Standard Oil Trust signed by Henry M. Flagler and W.H. Tilford and William H. Beardsley - 1898 dated Autograph Stock Certificate

Stock signed by Henry M. Flagler as president and Wesley Hunt Tilford as attorney. William H. Beardsley signs twice. Portraits and biographies included. Please specify color.

Wesley Hunt Tilford was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 14, 1850. His boyhood was spent there. His father, John B. Tilford, had long been a banker in Lexington, but at the close of the sixties, he pulled up stakes, and came to New York, where he once more took up the banking business. Young Wesley went to Columbia College where he studied for a couple of years, but the call of business was too strong to allow him to wait for his bachelor's degree. His elder brother, John B. Tilford, Jr., had entered the fleld of oil, associating himself with Jabez A. Bostwick in the firm of Bostwick & Tilford. Attracted by the prospects of petroleum, Wesley gave up his college course, and entered as a clerk in the firm of his brother, then doing business in Pearl Street.

When the firm dissolved the two brothers joined in a partnership of their own under the title of John B. Tilford Jr. & Co., which did well from the start and continued to prosper until, at the period of the Eastern oil amalgamations, a substantial offer from the Standard Oil Company induced them to cast their fortunes with that vigorous organization. As has been said, those were busy formative times in the oil business, and the new recruit proved his mettle by the splendid success of his visit to the Pacific slope in 1878. He there organized the oil trade in California, Oregon, Colorado and the surrounding States. On his return to the East he was welcomed to a high place in the home office, taking charge of the vast transportation problem with vigor and effectiveness. And so, strong in the esteem and confidence of all his co-workers, he continued to the end. He was a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce and belonged to the Metropolitan and Tuxedo Clubs.

Tilford, one of the Vice Presidents of the Standard Oil Company, left behind him a notable record of over thirty years in the service of the Company and of some years before that in a petroleum business with which his family was connected. ln his time he had passed through all grades of the merchandising of petroleum, filling post after post with loyalty, credit and acumen. For nine years before his elevation to the Vice Presidency in 1908, he had filled the office of Treasurer of the Standard Oil Company, and from 1892 onward he had been a Director. Despite this long and prominent career, few outside the oil business knew him, so unobtrusive was he by nature.

He was a man of few words but of great grasp of affairs, particularly strong in organizing qualities, and gifted with fine and accurate judgment. ln addition he was a man of wide information and varied reading. He was courtly, kind-hearted and charitable. The great good fortune of the Standard Oil Company was the securing of the service of such a man. Ordinary qualities sharpened by business experience may carry a man safely through the details of an established business easily filling its place in the commercial economy; but to win and retain a leading place in a business ever growing, ever reaching out, ever conquering new worlds and gaining and holding new markets, called for qualities far beyond the ordinary, and it is the testimony of his associates that he always deserved his promotions. This is high praise from men themselves the peers of the giants of business in all ages and all climes.

Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of the Florida East Coast Railway, much of which he built through convict leasing. He is known as the father of Miami and Palm Beach, Florida.Flagler was born in Hopewell, New York, the son of Isaac Flagler, a Presbyterian minister and his wife, the widowed Elizabeth Caldwell (Morrison) Harkness. She had brought two sons to the marriage with Flagler from her previous marriage to the widower Dr. David Harkness of Milan, Ohio. His son by his first marriage, Stephen V. Harkness, became Elizabeth's stepson. Together David and Elizabeth had a son Daniel M. Harkness before his death. He was of paternal German descent from the Palatinate region. The immigrant ancestor was Zacharra Flegler who first settled in Walworth, England and then left for America arriving in New York in 1710 eventually settling in Dutchess County. It was a grandson Solomon Flagler, who first used the different spelling of the surname. Solomon had eleven children including Isaac, Henry's father.

William Henry Beardsley (April 7, 1852 - December 13, 1925) served as the private secretary to Henry Flagler, the Chairman of the Florida East Coast Railway Company. Born on April 7, 1852, inCleveland, Ohio, he was the son of I. L. Beardsley, a journalist originally from New York who relocated to Cleveland in 1838. I. L. Beardsley was instrumental in founding the "Plain Dealer" and later ventured into the wholesale grocery business. William completed his education in Cleveland, graduating from Central High School in 1869. He initially worked alongside his father in the grocery sector before moving to New York, where he was employed by the Standard Oil Company from 1880 to 1890. In 1890, H. M. Flagler, a co-founder of Standard Oil, appointed Mr. Beardsley as his financial representative. He subsequently took on the role of treasurer for the Florida & East Coast Railroad, the Florida East Coast Steamship Company, and all properties under Mr. Flagler's control. On February 26, 1874, Mr. Beardsley married Miss Lillian, the daughter of Marcus S. Sterling from Bridgeport, Connecticut, whose grandfather had once served as the mayor of the city. The couple had three children: Sterling S., Lillian, and William Jr. Mr. Beardsley was an active member of the Field and Marine Club, the Midwood Club, and the Ohio Society of New York, enjoying a prominent position in social circles and a distinguished reputation in financial matters. Following Henry Flagler's passing, William ascended to the presidency of the Florida East Coast Railway, succeeding Flagler, and also became a trustee of the Flagler estate. He later retired from the presidency but continued to serve as Chairman of the Board until his death on December 13, 1925. Mr. Beardsley was cremated, and his ashes were interred in the Beardsley Family Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York, alongside his wife, her family, and their children.

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