Benjamin Franklin Tilley
Benjamin Franklin Tilley was a career officer in the United States Navy. He 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 and the territory’s first naval governor. Tilley died of pneumonia shortly afterwards.
About Benjamin Franklin Tilley in brief
Benjamin Franklin Tilley was a career officer in the United States Navy. He 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 and the territory’s first naval governor. Tilley died of pneumonia shortly afterwards. He was born on March 29, 1848, in Bristol, Rhode Island, the sixth of nine children. 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. After the war, he was transferred to San Francisco to help test the newly built USS San Francisco and to become her executive officer. He remained with San Francisco during the 1891 Chilean Civil War. In 1896, he took command of USSBancroft and sailed on an inspection tour of naval yards along the east coast of the U.S. In that October he was given command ofUSSNewport to sail to Nicaragua to evaluate the progress of the isthmus canal. On April 23, 1898, he declared war on Spain in response to American efforts to support Cuban independence in the Caribbean. After 41 years of service he was promoted to rear admiral but died of pneumonia shortly afterwards. His widow, Emily, died on June 7, 1914, in New York City, where she had been living with her husband for more than a decade.
She was buried in the New York suburb of Middletown, New York. He died on July 25, 1918, in Newport, Rhode Islands, where he had lived with his wife and two children since 1878. He had a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Emily Tilden Tilley, who both died in World War II. He also had a step-son, William Tilley Tilley; he died in 1941, in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 83. He left the Navy after the Civil War and went on to serve as a midshipman on board USSFranklin and then USSFrolic. He spent three years serving on board Frolic, eventually being promoted to ensign. From 1872 to 1875, he served on boardUSS Pensacola in the South Pacific. In 1885, he returned to teach at the academy and was appointed head of the Department of Astronomy, Navigation, and Surveying. In 1889, he moved to the Washington Navy Yard to teach ordnance. He then spent two years on USS New Hampshire and then served onUSS Hartford. He and a small contingent of sailors and marines defended the American consulate in Santiago, Chile during the1891 Chilean civil war. His gunship USS newport successfully captured two Spanish Navy ships during the war. He returned to the naval academy and served until 1882, either in a classroom or on a training ship.
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