Editing Samuel J. Tilden (section)

==Early life==
[[File:SamuelJTilden.jpeg|thumb|left|Tilden as a young man]]

Tilden was born in [[New Lebanon, New York]], the youngest son of Elam Tilden and Polly Jones Tilden.<ref>Bigelow (2009), pp. 12–15</ref> He was descended from [[Tylden (family)|Nathaniel Tilden]], an early [[English people|English]] settler who came to [[North America]] in 1634.<ref>{{cite book |last=Richards |first=Lysander Salmon |date=1905 |title=History of Marshfield |volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AgHMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |location=Plymouth, MA |publisher=The Memorial Press |page=24 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> His father and other family members were the makers of [[patent medicine]]s including [[Tilden's Extract]], a popular concoction of the 1800s and early 1900s that was derived from [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref>William Lee Richter, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cyGb-eMnmXkC&pg=PA610 ''Historical Dictionary of the Civil War and Reconstruction''], 2004, page 610</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=psbmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA117 Obituary, Samuel J. Tilden (nephew of New York Governor)], ''The Pharmaceutical Era'', March 1914, p. 117</ref> Tilden's father maintained relationships with many influential New York politicians, including President [[Martin Van Buren]], who became Tilden's political idol.<ref name="Morris 2003, p. 85">Morris (2003), p. 85</ref> Tilden was frequently in poor health during his youth, and he spent much of his time studying politics and reading works such as ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]''.<ref name="Morris 2003, p. 85"/> Tilden's health troubles prevented him from regularly attending school, and he dropped out of [[Williams High School (Stockbridge, Massachusetts)|Williams Academy]] after three months and [[Yale College]] after a single term in 1834–1835.<ref>Morris (2003), pp. 84–86</ref>

Likely motivated by a family friendship with [[Benjamin Franklin Butler (lawyer)|Benjamin Franklin Butler]], then serving as a professor at [[New York University School of Law]], Tilden enrolled there to resume his studies and continued to attend intermittently from 1838 to 1841.<ref>{{cite book|title=The life and public services of Hon. Samuel J. Tilden: Democratic nominee ...|author=Theodore Pease Cook|page=9}}</ref> While studying at NYU, Tilden also [[Reading law|read law]] in the office of attorney [[John W. Edmonds]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Scharf |first=John Thomas |date=1886 |title=History of Westchester County, New York |volume=1, Part 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkgVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA504 |location=Philadelphia, PA |publisher=L. E. Preston & Co. |page=554 |ref={{sfnRef|''History of Westchester County, New York''}}}}</ref> He was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1841 and became a skilled [[corporate lawyer]].{{sfn|''History of Westchester County, New York''|page=554}} Tilden affiliated with the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and frequently campaigned on behalf of Van Buren and other Democratic candidates.<ref>Morris (2003), pp. 86–89</ref>