Tillinghast Wood

Heather’s 3rd great grandfather

When Tillinghast Wood was born in 1803 or 1804 in Rhode Island, his father, Peleg, was 24 and his mother, Amy, was 24. He had two sons and three daughters with Jemima Burlingame between 1825 and 1839. He died on May 24, 1875, in Warren, New York, at the age of 72.

We don’t have an exact birth date for Tillinghast, but the year and place is derived from what he reported in various censuses as an adult. Since early censuses only recorded names of heads of households, we can’t see him named in the census until he becomes a HOH himself. So that’s year 1830.

In 1830 they are living in German Flatts, Herkimer County, New York. I don’t know when he moved from Rhode Island. There are 5 people in the household. Tillinghast and wife Jemima, a man aged 50-59, and 2 little girls. Could the man over age 50 be Tillinghast’s father? I’m not sure, because though father Peleg does live in German Flatts in 1820, and I don’t see him listed as a HOH anywhere in 1830, there’s also Peleg’s wife (Tillinghast’s mother) who is still living in 1830, and she’s missing from the household. So maybe the older man is Jemima’s father. The youngest girl is likely daughter Phoebe Ann, believed to be born in 1830. But there’s an older girl aged 5-9 that either died young or married young, because she disappears from the family by 1840.

In the 1840 census, the family is still living in German Flatts. There are now 6 people in the family. No grandparents or anyone of grandparent age. Just Tillinghast and Jemima, plus 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls). These are the boys and girls that would survive to adulthood. There’s a 4-year gap between son William (born 1832) and daughter Caroline (born 1836), so it is possible another child was born in between those 2 siblings but did not survive.

We see the family named in the 1850 census, and the location is now Warren, Herkimer, New York. There’s a screenshot in son Palmer’s biography. Referring back to Palmer’s biography, we can follow Tillinghast through various documents including that 1868 land map and the 1870 agricultural census.

In 1863, Tillinghast paid income tax of $11.63 while living in New York.

In 1870, Tillinghast owns 92 acres of land, 8 of which is woodland. His land is worth $8000, his tools are worth $200, and he earned $200 in wages the previous year. He owns 2 horses, 13 milch cows, 2 “other cattle”, 8 sheep, and 2 swine. All of his livestock is valued at $1000. For produce, he grows Indian corn, oats, barley, and buckwheat.

According to his headstone, he died on 24 May 1875. The headstone looks to me like it says age 81 years, 10 months, and 12 days, but this is not consistent with his age as he reported it in census records. All the censuses consistently calculate his birth year as either 1803 or 1804.

2 June 1875 – death notice from the Herkimer Democrat