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Benjamin Franklin Tilley

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Benjamin Franklin Tilley
Benjamin Franklin TilleyBenjamin Franklin Tilley
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branchUnited States Navy
Years of service1863–1907
RankRear Admiral
CommandsUSS Bancroft
USS Newport
USS Vicksburg
USS Abarenda
USS Iowa
Commandant of U.S. Naval Station Tutuila
Commandant of League Island Naval Yard
Other workActing-Governor of American Samoa

Benjamin Franklin Tilley (March 29 1848 – 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. Near the conclusion of his 41 years of service, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. He died shortly afterwards from pneumonia.

As a young man of 15, Tilley entered the United States Naval Academy during the height of the Civil War. Graduating after the end of the conflict, he gradually rose through the ranks. In 1877 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 against insurgents. 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 many of the legal and administrative precedents of the new territory.

Early life and naval career

Benjamin Franklin Tilley was born March 29 1848, the sixth of nine children, in Bristol, Rhode Island. During the American Civil War, Tilley enrolled in the United States Naval Academy on September 22 1863, when he was only 15. The war forced the school to relocate from Annapolis, Maryland (then held by the Confederacy) to Newport, Rhode Island. He graduated first in his class in 1866. After graduation, he served as a midshipman, first briefly on board the USS Franklin before being transferred to the USS Frolic. While serving on the Frolic, he was promoted to ensign and he remained stationed there until 1869. 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 briefly served on board 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 and spread to many American cities. The strike sparked riots and cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia experienced much death and destruction. In response, President Rutherford B. Hayes authorized the use of the military to put down the riots. 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 targets such as the Treasury. The arriving troops, including Army, Navy, and Marines, were organized into a battalion of seven companies in defense of the city. Tilley was placed in command of Company C. These precautions were unnecessary; the expected wave did not arrive from Baltimore, as the military put down strikers in the other cities.

After the strike, Tilley was transferred briefly to the flagship USS Powhatan before requesting a six-month leave. He married Emily Edelin Williamson, the daughter of a Navy surgeon, on June 6 1878 and left with her on an extended honeymoon in Europe. On his return to duty, Tilley was transferred to the United States Naval Academy and remained there until 1882 except for a period on board the training ship USS Standish. From 1882 to 1885, Tilley served on board the USS Tennessee. Returning to the Academy in 1885, Tilley was appointed first as the head of the Academy's Department of Astronomy, Navigation, and Surveying, and later as the head of the Department of Mechanical Drawing. During his tenure at the Academy, in 1887, he was promoted to lieutenant commander. In September 1889, he was transferred to the Washington Naval Yard to teach ordnance.

Chilean Civil War

USS San Francisco in the 1890s

In 1890, he was transferred to San Francisco, California to assist in the testing of the USS San Francisco and to become her executive officer. During the Chilean Civil War, the San Francisco transported troops to Santiago, Chile to aid in the protection of the American consulate in that city. After insurgents captured the city, Tilley and a force of 100 men remained at the consulate to defend it. Following the conflict, Tilley was transferred back to the Naval Academy to serve again as her head of Astronomy and Navigation Department. He left the Academy in 1896 when he was given command of the USS Bancroft; he then sailed on an inspection tour of naval yards along the east coast of the United States. That October, he was promoted to commander. The following year, Tilley was given command of the USS Newport to sail to Nicaragua to evaluate progress of the canal commission.

Spanish-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, off the coast of Cuba, 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 successfully captured the Spanish Navy's sloop Paquete and schooner Pireno. In the following months, Tilley participated in the naval blockade of Santiago de Cuba, but was not present for the 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. Over the several months of fighting, Tilley and the Newport assisted in the capture of nine Spanish vessels. At the conclusion of the war, he was transferred briefly to the Newport Naval Yard, before being given the command of the USS Vicksburg in October.

