John Quillin Tilson

Background

Tilson was born on April 5, 1866 in Clear Branch, Tenn. He was the son of William E. Tilson and Katharine Sams.

Education

Tilson's first education was from itinerant preachers and travelers to his mountain home. His formal education was pursued at public and private schools in Flag Pond (in his native Unicoi County) and also at Mars Hill, N. C.

In 1888 Tilson attended Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. He then worked his way through Yale University, receiving the B. A. in 1891.

Two years later he received his LL. B. degree from Yale.

Career

He was admitted to the bar in 1897 and the following year began to practice law in New Haven, Connecticut During the Spanish-American War, he served as a second lieutenant in the Sixth United States Volunteer Infantry.

Following the war, Tilson resumed his legal practice. He was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives as a Republican in 1904.

He won reelection to Congress in 1910, but in 1912, the year of the Taft-Roosevelt split, he lost to a Democrat. Two years later, however, Tilson regained the seat.

He served eight consecutive terms (1915 - 1931) in the House of Representatives and was Republican majority leader in the Sixty-ninth, Seventieth, and Seventy-first congresses.

After World War II, Tilson's differences with Roraback and the Connecticut Republican leadership continued. Their lack of backing cost him a bid for the U. S. Senate in 1924, and they declined to support his vice-presidential candidacy at the 1928 Republican national convention. Meanwhile, as Republican majority leader from 1925 until 1931, Tilson, along with Speaker Nicholas Longworth and New York Representative Bertrand H. Snell, dominated the proceedings of the House of Representatives. He worked closely with Republican presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, managed the congressional campaign committee, and directed the Republican party speakers' bureau.

Following Longworth's death in 1931, Tilson sought to succeed him as speaker, but was defeated by Snell. Tilson did not seek reelection to Congress in 1932, claiming that he sought a more lucrative employment. He chose to open law offices in Washington, D. C. , and New Haven. In 1932 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago.

An expert in parliamentary law, Tilson lectured on that topic at Yale Law School. In 1935 he wrote the Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure. He later served as chairman of the board of Save the Children Federation, and was cited by the British, Italian, and French governments for service to children following World War II. Tilson died in New London, N. H. , where he had been a summer visitor for many years.

Achievements

• John Quillin Tilson was a Republican, who represented Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives for almost 22 years and was House Majority leader for 6 years.

Works

More photos

• book

  • L a Salomon & Bro v. U S U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record with Supporting Pleadings

    (The Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and ...)

  • A Manual Of Parliamentary Procedure
  • The embargo on Spain
  • Parliamentary law and procedure,
  • Sixty years after;: Being a history of the class of eighteen ninety one, Yale College. Prepared as a supplement to thirty-five years after
  • Arms, ammunition, airplanes, and gas masks (65th Cong. 2d sess. House. Doc. 1286)

Politics

He served as speaker in the 1907-1908 term. He then challenged the Connecticut Republican leadership by defeating the candidate backed by Republican National Committeeman J. Henry Roraback in the 1908 congressional campaign.

In the November election that year, Tilson won a seat in the Sixty-first Congress.

Connections

On November 10, 1910, Tilson married Marguerite North. They had three children.

Mother:

Katherine Sams Tilson

(1831–1911)

Spouse:

Marguerite North Tilson

(1883–1963)

child:

Katharine Sams Tilson Murray

(1915–2013)

Father :

William Erwin Tilson

(1827–1915)

Brother:

James Franklin Tilson

(1856–1918)

Brother:

Jacob Calvin Tilson

(1859–1934)

Brother:

William Josiah Tilson

(1871–1949)

Brother:

Leroy Sams Tilson

(1854–1926)

Child :

Margaret Tilson Shafer

(1912–2004)

Child :

John Quillin Tilson

(1911–2002)

Sister :

Mary J. Tilson Brown

(1862–1944)