Early Life
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 26, 1821, the third child of Benjamin and Anne Marie (McMurtie). His father was descended from Richard Tilghman, a surgeon in the British Navy; he was related to William Tilghman, Chief Justice of Philadelphia.
Tilghman was educated at Bristol College and later at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1839; while he studied law, he never practiced this profession. With his brother, Richard, he spent much time before the war journeying through Europe, visiting laboratories, chemical works and mills.
Read more about this topic: Benjamin Chew Tilghman
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)