Jonathan Cilley
Jonathan Cilley | |
---|---|
Edward Robinson | |
Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives | |
In office 1835–1836 | |
Preceded by | Thomas Davee |
Succeeded by | Hannibal Hamlin |
Member of the Maine House of Representatives | |
In office 1831–1836 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Nottingham, New Hampshire, U.S. | July 2, 1802
Died | February 24, 1838 Bladensburg, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 35)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Deborah Prince |
Children | 5 |
Education | Bowdoin College (BA) |
Signature | |
Jonathan Cilley (July 2, 1802 – February 24, 1838) was a member of the
Cilley was a native of
In 1836, Cilley was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He served part of one term, and died as the result of a gunshot wound caused when he engaged in a duel with Representative William J. Graves. They fired at each other with rifles three times, and on the third shot, Graves hit Cilley's femoral artery, causing blood loss which resulted in Cilley's death. He was temporarily interred at Congressional Cemetery, and later reinterred at Elm Grove Cemetery in Thomaston.
Early life
Jonathan Cilley was born in
Cilley attended Atkinson Academy and Bowdoin College.[1] He was a member of Bowdoin's famed class of 1825, which included Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.[1] While at Bowdoin, Cilley also became close friends with future U.S. President Franklin Pierce, a member of the class of 1824.[2] Deciding to stay in Maine after graduating from Bowdoin, Cilley studied law with John Ruggles, was admitted to the bar in 1828, and practiced in Thomaston.[1]
Marriage and political career
In 1829, Jonathan Cilley married Deborah Prince, the daughter of local businessman Hezekiah Prince.[1] Jonathan and Deborah had five children, two of whom died very young. Their surviving children were Greenleaf (b. 1829), Jonathan Prince (b. 1835), and Julia (b. 1837).[3] Jonathan Prince Cilley became a brigadier general by brevet in the Union Army during the Civil War.[3] Greenleaf was a career officer in the United States Navy.[4] He married Malvina Vernet, the daughter of Luis Vernet, a former Argentinian governor of the Falkland Islands in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1861 and died in San Isidro, Buenos Aires in 1899.[4] Julia was the wife of Ellis Draper Lazell (1832–1875).[5]
Cilley edited the Thomaston Register from 1829 to 1831
Fatal duel
Cilley died in office after sustaining a fatal wound in a duel with Congressman
Democrats, including Jonathan Cilley, considered Webb's coverage of Congress to be biased and unfair; Cilley vented some of his party's bitterness in remarks made on the
As the challenged party, Cilley had the choice of weapons.[8] Because of Graves' reputation as an expert pistol shot, Cilley selected rifles, with the distance between the duelists to be 80 yards, a distance far enough apart to negate Graves' supposed shooting skill; in actuality, the marked off distance was 94 yards.[8] After their first fire missed, the participants shortened the distance and fired again, but again both shots missed.[8] On the third exchange of shots, Graves fatally wounded Cilley by shooting him through the femoral artery.[8] Cilley bled to death on the dueling ground within a matter of minutes.[8] He was buried at Congressional Cemetery,[9] and re-interred at Elm Grove Cemetery in Thomaston, Maine.[10]
Legacy
There is a cenotaph to Cilley's memory located at Congressional Cemetery.[9]
After Cilley's death, longtime friend Nathaniel Hawthorne published two biographical sketches of him.[11] His colleagues paid tribute to him by passing a federal law on February 20, 1839, which strengthened the strict prohibition against dueling in Washington, D.C. by making it a crime to issue or accept a challenge within district limits, even if the actual duel was to take place outside the district.[12]
See also
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)
- List of United States Congress members killed or wounded in office
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, p. 109.
- ^ New England Must Not Be Trampled On, p. 79.
- ^ a b New England Must Not Be Trampled On, p. 219.
- ^ a b New England Must Not Be Trampled On, p. 220.
- ^ John Lazell of Hingham And Some Of His Descendants, p. 104.
- ^ New England Must Not Be Trampled On, p. 42.
- ^ New England Must Not Be Trampled On, p. 108.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ancient American Politics, p. 136.
- ^ a b Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC, p. 37.
- ^ New England Must Not Be Trampled On, p. 1.
- ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, p. 110.
- ^ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005, p. 1148.
Sources
- Anderson, Eve (2002). A Breach of Privilege: Cilley Family Letters, 1820–1867. Rockland, ME: Seven Coin Press. ISBN 978-0970097446.
- Franscell, Ron (2012). Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-0-7627-7385-5.
- Ginn, Roger (2016). New England Must Not Be Trampled On: The Tragic Death of Jonathan Cilley. Lanham, MD: Down East Books. ISBN 978-1-60893-388-4.
- Hastings, Hugh J.; Hastings, Hugh (September 17, 1886). Ancient American Politics. Franklin Square library ;no. 543. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers.
- Lazell, Theodore Studley (1936). John Lazell of Hingham And Some Of His Descendants. Haverhill, MA: The Record Publishing Company.
- United States Congress (2005). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-073176-1.
- White, J. T. (1900). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. X. New York, NY: James T. White & Company.
Further reading
- Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums (1970). Doris A. Isaacson (ed.). Maine: A Guide 'Down East'. Rockland, Me: Courier-Gazette, Inc. p. 261.
- Memoirs and Services of Three Generations: General Joseph Cilley, First New Hampshire Line. War of the Revolution; Johnathan Longfellow, Father of sarah, wife of General Joseph Cilley; Colonel Joseph Cilley, U.S. Senator and Officer in the War of 1812; Honorable Johnathan Cilley, Member of Congress from Maine; Commander Greenleaf Cilley, War with Mexico and War of 1861; General Johnathan P. Cilley, First Maine Cavalry, War of the Rebellion – reprint from the Courier-Gazette, Rockland Maine, 1909
- Political Portraits with Pen and Pencil. No. IX. Jonathan Cilley by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The United States Democratic Review (J.& H.G. Langley, etc., New York), Sept. 1838, vol. 3 issue 9, pp. 67–69. Available online at [1] (accessed March 8, 2008).
External links
- United States Congress. "Jonathan Cilley (id: C000395)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne's memorial to Jonathan Cilley, written in 1838
- Jonathan Cilley at Find a Grave
- Jonathan Cilley (cenotaph) at Find a Grave
- Jonathan Cilley at The Political Graveyard
- Honorable Jonathan Longfellow Cilley at the Wayback Machine (archived January 16, 2020)
- His son, Commander Greenleaf Cilley (1829–1899) at the Wayback Machine (archived January 16, 2020)