Key Facts

Snapshot:	housewife
Parents:	162James Tillman 163Sarah Everett
Born:	19 July 1844 Tattnall County, Georgia
Died:	21 May 1879 at 3:10 AM probably at home in or near Excelsior, Georgia
Buried:	Excelsior Baptist Church cemetery, Candler County, Georgia Coordinates: N32.31621 W81.96452

81Catherine Tillman was born 19 July 18441 in Tattnall County, Georgia2,3 to parents 162James Tillman4 and 161Sarah Everett.5 The 1850 census shows her living with her parents:2

81Catherine's family in the 1850 census. Full page.2

She married 80Washington Geiger in Bulloch County on 17 November 1858.6 For more information about their marriage, their lives together, etc., see his profile since that information won't be repeated here.

She died 21 May 1879 at 3:10 AM. Her husband wrote a lengthy, dramatic description of her illness, death, and funeral, which is copied below in full.7

Interestingly, on the exact same page 80Washington published an ad for a "housekeeper" "to take charge of a house. She will be expected to do household work, such as cooking, milking, ironing[,] sewing, attending to children in a general way." No doubt these were the roles 81Catherine had fulfilled while alive.7

81Catherine is buried in Excelsior Baptist Church cemetery, Candler County, Georgia at coordinates N32.31621 W81.96452. Below are photos of her tombstone.1

Sources Cited:

1: Tombstone of Mrs. C. C. Geiger, Excelsior Baptist Church Cemetery, Candler County, Georgia at coordinates N32.31621 W81.96452. Photograph taken by 1Bryant Knight, 12 May 2009.

2: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Subdivision 79, Tattnall County, Georgia. Page 356b, dwelling 202, family 202, James Tillman household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 83. Ancestry.com, accessed 1 May 2011. I used Ancestry.com, but the census image is also available on Familysearch.org: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6QW9-X8B?i=27&cc=1401638>.

3: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Tattnall County, Georgia. Page 56, dwelling 383, family 383, Washington L. Giger household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 137. Ancestry.com, accessed 2009. I used Ancestry.com, but the census image is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBT-6NW?i=54&cc=1473181>.

4: "The Close of a Well Spent Life," The Montgomery Monitor (Mt. Vernon, Georgia), Thursday 9 July 1908, page 1, rightmost column. Speaking of 81Catherine's husband 80Washington Geiger, this obituary reads, "His first was the daughter of the Hon. James Tillman of Tattnall county [...]."

5: Because 162James Tillman married 163Sarah Everett in 1840 (See his profile.), and because they were still married in 1850 (See citation #2 above.), one reasonably may assume that 163Sarah bore 81Catherine.

6: Bulloch County, Georgia. Marriages book 19A (1857-1867), page 28, marriage of W. L. Geiger of Effingham County and Cathrine C. Tillman of Tattnall County. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93G-F9Q2-4?i=292&cc=1999178&cat=335052>, accessed 23 October 2021.

7: The Excelsior News (Excelsior, Georgia), 30 May 1879, pages 1 and 4. Georgia Historic Newspapers, <https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/2016227608/1879-05-30/ed-1/seq-1/>, accessed 2 November 2021.