# Jonathan Cilley

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{{Short description|American politician (1802–1838)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Jonathan Cilley
|image        = JCilley.jpg
|state        = [Maine](/source/Maine)
|district     = {{ushr|ME|3|3rd}}
|term_start   = March 4, 1837
|term_end     = February 24, 1838
|predecessor  = [Jeremiah Bailey](/source/Jeremiah_Bailey)
|successor    = [Edward Robinson](/source/Edward_Robinson_(Maine))
|office1      = [Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives](/source/List_of_speakers_of_the_Maine_House_of_Representatives)
|term_start1  = 1835
|term_end1    = 1836
|predecessor1 = [Thomas Davee](/source/Thomas_Davee)
|successor1   = [Hannibal Hamlin](/source/Hannibal_Hamlin)
|office2      = Member of the [Maine House of Representatives](/source/Maine_House_of_Representatives)
|term_start2  = 1831
|term_end2    = 1836
|predecessor2 = 
|successor2   = 
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1802|7|2}}
|birth_place  = [Nottingham, New Hampshire](/source/Nottingham%2C_New_Hampshire), U.S.
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1838|2|24|1802|7|2}}
|death_place  = [Bladensburg, Maryland](/source/Bladensburg%2C_Maryland), U.S.
|resting_place = Elm Grove Cemetery<br />[Thomaston, Maine](/source/Thomaston%2C_Maine), U.S.
|party        = [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States))
|spouse       = Deborah Prince
|children     = 5
|education    = [Bowdoin College](/source/Bowdoin_College) ([BA](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts))
|signature    = Signature of Jonathan Cilley (1802–1838).png
}}
'''Jonathan Cilley''' (July 2, 1802 – February 24, 1838) was a member of the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/U.S._House_of_Representatives) from [Maine](/source/Maine).  He served part of one term in the [25th Congress](/source/25th_United_States_Congress), and died as the result of a wound sustained in a duel with another congressman, [William J. Graves](/source/William_J._Graves) of [Kentucky](/source/Kentucky).

Cilley was a native of [Nottingham, New Hampshire](/source/Nottingham%2C_New_Hampshire), and was educated at [Atkinson Academy](/source/Atkinson_Academy) and [Bowdoin College](/source/Bowdoin_College).  He settled in [Thomaston, Maine](/source/Thomaston%2C_Maine), where he studied law and attained admission to the bar in addition to editing the ''Thomaston Register'' newspaper.  A [Democrat](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)), Cilley served in the [Maine House of Representatives](/source/Maine_House_of_Representatives) from 1831 to 1836, and was [Speaker](/source/List_of_speakers_of_the_Maine_House_of_Representatives) in 1835 and 1836.

In 1836, Cilley was elected to the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives).  He served part of one term and died as the result of a gunshot wound caused when he engaged in a [duel](/source/duel) with Representative William J. Graves.  They fired at each other with rifles three times, and on the third shot, Graves hit Cilley's [femoral artery](/source/femoral_artery), causing blood loss, which resulted in Cilley's death.  He was temporarily interred at [Congressional Cemetery](/source/Congressional_Cemetery) and later reinterred at Elm Grove Cemetery in Thomaston.

==Early life==
Jonathan Cilley was born in [Nottingham, New Hampshire](/source/Nottingham%2C_New_Hampshire), and was the son of Jane (Nealley) Cilley and Greenleaf Cilley.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}}  He was the brother of [Joseph Cilley](/source/Joseph_Cilley_(senator)), grandson of Major General [Joseph Cilley](/source/Joseph_Cilley_(state_senator)), and nephew of [Bradbury Cilley](/source/Bradbury_Cilley).{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}}

Cilley attended [Atkinson Academy](/source/Atkinson_Academy) and [Bowdoin College](/source/Bowdoin_College).{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}}  He was a member of Bowdoin's famed class of 1825, which included [Nathaniel Hawthorne](/source/Nathaniel_Hawthorne) and [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](/source/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow).{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}}  While at Bowdoin, Cilley also became close friends with future U.S. President [Franklin Pierce](/source/Franklin_Pierce), a member of the class of 1824.{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=79}} Deciding to stay in Maine after graduating from Bowdoin, Cilley [studied law](/source/reading_law) with [John Ruggles](/source/John_Ruggles), was [admitted to the bar](/source/Admission_to_the_bar_in_the_United_States) in 1828, and practiced in [Thomaston](/source/Thomaston%2C_Maine).{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}}

