, and from 1780 to 1783 he was President of the Senate.

Later life and family

In 1783 he retired from public life, and attended to his properties. Matthew died at his home Rich Neck, near Claiborne, Maryland

Claiborne, Maryland

Claiborne is an unincorporated community in Talbot County, Maryland. 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 lists the population as 147 and the number of homes as 84, slightly down from...

 on May 4, 1790 and was buried in a family cemetery there. His home, now known as Rich Neck Manor still stands on Rich Neck Road north of Claiborne. The home, listed as Sherwood Manor

Sherwood Manor (St. Michaels, Maryland)

Sherwood Manor, also known as Sherwood's Neck or Rich Neck Manor, is a historic home at Easton, Talbot County, Maryland. It is a post-Revolutionary War brick structure located on a small point of land in Hemmersley Creek. The house is a five bay, two story brick structure, with an unusual pair of...

, was added on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1977. It is private property. (Please respect the rights of property owners.)

Matthew 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.

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. Richard served as a major in militia of Queen Anne's County during the Revolution. Anna Maria married her cousin Tench Tilghman

Tench Tilghman

Tench Tilghman was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary war. He served as an aide de camp to General George Washington, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel....

on June 9, 1783.