Benjamin Franklin Tilley

Infobox Military Person
name=Benjamin Franklin Tilley
born= birth date|1848|3|29
died= death date and age|1907|3|18|1848|3|29
placeofbirth=Bristol, Rhode Island
placeofdeath=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
placeofburial=


caption=Benjamin Franklin Tilley
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
serviceyears=1863–1907
rank=Rear Admiral
branch=United States Navy
commands=USS "Bancroft" USS "Newport" USS "Vicksburg" USS "Abarenda" USS "Iowa" Commandant of U.S. Naval Station Tutuila Commandant of League Island Naval Yard
unit=
battles=
awards=
relations=
laterwork=Acting-Governor of American Samoa

Benjamin Franklin Tilley (March 29, 1848ndash March 18, 1907), often known as B. F. Tilley, 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.

Tilley entered the United States Naval Academy during the height of the Civil War. Graduating after the conflict, he gradually rose through the ranks. As a lieutenant, he participated in the United States military's crackdown against workers in the wake of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. During the Chilean Civil War of 1890, Tilley and a small contingent of sailors and marines defended the American consulate in Santiago, Chile. As a commander during the Spanish-American War, Tilley and his gunship, the USS "Newport", successfully captured two Spanish Navy ships. After the war, Tilley was made the first acting-Governor of Tutuila and Manua (later called American Samoa) and set legal and administrative precedents for the new territory. Near the conclusion of his 41 years of service, he was promoted to rear admiral, but died shortly afterwards from pneumonia.

Early life and naval career

Benjamin Franklin Tilley was born March 29, 1848, the sixth of nine children, in Bristol, Rhode Island.cite web |url=http://americansamoa.gov/governors/tilley.htm |title=Tilley |accessdate=2008-05-18 |year=2007|publisher=Government of American Samoa] During the American Civil War, Tilley enrolled in the United States Naval Academy on September 22, 1863, at the age of 15.cite book |last=Hamersly |first=Lewis Randolph |title=The Records of Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps |url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=0waiEcVzn9_RgiLXel&id=REQUIE_aDoIC |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-04-13 |edition=6th ed.|year=1898 |publisher=L. R. Hamersly and co. |location=New York |pages=p. 106] The war forced the school to relocate from Annapolis, Maryland (then held by the Confederacy) to Newport, Rhode Island. In 1866 he graduated first in his class,cite news |title=Miscellaneous |work=The New York Times |page=6 |date=1866-07-21] going on to serve as a midshipman first on board the USS "Franklin", and then the USS "Frolic". Tilley spent three years serving on board the "Frolic", eventually being promoted to ensign. His next assignment was on board the USS "Lancaster", where he was promoted twice: first to master in 1870 and then to lieutenant in 1871. From 1872 to 1875, Tilley served on board the USS "Pensacola" in the South Pacific. After the "Pensacola", he served briefly on board the USS "New Hampshire" and then spent two years serving on the USS "Hartford".

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. In response, President Rutherford B. Hayes authorized the use of the military to put down the rioting. During the crisis, Tilley was temporarily transferred to the USS "Plymouth", sailing up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C. Military leaders feared rioters from Baltimore could travel to Washington to seize or damage vulnerable government targets. The troops defending Washington, including army, navy, and marines, were organized into a battalion of seven companies; 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 quashing of the strikers in Baltimore. Within a short time, the riots in other cities were also quashed.cite journal|last=C. |first=H. C. |year=1879 |month=January |title=The Naval Brigade and the Marine Battalions in the Labor Strikes of 1877|journal=United Service|volume=1|issue=1|pages=pp. 115–130]

