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Benjamin Franklin Tilley

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Benjamin Franklin Tilley (1848–March 18, 1907) was a career officer in the United States Navy serving from the end of the American Civil War through the Spanish-American War. At the conclusion of his 41 years of service, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. He is often known by his initials, B. F. Tilley.

Benjamin Franklin Tilley
Benjamin Franklin Tilley
Benjamin Franklin Tilley
AllegianceUnited States of America
BranchUnited States Navy
Years of service1863-1907
RankRear Admiral
CommandsUSS Bancroft
USS Newport
USS Abarenda
USS Iowa
Other workActing-Governor (Commandant) of Tutuila

At the height of the Civil War, Tilley entered the United States Naval Academy when he was only 15. Graduating after the end of the war, he gradually rose through the ranks. In 1877 as a lieutenant, he participated on the United States military 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 the insurgents. As a commander during the Spanish-American War, Tilley and his ship, the USS Newport, successfully captured two Spanish Navy ships. After the war, Tilley was made the first acting-Governor of Tituila and Manua (later called American Samoa) and set many of the legal and administrative precedents of that new territory.

As a young man, Tilley entered the United States Naval Academy during the American Civil War and was made a midshipman (officer cadet) in 1863, while he was only 15. During the conflict, the school had been moved from Annapolis, Maryland (then held by the Confederacy) to Newport, Rhode Island.[1] He graduated first in his class in 1866, shortly after the war was over.[2] By 1875, he had been promoted to Lieutenant.[3] During the Great railroad strike of 1877, Tilley was serving as a lieutenant onboard the USS Plymouth when his ship was dispatched to Alexandria, Virginia and elsewhere to quell the unrest there.[4] By 1882, he was serving at the United States Naval Academy, serving there on and off for the next three years.[5] In 1885, he was made the head of the Department of Astronomy, Navigation, and Surveying.[6] He was promoted to lieutenant commander by July 1888.[7] By 1889, he had been moved to be head of the Department of Mechanical Drawing, leaving that post in September to teach at the Washington, DC Naval Yard.[8]

 
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.[9] During the Chilean Civil War, the San Francisco transported troops to Santiago, Chile to aid in the protection of the consulate there. After the capture of the city by the insurgents, Tilley and a force of 100 men remained stationed at the consulate to defend it.[10] He was transferred back to the Naval Academy to serve again as her head of Astronomy and Navigation Department in 1893.[11] While serving at the Academy, he was put in charge of the USS Bancroft in 1896 and sailed on an inspection tour of naval yards along the east coast of the United States.[12] That October, he was promoted to commander.[13]

The following year, Tilley was given command of the USS Newport to sail to Nicaragua to evaluate progress of the canal commission. He remained on the Newport through the Spanish-American War. In August of 1898, he successfully captured the Spanish Navy's SPS Paquete and SPS Pireno.[14] After the conclusion of the war, he was transferred to the Newport Naval Yard.[15]

Commandant of Tutuila Naval Station

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. However, this treaty neither was ratified by the United States Senate nor did the local government of Tutuila have authority to negotiate it.[16] American involvement in the island would continue off and on until February 13 1878 when the Senate ratified a treaty with a Samoan delegation to Washington that gave the country diplomatic recognition and gave the United States Navy permission to build a Naval Station there. On August 5 1878, the United States flag was raised over an island in Pago Pago harbor for the first time.[17] The United States first built a coal depot outside of Fagatogo, but construction of the naval station would not begin until 1898. Early the following year, Captain Tilley of the USS Abarenda was dispatched from Norfolk, Virginia with a load of steel and coal to Pago Pago to oversee the construction. He arrived and took his new post on August 13 1899.[18]

Following the Second Samoan Civil War, there was a complicated political situation in the region between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany with each having interests. On June 10 1899, the Treaty of Berlin was signed which partitioned Samoa, giving the western part, especially Tutuila, to the United States, while the Germans took over the eastern part. (The British relinquished 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. Although the United States had taken control over the islands, it was not clear how this control would be asserted. Tilley notified the local chiefs of the treaty but construction remained the most pressing issue and he was forced to leave the island for two months to pick up supplies and coal at Auckland, New Zealand.[18] Captain Tilley returned from New Zealand in February 1900. On February 19 1900, President William McKinley formally placed the islands under the direct control of the United States Navy. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles H. Allen named Tilley commandant of Naval Station, Tutuila with a charter to "cultivate friendly relations with the natives".[18]

Acting-Governor of Tutuila

 
Map of American Samoa

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. On Tutuila in 1900, there were two minor government, historically subordinated to Upolu, then recently part of German Samoa. Both of these governments were favorable to the cession. The inhabitants of Manu'a, 70 miles 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 Tau to meet with the local king, Tui Manua Elisala. Ultimately, the king agreed to some sovereignty of the United States, but refused to consider cession. Despite this setback, the Deed of Cession was signed on April 17 1900, listing Manu'a as a territory despite the lack of a signatory. 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.[19] (Manu'a would not formally sign until 1904, under some duress.)

