Tilford was born in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky on June 14, 1856. He was the son of Catherine Hunt Tilford and John Boyle Tilford, a banker and founder of the First National Bank of Lexington. His siblings included Richard Curd Tilford, Mary Jane Chastain, Wesley Hunt Tilford, Edward Alfred Tilford, and Frank Vincit Tilford. As a child, his family home was next door to the home of Henry Clay and John Hunt Morgan, and Henry obtained his early education in the South and then moved north to New York City with his father and brothers.
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. After the merger, Tilford headed up Standard's operations on the West Coast, known as Pacific Coast Oil Company, which later became Standard Oil of California. Upon his return to the New York, the Tilfords purchased the Henry William Poor mansion at Tuxedo Park 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." By 1907, Tilford owned 6,000 shares. 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. At the time of his death, he was associated with the National Fuel Gas Company.
Personal life
On November 12, 1885, Tilford was married to Isabelle Weart Giles. Isabelle was the daughter of John Chrystie Giles and Isabella Lee Giles. Together, they were the parents of:
Isabelle Tilford, who married David Wagstaff, the son of Alfred Wagstaff Jr. and a Harvard graduate who was a member of the investment and merchant banking firm, Dominick & Dominick.
Katherine Hunt Tilford, who married Stanley Grafton Mortimer, a son of Richard Mortimer, in 1910.
Annette Tilford, who married Amory Lawrence Haskell in September 1923.
Tilford died on December 3, 1919 at the age of 63 at his home, 24 West 52nd Street in Manhattan. He was buried at St. Mary's Church Cemetery in Tuxedo Park, New York. His estate was valued at over $20,000,000 and he left approximately $17,000,000 to his family. 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. After his death, his widow, who at $5,000,000 in 1920 had "the largest personal possessions among New Yorkers", remained socially prominent in Tuxedo Park and Palm Springs. She was known as "one of the reigning dowagers of Tuxedo Park" for four decades. According to author Sally Bedell Smith, "her annual debutante dinners before the Autumn Ball determined which young women were approved for New York society." Mrs. Tilford, who gave up her New York townhouse to live at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, died at Woodland, her Tuxedo estate in 1941.
Descendants
Through his daughter Isabelle, he was the grandfather of Hunt Tilford Wagstaff and David Wagstaff. Through his daughter Katherine, he was the grandfather of Stanley G. Mortimer Jr., who was married to Babe Paley, and then Kathleen Harriman; Henry Tilford Mortimer, Richard Mortimer, Eve Mortimer, who married Clarence Pell, Jr., and later Lewis Cass Ledyard III; Katharine Mortimer, who married three times ; and John Jay Mortimer, a prominent financier. Through his daughter Annette, he was the grandfather of Anne Ellis ; Margaret Riker Ross, whose family home, the Boudinot-Southard Farmstead, was located next to Lord Stirling Park; and Amory Lawrence Haskell Jr..
In popular culture
Reportedly, Tilford was 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. A fictionalized version of Tilford himself is portrayed in the film by David Warshofsky.
