Henry Morgan Tilford

Henry Morgan Tilford (June 14, 1856 – December 3, 1919)[1] was an oilman who is considered the founder of Standard Oil of California (today known as Chevron).

Henry Morgan Tilford
Born(1856-06-14)June 14, 1856
Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedDecember 3, 1919(1919-12-03) (aged 63)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Isabelle Weart Giles
​
​
(m. 1885; his death 1919)​
Children3
Parent(s)John Boyle Tilford
Catherine Hunt Curd Tilford
RelativesKatharine Mortimer (granddaughter)
John Jay Mortimer (grandson)

Early life

Tilford was born in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky on June 14, 1856. He was the son of Catherine Hunt (née Curd) Tilford (1824–1908)[2] and John Boyle Tilford (1812–1878), a banker and founder of the First National Bank of Lexington.[3] His siblings included Richard Curd Tilford, Mary Jane (née Tilford) Chastain, Wesley Hunt Tilford,[4] Edward Alfred Tilford, and Frank Vincit Tilford.[2]

As a child, his family home was next door to the home of Henry Clay and John Hunt Morgan,[5] and Henry obtained his early education in the South and then moved north to New York City with his father and brothers.[1][6]

Career

With Jabez A. Bostwick, Tilford founded Bostwick & Tilford, a company that owned barges, lighters and a large refinery on the East River with headquarters at 138 Pearl Street. It was eventually acquired by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company in 1887.[6] After the merger, Tilford headed up Standard's operations on the West Coast, known as Pacific Coast Oil Company,[6] which later became Standard Oil of California (and today is known as Chevron).[7] Upon his return to the New York, the Tilfords purchased the Henry William Poor mansion at Tuxedo Park designed by T. Henry Randall and he served various Standard Oil companies, including as president of Central Oil Company of Denver, president of the Standard Oil of Ohio, vice president of the Standard Oil Company of New York, and a "director in nearly all of the subsidiaries of the parent organization."[1] By 1907, Tilford owned 6,000 shares.[8]

Tilford retired in the Spring of 1911, however, in 1917, he joined the company's board of directors following the death of John Dustin Archbold in 1916. Two years later, Tilford was succeeded by Walter C. Teagle, who served as president of Standard Oil of New Jersey from 1917 until 1937.[8] At the time of his death, he was associated with the National Fuel Gas Company.[1]

Personal life
The Tilford mansion in Tuxedo Park, 1903.

On November 12, 1885,[2] Tilford was married to Isabelle Weart Giles (1856–1941).[9][10] Isabelle was the daughter of John Chrystie Giles and Isabella Lee (née Weart) Giles.[11] Together, they were the parents of:[12]

  • Isabelle Tilford (1887–1956),[13] who married David Wagstaff (1882–1951), the son of Alfred Wagstaff Jr. and a Harvard graduate who was a member of the investment and merchant banking firm, Dominick & Dominick.[14]
  • Katherine Hunt Tilford (1890–1970),[15] who married Stanley Grafton Mortimer (1890–1947),[16] a son of Richard Mortimer, in 1910.[17]
  • Annette Tilford (1900–1946),[18] who married Amory Lawrence Haskell (1893–1966)[19] in September 1923.[18]

Tilford died on December 3, 1919 at the age of 63 at his home, 24 West 52nd Street in Manhattan.[1] He was buried at St. Mary's Church Cemetery in Tuxedo Park, New York.[20] His estate was valued at over $20,000,000 and he left approximately $17,000,000 to his family.[21] In his will, he created trusts for each of his daughters where they received income from the trust until age 48 at which point they received the principal.[8]

After his death, his widow, who at $5,000,000 in 1920 had "the largest personal possessions among New Yorkers",[22] remained socially prominent in Tuxedo Park and Palm Springs.[23] She was known as "one of the reigning dowagers of Tuxedo Park" for four decades.[24] According to author Sally Bedell Smith, "her annual debutante dinners before the Autumn Ball determined which young women were approved for New York society."[25] Mrs. Tilford, who gave up her New York townhouse to live at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, died at Woodland, her Tuxedo estate in 1941.[9]