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 that any Samoan law not in conflict with the US laws would remain in effect. He also partitioned the territory into three districts, along the lines of the three territories implicitly acknowledged in the Deed of Cession, despite that Manu'a did not yet consider themselves part of the territory. In addition, he regulated firearms, made mandatory registration of births, deaths, and marriages, assessed 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.[20]

During his administration, problems with the legal and political systems of the islands began to become apparent. There were issues of conflicting Samoan and American laws. In one case, a native had caught a skipjack, under Samoan law a sacred fish which can only be eaten with prior permission of a local chief. By traditional punishment, his 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 "house arrest" and ordered to pay compensation for destroyed property. There were also issues overlaying United States political structures on Samoan ones. For example, although the three district governors in the territory were to have equal authority, they were of differing Samoan social status. This made decision-making more difficult and caused social tensions.[21] Despite some small 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."[22]

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.[23] Also in October, Tilley was formally promoted to Captain by President Theodore Roosevelt.[24] On November 9 1901, two days after returning from leave and with his wife visiting from the United States, 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.[25] Tilley and his wife returned to the United States in December.[23]

His successor, Capt Sebree, said he had "great ability, kindness, tact and sound common sense".[25] 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 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.)[26] As the first such governor, Tilley laid the groundwork for much of the future governance of the territory. (The territory itself would not even have a formal name until 1911 when it was officially made "American Samoa".) Although he was not officially Governor, the American Samoa territorial government includes him in its list of governors.[27]

League Island Naval Yard

After leaving Samoa, Tilley was made captain of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California in March 1902.[28] He remained in this post for three years before being assigned to the USS Iowa on January 11 1905.[29] 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.[30] 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. [31]

Preceded by
None
 Governor of American Samoa
1900-1901
Commandant / Acting-Governor 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ "The Nabal Academy". New York Times. 1866-10-06. p. 8.
  2. ^ "Miscellaneous". New York Times. 1866-07-21. p. 6.
  3. ^ "Naval Affairs". New York Times. 1875-11-16. p. 1.
  4. ^ C., H. C. (1879). "The Naval Brigade and the Marine Battalions in the Labor Strikes of 1877". United Service. 1 (1): 115–130. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "A Cloud at Annapolis". New York Times. 1882-06-22. p. 1.; "Affairs at Annapolis". The Sun. 1885-09-03. p. 4.
  6. ^ "Naval Academy Affairs". The Sun. 1885-09-29. p. Supplement 1.
  7. ^ "Trying the Hazing Cadents". Washington Post. 1888-07-14. p. 4.
  8. ^ "The Army and Navy". Washington Post. 1889-09-22. p. 12.; "The Army and NavyArmy and Navy News". New York Times. 1889-12-29. p. 16.
  9. ^ "Nineteen Knots and Over". New York Times. 1890-08-28. p. 1.
  10. ^ "Santiago Capitulates". Chicago Daily Tribune. 1891-08-30. p. 1.
  11. ^ "Notes from Annapolis". New York Times. 1893-08-27. p. 16.
  12. ^ "News from the Naval Academy". New York Times. 1896-06-07. p. 21.
  13. ^ "The United Service". New York Times. 1896-10-21. p. 3.
  14. ^ "The Panama's Valuation". Los Angeles Times. 1898-04-27. p. 3.
  15. ^ "Naval Orders". Washington Post. 1898-10-25. 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. p. 58.
  17. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 64–66.
  18. ^ a b c Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 105–108.
  19. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. p. 158.
  20. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 125–128.
  21. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 132–134.
  22. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. p. 127.
  23. ^ a b Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 137–139.
  24. ^ "To Be Captain in the Navy". New York Times. 10-08-1901. p. 6. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  25. ^ a b Sebree, Uriel (1902-11-27). "Progress in American Samoa". The Independent. 54 (2817): 2811–2822.
  26. ^ Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 150–151.
  27. ^ "Assignment for Funston". Washington Post. 1902-03-18. p. 9.
  28. ^ "The United Service". New York Times. 1905-01-15. p. 5.
  29. ^ "Death of Admiral Tilley". Washington Post. 1907-03-19. p. 3.
  30. ^ "The Silent Reaper's Harvest of the Great". Washington Post. 1907-12-29. p. MS8.
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