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Plaque in honor of Dr. John R. Tilbrook by the Crossroads Church Congregation

Descendants of William Tilbrook

The Tilbrooks emigrated from England to Virginia in 1790, and in 1800 the family moved to Versailles Township, Pennsylvania.

In 1818, William Tilbrook moved out of the family home and settled on a farm in Patton Township (today’s Monroeville) Pennsylvania, and married Martha Taylor. William was to become an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and over the years the Tilbrook family would become members of the Crossroads Church serving in leadership positions as elders and trustees.

Willliam and Martha had a number of children, many of whom continued in the family’s farming tradition and were to become, according to one early history “..gentlemen of worth and honor, citizens of the highest type.”

Joseph (1820-1897) was one of the sons of William and Martha who was active in the family farming business.   In 1846 he married Lucinda McDowell (1824-1904); the couple were to have six children.  In 1883, their eldest son, William Alexander Tilbrook, a railroad worker, was killed by a flatcar he was trying to stop at a switch at Stewarts Station in Trafford.

 Another son, William (1828-1894) married Jane Ann Hughey (1834-1920), took over the family homestead, and became a successful farmer in his own right. He was to serve in the Civil War as a Sergeant of artillery in the 212^th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

 ne of the sons of William and Anne, Oscar Thomas Tilbrook (1874-1943), spent his entire life on the family farm and rose to gain  “…a leading place among the leading farmers of the region...favorably known to all acquainted with his upright and manly career.”

Generations of Tilbrooks have contributed to the history Pitcairn. J. F Tilbrook and Oscar Tilbrook (who was later to become a Borough Councilman) were among the original signers of the petition for the Borough Charter for Pitcairn in the 1890s.   And Tilbrook Brothers General Store was for many years a fixture in the village of Pitcairn at the heart of town on Broadway near Brinton Avenue.

The Tilbrook’s were active in the Crossroads Presbyterian Church, often serving in various leadership roles. The family’s contribution to Patton Township’s history is recognized in the north-south road that bears the family name.  Like the family, “Tilbrook Road,” spans both the communities of modern Monroeville and Pitcairn.

Sources:

History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (1889) Chicago: A. Warner & Company.

Pitcairn, Pa, 1894-1969: 75^th Anniversary Souvenir Book.

The Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania.. J. W. Jordan (Ed).

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the war for the suppression of the rebellion, 1861-1861. Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. ( Ed.) Samuel M. Evans.