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Phillip Tilton 1741 Phillip Tilton and Tabitha Prescott

Summer 1967 (Reprinted 2005, unchanged) Dear Members of the Hyde Family, I am going to write the story of Polly Wyman Tilton and her family as a letter to you, because of the way in which the information unfolded, and because it has been a very special experience for me to do this research. The true identity of the parents of Polly Wyman Tilton has for many years been a mystery, as newly found information seemed to conflict with what was already known. Polly gave her parents names, at the time of her patriarchal blessing, as Phillip Tilton and Tabitha, and birth date as 20 January 1786. In the early L.D.S. records of the 13th Ward in Salt Lake City she gave her birthplace as Moultonborough, New Hampshire. Family Records said she was the daughter of Phillip Tilton and Tabitha Bullock. This sounds like everything necessary is known to go on with research, and William Arley Cole began optimistically to check the known data. But it turned out to be much more difficult to verify than he had expected. An earlier report of his reads, in part: Tracing the ancestry of Polly Wyman Tilton, wife of Heman Hyde, has been one of my most exasperating problems. . . . Writing to the keeper of the vital records of the State of New Hampshire, we find that the record of her birth was never recorded, nor is there any record of any other children born to Phillip Tilton and Tabitha Bullock. There is also no record of any marriage between Phillip Tilton and Tabitha Bullock. From living grandchildren of Polly Wyman Tilton, who have heard their own grandmother bear testimony to the fact, we learn that she was partly of Indian blood. . . . I have come to the following conclusions: for some reason her birth was not reported to the proper authorities, perhaps because of her Indian birth, perhaps because the birth was not legitimate, or perhaps for both reasons. Also I conclude that her parents were either married outside the state of New Hampshire, or perhaps they were never married. Mr. Francis Theodore Tilton, of Clifton, New Jersey, has spent many years research on Tilton genealogies and has a very complete record of all Tiltons of New Hampshire. In his record there are hundreds of Tiltons, but only one who carried the name Phillip Tilton. He was the son of Josiah Tilton and Sarah Flanders, and was born 10 Apr. 1741, in New Hampshire, in or near East Kingston. His name Philip was taken from his grandfather, Philip Flanders. Philip is a very common name in the Flanders family. I am convinced that this Philip Tilton is the father of Polly Wyman Tilton: because he is the only person by that name in New Hampshire that we can find record of; because he was born and lived all his life in New Hampshire, and Polly Wyman Tilton was born in New Hampshire; and because there is no record of the birth of Polly Wyman Tilton to be found in the state records this in connection with the fact that her mother was Indian, and that Polly was born while Philip Tilton was legitimately married to Mary Batchelder. At this writing (1967) nothing further has been found to prove or disprove the above suggestion concerning the identity of the father of Polly Wyman Tilton, and it is still felt that we have the right man; but without proof this identity is not given on the accompanying family group sheet. After Brother Cole wrote the above report about Philip Tilton some new information came to light. Ruby Stewart, of Pocatello, Idaho, while visiting George Tilton Hyde in Downey, Idaho, he being a grandson of Polly Wyman Tilton Hyde, was shown an old record

Phillip Tilton 1741

book kept by Rosel Hyde, son of Polly Wyman Tilton Hyde. In this book was recorded the following: Names of ancestors on mothers side Mothers name was Polly W. Hyde First grandfather and mother John and Tabitha Bullock Second grand mother Abagail Prescott (the above names have been baptized for) Great aunts on mothers side: Polly and Rhoda Prescott, sisters of Tabitha Bullock This was a rather startling discovery, which seemed to disclaim Phillip Tilton, and say that Tabitha was a Prescott, not a Bullock, and that Pollys father was John Bullock. Brother Cole then searched the records of Strafford, Vermont, where in 1810 Polly married Heman Hyde. Here he found several children born to John and Tabitha Bullock between the years 1791 and 1805, their names being Joel, Ephraim, Adam, Hannah, David, Daniel, and Anna. There was also a John Bullock who died in 1804 age 20 years. How did Polly fit into this picture, if she fit at all? At this point Brother Cole became so busy with his other work that he was unable to pursue this problem further. In 1962 the Heman Hyde Family Organization asked me to see if I could find anything to help straighten out the seeming discrepancies. I rechecked everything Brother Cole had found, and agreed with him. It looked as though Polly was the illegitimate daughter of Phillip Tilton and Tabitha Prescott, Tabitha subsequently marrying John Bullock; but we had actual proof of none of these assumptions. Rosel Hydes record book stated that the above names have been baptized for. In another instance he recorded the dates of when some other family temple work had been completed in the Logan Temple. I searched the Logan Temple records, and found the families of Heman Hyde and his children, but no Prescotts, Bullocks, or Tiltons. I had previously checked the Endowment House Baptisms for the Dead and found no Hydes as proxies. I made other exhaustive searches in Vermont records but came up with nothing conclusive. Then one day, in a letter, Ruby Stewart suggested that we fast and pray about our dilemma, which we did. The Lord truly answered our petition, as the next week I felt impressed to check the Endowment House records again. I looked at the microfilm copy of the master index to all the Endowment House Baptisms for the Dead, and was most surprised to find several Hyde entries as proxies; all I can figure is that the first time I only looked in Book A and its index, which had no Hydes. Upon turning to the pages with the Hyde entries I found, among other Hyde ancestors, the following: Baptisms 6 July 1870, Charles Walker Hyde as proxy [he son of Polly Wyman Tilton Hyde] Philip Tilton Grand Son John Bullock Dist Relative Baptisms 20 July 1870, Charles Walker Hyde as proxy Joel Bullock Nephew Heber Holms Nephew

