"My dear Tilden,—It seems to be the general opinion of our committee on the Statue of Liberty that we ought to have the name of an ex-President and ex-Governor of New York on the list of our subscribers. I concur in that opinion, and hope you will be induced to lend us a helping hand. The subscriptions range thus far from $1 to $5000, and we shall try to get $10,000 from Vanderbilt and Astor each. I should like to see one great representative of Liberty, in all the best senses of the word, at the head of the poll.
"Yours very truly,
"Parke Godwin."
MARY TILDEN TO S. J. TILDEN
"St. Olave's, Trinity Crescent, Folkestone, Oct. 12, 1882.
"Dear Sir,—Some few years back I heard that you came to England to look up some of your relations. I so much regret that I did not have the pleasure of making your acquaintance, as we are the old family of Tildens of Ifield Court in the parish of Northfleet.
"I have always heard my husband say that there were three branches of the Tilden family: one lived at Milsted (Sir John Tylden), they altered the spelling of the name; one branch went to America, and the other to Ifield Court. My husband was the fourth John Tilden who had lived at the old place; we were married in 1838, and I lived there with him thirty-four years, as he died in 1872 at the age of seventy-six. He was twenty years older than me; we have three children—my eldest son John still has Ifield Court. My daughter Lucy married, in 1868, Captain Miller, of the Royal Engineers; he died of typhoid fever at Gibraltar in 1876, leaving his wife and four children—three girls and one boy; they are now living with me. William, my youngest son, is a major in the Sixtieth Rifles; he has just engaged himself to be married to a Miss Bell, a lady of good family and connections.
"If you should visit England again, I hope I may have the opportunity of meeting you. I have long wished to write to you, but did not know where to address you. This summer I was spending a few weeks at Thonne in Switzerland, and an American gentleman and his wife were staying at the hotel. They were struck with my name and asked if we were related to you. I asked if he would give me your address, which he did, and I made up my mind to write to you as soon as I returned home.
"There is a church not far from here called Lynne, where Canon Jenkins took me to see where some of our ancestors were buried, spelling their names as we do, Tilden. My dear husband was very proud of his family; his brothers are all dead; he has only three sisters living; there were twelve in the family. I hope you will pardon my writing to you, but I feel you would like to know something of the Ifield Court, Tildens.
"My daughter unites with me in kind regards to her kinsman, and believe me,