Benjamin Franklin Tilley (March 29, 1848March 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.
Tilley entered the United States Naval Academy during the height of the Civil War, graduating after the conflict. He gradually rose through the ranks and participated as a lieutenant in the United States military crackdown against strikers in the wake of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. He and a small contingent of sailors and marines defended the American consulate in Santiago, Chile during the 1891 Chilean Civil War. He was a commander during the Spanish–American War, and his gunship successfully captured two Spanish Navy ships. After the war, he was made the first acting-Governor of Tutuila and Manua (later called American Samoa) and set legal and administrative precedents for the new territory. After 41 years of service, he was promoted to rear admiral but died of pneumonia shortly afterwards.
Early life and naval career
Benjamin Franklin Tilley was born on March 29, 1848, in Bristol, Rhode Island, the sixth of nine children. 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. 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, going on to serve as a midshipman first on board and then . He spent three years serving on board Frolic, eventually being promoted to ensign. His next assignment was on board , where he was promoted to master in 1870 and then to lieutenant in 1871. From 1872 to 1875, he served on board in the South Pacific. After Pensacola, he served briefly on board and then spent two years serving on .
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 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.
After the strike, Tilley was transferred to the flagship 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. 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 . 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.
Chilean Civil War
In 1890, Tilley was transferred to San Francisco to help test the newly built and to become her executive officer. San Francisco transported troops to the port of Valparaíso during the 1891 Chilean Civil War, from which they could move on to protect the American consulate in the capital of Santiago. Insurgents captured the city, and Tilley remained to defend the consulate with a force of 100 men. After the war, he returned to the naval academy as head of the astronomy and navigation department. In 1896, he took command of and sailed on an inspection tour of naval yards along the east coast of the United States. He was promoted to commander that October. In 1897, he was given command of to sail to Nicaragua to evaluate the progress of the isthmus canal commission.