John Tilley

     John Tilley was born circa 1600.² John immigrated in 1624 to Cape Ann, MA.² He was a fisherman and a coastal trader.² He married Mrs Edith (Unknown) Tilley say 1631.^1,3 In 1633 John moved to Dorchester, MA.² John was killed by the Indians.⁴ He died in 1636 in Saybrook, CT.^1,2 Mr. Tilly’ was active in the coastal trade, carrying letters to John Winthrop Jr. at Saybrook in 1636. This activity, of course, put him in the path of the events leading up to the Pequot War, and Lion Gardiner tells us that ‘Mr. Tille’ ‘came from the Bay. . .with a permit to go up to Hartford.’ Gardiner warned him many times about the perils of landing at most places along the river by the Indians, after which he was tortured and killed.²