Capt. Thomas Tillitt, Jr (1762-1827)

My Maternal 4th Great Grandfather, married Dolly Baum(1776-1829)

Captain Thomas Tillitt, the second son of Thomas Tillitt Sr, was born in November of 1762.  In the late 1790s he married Dolly Baum who was 14 years younger than he was. Dolly was the great granddaughter of Abraham Baum who brought his family to America in 1710 to escape religious persecution and a killing frost that was the coldest ever on record in Germany. Dolly and her twin brother Thomas were born on Roanoke Island in 1776. Her father, Abraham Baum II was a ship owner and planter. The Baum family story is told separately.

[Image: AI generated image of Captain Tillitt]

Captain Thomas and Dolly lived on the home place he inherited from his father and together they had five sons: Samuel, Isaac (my 3rd great grandfather), Thomas B, Durant, and Edward; and one daughter named Frances.  Like his father before him, he was a prosperous sea captain and owned at least three schooners. In 1800 he owned two enslaved persons and records show he bought at least three others: Pewshank Isaac in 1801 for $405, Polly and her child David for $400 in 1815 and Clark, a female for $305 in 1824.  He purchased land on Powell’s Point and his children lived there, with the exception of Samuel who stayed in the Outer Banks near his father.

[Image: AI generated image of Thoms in bustling sea port]

Samuel, Captain Thomas’ first born son, was a light housekeeper and also a mariner like his father.  Samuel died of yellow fever on shipboard in the West Indies on April 8, 1876. Fully aware of his approaching death, he requested that his body be returned to his home in North Carolina for interment. His body was embalmed by sealing it up in a barrel filled with rum to keep it in a state of preservation for the long voyage home. Some three years later his ship arrived back in America and his last request was fulfilled.

[Image: AI generated image of ship in a Caribbean Harbor]

When Thomas died at the age of 65 on Christmas Day of 1827, he had no will and there was a public sale of his tangible property (but not his real estate). His son Isaac bought one of the schooners; his son Thomas B bought ½ interest in another schooner, a horse, a steer and sheep; his son Samuel bought a mare and livestock; his son Durant bought a heifer and a horse cart; and Edward bought a bureau.  His widow, Dolly, bought sheep, hogs, an oxcart, books, furniture and a bedstead.  Captain Thomas must have had a large house because nine other beds were sold at auction.  Each of his sons bought one, except Isaac who bought two.  Even his father in law Abraham Baum and his brother-in-law William Etheridge bought items at the auction.  Thomas had all the trappings of a wealthy lifestyle, but he also must have amassed a debt that had to be paid.

[Image: AI generated image of Thomas’ estate public auction]

Captain Thomas was buried on his own property on high ground at North Banks about a quarter of a mile from the Currituck Sound.  His wife Dolly died a year and a half after him at the age of 53. Three of their children, Durant, Samuel and Frances are also buried with them.  The area where Thomas was born and raised is now known as Nags Head Woods and is owned by a non-profit nature conservatory.  One of the highlights of the hiking tour they offer is the Tillitt Family Cemetery where hikers can read the tombstones of Thomas and members of his family.

[Photo: The Tillitt Family Cemetery in Nags Head.]