The school was named after William Tilden, who was born in West Lebanon and became rich in New York City through his business, the manufacture and export of varnish.
[3] The 1870 promotional catalog of the school explained its mission: "This Seminary aims to provide, at a moderate expense, excellent and special advantages for the finished, practical and ornamental education of Young Ladies.
It included arithmetic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry as the math sequence over four years; geography; natural, moral, and intellectual philosophy; physiology; logic; chemistry; astronomy; rhetoric; history (United States, civilization, England); evidence of Christianity; rhetoric; composition; and more.
Access to instruction in all topics cost $300 for board and tuition per year, with extra charges for more than the regular number of lessons.
The Civil War, therefore, disrupted the number of enrolled students, as did the inadequate leadership of the third principal, L. H. Deane.
He was followed as principal by Hiram Orcutt in 1865, whose leadership caused enrollment to grow, with students coming from as far away as California.