Honorable Jonathan Longfellow Cilley1

#165, b. 2 July 1802, d. 24 February 1838
Honorable Jonathan Longfellow Cilley|b. 2 Jul 1802\nd. 24 Feb 1838|p165.htm|Major Greenleaf Cilley|b. 1 Mar 1767\nd. 25 Feb 1808|p140.htm|Jennie Nealley|b. 22 Sep 1772\nd. 26 Mar 1866|p159.htm|General Joseph Cilley|b. 1734\nd. 25 Aug 1799|p133.htm|Sarah Longfellow|b. 17 Nov 1739\nd. 23 May 1811|p135.htm|Joseph Nealley|b. 1750\nd. 1783|p1866.htm|Susanna Bowdoin||p1867.htm|
Honorable Jonathan Cilley
     Honorable Jonathan Longfellow Cilley was born on 2 July 1802 at Nottingham, Rockingham, New Hampshire.1 He was the son of Major Greenleaf Cilley and Jennie Nealley.1 He married Deborah Prince, daughter of Honorable Hezekiah Prince and Isabella Coombs, on 4 April 1829.1 He died on 24 February 1838 at Bladensburg, Maryland, at age 35.2,1 He was buried at Elm Grove Cemetery, Thomaston, Knox, Maine.2,3
     Honorable Jonathan Longfellow Cilley resided at Thomaston, Knox, Maine.
     Prepared for College at Atkinson Academy, N.H. Entered Bowdoin College in 1821, and graduated in the celebrated class of 1825. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne were in the same class.) Moved to Thomaston, Me., and commenced the practice of law; m. Deborah, b. 6 July 1808, d. 14 August 1844, dau. of Hon. Hezekiah and Isabella (Coombs) Prince. He was editor of the Thomaston REGISTER, 1829-31, and was elected to the state legislature in 1831, serving in the same year as presidential elector. Was elected member of the Legislature in 1831-33-34-35. In 1835-6 was elected Speaker of the House, and in 1836 was elected Representative of the 25th Congress. Was killed in a duel with the Hon. W. J. Graves, M.C. of Kentucky, Feb. 24, 1838, near Washington, D.C.1

Henry A. Wise's Account of the Duel published in 1838.4
Biographical Sketch of Jonathan Cilley by Nathaniel Hawthorne published in 1838.4
Excerpt from Memoirs and Services of Three Generations published in 1909.4
Pistols at Ten Paces published in 1940.
Further reading about Jonathan
"Jonathan Cilley" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Blandensburg Dueling Grounds
.
Additional references to Jonathan
"Personal Recollections of Nathaniel Hawthorne" by Horatio Bridge
"Life of Franklin Pierce" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Cemeteries of Knox County, Maine
The Thomaston Historical Society of Maine and New England
.

Children of Honorable Jonathan Longfellow Cilley and Deborah Prince

Citations

  1. J. P. Cilley. The Cilley Family. Augusta, ME: n.pub., 1878.
  2. Richard Cilley. History and Genealogy of the Cilley Family, 1563-1978. Lake Geneva, WI: Richard Cilley, 1978.
  3. Elm Grove Cemetery, Thomaston, Knox, Maine. Gravestone.
  4. Unknown author. Memoirs and Services of Three Generations. N.p.: Privately printed, 1909.