Commandant of U.S. Naval Station Tutuila

The United States first expressed quasi-official 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 signed by the United States Senate. Six years later, on February 13 1878, a separate treaty was ratified by the Senate that both granted the Samoan government diplomatic recognition as well as reaffirming permission to build a naval station in the country. Although there were no further political obstacles, funding for the station was not allocated and only a small coaling station was actually built on the island. Construction of the naval station itself would 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 as well as be the first station ship. After a long trip, Tilley arrived and took on his new post on August 13, 1899.

During his voyage to 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 split Samoa into two partitions. 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 to be controlled by Germany. Under this treaty, the British government relinquished their claims over the region in favor of other 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 of the treaty 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. Less than a month after returning, on February 19 1900, President William McKinley formally 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

Map of American Samoa. Swains Island was not added to the territory until 1925.

Tilley's first task in his new role was to negotiate a Deed of Cession with the local powers to formally and peacefully transfer control to the United States. With the partitioning of Samoa, two regional governments remained on Tutuila which had been historically subordinated to a government on the western (and now German-controlled) island of Upolu. Both of these governments were favorable toward the cession. The inhabitants of the islands of Taʻu, Ofu and Olosega—together known as Manu'a, 70 miles (110 km) to the east, were politically a separate nation from Tutuila and had not been a party to the conflict. On March 12 1900, Tilley traveled to Taʻu to meet with the local king, Tui Manua Elisala. Ultimately, the king agreed to cede some sovereignty to the United States, but refused to consider full cession. Despite this refusal, the Deed of Cession which was signed on April 17 1900 listed Manu'a as part of the United States' new territory, though without a signature. In the Deed, Tilley was named as Acting-Governor, though the title of Governor would not be official in the territory until it was given to Governor Edmund Beardsley Underwood in 1905. Manu'a would not formally sign the Deed until 1904, after negotiating some concessions from the United States.

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 now in force in the territory, but any Samoan laws not in conflict with US laws would remain in effect. He also partitioned the territory into three districts, along the historical divisions which were implicitly acknowledged in the Deed of Cession: the two governments on Tutuila and the third comprising the islands of Manu'a. This was despite that region's leaders not yet considering themselves part of the territory. Over the next year, Tilley also regulated firearms; made registrations of births, deaths, and marriages mandatory; accessed taxes; and made the sabbath a public holiday. For defense and police, Tilley also created a small local militia of Samoans which were trained at the naval station by a Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps.

Even during his first administration, problems with the legal and political systems of the islands began to become apparent due to issues of conflicting Samoan and American laws. In one case a native had caught and eaten a skipjack, and according to Samoan law, the sacred fish can only be eaten with prior permission of a local chief. According to traditional punishment, the offender's house was burned down, his crops uprooted, and he was to be exiled from the territory. Under the American system however, the native challenged this punishment, resulting in the arrest of the chief involved for destruction of his property. In a criminal proceeding on which Tilley sat as a judge, the chief was sentenced to a year of house arrest and ordered to pay compensation for 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 three district governors in the territory were to have equal authority, they were of differing Samoan social status. This disparity made decision-making more difficult and caused social tensions. 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 referred to Tilley by saying "...you gave us a leader, a Governor, a High Chief, whom we have learned to love and respect."

Tilley took leave in June 1901, to return to Washington and then to his family, leaving E. J. Dorn in command. Dorn subsequently had medical issues and was replaced by J. L. Jayne in October. In October 1901, an anonymous complaint was made to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Frank W. Hackett against Commandant Tilley, alleging immorality and drunkenness. Also in October, Tilley was formally promoted to Captain by President Theodore Roosevelt. Tilley arrived back in Samoa on November 7 1901 with his wife who was visiting the territory. Two days later, Tilley was given a court martial on these charges. The trial lasted four days and only one witness was called for the prosecution. Ultimately, Tilley was acquitted of the charge. Despite his acquittal, Captain Uriel Sebree was appointed Commandant on November 27 1901. Tilley and his wife returned to the United States the following month.

