8th of 9 children of JOHN TOMLINSON & ELIZABETH WOOSTER

Married: 28 Apr 28, 1748, DEBORAH BASSETT, Derby, New Haven, Connecticut
Six children:
1. Damaris/Damoris TOMLINSON
1749 - 1825
2. Phebe TOMLINSON
1750 -
3. Levi TOMLINSON
1752 - 1831
4. Luthene TOMLINSON
1755 -
5. John Lewis TOMLINSON, I
1756 - 1825
6. Daniel TOMLINSON
1759 - 1842

============
May 1770: Appointed captain of the train band.
"General Tryon, whose barbarous footprints polluted the soil of Connecticut among its first invaders, sent a detachment to New Haven to annoy the people of Derby, and as this old tory was ever bent on plunder, but when this could not be accomplished, he delighted in applying the torch of destruction to houses, churches, barns and other buildings, scattering in wild confusion defenseless women and children into narrow lanes and public streets, he determined to visit Derby. When his forces arrived at New Haven, Capt. John Tomlinson, who then lived at Derby Neck, in the old mansion now owned by Truman Piper, happened to be in that city, and, mistrusting the object of their mission, quickly mounted his horse, and spurred him on in hot haste over the hills until he reached the peaceful hamlet of Derby Narrows, when he shouted at the top of his voice 'The British are in New Haven; look out for your pork, look out for your pork!'

Now this Captain Tomlinson was a reliable man, a convert to the Whitefield doctrine, and it is said he did more praying and exhorting than half the town. He labored for the good of his fellow men. He lived to be ninety years old. In his last sickness a neighbor was called in to watch with him who was not particularly a religious man; and who had on a short coat, but he was soon relieved of his expected night's work. When he entered the sick chamber Mr. Tomlinson greeted him with the salutation, " Be gone, thou enemy of all righteousness, the Devil never looked worse than when in a short coat."

When Tomlinson brought the news to Derby Narrows concerning the British, the day was far spent and the shades of evening were closing thick and fast, but in those times Yankee Doodle, ever on the alert, ready to fight for country and fireside, was equal to the emergency. Alarmed at the near approach of the enemy, men, women, and even boys sallied out, and soon the work of removal to a place of safety commenced."
============
Source: The History of the Old Town of Derby, by Samuel Orcutt