William Tilghman

William Tilghman (August 12, 1756 – April 29, 1827) was the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit and chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Born on August 12, 1756, in Talbot County, Province of Maryland, British America, Tilghman received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1772 from the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), received a Master of Arts degree from the same institution and read law in 1783. He was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1788 to 1790.

Before him, justices had argued that the registration requirements of gradual emancipation law should be strictly construed, and resolved in favor of liberty for plaintiffs. Tilghman disagreed and as early as 1810, began to move the court to a more neutral stance that gave more weight to property rights. In 1805, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and served as its president from 1824 to his death in 1827.