Tilley's successor, Captain Sebree, later remarked of his predecessor that he had "great ability, kindness, tact and sound common sense". 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, the United States government had not. (He was officially responsible only for the naval station.) As the first such governor, Tilley laid the groundwork for much of the future governance of the territory which did not even have a formal name until 1911. Although he was not officially Governor, the American Samoa territorial government includes him and the other pre-1905 Acting-Governors in its list of governors.

Later career and death

After being reassigned from Samoa, Tilley was made captain of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California in March 1902. He remained in this post for three years before being assigned to the USS Iowa on January 11 1905. Two years later, Tilly was made commandant of League Island Naval Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 23 1907. He was promoted to Rear Admiral the following day. Less than a month later, on March 18 1907, Tilley died of pneumonia. On December 29 1907, Tilley was one of 322 men and women listed by the Washington Post as "foremost in their various callings" that had died in 1907. 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.

References

  1. ^ "Tilley". Government of American Samoa. 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  2. ^ Hamersly, Lewis Randolph (1898). The Records of Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (PDF) (6th ed. ed.). New York: L. R. Hamersly and co. pp. p. 106. Retrieved 2007-04-13. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help)
  3. "Miscellaneous". The New York Times. 1866-07-21. p. 6.
  4. C., H. C. (1879). "The Naval Brigade and the Marine Battalions in the Labor Strikes of 1877". United Service. 1 (1): p. 115-130. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. "Society Weddings". Washington Post. 1878-06-6. p. 4. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. "Naval Academy Affairs". The Sun. 1885-09-29. p. Supplement 1.; "The Army and Navy". Washington Post. 1889-09-22. p. 12.; "The Army and Navy News". The New York Times. 1889-12-29. p. 16.
  7. "Nineteen Knots and Over". The New York Times. 1890-08-28. p. 1.
  8. "Santiago Capitulates". Chicago Daily Tribune. 1891-08-30. p. 1.
  9. "Notes from Annapolis". The New York Times. 1893-08-27. p. 16.
  10. "News from the Naval Academy". The New York Times. 1896-06-07. p. 21.
  11. "The United Service". The New York Times. 1896-10-21. p. 3.
  12. "The Panama's Valuation". Los Angeles Times. 1898-04-27. p. 3.
  13. Dyal, Donald H. (1996). Historical Dictionary of the Spanish American War. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. p. 238–239. ISBN 0313288526. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  14. "Naval Orders". Washington Post. 1898-10-25. p. 4.
  15. "The United Service". The New York Times. 1898-10-21. p. 4.
  16. Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 58. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  17. Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 64–66. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  18. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 105–108. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  19. Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 157–158. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  20. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 125–128. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help) Cite error: The named reference "Amerika Samoa-125" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  21. Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 132–134. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  22. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 137–139. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  23. "To Be Captain in the Navy". The New York Times. 1901-10-08. p. 6.
  24. ^ Sebree, Uriel (1902-11-27). "Progress in American Samoa". The Independent. 54 (2817): p. 2811–2822. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  25. Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. p. 150–151. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  26. "Assignment for Funston". Washington Post. 1902-03-18. p. 9.
  27. "The United Service". The New York Times. 1905-01-15. p. 5.
  28. "Death of Admiral Tilley". Washington Post. 1907-03-19. p. 3.
  29. "The Silent Reaper's Harvest of the Great". Washington Post. 1907-12-29. p. MS8.
  30. "Mrs. Emily Tilley Dies at Annapolis". Washington Post. 1931-04-22. p. 20.


Preceded byNone Governor of American Samoa
February 17 1900–November 27 1901
Commandant / Acting-Governor 		Succeeded byUriel Sebree
Governors of American Samoa
Commandant (1900–1905)
Naval (1905–1951)
Civil (1951–1978)
Elected (since 1978)


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