==Marriage and political career==
In 1829, Jonathan Cilley married Deborah Prince, the daughter of local businessman Hezekiah Prince.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}} Jonathan and Deborah had five children, two of whom died very young. Their surviving children were Greenleaf (b. 1829), Jonathan Prince (b. 1835), and Julia (b. 1837).{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=219}}  Jonathan Prince Cilley became a [brigadier general](/source/brigadier_general) by [brevet](/source/Brevet_(military)) in the [Union Army](/source/Union_Army) during the [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War).{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=219}} Greenleaf was a career officer in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy).{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=220}}  He married Malvina Vernet, the daughter of [Luis Vernet](/source/Luis_Vernet),  a former Argentinian governor of the [Falkland Islands](/source/Falkland_Islands) in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1861 and died in San Isidro, Buenos Aires in 1899.{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=220}} Julia was the wife of Ellis Draper Lazell (1832–1875).{{sfn|''John Lazell of Hingham And Some Of His Descendants''|page=104}}

Cilley edited the ''Thomaston Register'' from 1829 to 1831{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=42}} and represented Thomaston in the [Maine House of Representatives](/source/Maine_House_of_Representatives) from 1831 to 1836,{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}} serving as [Speaker](/source/Speaker_of_the_Maine_House_of_Representatives) in his final two years.{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=108}}  He was then elected to the [United States Congress](/source/United_States_Congress), but did not complete his first term.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=109}}

==Fatal duel==
Cilley died in office after sustaining a fatal wound in a duel with Congressman [William J. Graves](/source/William_J._Graves) of [Kentucky](/source/Kentucky).{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  The climate surrounding the [Twenty-fifth U.S. Congress](/source/25th_United_States_Congress) was one of increasing [political partisanship](/source/partisan_(political)).{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  Majority [Democrats](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) fought with minority [Whigs](/source/Whig_Party_(United_States)) over the response to the [Panic of 1837](/source/Panic_of_1837), which was generally blamed on the policies of Democratic President [Martin Van Buren](/source/Martin_Van_Buren).{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  Underlying this conflict was lingering bitterness over the decision of Van Buren's predecessor, Democrat [Andrew Jackson](/source/Andrew_Jackson), not to re-charter the [Second Bank of the United States](/source/Second_Bank_of_the_United_States).{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  One of the pillars of the Whig press was the ''[New York Courier and Enquirer](/source/New_York_Courier_and_Enquirer)'', a newspaper edited by [James Watson Webb](/source/James_Watson_Webb).{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}

Democrats, including Jonathan Cilley, considered Webb's coverage of Congress to be biased and unfair; Cilley vented some of his party's bitterness in remarks made on the [House floor](/source/National_Statuary_Hall), and suggested that Webb's change from opposing to supporting the re-chartering of the bank came about because Webb received loans from the bank totaling $52,000.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  Webb, who considered himself insulted by Cilley's suggestion of ''[quid pro quo](/source/quid_pro_quo)'' corruption, persuaded a Whig friend, Congressman [William J. Graves](/source/William_J._Graves), to deliver Webb's challenge to a duel.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  Cilley refused to accept the letter, in terms which Graves decided were an insult to ''his'' honor; Graves then challenged Cilley, and Cilley felt honor bound to accept.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  Dueling was prohibited within the boundaries of the [District of Columbia](/source/District_of_Columbia), so the participants and their seconds – [George Wallace Jones](/source/George_Wallace_Jones) for Cilley and [Henry A. Wise](/source/Henry_A._Wise) for Graves – arranged to meet on February 24, 1838, at the [Bladensburg Dueling Grounds](/source/Bladensburg_Dueling_Grounds), just outside the city limits and inside the [Maryland](/source/Maryland) border.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}

As the challenged party, Cilley had the choice of weapons.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  Because of Graves' reputation as an expert pistol shot, Cilley selected rifles, with the distance between the duelists to be 80 yards, a distance far enough apart to negate Graves' supposed shooting skill; in actuality, the marked off distance was 94 yards.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  After their first fire missed, the participants shortened the distance and fired again, but again both shots missed.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  On the third exchange of shots, Graves fatally wounded Cilley by shooting him through the [femoral artery](/source/femoral_artery).{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  Cilley bled to death on the dueling ground within a matter of minutes.{{sfn|''Ancient American Politics''|page=136}}  He was buried at [Congressional Cemetery](/source/Congressional_Cemetery),{{sfn|''Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC''|page=37}} and re-interred at Elm Grove Cemetery in [Thomaston, Maine](/source/Thomaston%2C_Maine).{{sfn|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''|page=1}}

==Legacy==
There is a [cenotaph](/source/cenotaph) to Cilley's memory located at Congressional Cemetery.{{sfn|''Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC''|page=37}}

After Cilley's death, longtime friend [Nathaniel Hawthorne](/source/Nathaniel_Hawthorne) published two biographical sketches of him.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''|page=110}}  His colleagues paid tribute to him by passing a federal law on February 20, 1839, which strengthened the strict prohibition against dueling in Washington, D.C. by making it a crime to issue or accept a challenge within district limits, even if the actual duel was to take place outside the district.{{sfn|''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005''|page=1148}}

