General Harry Bouton Cilley was born on 13 May 1862 at Manchester, Hillsborough, New Hampshire.² He was the son of Major Jacob Green Cilley and Martha Cilley Bouton.² He died on 25 August 1931 at Manchester at age 69.³ He was buried on 27 August 1931 at Valley Cemetery, Manchester, Hillsborough, New Hampshire.⁴
     General Harry Bouton Cilley was also known as Harry Cilley.² General Harry Bouton Cilley was also known as Harry B. Cilley.
     At the age of eight years he went abroad with his mother and had the advantages of the best schools in Germany and Switzerland. Upon his return he attended the public schools of Manchester, had four years at the Law School at Harvard University. As might be expected from his ancestry, General Cilley has inherted strong military tastes. His connection with the New Hampshire National Guard began in May 1882, when he was warrented commissary-sergeant in the Third Regiment. May 24, 1884, he was promoted to first lieutenant and regimental quartermaster, and May 10, 1889, to be major and inspector of rifle practice in the First Brigade, which position he held till February 6, 1891, when he removed to Washington D. C. where he was for a time private secretary to General J. N. Patterson, second auditor of the treasury. November 2, 1891, General Cilley was commissioned first lieutenant and adjutant of the Sixth Battalion of the District of Columbia National Guard, and in December of that year was promoted to the position of captain and adjutant of the Second Regiment. January 27, 1894, General Cilley returned to Manchester, where he has since made his home. On February 27 of that year he was appointed major and assistant inspector-general of the First Brigade, New Hampshire National Guards; and on May 10, 1894, he was commissioned assistant adjutant-general with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the brigade, which position he held for five years. On January 3, 1907, he was appointed to the important office of adjutant-general with the rank of major-general of New Hampshire by Governor Charles M. Floyd. He was also made disbursing officer for the organized militia of New Hampshire, with a bond to the war department.
     General Cilley is one of the most genial and popular men in the state, and his social interests are extensive. He is president of the Tippecanoe Club in Manchester, is a member and for four years was a director in the Derryfield Club, and is a member of the Intervale Country Club, also in his native city. He is an honorary member of the Thornton Naval Veterans' Association of Manchester, and also of the New Hampshire Veterans' Association. He belongs to the Society of Foreign Wars, Pennsylvania Commandery, to the Sons of the American Revolution (New Hampshire Society), to the Society of Colonial Wars and to the New Hampshire Historical Society. He is president of the New Hampshire Philharmonic Society, which has given some notable musical festivals in Manchester. General Cilley is a Republican in politics, and was representative from ward three in Manchester, 1897-98, serving on the committee on the National Guard and on that on Fisheries and Game. He is a communicant of Grace (Episcopal) Church in Manchester, of which he has been vestryman and warden. For nine years previous to his appointment as adjutant-general he served as telegraph editor on the staff of the Manchester Mirror, and he acted as state liquor agent from 1904 to 1907. He is the owner of Cilley Block in his native city. General Cilley is devoted to out-door life and is an ardent sportsman. He has a camp on Moose river, west of Moosehead Lake, Maine, where he goes hunting every fall, and has brought down moose and other big game. While fond of fishing, golf and various athletic sports, his passion is rifle shooting, in which he has been an expert since the age of fifteen. He is a director in the New England Military Rifle Association, and a life member of the Bay State Rifle Association. He has presented two Cilley Trophies to the National Guardof New Hampshire. The first was a bronze statute of a soldier, offered in 1886, which is now the property of Company K of Laconia, who won it by their excellence in shooting for three successive years. The second, offered in 1906, is a valuable silver shield, designed by the Gorham Company, and mounted on a mahogany back, twelve by twenty inches in dimensions. This is awarded each year to the company making the best record in rifle shooting, and is given to the Manchester Battalion.¹
     Obituary published 26 August 1931 by The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire.³