Phillip Tilton 1741 Baptisms 26 Oct 1870, Martha Ann Hyde Hunter as proxy [she a granddaughter of Polly Wyman Tilton Hyde] Tabitha Prescott Bullock Gt. Grand Daughter Abigail Prescott 2nd Gt. Grand Daughter

The baptism of Joel Bullock, to whom Charles Walker Hyde was a nephew, gives us the proof we need that John and Tabitha of Strafford, Vermont are the right people, Brother Cole having found Joels birth record already. Further research showed that Heber (Eber) Holms married Joels sister Hannah Bullock. Brother Cole had found, in the Temple Index Bureau, the sealing of John Bullock and Tabitha Prescott, but no indication on the card that they belonged to the Hyde family. I checked the microfilm copy of the original Sealing Records of the Endowment House and found: Sealings 26 October 1870 John Bullock b. 1749 Rhode Island Tabitha Prescott b. 1769 Vermont heir and heiress: Charles Walker Hyde and Martha Ann Hyde Hunter From this we can be quite certain that Tabitha Prescott was not married to Phillip Tilton, the father of her first child, otherwise her grandchildren would have sealed her to him. From the searches already here mentioned, and from further research, we can reconstruct the following about the family of Polly Wyman Tilton: Brother Cole was told that Pollys mother was an Indian and that as a baby she was brought to the door of the house of a white man. The Indians asked the white man to keep her. When the family protested, the Indians said they were traveling and would not take her with them, but would kill her if the whites didnt take her. The family couldnt bear to think of a baby being killed, so took her and raised her as their own. Perhaps this Indian baby was half white, which is why the Indians didnt want her. The surname of the white family must have been Prescott, the mothers name being Abigail and two of the daughters being Polly and Rhoda (these recorded in Rosel Hydes record book). Research thus far has found many Prescott families, but none that fit this description. The family was probably living in or near East Kingston, New Hampshire, where Philip Tilton lived. Tabitha, the name her white adopted parents had given her, grew up. When she was an attractive sixteen years old (if the birth year assigned her by Charles Walker Hyde is correct and it may well be close, as, according to the 1800 census she was born after 1755) she somehow became involved with Philip Tilton, a respected man in his community. She must have admired him, or her daughter probably would not have kept his name, so we can perhaps conjecture that in order to cause him no hurt in reputation she moved a number of miles away to have her baby; possibly he provided for her to make the move. She most likely hired out as domestic help maybe had even worked in the home of Philip Tilton. Her baby, which she named Polly Wyman Tilton, was born in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, 20 January 1786. Sometime during the next couple of years Tabitha moved again, perhaps with a family for whom she worked, or by herself, this time westward to Strafford, Vermont. Here she met and married John Bullock. John Bullock was born in 1749 in Rhode Island (according to Charles Walker Hyde; the census of 1800 partially substantiates this, putting him born before 1755). He was in Strafford, Vermont by 1785, the date of the first deed I can find for him there. He was a widower when

Phillip Tilton 1741

he married Tabitha Prescott, his first wife undoubtedly being a daughter of Ezekiel Parish. In Strafford records is a quit-claim deed involving the rights of John Bullocks children Mary and John to the estate of Ezekiel Parish. (This son John is the John Bullock who died in 1804.) There were very possibly two other children in this family, besides Mary and John, who were living in 1790 but died before 1800 (from census records). John Bullock and Tabitha Prescott were married probably in 1789 or early in 1790, as the 1790 census lists enough people in the family to account for John and his earlier children, as well as Tabitha and her daughter. John Bullock sold all his Strafford land in 1813. This is the same year that Heman Hyde moved to the town of York in New York state, and John Bullock probably moved there also. One of his sons is listed in the York 1820 census, as is Heman Hyde, but John Bullock is not. He may have died before then. Search has been made in New York and in Vermont for his probate record, but none has been found. When and where Tabitha died is also unknown. At last our somewhat meager information could be submitted to the Genealogical Society for processing. It was now nearly one hundred years since those first few baptisms were performed for Pollys mother, grandmother, father, step-father, brother and brother-in-law. The endowments for most of these were still not done. I can testify to you that it was made known to me that these people were thrilled that their turn had come. This was one of the most marvelous experiences of my life, and I thank the Hyde family from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to work with this worthy family. Myrtle S. Hyde 1979 Note: See John Bullock.

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