Descendants

Through his daughter Isabelle, he was the grandfather of Hunt Tilford Wagstaff (1909–1971)[26][27] and David Wagstaff (1910–1984).[27]

Through his daughter Katherine, he was the grandfather of Stanley G. Mortimer Jr. (1913–1999),[28] who was married to Babe Paley,[29] and then Kathleen Harriman;[25][30] Henry Tilford Mortimer (1916–1993),[31] Richard Mortimer,[16] Eve Mortimer (1918–2007),[32] who married Clarence Pell, Jr.,[20] and later Lewis Cass Ledyard III;[33] Katharine Mortimer (1923–2003), who married three times (including to Francis Xavier Shields and becoming grandmother of actress Brooke Shields);[34] and John Jay Mortimer (1935–2013), a prominent financier.[35]

Through his daughter Annette, he was the grandfather of Anne (née Haskell) Ellis (1924–2006);[36] Margaret Riker (née Haskell) Ross (1925–1999),[37][38] whose family home, the Boudinot-Southard Farmstead, was located next to Lord Stirling Park;[39] and Amory Lawrence Haskell Jr. (1928–1970).[40]

Tilford was reportedly the basis for the 2007 American drama film, There Will Be Blood, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. The film was inspired by Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! and tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[8] A fictionalized version of Tilford himself is portrayed in the film by David Warshofsky.

