[8] Tilford retired in the Spring of 1911, however, in 1917, he joined the company's board of directors following the death of John Dustin Archbold in 1916.

Two years later, Tilford was succeeded by Walter C. Teagle, who served as president of Standard Oil of New Jersey from 1917 until 1937.

[8] After his death, his widow, who at $5,000,000 in 1920 had "the largest personal possessions among New Yorkers",[22] remained socially prominent in Tuxedo Park and Palm Springs.

[24] According to author Sally Bedell Smith, "her annual debutante dinners before the Autumn Ball determined which young women were approved for New York society.

"[25] Mrs. Tilford, who gave up her New York townhouse to live at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, died at Woodland, her Tuxedo estate in 1941.

and tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.