"79 STATE STREET,
"BOSTON, _Sept. 27, 1864_.
"HON. S. J. TILDEN.
"DEAR SIR,--I desire to introduce to your acquaintance my son, the
bearer, Mr. William C. Whitney. My son wishes to complete, in your
city, his preparation for practice in the law. I have taken the liberty
of advising my son to call upon you for the reason that I believe a few
words of friendly advice from yourself would be of great value to him
in fixing upon his selection of an office for further preparation. Any
advice or act of courtesy you may please to extend to my son, I need
not say, will ever be regarded as a great personal favor to
"Your obt. Servt.,
"JAMES S. WHITNEY."
General James E. Whitney was the father of the late William C.
Whitney. At his behest, Governor Tilden was instrumental in securing
for the son, then recently graduated from the Harvard Law School, the
appointment of counsel for the corporation of the city and county of
New York. The son subsequently became--through Mr. Tilden's aid, I
believe--a very large proprietor of stock in the metropolitan railways,
and later was a member of President Cleveland's Cabinet as Secretary of
the Navy during that President's first term. He died in 1904.