Jonathan Cilley

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Jonathan Cilley
Jonathan Cilley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1837 – February 24, 1838
Preceded by Jeremiah Bailey
Succeeded by Edward Robinson
Born July 2, 1802
Nottingham, New Hampshire, USA
Died February 24, 1838
Washington, D.C., USA
Political party Democratic
Spouse Deborah Prince Cilley
Profession Politician, Lawyer, Editor

Jonathan Cilley (July 2, 1802 – February 24, 1838) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine. He served part of one term in the 25th Congress. He died in office after being killed in a duel by Congressman William J. Graves, a colleague from Kentucky. He was challenged to the duel because he claimed a Virginian was responsible for a newspaper article that charged another Congressman with immorality.

Jonathan Cilley was a member of one of the leading families of northern New England. A grandson of Major General Joseph Cilley and nephew of Bradbury Cilley, he was born in Nottingham, New Hampshire, and attended Bowdoin College, where he became close friends with future novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and future President Franklin Pierce. Cilley graduated from Bowdoin in 1825. Deciding to stay in Maine, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1828, practicing in Thomaston, Maine. He edited the Thomaston Register from 1829-1831 and represented Thomaston in the Maine Legislature in 1831-1836, serving as speaker of the state House in his final two years of service there. He was then elected to the United States Congress, but did not complete his first term.

[edit] Legacy

In 1838 after Cilley's death, his longtime friend Nathaniel Hawthorne published two biographical sketches of the late congressman. Jonathan Cilley's brother Joseph Cilley served as a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire in 1846-1847. Jonathan Cilley's successor as speaker of the Maine House in 1837 was Hannibal Hamlin, later Vice President of the United States. Cilley's son, Jonathan Prince Cilley, became a Brevetted Brigadier General in the Union Army during the Civil War.

[edit] References

  • Jonathan Cilley at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  • Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums (1970). in Doris A. Isaacson: Maine: A Guide 'Down East'. Rockland, Me: Courier-Gazette, Inc., 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 form 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
  • Biographical Sketch of Jonathan Cilley by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The United States Democratic review (J.& H.G. Langley, etc., New York), Sept. 1838, vol. 3 issue 9, pp. 69-77 Available online at [1] (accessed March 8, 2008).
  • 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. 67-69. Available online at [2] (accessed March 8, 2008).

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jeremiah Bailey		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 3rd congressional district
March 4, 1837 – February 24, 1838		 Succeeded by
Edward Robinson