Postcard Thursday: Samuel Tilden

Tomorrow marks the 204th birthday of Samuel Jones Tilden, lawyer, governor of New York, and man who won the presidency in 1876 -- only to have it stolen from him in some Electoral College shenanigans.

As we write in Inside the Apple:

In the history of American politics, there is no presidential election as contentious as the 1876 contest between New York Governor Samuel J. Tilden and Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes. 

Tilden, famous for his prosecution of William “Boss” Tweed was billed as the Reform-minded outsider Democrat who could combat the corruption that had flowered in Washington under President Ulysses S. Grant. The party hoped that Tilden, despite his basically chilly demeanor, could appeal to northerners and southerners alike....

 As the votes rolled in, the press was generally reporting that Tilden had won.

However, the New York Times, sensing that the election would be close in Louisiana, South Carolina, Oregon, and Florida, prepared an editorial that ran the next day entitled “A Doubtful Election,” laying out the scenario that the election still hung in the balance. After meeting with Republican leaders, the Times managing editor, John Reid, sent telegrams to Republican governors in the disputed states: Hayes is elected if we have carried South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. Can you hold your state? Answer immediately. 

When the governors replied that they could try to “hold” their states—despite election returns tilting in Tilden’s favor—the most fractious post-election period in American history began. Not even the Gore/Bush imbroglio in 2000 can match the months that followed November 1876. In canvasses roiled by partisanship, the three southern states in dispute certified two sets of returns and sent them to Washington—one for Hayes and one for Tilden. With the votes from those states thus rendered void, neither candidate had a majority....

In the end, a commission was appointed to determine the winner. "Along completely partisan lines, the commission voted 8-7 in favor of Hayes in each disputed case, giving him the electoral votes he needed to secure the presidency."

Tilden is also known today for his house -- which is actually two side-by-side townhouses that he bought and joined together -- that are now home to The National Arts Club. James wrote a story of the club's history, including Tilden's renovation of the home, for Curbed New York which you can read at https://ny.curbed.com/2014/5/27/10095666/the-dramatic-history-of-gramercy-parks-national-arts-club.

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Read more about New York City history in our two books:

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers
and

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

National Arts Club Mansion Shills Potato Chips

The National Arts Club has had a hard time of it recently -- accusations of hoarding, fiscal impropriety, and, most recently, the sacking of the club's longtime dining room manager while he was on vacation.

But it's not all doom and gloom on Gramercy Park. Have you seen that Lay's ad that's been playing during the Olympics?

The ad features celebrity chef Michael Symon and Eva Longoria asking America to help Lay's come up with the next great potato chip flavor. Most of the ad is filmed in the environs of Madison Square Park, but it begins with Symon bounding down the steps of one of the National Arts Club's entrances.* The shot shows off the club's Victorian red sandstone facade to good effect. The facade is the handiwork of Calvert Vaux (co-architect of Central Park) who renovated the mansion in the 1870s when it was the home of New York Governor Samuel Jones Tilden.

Tilden ran for president -- and won -- in 1876 but was denied the presidency. His home languished for years after his death until the National Arts Club bought it in the first decade of the 20th century, renovated it, and built the apartment building on 19th Street that has been the center of much of its recent controversy.

* The National Arts Club is actually two old townhouses, 14 and 15 Gramercy Park, combined into one giant house. Club members use the entrance at 15 Gramercy Park; the ad shows the entrance at 14 Gramercy.

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Read more about Samuel J. Tilden, the contested election of 1876, and
architect Calvert Vaux in

Inside the Apple

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Curious and Unusual Deaths: "Death in New York"

This past summer, we were invited to Toronto by the Discovery Channel to participate as New York City history experts in the program Curious and Unusual Deaths. Our episode, "Death in New York," will premiere in the United States on Discovery's Fit and Health channel on March 16 at 10:00PM ET/7:00PM PT. (In New York, Discovery Fit and Health is channel 116 if you have Time Warner Cable; otherwise check your local listings)

Each episode of the show explores the circumstances of three people who died in strange ways. The show combines reenactment with interviews with scientists, historians, and engineers who examine these accidents to try to figure out not only how they happened, but how we can learn from these tragedies.

In "Death in New York," the three tales concern a city worker who was sucked into a drainage pipe at the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx, a woman killed by a steam explosion while taking a nap near Gramercy Park, and a sidewalk electrocution in the East Village.

The program has been very well-received; for recent reviews of the show, please see the New York Times and Huffington Post.

In Canada, the show airs on Discovery Canada, and our episode will premiere on Friday, March 23, at 10:30PM ET. The show is also shown in other markets around the world, so do keep an eye out for it.

We haven't actually seen our episode yet, but are eager to find out how we did (and how much was left on the cutting room floor). Hope you have a chance to tune in, too!

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For more about death in New York (most of it not very curious or unusual),
you can turn to Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

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