Daniel Tilton

Daniel Tilton (March 30, 1763 – November 20, 1830) was one of the three first judges of the Mississippi Territory Supreme Court, and the deliverer of the first Territorial Seal of Mississippi.

Daniel Tilton
1st Judge of the Supreme Court of the Mississippi Territory
In office May 7, 1798 – 1802
Nominated by	John Adams
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	David Ker
Personal details
Born	Daniel Tilton March 30, 1763 East Kingston, New Hampshire
Died	November 20, 1830 Deerfield, New Hampshire
Spouse	Isabel Thompson
Alma mater	Harvard College

Early life and education

Tilton was born in East Kingston, New Hampshire, on March 30, 1763, to David Tilton and Jane Greeley.^[1] He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in the neighboring town of Exeter,^[2] where he graduated in 1783. He attended Dartmouth College from 1786 to 1788, and graduated from Harvard College in 1790.^[3]

Career

He was appointed by President John Adams to be one of the first judges of the newly formed Mississippi Territory along with Judge Peter Bryan Bruin and William McGuire, commissioned on May 7, 1798.^[4] On his journey to Mississippi from his native New Hampshire, he was entrusted with the carrying of the first Territorial Seal of Mississippi to the territory.^[5]

Prior to becoming a judge, Tilton was not a lawyer, though he did in fact study the law, the only judge on the court appointed by Adams at the time being Judge McGuire.^[4] The fact was noted by a sitting governor of the territory, William C. C. Claiborne, who protested in a letter to Secretary of State James Madison.^[6] In 1802, Tilton abruptly resigned, sailing to Europe from New Orleans in order to engage in "commercial business", never again returning to Mississippi. He was replaced by Judge David Ker, who was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson on the recommendations of the aforementioned Governor Claiborne and James Madison.^[7][8][9]

Personal life

Tilton was married to Isabel Thompson in 1787 in East Kingston.^[10] He died on November 20, 1830, in Deerfield, New Hampshire, at the age of 67.^[10]

References

1. Greely 1905, p. 98.
2. Exeter Catalogue 1883, p. 2.
3. Harvard Magazine 1893, p. 567.
4. Rowland 1904.
5. Lyons 2011.
6. Rowland 1905.
7. Powell 1988, pp. 353–354.
8. William S. Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 3, H-K, pp. 353-354
9. Leslie Gale Parr, A Will of Her Own: Sarah Towles Reed and the Pursuit of Democracy in Southern Public Education, Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2010, p. 5
10. Greely 1905, p. 191.

Bibliography

• Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Phillips Exeter Academy, 1873–1883. Boston: J. S. Cushing & Co. 1883.
• Greely, George Hiram (1905). Genealogy of the Greely-Greeley Family. Boston: Frank Wood.
• The Harvard Graduates' Magazine: 1892—1893. Vol. 1. Boston: Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association. 1893.
• Lyons, Amanda (5 April 2011). "1798 Territorial Seal of Mississippi". Collections Blog. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
• Powell, William S. (1988). Dictionary of North Carolina Biography: H–K. Vol. 3. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-1806-2.
• Rowland, Dunbar, ed. (1905). The Mississippi Territorial Archives, 1798–1803. Vol. 1. Nashville: Press of Brandon Printing Company.
• Rowland, Dunbar, ed. (1904). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Nashville: Press of Brandon Printing Company.