Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-05-24

dore Tilton, the only surviving prin-
cipal, is in Paris, which has been his
home nearly all the time since the
close of the trial. There he has lived
apart from his family, seeing but a
few of his friends Of the old days and
gaining a livelihood with his pen. Mrs.
Tilton never left this country, and
never left Brooklyn save a few weeks
each summer, when she went into the
country. A few friends remained
steadfast to her, and of these a few
were present at the funeral services.
After the death Of her mother, Mrs.
Morse, seven years ago, Mrs. Tilton
made her home with her widowed
daughter, Mrs. Pelton, in whose house
she died. She was partly blind. Mrs.
Tilton was sixty-two years old. Her
maiden name was Elizabeth M. Rich
ards. She was born in Brooklyn In
1885. Her father died while she was a
young girl, and her mother married
again, her second husband being a Mr..
Morse. Elizabeth Tilton's acquaint-
ance with Henry Ward Beecher. which
eliminated in the suit Of her husband
against the preacher, dated back be-
yond 1855, when Mrs. Tllton, then Miss
Richards, was a member OF Mr..
Beecher's church, for Mr.. Beecher a
known her from childhood. On Oct.
2, 1855, he married her to Theodore
Tilton.
Tf1fNn NJ. about turn xnaRd V0nnReT
than his wife. In 1851, as a boy OF six
teen, he first gained the notice OF
Henry Ward Beecher. The preacher
treated young Tilton almost like as
a son. He baptized him, made MIN a
member of his church. and finally mar
ried him to Miss Richards. One year
after the marriage Mr.. Beecher secured
for Tilton a place on the edi-
torial staff of the Independent, to
which Mr.. Beecher at that time was a
contributor, and when in 1861 Henry
C. Bowen. the publisher, made Mr..
Beecher the editor, it was through Mr..
Beecher's influence that Mr.. Tilton
was made the assistant editor. MI.
Beecher called occasionally at Mr.. TIL
tons home, until 1862, when he be-
came a frequent visitor at the Tilton's
house, in Oxford street. In 1863 Mr..
Beecher gave up his active work on
the Independent, and Mr.. Tilton took
his place, although for a year after
ward Mr.. Beecher's lame appeared as
editor. The two men remained friends
until 1866, when they disagreed on a
political question, but a peace was
patched up, later, and, If anything,
they became more intimate. All this
time Mr.. Beecher was a constant Wis
itor at the Tilton home. Mr.. Tilton,
in the meantime, had experienced a
great change in his social, religious
and political views. He became an
open advocate of woman suffrage, of
socialism, and of free love, becoming
an ardent supporter of the. doctrines
advanced by Victoria C. Woodruff.
Henry G. Bowen in the meantime had
come into possession of what he ION
sidered positive proof of grave i'm
moralities on the part of Mr.. Beecher.
Rumors rejecting on the Brooklyn
preacher also became public, but moth
ing took definite shape until May %,
1871, when Victoria c. Woodruff pu-
blished a card, in which she used the
words:
For example, I know of one man.
a public teacher of eminence, who lives
in concubinage with the wife of an
other public teacher of almost equal
eminence."
Mrs. Woodruff referred to the al
legged relations between Mr.. Beecher
and Mrs. Tilton. In the Woodruff and
Claim Weekly, on Nov. 2, 1872, an ar
ticle appeared specifically accusing Mr..
Beecher of immortality. Before this,
however, in July, 1870, Mrs. Tilton
made a verbal confession to her hus-
band to the effect that on October 10,
1858, and at different times afterward
she had been guilty of improper con
duct with Mr.. Beecher. Tilton took no
action in the matter until Dec. rs, 1870,