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William John Maxwell

Field	Value
name	William John Maxwell
image	File:William John Maxwell circa 1915.jpg
order	18th
office	Naval Governor of Guam
term_start	March 28, 1914
term_end	April 29, 1916
predecessor	Alfred Walton Hinds
successor	William P. Cronan
nationality	United States
alma_mater	United States Naval Academy
allegiance	United States
branch	[File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg [United States Navy
rank	[[File:US-O6 insignia.svg	20px]] Captain
commands

|honorific-prefix = |honorific-suffix =

William John Maxwell was a United States Navy officer who served as the 18th Naval Governor of Guam. He entered the United States Naval Academy in 1874, but was not commissioned as an ensign until 1883. He served aboard many ships before becoming one of the inaugural members of the General Board of the United States Navy. Afterward, he commanded both and .

After becoming governor in 1914, Maxwell instituted a number of reforms, including establishing the Bank of Guam and the Guam Insular Patrol Force. He also reorganized the tax system and stressed the building and improvement of new roads. His plans to give Guamanians United States citizenship was rejected by then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Guam became the center an international relations incident when the German made port there asking for coal at a time when the United States remained neutral in World War I. Maxwell refused to break neutrality by providing fuel and supplies, forcing the ship to stay in port for the next two years. Maxwell attracted controversy during his term, particularly when he approved the first execution on the island since the US takeover. Eventually, a lower-ranking officer, William P. Cronan, placed Maxwell on the sick list, despite his protest, and removed him from power, taking the office himself. The Navy launched an inquiry into the appropriateness and motives of the dismissal, but nonetheless, Maxwell, declared perfectly healthy by mainland doctors, was reassigned to the Naval War College.

Naval career

Maxwell was appointed to the United States Naval Academy on June 8, 1874. On March 3, 1883, he was commissioned as an ensign junior grade, and an ensign on June 26, 1884. He served aboard the training ship from 1883 to 1885. On July 4, 1893, he was promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade). From July 1890 to March 1891, he served aboard the , before becoming the Assistant to the Inspector of the 5th Lighthouse District in July 1892.

In 1900, Maxwell began his assignment aboard . In 1905, as a Lieutenant Commander, he served as Chief Engineer on 's commissioning crew. In 1910 as a Commander, he served as one of the first members of the General Board of the United States Navy. On November 12, 1911, he left Hampton Roads, Virginia commanding , after being placed in command two days before. He continued in this position until 1912. In 1913, he commanded .

Governorship

Maxwell served as Naval Governor of Guam from March 28, 1914 to April 29, 1916. During his term, a typhoon hit in the summer of 1914, leaving a shortage of rice and corn crops. As governor, he established a number of government organizations, some still in existence. These organizations include the Guam Insular Patrol Force, the civilian predecessor to the Guam Police Department, as well as the Bank of Guam. He reorganized the taxation system by raising property assessments and stressed road building. He also served as the first chairman of the Guamanian chapter of the American Red Cross and organized its first fundraising drive. In 1914, Maxwell proposed granting United States citizenship to the people of Guam. However, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, rejected the plan, claiming that making Guamanians citizens was not in the best interest of the country. He also asked that Guam be made an open port of trade to all ships, believing this would reduce the local's dependence on government assistance for food.

In December 1914, Maxwell found himself at the center of a diplomatic incident when the German Empire ship stopped in Guam to resupply on coal. Maxwell, under orders to maintain American neutrality in the recently begun World War I, refused the ship supplies, instead forcing it to voluntarily inter itself at the island for the next two years.

Near the end of his term, Maxwell began coming into conflict with the islanders. He attracted some controversy when he outlawed public whistling, hoping to curtail mischievous local boys from whistling an incorrect cadence as sailors marched. It was alleged that Cronan, then aide to the governor, disagreed with several of Maxwell's policies and used improper and unprofessional methods to oust him and take the position for himself.

Legacy

The Maxwell School, named after the governor, was built in Santa Rita, Guam in the early 1930s, but does not exist today.

References

Hamersly, Lewis Randolph. (1894). "The Records of the Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps". [[United States Government Printing Office]].
(1902). "Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserves on Active Duty". [[Bureau of Naval Personnel]].
(April 18, 1905). "Cruiser Maryland". Evening Star.
(1910). "Hazell's Annual". Hazell, Watson, and Viney.
(1915). "The Ships of the United States Navy". [[United States Naval Institute]].
(1913). "Officers of the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States". [[Bureau of Naval Personnel]].
(10 August 2010). "Naval Era Governors of Guam". [[University of Guam]].
Associated Press. (10 July 1914). "Typhoon Hits Guam Harbor". Providence Evening News.
Cox, Leonard Martin. (1917). "The Island of Guam". [[United States Government Printing Office]].
Cunningham, Lawrence. (2001). "A History of Guam". [[Bess Press]].
(20 October 2009). "American Red Cross, Guam Chapter". [[University of Guam]].
Rogers, Robert. (1995). "Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam". [[University of Hawaii Press]].
(16 December 1914). "German Vessel Interned at Guam". [[Telegraph Herald]].
(27 August 1916). "To Probe Illness of Naval Officer". [[St. Joseph Gazette]].
(25 August 1916). "Investigate Row of Officers in Far Off Guam". [[Record-Journal.
Babauta, Leo. (2 August 2010). "Sumay". [[University of Guam]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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