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Tilden, Samuel Jones, 1814–86, American political figure, Democratic presidential candidate in 1876, b. New Lebanon, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1841, Tilden was an eminently successful lawyer, with many railroad companies as clients. He became a strong partisan of Martin Van Buren Van Buren, Martin, 1782–1862, 8th President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kinderhook, Columbia co., N.Y.

Early Career

He was reared on his father's farm, was educated at local schools, and after reading law was admitted (1803) to the
..... Click the link for more information. and the Barnburners Barnburners, radical element of the Democratic party in New York state from 1842 to 1848, opposed to the conservative Hunkers . The name derives from the fabled Dutchman who burned his barn to rid it of rats; by implication, the Barnburners would destroy corporations
..... Click the link for more information. in New York Democratic politics. Unlike other Free-Soil Democrats of the 1850s (see Free-Soil party Free-Soil party, in U.S. history, political party that came into existence in 1847–48 chiefly because of rising opposition to the extension of slavery into any of the territories newly acquired from Mexico.
..... Click the link for more information. ), he did not join the new Republican party and later disapproved of the Civil War. As state Democratic chairman after 1866 he sought reform and gathered much of the evidence of corruption that broke the notorious Tweed Ring (see Tweed, William Marcy Tweed Ring, consisting of Tweed and his henchmen—Peter Sweeny, city chamberlain; Richard B. Connolly, city comptroller; and A. Oakey Hall, mayor—controlled the city without interference.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Elected governor of New York (1874), he further enhanced his reputation for reform by his successful attack on the corrupt "Canal ring," which made illegal profits on repair and extension of the state canal system.

Tilden thus became the outstanding Democrat in the nation, and in 1876 his party nominated him for President. Rutherford B. Hayes Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, 1822–93, 19th President of the United States (1877–81), b. Delaware, Ohio, grad. Kenyon College, 1843, and Harvard law school, 1845. He became a moderately successful lawyer in Cincinnati and was made (1858) city solicitor.
..... Click the link for more information. was his Republican opponent. The campaign resulted in one of the most famous election disputes in American history. By a slim margin, Tilden received a majority of the popular vote, but there were double and conflicting returns of electoral votes from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina and a contest over one Oregon elector. To settle the unusual question, not covered by the Constitution, Congress created an electoral commission of five senators, five representatives, and five Supreme Court justices. Eight were Republicans and seven were Democrats, as plans for one independent failed. The commission, by partisan division, awarded (Mar. 2, 1877) Hayes all the disputed votes, making his total a majority of one (185 to 184). Tilden discouraged further contest. In his will he left a large sum toward establishing a free public library in New York City, and in 1895 this trust was joined with the Astor and Lenox libraries to form the New York Public Library New York Public Library, free library supported by private endowments and gifts and by the city and state of New York. It is the one of largest libraries in the world.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See biographies by J. Bigelow (1895) and A. C. Flick (1939, repr. 1963); P. L. Haworth, The Hayes-Tilden Disputed Presidential Election of 1876 (1906, new ed. 1927, repr. 1966); K. Polakoff, Politics of Inertia: The Election of 1876 and the End of Reconstruction (1973); R. Morris, Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876 (2003); W. H. Rehnquist, Centennial Crisis: The Disputed Election of 1876 (2004).

Tilden, Samuel Jones (1814–86) lawyer, public official; born in New Lebanon, N.Y. In poor health as a boy, he had little formal education, though he did manage to attend Yale for one term and law school in New York City. Admitted to the bar in 1841, he built a prosperous practice and became active in Democratic politics, leading the Free-Soil wing of the party and supporting the Union on the outbreak of the Civil War. After taking a leading role in breaking up Boss Tweed's "ring," he was elected governor of New York on a reform platform (1875–77). He ran for president as a Democrat in 1876 and won the popular vote in a close race; when an electoral commission awarded the disputed election to Rutherford B. Hayes, he returned to New York City and resumed his law practice. He left a Tilden Trust to support what became the New York Public Library.