==See also==
*[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)](/source/List_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress_who_died_in_office_(1790%E2%80%931899))
*[List of members of the United States Congress killed or wounded in office](/source/List_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress_killed_or_wounded_in_office)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Eve |date=2002 |title=A Breach of Privilege: Cilley Family Letters, 1820–1867 |url=http://www.thomastonhistoricalsociety.com/Publications.html |location=Rockland, ME |publisher=Seven Coin Press |isbn=978-0970097446 |ref={{sfnRef|''A Breach of Privilege: Cilley Family Letters, 1820-1867 ''}}}}
*{{cite book |last=Franscell |first=Ron |date=2012 |title=Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dg5eW51xl7QC&pg=PA37 |location=Guilford, CT |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |isbn=978-0-7627-7385-5 |ref={{sfnRef|''Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC''}}}}
*{{cite book |last=Ginn |first=Roger |date=2016 |title=New England Must Not Be Trampled On: The Tragic Death of Jonathan Cilley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WkE1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Down East Books |isbn=978-1-60893-388-4 |ref={{sfnRef|''New England Must Not Be Trampled On''}}}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hastings |first1=Hugh J. |last2=Hastings |first2=Hugh |date=September 17, 1886 |title=Ancient American Politics |series=Franklin Square library; no. 543 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89073016206;view=2up;seq=142;size=150 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York, NY |ref={{sfnRef|''Ancient American Politics''}}}}
*{{cite book |last=Lazell |first=Theodore Studley |date=1936 |title=John Lazell of Hingham And Some Of His Descendants |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061951927;view=2up;seq=108;size=175 |location=Haverhill, MA |publisher=The Record Publishing Company |ref={{sfnRef|''John Lazell of Hingham And Some Of His Descendants''}}}}
*{{cite book |last=United States Congress |date=2005 |title=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9MBIctdjjkC&pg=PA1148 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-073176-1 |ref={{sfnRef|''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005''}}}} 
*{{cite book |last=White |first=J. T. |date=1900 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=X |url=https://archive.org/stream/nationalcyclopa03unkngoog#page/n124/ |location=New York, NY |publisher=James T. White & Company |ref={{sfnRef|''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography''}}}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last= Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums |editor=Doris A. Isaacson |title=Maine: A Guide 'Down East' |year=1970 |publisher=Courier-Gazette, Inc. |location=Rockland, Me | page = 261 }}
*''Memoirs and Services of Three Generations: General Joseph Cilley, First New Hampshire Line. War of the Revolution; Johnathan Longfellow, Father of sarah, wife of General Joseph Cilley; Colonel Joseph Cilley, U.S. Senator and Officer in the War of 1812; Honorable Johnathan Cilley, Member of Congress from Maine; Commander Greenleaf Cilley, War with Mexico and War of 1861; General Johnathan P. Cilley, First Maine Cavalry, War of the Rebellion'' – reprint from the ''Courier-Gazette'', Rockland Maine, 1909
*''Political Portraits with Pen and Pencil. No. IX. Jonathan Cilley'' by Nathaniel Hawthorne, ''The United States Democratic Review'' (J.& H.G. Langley, etc., New York), Sept. 1838, vol. 3 issue 9, pp.&nbsp;67–69.  Available online at [https://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=AGD1642-0003-12] (accessed March 8, 2008).

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{CongBio|C000395}}
*[https://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/nh/cily.html Nathaniel Hawthorne's memorial to Jonathan Cilley], written in 1838
*{{Find a Grave|7232987}}
*{{Find a Grave|23303799|Jonathan Cilley (cenotaph)}}
*[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/churchwell-ciro.html#911.29.73 Jonathan Cilley] at The Political Graveyard
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116015443/http://cilley.net/thecilleypages/cilley-en-o/p165.htm|title=Honorable Jonathan Longfellow Cilley|date=January 16, 2020}}
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116023854/http://cilley.net/thecilleypages/cilley-en-o/p223.htm|title=His son, Commander Greenleaf Cilley (1829–1899)|date=January 16, 2020}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[Jeremiah Bailey](/source/Jeremiah_Bailey)}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/List_of_United_States_representatives_from_Maine)<br>from [Maine's 3rd congressional district](/source/Maine's_3rd_congressional_district)|years=1837–1838}}
{{s-aft|after=[Edward Robinson](/source/Edward_Robinson_(Maine))}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cilley, Jonathan}}
Category:1802 births
Category:1838 deaths
Category:19th-century American lawyers
Category:19th-century American newspaper editors
Category:American politicians killed in duels
Category:Bowdoin College alumni
Category:Deaths by firearm in Maryland
Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Maine
Category:Maine lawyers
Category:People from Nottingham, New Hampshire
Category:People from Thomaston, Maine
Category:Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives
Category:19th-century United States representatives
Category:19th-century members of the Maine Legislature
Category:19th-century American male journalists
Category:Journalists from Maine

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jonathan Cilley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Cilley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Cilley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.