TILLEY
with roots in Somerset, England
family
the
Edward Tilley (born 1847) who died in Idaho, America, in 1937 could trace his roots back to Somerset and his great, great grandparents Matthew Tilley (1700-1768) and Anne Baller (1700-84).
Matthew and Anne had two children, Matthew (1738-1824) and Henry (1750-1819). Edward’s great grandfather Matthew married Edith Soames in 1764 and they had five children. Their youngest son, George (1779-1827), Edward’s grandfather, married Mary J.
One of their children, Matthew (1816-1901), married Sarah Pether in February 1836. In the 1851 census, Matthew, a mason, and Sarah are 38. They have four children ranging in age from three to 13 and are living in Weare, Somerset. Their children were Ellen (1837), Mary Jane (1839), Henry (1844) and Edward (28 June 1847).
In 1855 when Edward was eight, he came to America with his parents, brother and sisters. They settled in Dyersville, Iowa, before relocating in the spring of 1862 to the Des Moines township, later known as the Wm. Struthers farm, one-and-a-half miles north of Old Rolfe. Here Sarah died on 16 February 1868.
In 1869 Matthew married Abbie A. Blood and a few years later moved to Ness county, Kansas, where he built a fine stone house and remained seven years. On his return to this county he located at Rolfe, where he died on 18 April 1901. He was a stonemason all his life and a first-class workman. He helped build the first congregational church, a stone building, at Dyersville in 1860, and later a stone school house in Humboldt county. He served 12 years as a clerk in one of the churches in England, and as a tax collector before he came to America.
His son Edward married Ann Jane Hammond on 16 September 1867. They came to Idaho in 1908 and made their home at Rock Creek. The couple, who were farmers, had 11 children - Mary Ellen (1868-1934), Edward William (1870-1946), Adelaide Louisa (1872-1901), Frances (1873-74), Agnes S. (1877-1957), Charles Henry (1879-1911), Sarah Anna (1882-1980), Minnie Gertrude 'Gerty' (1885-1958) , Harold Bert (1888-1967), Edna Mae (1890-1968) and Orley DeWitt (1892-1977). They retired to Kimberly, Idaho, and Ann Jane died in January 1925 while Edward passed away aged 90 on 19 August 1937.
Edward and Ann Jane Tilley in a photo from 1920.
The gravestone of Edward Tilley, born in Weare on 28 June 1847 and who died in Kimberly on 19 August 1937.
Edward and Ann Jane with some of their children including Mary, Charles, Addie, Agnes, William, Anna, Edna, Gertrude and Harold.
The census of 1900 shows five children living with Edward and Ann Jane.
A 63-year-old Edward in the 1910 census.
As in previous censuses, the 1920 one shows Ann Jane is from New York.
Edward is a widower at the time of his death at the age of 90 on 19 August 1937. His daughter Edna was the informant.
The American Connection to the Somerset Tilleys
IF YOU THINK YOU ARE CONNECTED TO THE TILLEYS FROM SOMERSET PLEASE CONTACT: TILLEYFAMILY@HOTMAIL.CO.UK