Benjamin Franklin Tilley
Benjamin Franklin Tilley | |
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League Island Naval Yard | |
Other work | Acting-Governor of American Samoa |
Benjamin Franklin Tilley (March 29, 1848 – March 18, 1907) was a career officer in the United States Navy who served from the end of the American Civil War through the Spanish–American War. He is best remembered as the first acting governor of American Samoa as well as the territory's first naval governor.[1]
Tilley entered the
Benjamin Franklin Tilley was born on March 29, 1848, in Bristol, Rhode Island, the sixth of nine children.[2] He enrolled in the United States Naval Academy on September 22, 1863, at the age of 15 and in the midst of the American Civil War.[3] The war forced the school to relocate from Annapolis, Maryland, threatened by the Confederacy, to Newport, Rhode Island. In 1866, he graduated first in his class,[4] going on to serve as a midshipman first on board USS Franklin and then USS Frolic. He spent three years serving on board Frolic, eventually being promoted to ensign. His next assignment was on board USS Lancaster, where he was promoted to master in 1870 and then to lieutenant in 1871. From 1872 to 1875, he served on board USS Pensacola in the South Pacific. After Pensacola, he served briefly on board USS New Hampshire and then spent two years serving on USS Hartford.[3]
Railroad strike of 1877
In July 1877, a violent railroad strike began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, sparking riots in other American cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and President Rutherford B. Hayes authorized the use of the military in response. Tilley was temporarily transferred to USS Plymouth during the crisis, sailing up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C. Military leaders feared that rioters from Baltimore could travel to Washington to seize or damage vulnerable government targets. The troops defending Washington included the army, navy, and marines organized into a battalion of seven companies (Naval Brigade) under the command of Captain Edward Barrett; Tilley was placed in command of Company C. The precautions proved to be unnecessary, as the expected wave of rioters never materialized following the military's suppression of the strikers in Baltimore; the riots were also quashed in other cities within a short time.[5]
Midshipman – 1867 | |
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1867–1868 | USS Franklin |
1868–1869 | USS Frolic |
Ensign – 1868 | |
1869–1872 | USS Lancaster |
Master – 1870 | |
Lieutenant – 1871 | |
1873–1875 | USS Pensacola |
1875 | USS New Hampshire |
1875–1877 | USS Hartford |
1877 | USS Plymouth |
1877–1878 | USS Powhatan |
1879–1881 | United States Naval Academy |
1881 | USS Standish |
1882 | United States Naval Academy |
1882–1885 | USS Tennessee |
1885–1889 | United States Naval Academy |
Lieutenant Commander – September 1887 | |
1889–1890 | Washington Navy Yard |
1890–1893 | USS San Francisco |
1893–1897 | United States Naval Academy |
1896 | USS Bancroft |
Commander – September 1896 | |
1897 | Naval War College |
1897–1898 | USS Newport |
1898 | Naval Station Newport |
1898–1899 | USS Vicksburg |
1899–1901 | USS Abarenda U.S. Naval Station Tutuila |
Captain – October 1901 | |
1902–1905 | Mare Island Naval Shipyard |
1905–1907 | USS Iowa |
1907 | Philadelphia Naval Shipyard |
Rear Admiral – February 24, 1907 |
After the strike, Tilley was transferred to the flagship USS Powhatan before requesting to take a six-month leave so that he could marry. On June 6, 1878, he married Emily Edelin Williamson, the daughter of a Navy surgeon, and left with her on an extended honeymoon in Europe.[6] On his return to duty, Tilley served at the United States Naval Academy and remained there until 1882, either in a classroom or on a training ship. For the next three years, he served on board USS Tennessee.[3] In 1885, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and returned to teach at the academy. During his tenure there, he was appointed head of the Department of Astronomy, Navigation, and Surveying, and then transferred to become head of the Department of Mechanical Drawing. In September 1889, he moved to the Washington Navy Yard to teach ordnance.[7]
Chilean Civil War
In 1890, Tilley was transferred to
Spanish–American War
On April 23, 1898,
The United States first expressed interest in building a
Even before Tilley arrived in Samoa, the political situation there was shifting. The Second Samoan Civil War had recently ended, leaving the islands without a functioning central government. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany had competing strategic and economic interests in the region. Ratification of the Tripartite Convention on February 16, 1900, partitioned the Samoan archipelago. The eastern part, with Tutuila as its largest island, was placed under the control of the United States. The larger and historically dominant western part was assigned to Germany. Under this treaty, the British government relinquished its claims over Samoa in exchange for certain concessions from Germany in the Pacific and Africa.
