William TILLER

Notes:

WFT #2385 -
In 1770, following the death of his father, William chose Samuel Landrum as his guardian.

In March 1776, he enlisted for service in the Revolutionary Was as a private. He was discharged in
March of 1778 and re-enlisted on April 9, 1778 as a corporal.

Contained within William's Revolutionary War pension application are 8 pages of material written by
William detailing his service as a Revolutionary War soldier. During his time of service, he served at the
Battle of Stoney Point, and at the Siege of Charleston. During the Siege of Charleston, William received
two wounds. "...I received two wounds by bombshells that I shall carry to my grave one in my butt and
one in my secret parts." William also recounts that two others with whom he served were killed after he
was wounded, "when sergeant Hundly was killed and Richard Spenler was killed one was taking [care]
of me when he was killed and the other close to me a few days after colonel Parker was killed by a
cannon ball."

On May 12, 1780, the Siege of Charleston ended with William and hundreds of others being taken
captive. They were held captive for approximately 14 months. On July 8, 1781, after being released
through a prisoner exchange program, William was discharged from service.

Until June 15, 1793, little else is known about William's whereabouts. However, it appears that he spent
at least some of that time in North Carolina. One June 15, 1793, William took possession of land in
Montgomery County, Virgina. He sold that land on May 12, 1804. By 1807, William was residing in Giles
County, Virginia, where he stayed until 1810. In 1810, William was living in Cabell County, Virginia and
remained there through part of 1815. In 1850, he moved to Russell County, Virginia. There he remained
until he died on October 12, 1821.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Samuel Jhile TILLER was born between 1776 and 1777 in On ocean on way to America or Chesterfield County, Virginia; died on 03 Aug 1839 in Logan County, Virginia.
2. William TILLER, Jr. was born between 1787 and 1791 in Giles County, Virginia; died on 10 Aug 1867 in Mercer County, West Virginia.
3. Nancy TILLER
4. Jamima TILLER
5. Martha Patsy TILLER was born between 1800 and 1802 in Giles County, Virginia.
6. Mary Polly TILLER was born about 1790.

Notes:

WFT #2385
Although Thomas Tiller appears to have primarily been a farmer, he may have been better
suited to be an attorney. Beginning in July 1737 and ending in August 1758,
Thoms was involved in no less than 32 lawsuits in Essex County, Virgina (note there
are likely numerous other suits - not all Order Books for Essex County could be
searched because of missing or incomplete indexes)Few instances were found in which
Thomas was the defendant.

After arriving in Chesterfield County, Virginia in 1759, Thomas became involved, as either
plaintiff or defendant, in no less than 6 lawsuits from 1761 until his death in 1765/66.

Thomas married Elizabeth UNK. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From WFT #2385
William Jr. appears to have been a man of greater mans than his father. This may have been
due in part to William's father-in-law being a man of considerable means. He was given 63 acres
by his father-in-law Charles Brown.

William married Catherine BROWN between 1706 and 1714. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From WFT #2385 - William Tiller was a resident of Old Rappahannock County, Virginia and Richmond County,
Virginia. The first record of William is a lawsuit by William against the estate of John Erwin for a bill
dated Dec. 6, 1684 in Old Rappahannock County. The suit itself was settled in 1685.

William was apparently a man of modest means. He was the guardian of Samuel Nichols, and lived on
land belonging to the minor Samuel Nichols until Nichols reached legal age. At that time,
William bought 100 acres from Nichols for a very favorable price. When William died, he left a
modest personal estates and left half of the 100 acres purchased from Samuel Nichols to his son
John and half to his wife for life. After the death of his wife, the 50 acres were also to go to
William's son John.

The fact that William was a man of modest means and William's age indicates that he may have
been the same William Tiller imported by Rees Hughs in 1650. Uner the Headwright system
Rees Hughs received 450 acres in New Kent County, Virginia for the importation of 9 people,
including a William Tiller. Often such imported people were poor and served as indentured
servants to pay for the cost of their voyage. Unfortunately, we may never know if the two
William Tillers are the same because the New Kent County records were destroyed by
fire intentionally set by John Price Posey.

William married Mary UNK. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]