A Visit with Dartmouth's Oldest Living Graduate

WILLIAM R. TILLOTSON '77, who recently retired from his business activities at the age of 96, was visited this fall by two alumni seeking news of Dartmouth's oldest living alumnus. The MAGAZINE was fortunate in receiving an account of Mr. Tillotson's present activities, and details of his long and lively career, from Clarke Bassett '21, president of the Merchants National Bank and Trust Cos., in Fargo, N. D. His description of their call follows:

"A few days ago Murray A. Baldwin '18, currently the Mayor of Fargo, and I called on Mr. Tillotson, in order that we might learn more about him than you have in your records at present.

"He is now living in Barnesville, Minn., which is a small community about 23 miles from Moorhead. He is retired from business activity and is living with his daughter, Mrs. J. J. Aamodt. We found the gentleman in good health and anxious to visit with us. We learned that he was 96 years old on his last birthday, April 22.

"He tells us that his father was a farmer near Bath, N. H., and he was born on a farm near that community. When he was a lad of about seven years old his father purchased a farm just east of the College campus [the site of the house now at Wheelock and North Balch, which was built by the architect, Jens F. Larson 28h2]. As a student Mr. Tillotson continued to live on the farm when he took his work at Dartmouth. His memory of his college years appears to be quite vivid, as he refers to John Lord, his professor in Latin; John Proctor, who taught him Greek; and E. T. Quimby, his professor in mathematics.

"After he graduated in the Class of 1877, he studied law for three years under Frederick Chase, who, he tells us, was a probate judge of Grafton County; and Mr. Tillotson also recalls that Mr. Chase was at one time Treasurer of the College. Mr. Tillotson tells us that he was admitted to the Bar in Concord in the fall of 1880. He then had the urge to go West as a friend of his by the name of Burnham, who lived in Vermont, had moved to Moorhead, Minn., and was practicing law there. Mr. Tillotson, however, took a circuitous route, as he landed in Galveston, Texas, in 1881. He, however, decided that this southern city was no place for a northerner, so in the fall of that year he came to Moorhead and worked for Mr. Burnham in his law office. He said he worked for three years for a salary of $50 a month, and was then taken into partnership under the firm name of Burnham, Mills & Tillotson. He has remained in Moorhead since his arrival in 1881.

"For a good many years he was not onlyvery active in his law practice but he took part in many community activities. We learned that in 1901 he was elected Mayor of Moorhead, and then later was elected for a second term. He was a member of the School Board, the Library Board, and was also a member of the original committee which developed the City Charter for Moorhead. Along with his law business, in 1911 he organized the National Loan & Improvement Co. He continued to keep up his business contacts until last spring, when he retired at the age of 96. In his conversation he frequently refers to an attorney friend of his in Moorhead, who he indicates is rather an old man, as his friend reached the age of 101 last July.

"In 1942 his wife, Harriet Tanner, died. After her death he continued to live alone in Moorhead until this summer when he moved to Barnesville to live with his daughter. He has a son, Dr. Bradley P. Tillotson, who is in charge of the Carnegie Steel Company's clinic in Chicago; three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

"Mr. Tillotson's interests outside of business appear to be following baseball and photography. He told us that he had been a Republican up until the time of the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since then he has been a Democrat, although he maintains an independent outlook and expressed no preference for the presidential candidates involved on November 4. He is keeping up his active interest in Dartmouth College. He spoke of the graduation exercises around the Old Pine. He also recalls many of the college cheers, and he even remembers his trips to the Tilden Female Seminary at West Lebanon."

OLDEST ALUMNUS: William R. Tillotson '77 (center) had much to tell his two callers, Clarke Bassett '21 (I) and Murray A. Baldwin '18, who came to see him at his daughter's home in Barnesville, Minn.