Nationality American | Name Francis Tillou | |
Occupation Philanthropist, Children's Village co-founder | ||
Francis Redding Tillou (c. 1795 – July 10, 1865) was an American lawyer and politician from New York, and co-founder of Children's Village with 23 others.
Life
On February 15, 1822, he married Caroline M. Drake (ca. 1793-1825), a sister of the poet Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820), and their son was Charles Graham Tillou(d. 1891).
In August 1835, the Federal Land Office at Green Bay put up for sale the area which would become Madison, Wisconsin, and on October 7, 1835, Tillou bought the first 100 acres.
Tillou lived at a country estate which he named "Tillietudlem", in a place then known as Pleasant Valley in Hackensack Township, Bergen County, New Jersey. The house stood where now the Edgewater Public Library is located, at the corner of Undercliff and Hudson Ave. in Edgewater, New Jersey.
On March 1, 1849, Tillou was granted the right to run a ferry-boat service from his estate's landing on the Hudson River to New York City. The landing was located approximately at the place of the present-day Edgewater Marina and Ferry Stop.
In November 1851, Tillou was elected on the Democratic ticket Recorder of New York City, and remained in office from 1852 until the end of 1854. In November 1854, Tillou was nominated on the Municipal Reform and the Temperance tickets for re-election, but was defeated by James M. Smith, Jr. who had been nominated jointly by Hard and Soft Democrats, while most other offices were won by the Whigs, defeating the split Democrats.
In November 1861, Tillou ran on the Union ticket (a fusion of Republicans and War Democrats) for the New York State Senate (4th D.) but was defeated by Democrat Christian B. Woodruff.
Tillou died at his home "Tillietudlem", and was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery.
Tillou's daughter Julia Tillou (1837-1910) was married to Gouverneur Kemble (1835-1898), a nephew of Gouverneur Kemble (1786-1875).
Tillou's sister-in-law Louisa Hannah Drake (a sister of Caroline and Joseph Rodman Drake) was married to Thomas Clark Nicholls and became the mother of Governor of Louisiana Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls who was named after his uncle-by-marriage.