References
  1. "H.M. TILFORD DIES. Ex-Vice President of Standard Oil Left $20,000,000" (PDF). The New York Times. December 4, 1919. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  2. Boyle, John (1909). Boyle Genealogy: John Boyle of Virginia and Kentucky. Perrin & Smith Print. Company. p. 147. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  3. The New York Supplement. West Publishing Company. 1910. p. 515. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. "WILLED $4,000,000 TO GRANDNEPHEW Wesley H. Tilford Left Large Part of Standard Oil Estate to Tilford Dickinson. LEGATEE IS A MINOR Residuary Estate, Said to be Immense, Goes to Henry M. Tilford, the Trustee" (PDF). The New York Times. March 14, 1909. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. Smith, Pearl O. (1991). Tilford Trails. Weeks Publishers. pp. 31–32, 38. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. "OBITUARIES | HENRY MORGAN TILFORD". Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter: 103. December 8, 1919. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  7. Pell, Eve (2009). We Used to Own the Bronx: Memoirs of a Former Debutante. SUNY Press. p. 19. ISBN 9781438425146. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. Columbia, David Patrick (30 November 2010). "Oil Swells: The Standard Oil Crowd in Palm Beach". New York Social Diary. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  9. "MRS. HENRY TILFORD, WIDOW OF OIL MAN; Tuxedo Park Society Leader Once Paid Highest Tax Here" (PDF). The New York Times. August 1, 1941. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  10. "Isabella Weart Giles Tilford". npg.si.edu. National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  11. Revolution, Daughters of the American (1905). Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. p. 349. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  12. Social Register, New York. Social Register Association. 1910. p. 585. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  13. "MRS. WAGSTAFF, A SPORTS WOMAN; President of Tuxedo Horse Show and Kennel Club Dies --Raised Chow Chows" (PDF). The New York Times. June 19, 1956. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  14. "DAVID WAGSTAFF, JUDGE OF DOGS, 68; Ex-Official for Westminster Kennel Club Dies--Curator of Sporting Books at Yale" (PDF). The New York Times. June 8, 1951. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  15. "Deaths BLAINE, KATHARINE MORTIMER". The New York Times. April 17, 2003. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  16. Staff (April 6, 1947). "S.G. MORTIMER DIES". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  17. "Miss Katharine Tilford to Wed" (PDF). The New York Times. September 27, 1910. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  18. "AUTO CRASH IS FATAL TO MRS. A.L. HASKELL" (PDF). The New York Times. March 3, 1946. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  19. "AMORY L. HASKELL, TURF FIGURE, DIES; Monmouth Head Was 72 Made Fortune in Glass" (PDF). The New York Times. April 13, 1966. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  20. Morgan, Spencer (18 December 2006). "The Mortimer Family". Observer. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  21. "H.M. TILFORD LEAVES $17,000,000 TO FAMILY Entire Estate Is Thus Disposed of Except $20,000 Bequest to Secretary" (PDF). The New York Times. December 30, 1919. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  22. "CITY ASSESSMENTS UP A BILLION FOR NEXT YEAR'S TAXES Falling Off in Personal Property More Than Offset by Realty Figures. TOTAL IS $10,238,090,319 High Rent Charges a Factor in Raising Valuation of Buildings. $30,000,000 FOR EQUITABLE Tilford and Vanderbilt Estates $10,000,000, Isabel Tilford $5,000,000, Rockefeller $2,000,000" (PDF). The New York Times. October 2, 1920. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  23. "PALM BEACH CLUB SCENE OF PARTIES; Mrs. Henry M. Tilford Is Among Several Giving Dinners at the Everglades" (PDF). The New York Times. March 22, 1937. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  24. "500 Present at Annual Autumn Ball at Tuxedo Club; Seven Girls Make Debuts and Are Honored at Parties; Mrs. Henry Morgan Tilford Is Hostess for Debutantes in Her Home at One of the Largest Dinners Given in Park in Years Many Dinners Are Given Committee Honored Among Guests at Ball F. W. Murrays Jr. Hosts Guests of David Wagstaffs A. B. Dukes Entertain In S. G. Mortimer Party 500 ARE PRESENT AT AUTUMN BALL DEBUTANTES OF TUXEDO PARK PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL AUTUMN BALL" (PDF). The New York Times. October 23, 1938. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  25. Nemy, Enid (14 August 1999). "Stanley G. Mortimer Jr., 86, Sportsman and Ad Executive". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  26. "HUNT T. WAGSTAFF WEDS MRS. MEARS; Ceremony Is Held in Tuxedo Home of Bride's Mother, Mrs. Garrard Comly" (PDF). The New York Times. May 1, 1935. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  27. "Hunt T. Wagstaff". The New York Times. 15 July 1971. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  28. "Paid Notice: Deaths MORTIMER, STANLEY G." The New York Times. 13 August 1999. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  29. Nemy, Enid (July 7, 1978). "Barbara Cushing Paley Dies at 63; Style Pace-Setter in Three Decades; Symbol of Taste". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017. Barbara Cushing Paley, the wife of William S. Paley, the chairman of the board of the Columbia Broadcasting System, died of cancer at their apartment in New York City yesterday after a long illness. She was 63 years old.
  30. Fox, Margalit (February 19, 2011). "Kathleen Mortimer, Rich and Adventurous, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  31. Staff (September 8, 1993). "Henry T. Mortimer; Stockbroker, 77". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  32. "Eve Mortimer Ledyard of West Grove". 10 October 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  33. Wallace, Andrew (December 5, 1990). "Lewis C. Ledyard 3d, A Lawyer Who Turned To Art, Horse Breeding". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  34. "Deaths BLAINE, KATHARINE MORTIMER". The New York Times. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  35. Theodoracopulos, Taki (9 November 2013). "Taki: RIP John Jay, my brave friend who refused to take part in vulture capitalism". The Spectator. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  36. "Paid Notice: Deaths ELLIS, ANNE HASKELL". The New York Times. 20 February 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  37. "Paid Notice: Deaths ROSS, MARGARET HASKELL". The New York Times. 4 January 1999. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  38. "Edmund B. Ross, 85, Bred Thoroughbred Horses". Vineyard Gazette. January 27, 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  39. "County buys historic Ross family farm in Basking Ridge". New Jersey Hills. June 1, 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  40. Foderaro, Jane (March 19, 1970). "Airline President, Local Businessmen Killed as Plane Crashes in Elizabeth" (PDF). The Daily Register. Retrieved 18 February 2019.


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