Infobox
name =
title = Navy Career


caption =
headerstyle = background:#ccf;
labelstyle = background:#ddf;
header1 = Midshipman - 1867
label2 = 1867–1868
data2 = USS "Franklin"
label3 = 1868–1869
data3 = USS "Frolic"
header4 = Ensign - 1868
label5 = 1869–1872
data5 = USS "Lancaster"
header6 = Master - 1870
header7 = Lieutenant - 1871
label8 = 1873–1875
data8 = USS "Pensacola"
label9= 1875
data9 = USS "New Hampshire"
label10 = 1875–1877
data10 = USS "Hartford"
label11 = 1877
data11 = USS "Plymouth"
label12 = 1877–1878
data12 = USS "Powhatan"
label13 = 1879–1881
data13 = United States Naval Academy
label14 = 1881
data14 = USS "Standish"
label15 = 1882
data15 = United States Naval Academy
label16 = 1882–1885
data16 = USS "Tennessee"
label17 = 1885–1889
data17 = United States Naval Academy
header18 = Lieutenant Commander - September 1887
label19 = 1889–1890
data19 = Washington Navy Yard
label20 = 1890–1893
data20 = USS "San Francisco"
label21 = 1893–1897
data21 = United States Naval Academy
label22 = 1896
data22 = USS "Bancroft"
header23 = Commander - September 1896
label24 = 1897
data24 = Naval War College
label25 = 1897–1898
data25 = USS "Newport"
label26 = 1898
data26 = Naval Station Newport
label27 = 1898–1899
data27 = USS "Vicksburg"
label28 = 1899–1901
data28 = USS "Abarenda" U.S. Naval Station Tutuila
header29 = Captain - October 1901
label30 = 1902–1905
data30 = Mare Island Naval Shipyard
label31 = 1905–1907
data31 = USS "Iowa
label32 = 1907
data32 = Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
header33 = Rear Admiral - February 24, 1907
belowstyle = background:#ddf;
below =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, Tilley married Emily Edelin Williamson, the daughter of a Navy surgeon and left with her on an extended honeymoon in Europe.cite news |title=Society Weddings|work=Washington Post|page=4 |date=1878-06-06] On his return to duty, Tilley served in the United States Naval Academy and remained there, either in a classroom or on a training ship, until 1882. For the next three years, Tilley served on board the USS "Tennessee". In 1885, Tilley was promoted to lieutenant commander and returned to teach at the academy. During his tenure there, he was appointed head of two departments: first the Department of Astronomy, Navigation, and Surveying and then transferred to the Department of Mechanical Drawing. In September 1889, he moved to the Washington Naval Yard to teach ordnance.cite news |title=Naval Academy Affairs |work=The Sun |page=Supplement 1 |date=1885-09-29; cite news |title=The Army and Navy|work=Washington Post|page=12 |date=1889-09-22; cite news |title=The Army and Navy News|work=The New York Times|page=16 |date=1889-12-29]

Chilean Civil War

.

panish–American War

On April 23, 1898, Spain declared war on the United States in response to American efforts to support Cuban independence. Tilley, still in command of the "Newport", was in the Caribbean and in the heart of the conflict. Two days after the United States responded with its own declaration of war against Spain, on April 27, Tilley captured the Spanish Navy's sloop "Paquete" and schooner "Pireno".cite news |title=The Panama's Valuation|work=Los Angeles Times|page=3 |date=1898-04-27] Tilley participated in the naval blockade of Santiago de Cuba, but missed the subsequent Battle of Santiago de Cuba as the "Newport" was refueling at Guantánamo Bay when fighting broke out. Toward the end of the war, Tilley was responsible for shelling the Cuban port of Manzanillo.cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of the Spanish American War |last=Dyal |first=Donald H. |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=0313288526 |pages=pp. 238–239|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CWaCEfeuQXkC] Over the months of fighting, Tilley and the "Newport" assisted in the capture of nine Spanish vessels. At the conclusion of the war, he was transferred to the Newport Naval Yard,cite news |title=Naval Orders|work=Washington Post|page=4 |date=1898-10-25] before being given the command of the USS "Vicksburg" in October.cite news |title=The United Service |work=The New York Times |page=4 |date=1898-10-21]

Commandant of U.S. Naval Station Tutuila

The United States first expressed interest in building a naval station at Pago Pago, Samoa in 1872 at the behest of Henry A. Peirce, the United States Minister to Hawaii. A treaty to that effect was written and submitted, but it was not approved by the United States Senate.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=p. 58] Six years later, on February 13, 1878, a separate treaty was ratified by the Senate that granted the Samoan government diplomatic recognition and reaffirmed permission to build a naval station in the country.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 64–66] Although there were no further political obstacles, funding for the station was not allocated and only a small coaling station was built on the island. Construction of the naval station did not begin until twenty years later, in 1898, led by civilian contractors. In early 1899, Tilley was assigned the task of overseeing the station construction and becoming its first commandant. He was also put in command of a collier, the USS "Abarenda", which would transport steel and coal to the construction site and to serve as the first station ship. After a long voyage, Tilley took on his new post on August 13, 1899.

Even before Tilley arrived in Samoa, the political situation there was shifting. The Second Samoan Civil War had recently ended, leaving the nation without a functioning central government. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany had competing strategic or economic interests in the region. On June 10, 1899, the Western powers signed the Treaty of Berlin, which partitioned Samoa in two. The eastern part, with Tutuila as the largest island, was placed under the control of the United States. The larger and historically dominant western part was given to Germany. Under this treaty, the British government relinquished its claims over the region in exchange for certain concessions from Germany. News of this arrangement did not reach Tilley and the islands until December 6, 1899.

