The papers of the Tilton family of Moscow, New York, span the years 1836-1876, with the bulk dates concentrated from 1862 to1865. The collection consists of correspondence, military orders, genealogical material, newspaper clippings, and other material. The papers are arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein chronologically, although the correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name and then chronologically.

The bulk of the correspondence documents the service of four brothers as soldiers in the Union Army, 1861-1865. The oldest son, Albert Murray Tilton (1836-1876) and the third son, Robert Antis Tilton (1844-1862), served with the 51st Illinois Infantry Regiment. Henry Tilton, Jr. (1839-1864), served in the 24th New York Light Artillery Regiment, and the youngest brother, William Gibbs Tilton, served with the 21st New York Independent Battery. Most of their letters were written to their parents, Henry Tilton, Sr., and Susan Alice Gibbs Tilton, although the papers also contain letters of Susan Tilton to her sons, letters between the brothers, and letters of various relatives and associates. Most of the correspondence describes camp life, movements of the regiments, and details of skirmishes and battles.

Albert Tilton's numerous letters mention the battles and skirmishes in which he participated, including Corinth, Stone's River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Franklin, and Nashville. In a letter of 1 December 1862, he wrote that “the President depends too much on one decisive battle and victory” to end the war, and on 11 October 1863 he described the intense fighting at the Battle of Chickamauga. Although wounded in June and December of 1864, Albert survived the war and mustered out of his regiment in January 1865. The second brother, Henry, enlisted in 1862 and spent almost all of his service in North Carolina at Newport Barracks, New Bern, and Plymouth. He was captured on 20 April 1864 at Plymouth and taken to Andersonville prison where he died in October. Robert Tilton's army service was cut short by illness when his brother Albert obtained a furlough for him to return home. Robert never reached Moscow, however, and died of typhoid fever at Middleport, Illinois, on 23 July 1862. The youngest son, William, enlisted in October 1864 at Elmira, NewYork. Some of the locations mentioned in his letters are Morganza, Louisiana, and Greenville, Mobile Bay, and Fish River, Alabama. In a letter of 7 February 1865, he mentioned a fellow soldier joining his unit who had been imprisoned at Andersonville. The soldier described the 24th battery, Henry's unit, as “dying off like sheep” and told of other arduous conditions endured by the prisoners.

The papers also include photocopies of genealogical material relating to the four Tilton brothers and other family members. Included are photographs, obituaries, biographical sketches, and printed matter relating to the brothers' service in the Civil War, historical material about Moscow and the surrounding area, two letters of Henry Tilton, Sr., and a biographical sketch of Mary Anna (“Minnie”) Tilton, the youngest child of Henry and Susan Tilton. The genealogical material also includes copies of letters of William Tilton, the originals of which are located in the correspondence.