After learning of the agreement, Tilley notified the local chiefs and asserted nominal United States control, but a formal decision had not yet been made on how the United States government would manage the territory. The construction of the naval base remained his primary responsibility, and he was dispatched to pick up additional supplies and coal at
Acting governor of Tutuila
Tilley's first task in his new role was to negotiate a deed of cession with the local powers to ensure a formal and peaceful transfer of control to the United States. With the partitioning of Samoa, two regional governments remained on Tutuila which had been subordinated to a government on the western, German-controlled island of Upolu. Both of these governments were favorable toward the cession. The inhabitants of the island of
Tilley's first acts were to impose a
Problems arose during Tilley's administration because of conflicting Samoan and American laws. In one case, a native had caught and eaten a skipjack, a sacred fish which could only be eaten with the permission of a local chief under Samoan law. Traditional punishment decreed that the offender's house should be burned down and his crops uprooted, and he should be exiled from the territory. The native challenged his punishment under the American legal system, however, resulting in the arrest of the chief responsible for ordering the destruction of his property. The chief was sentenced to a year of house arrest in a criminal proceeding, on which Tilley sat as judge, and he was ordered to pay compensation for the destroyed property. There were similar issues with Samoan customs not blending well with the newly introduced American political divisions in the territory. For example, the territory's three district governors had equal authority but they were of differing Samoan social status. This disparity made decision-making more difficult and caused social tensions.[22] Despite these problems, Tilley was well-considered by the locals. On December 18, 1900, the local chiefs sent a letter of congratulations on the re-election of President McKinley in which they said of Tilley, "you gave us a leader, a Governor, a High Chief, whom we have learned to love and respect".[23]
Tilley took leave in June 1901 to return to Washington, leaving
Sebree later remarked of his predecessor that he had "great ability, kindness, tact and sound common sense".[26] Unlike Sebree, who was concerned that he did not have a legal mandate to govern, Tilley was not shy about enacting legislation and being the de facto leader of the territory. Although the deed of cession recognized his authority and gave him the title of Acting Governor, as far as the United States government was concerned, he was officially responsible only for the naval station.[27] As the first naval governor, Tilley laid the groundwork for much of the future governance of the territory, which did not yet even have a formal name. The American Samoa government includes Tilley and the other pre-1905 station commandants in its list of territorial governors.[2]
Later career and death
Tilley's next assignment came in March 1902 as a captain of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California.[28] He remained in this post for three years before being assigned to USS Iowa on January 11, 1905.[29] On February 23, 1907, he was made commandant of League Island Naval Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and he was promoted to rear admiral the following day. He died of pneumonia less than a month later on March 18, 1907.[30]
Tilley was one of 322 men and women who had died in 1907 listed by The Washington Post as "foremost in their various callings."[31] He was survived by one son and two daughters. His son Benjamin Franklin Tilley Jr. also entered the Navy and retired with the rank of lieutenant commander.[32]
Notes
- ^ Sorensen, Stan (13 June 2008). "Historical Notes" (PDF). Tapuitea. Vol. III, no. 24. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ a b "Tilley". Government of American Samoa. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ a b c Hamersly, Lewis Randolph (1898). The Records of Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (PDF) (6th ed.). New York: L. R. Hamersly and co. p. 106. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Miscellaneous". The New York Times. 1866-07-21. p. 6.
- ^ C., H. C. (January 1879). "The Naval Brigade and the Marine Battalions in the Labor Strikes of 1877". United Service. 1 (1): 115–130.
- ^ "Society Weddings". The Washington Post. 1878-06-06. p. 4.
- ^ "Naval Academy Affairs". The Sun. 1885-09-29. p. Supplement 1.; "The Army and Navy". The Washington Post. 1889-09-22. p. 12.; "The Army and Navy News". The New York Times. 1889-12-29. p. 16.
- ^ "Nineteen Knots and Over". The New York Times. 1890-08-28. p. 1.
- Chicago Daily Tribune. 1891-08-30. p. 1.
- ^ "Notes from Annapolis". The New York Times. 1893-08-27. p. 16.
- ^ "News from the Naval Academy". The New York Times. 1896-06-07. p. 21.
- ^ "The United Service". The New York Times. 1896-10-21. p. 3.
- ^ "The Panama's Valuation". Los Angeles Times. 1898-04-27. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2017-07-05. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
- ISBN 0-313-28852-6.
- ^ "The United Service". The New York Times. 1898-10-21. p. 4.
- ^ Gray 1960, p. 58.
- ^ Gray 1960, pp. 64–66.
- ^ a b c Gray 1960, pp. 105–108.
- ^ Gray 1960, pp. 157–158.
- ^ Gray 1960, pp. 125–128.
- ^ Gray 1960, pp. 132–134.
- ^ Gray 1960, p. 127.
- ^ a b Gray 1960, pp. 137–139.
- ^ "To Be Captain in the Navy". The New York Times. 1901-10-08. p. 6.
- ^ a b Sebree, Uriel (1902-11-27). "Progress in American Samoa". The Independent. 54 (2817): 2811–2822.
- ^ Gray 1960, pp. 150–151.
- ^ "Assignment for Funston". The Washington Post. 1902-03-18. p. 9. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2017-07-05. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
- ^ "The United Service". The New York Times. 1905-01-15. p. 5.
- ^ "Death of Admiral Tilley". The Washington Post. 1907-03-19. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2017-07-05. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
- ^ "The Silent Reaper's Harvest of the Great". The Washington Post. 1907-12-29. p. MS8. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2017-07-05. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
- ^ "Mrs. Emily Tilley Dies at Annapolis". The Washington Post. 1931-04-22. p. 20. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
References
- Gray, J. A. C. (1960). Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 498821.
External links
- Tilley's Log of U.S. Steamer Standish, 1881, MS 137 held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy