The Tilden Trust was a fund established in the will of Samuel J. Tilden upon his death on August 4, 1886. The will, dated April 23, 1884, provided for the establishment of a 'Tilden Trust' to "establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the City of New York." The estate Tilden left was valued at almost $10 million, consisted of $200,000 invested in iron mines in both New York and Michigan; another $200,000 was invested in real estate. A further $1 million was left to Tilden's relatives, and a total of $110,000 was dedicated to providing municipal services to

New Lebanon, New York New Lebanon is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Columbia County, New York, United States, southeast of Albany, New York, Albany. The population was 2,514 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 census, New Lebanon town, Col ...

, and

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

. The remainder, a balance of about $5 million was left to the library. George H. Tilden, a nephew of Samuel Tilden, filed a lawsuit in the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

; soon followed by many other Tilden relatives. The relatives contested the 35th clause of the will, which established the Tilden Trust. The case ended in October 1891, when the New York Court of Appeals declared the clause invalid. Under the ruling, all of the money left by Tilden was to go to his descendants. Through several legal deals, the trust was still founded, and had a fund of two and a quarter million dollars. By that time, the money was not enough to fund a complete library, and in 1895, the Tilden Trust was merged with the Lenox Library and

Astor Library The Astor Library was a free public library in the East Village, Manhattan, developed primarily through the collaboration of New York City merchant John Jacob Astor and New England educator and bibliographer Joseph Cogswell and designed by Alex ...

to form the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

Background

Tilden's family was in the patent medicine business, and became wealthy through sales of

Tilden's Extract Tilden's Extract was a 19th-century medicinal cannabis extract, first formulated by James Edward Smith of Edinburgh. In the United States, the Tilden Company of New Lebanon, New York, manufactured and sold the extract under its own name, adve ...

, a popular drug derived from cannabis. Tilden, a politician who served as the 25th

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

and was the Democratic candidate for president in the disputed election of 1876, was a skilled corporate attorney and financial manager who invested in a variety of commodities and financial instruments, including iron mines, real estate, and stock and bonds. He is the only individual to win an outright majority of the popular vote in a

United States presidential election The election of the president of the United States, president and Vice President of the United States, vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are Voter registration in the United ...

but lose the election itself.

Will

Samuel Jones Tilden died on August 4, 1886. He left behind an estate valued at almost 10 million dollars. The will had 43 clauses, the first 32 of which dealt with relatives. Small amounts of money, ranging from $15,000 to $150,000 were left to various heirs, including Mary B. Pelton, Lucy F. Tilden, Susan G. Tilden, Caroline B. Whittlesey, Henrietta Swan, George H. Tilden, Samuel J. Tilden II, Ruby S. Tilden, Susan G. Tilden, Anna J. Gould, Mary Stauffer, and Henrietta Jones. The 33rd clause left $115,000 to the establishment of a library in

. The 34th clause was much the same as the 33rd, and established a library in

. The 35th clause left the majority of his money for the establishment of a library in New York City. The other clauses funded upkeep of the New Lebanon Cemetery, and dealt with various legal aspects of the other clauses. The will was dated April 23, 1884, and signed in the presence of Edward H. Dixon and Charles E. Simmons.

History

Formation of the Trust

The Tilden Trust was formally established by an act of the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

, which passed on March 26, 1887. The act established the Trust with three permanent trustees who were able to appoint other trustees. The three appointed for life were, Andrew H. Green, George W. Smith, and

John Bigelow John Bigelow Sr. (November 25, 1817 – December 19, 1911) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and historian who edited the complete works of Benjamin Franklin and the first autobiography of Franklin taken from Franklin's previously lost original ...

. In 1893, two additional trustees were appointed, Alexander E. Orr and Stephen Walker, the latter of whom would die that same year. After Walkers death,

Lewis Cass Ledyard Lewis Cass Ledyard (April 4, 1851 – January 27, 1932) was a New York City lawyer. He was a partner at the firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn, personal counsel to J.P. Morgan, and a president of the New York City Bar Association. Early life Lewis Ca ...

was appointed to fill his vacancy.

Legal Challenges

Soon after the release of the will, various relatives of Tilden, led by George H. Tilden filed suit. The New York State Supreme Court upheld the validity of the will in 1889, but later that year reversed the decision. The Tilden Trust subsequently appealed the ruling. The

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

had yet to rule on the case when the Trust settled with one of the litigants. For a payment of $975,000, she gave up her claim to the Tilden estate. On October 27, 1891, the Court of Appeals sustained the ruling of the State Supreme Court. The Tilden Trust later settled with the other relatives on March 30, 1892. Under the settlement, the Trust received the various literary holdings of Tilden, real estate, and other various investments valued at a total of almost $2,000,000.

Background

Will

History

Formation of the Trust

Legal Challenges

References

Further reading