After learning of the agreement, Tilley notified the local chiefs and asserted nominal United States control, but a formal decision on how the United States government would manage the territory had not yet been made. The construction of the naval base remained Tilley's primary responsibility, and he was dispatched to pick up additional supplies and coal at Auckland, New Zealand.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 105–108] Less than a month after returning, on February 19, 1900, President William McKinley placed the territory under the control of the United States Navy. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles H. Allen named Tilley commandant of United States Naval Station Tutuila with a charter to "cultivate friendly relations with the natives".

Acting Governor of Tutuila

in 1905. Manu'a would not agree to sign the deed until 1904, after negotiating concessions from the United States.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 157–158]

As Acting Governor, Tilley's first acts were to impose a duty on imports to the territory, ban the sale of alcohol to the local population (but not Americans), and forbid the sale of Samoan lands to non-Samoans. On May 1, 1900, he proclaimed that the laws of the United States were in force in the territory, but that Samoan laws that did not conflict with US law would remain in effect. He partitioned the territory into three districts, along the historical divisions implicitly acknowledged in the deed of cession: the two governments on Tutuila and the third comprising the islands of Manu'a, which still did not regard themselves as part of the territory. Over the next year, Tilley regulated firearms, enforced mandatory registrations of births, deaths, and marriages, levied taxes, and made the sabbath a public holiday. For defense and police, Tilley created a small militia of native Samoans, called the Fita Fita Guard. The native volunteers in this force were trained at the naval station by a sergeant of the United States Marine Corps.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 125–128]

During Tilley's administration problems arose because of conflicting Samoan and American laws. In one case, a native had caught and eaten a skipjack, a sacred fish which, under Samoan law, could only be eaten with the permission of a local chief. Traditional punishment decreed that the offender's house should be burned down, 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. In a criminal proceeding on which Tilley sat as judge, the chief was sentenced to a year of house arrest and 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, although the territory's three district governors had equal authority, they were of differing Samoan social status. This disparity made decision-making more difficult and caused social tensions.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 132–134] 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 this letter, they said of Tilley "... you gave us a leader, a Governor, a High Chief, whom we have learned to love and respect".cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 127]

Tilley took leave in June 1901 to return to Washington, leaving E. J. Dorn in command. Dorn subsequently had medical issues and was replaced by J. L. Jayne in October. That month, an anonymous complaint was made to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Frank W. Hackett against Commandant Tilley, alleging immorality and drunkenness.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 137–139] Almost simultaneously, Tilley was promoted to captain by President Theodore Roosevelt.cite news |title=To Be Captain in the Navy |work=The New York Times |page=6 |date=1901-10-08] Tilley returned to Samoa on November 7, 1901 with his wife, and two days later was given a court martial. The trial lasted four days and only one witness was called for the prosecution. Ultimately, Tilley was acquitted. Despite this, Captain Uriel Sebree was appointed as commandant on November 27, 1901. Tilley and his wife returned to the United States the following month.

Sebree later remarked of his predecessor that he had "great ability, kindness, tact and sound common sense".cite journal |title=Progress in American Samoa |journal=The Independent |pages=pp. 2811–2822 |date=1902-11-27|last=Sebree |first=Uriel |authorlink=Uriel Sebree |issue=2817 |volume=54] 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.cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=pp. 150–151] 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.

Later career and death

Tilley's next assignment, in March 1902, was as captain of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California.cite news |title=Assignment for Funston |work=Washington Post |page=9 |date=1902-03-18] He remained in this post for three years before being assigned to the USS "Iowa" on January 11, 1905.cite news |title=The United Service|work=The New York Times |page=5 |date=1905-01-15] Two years later, on February 23, 1907, Tilly was made commandant of League Island Naval Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was promoted to rear admiral the following day. Less than a month later, on March 18, 1907, Tilley died of pneumonia.cite news |title=Death of Admiral Tilley|work=Washington Post |page=3 |date=1907-03-19] At the end of the year, Tilley was one of 322 men and women listed by the "Washington Post" as "foremost in their various callings" that had died in 1907.cite news |title=The Silent Reaper's Harvest of the Great |work=Washington Post |page=MS8 |date=1907-12-29] Tilley 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.cite news |title=Mrs. Emily Tilley Dies at Annapolis |work=Washington Post |page=20 |date=1931-04-22]

Notes

ee also

References

*cite book |last=Gray |first=J. A. C. |title=Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration |origyear=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, Maryland |oclc= 498821

s-ttl|title=Naval Governor of American Samoa
years=February 17, 1900–November 27, 1901|as=Commandant / Acting-Governor

Persondata
NAME=Tilley, Benjamin Franklin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=US Navy Rear Admiral, Naval Acting-Governor
DATE OF BIRTH=1848
PLACE OF BIRTH=Bristol, Rhode Island
DATE OF DEATH=March 18, 1907
PLACE OF DEATH=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania