The Washington herald., 1907-05-26
TILTON'S BLASTED CAREER.
Beecher Scandal Drove Gifted Editor
Into Retirement Abroad

Self-exiled from his native country for
nearly a quarter Of a century. Theodore
Tilton. once commanding figure among
the great men Of Il past generation, had
become only a memory. Few who recall
him only as one of the principals In the
Beecher-Tiiton scandal that c9nvulsed the
country thirty years ago realize that
Tilton had made a great name for himself
before that time.
As a speaker and writer his public life
covered the period Of anti-slavery agita-
tion. the civil war. and the reconstruction
period. Born in New York City. October
.. 1885. he was graduated from New York
College i'm 1856. the year OF Frem0nts
nomination for the Presidency by the
Anti-Slavery party.
The anti-slavery movement shaped his
whole public career. for he allied himself
from the first with the "Abolitionists," q"
becoming the intimate Of Garrison, Phil
lips. Sumner, Greeley. Ben Wade. Fred
Douglass. Lucretia Mott. Whittier, and
others Of that eventful time. most Of
whom have long since passed away. He
was one Of the escort for John Browns
body. which was secretly carried by
steamer from Philadelphia 10 New York.
John Browns wife tarried at his house in
Brooklyn when her sad journey to take
a last farewell Of her husband at Harper's
Ferry was interrupted by a message from
the condemned man telling her not to
come
He was at Fort Sumter when the Ameri-
can flag was rehoisted there at the end
Of the war. I'm 1865.
Last survivor of Scandal
Mr. Tnton was the last survivor Of the
principals in the Beecher-Tilton scandal
and trial, in 1870. lIr Beecher was the
first TO die, in 1857.
Mr.. Beecher became acquainted with
Tilton when the latter was a young re.
porter. Later they became firm friends.
and It was Beecher who in 1865. united
in marriage TIton and Miss Elizabeth NJ.
Richards The celebrated pastor after
ward became a frequent and welcome
visitor at the Tilton home, and ali went
well until Tilton accused Henry Ward
Beecher Of intimacy with Mrs. TIton.
AllS cNA AScA l4Nlt 'fhteNA q SFll>nllDll ana re-
suited in an ecclesiastical trial Of the
celebrated preacher in Plymouth Church.
Beecher was acquitted, and those who
tried him asserted Tilton's accusations
were baseleSs.
Nevertheless. Mrs. Tilton confessed. in
July. 1870, that on October 10 1865. and on
other occasions, she had been guilty Of
unfaithfulness and improper conduct with
Mr. Beecher. While she was IN. in the
December following, In 1870, Rev Mr..
Beecher saw her and secured a retraction
Of the confession.
Not satisfied with this verdict Tllton
carried the fight into the Kings County
civil courts.
He sued BeeCher for s1oO,o00. and the
trial, which was one Of the most sensa-
tiOnal court events in the history Of the
country, lasted six months. After the
jury had been sent out it deliberated a
week and then reported a disagreement.
The vote in the jury room stood nine for
Beecher and only three for Titon. The
case was never tried again.
Devoted 20 BeIIes-Iettres.
During all his public career Mr.. Tnton
devoted himself to belles-lettres. With
equal grace he wrote prose and poetry
His first editorial work was on the New
York Observer.
Afterward he Travelled and lectured on
The Problem Of Life" and other subjects
visiting forty States and covering $4,000
miles as lyCeum attraction.
His first lecture was The Crown Of
Oak How strongly It was tlnged by the
sentiment uppermost IN his mind may be
gathered from a sentence in the Brooklyn
Eagles report: The subject Of the lee
ture was The Crown Of Oak. but out
from behind the oak leaves peeped the
woolly head Of the inevitable black man. "
Tilton numbered among his personal
friends most Of the great lights in the an
u-slayery ranks: many Of them were his