NOVEMBER:

  November 1:

On November 1, 1837, the London Missionary Society established its first mission on Ta'u, Manu'a. (Theroux 1985)

On November 1, 1925, American Samoa's Governor, Captain Henry Francis Bryan, USN (Ret.) issued his regulation regarding "Auditing Island Government Accounts." (Noble 1931: 13)

On November 1, 1974, Peace Corps Group 15, composed of 77 volunteers (the largest Peace Corps group ever assigned to Western Samoa) arrived at Pago Pago International Airport on a Pan American Airways Boeing 707 at 4:20 a.m., en route to Faleolo Airport, Western Samoa. (Sorensen PR)

November 2:

On November 2, 1909, the first case of hookworm in American Samoa was discovered by Navy surgeon P.S. Rossiter (who later became Surgeon General of the Navy). Subsequent investigations revealed that 85 per cent of the Samoan population (including every member of the 72-man Fita Fita Guard) was infested with these parasites. (Bryan 1927: 70)

November 3:

On November 3, 1893, Henry Clay Ide replaced Otto Conrad Waldemar Cedercrantz as Chief Justice of Samoa. (Bryan 1927: 37)

On November 3, 1897, William Churchill III, after being sacked as U.S. Consul in Apia, left with his wife LLewella on board SS Mariposa for Honolulu. (Theroux 1995: 107)

On November 3, 1918, some cases of Spanish influenza were reported aboard SS Sonoma, which had docked in Pago Pago Harbor, but the ship was quarantined and the cargo fumigated, and no flu deaths occurred in American Samoa. (Theroux 1985)

On November 3, 1920, American Samoa's 12th naval governor, Commander Warren Jay Terhune, committed suicide with a pistol in the bathroom of Government House, overlooking the entrance to Pago Pago Harbor. His body was discovered by Government House's cook, SDI First Class Felisiano Debid Ah-Chica, USN. (His ghost is rumored to walk about the grounds at night). (Gray 1960: 198; Teaney 1997: 7; USNHC: Terhune RO)

November 4:

On November 4, 1910, the first recorded sighting of a rhinoceros beetle occurred on this date, near the Courthouse in Apia.  The beetles were thought to have arrived in a shipment of rubber stumps from Ceylon. (Theroux 1985)

On November 4, 1913, a house adjoining the Samoan Hospital was purchased from Edwin William Gurr for $6,800 by American Samoa's Island Government for use as a Nurses' Training School.  It contained "seven good-sized rooms and a kitchen."  Later, "a toilet, bath, electric lights, running water and screens" were added. (Bryan 1927: 75)

On November 4, 1954, Frau Johanna Solf, widow of German Samoa's first Imperial Governor, Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Solf, died in Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany, aged 66. (In 1944, she and her daughter, So'oa'emalelagi, were tried by a Nazi court, presided over by Dr. Roland Freisler, for helping Jews escape to England. They were incarcerated at Berlin's Moabit Prison, and later at Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen concentration camps). (Theroux 1983c: 58)

 November 5:

On November 5, 1884, "King" Malietoa Laupepa, "Vice King" Tui A'ana Tupua Tamasese Titimaea and 48 chiefs, fearing German intimidation, signed a petition asking Queen Victoria to make Samoa a British colony, or to somehow connect it with New Zealand. (Bryan 1927: 29)

On November 5, 1900, Commander Benjamin Franklin Tilley, Commandant, U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, enacted his "Regulation No. 18-1900: Sunday," which directed that "Chiefs and magistrates shall, as far as is in their power, cause the Lord's Day to be duly observed." This regulation went on to say that, although it was unlawful for places of business to be open on Sunday, "...nothing herein contained shall apply to works of necessity or charity, the sale of medicines, the sale or delivery of milk, to hairdressers or barbers before 9 o'clock in the forenoon, or to persons employed on steamers, vessels or boats, or to any livery-stable keeper, or to any person letting boats for hire, or to any government employee while performing necessary duties." It was also "lawful on Sunday to cook food, to work in an emergency, to save life and property, to bathe, to take exercise, to visit relatives." (Noble 1931: 79-80)

On November 5, 1920, a Naval Court of Inquiry, presided over by Captain Waldo Evans, arrived on board the battleship USS Kansas to investigate the American Samoan Mau and the Naval Administration's dealings with it.  They discovered that the Governor, Commander Warren Jay Terhune, had committed suicide on November 3. Captain Evans was appointed Governor six days later. (Bryan 1927: 58; Gray 1960: 198-199)

On November 5, 1941, the minesweeper USS Kingfisher (AM-25) was designated as the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila's station ship. She was commanded by Lieutenant Commander C.B. Schiano. (Denfeld 1989: 29)

November 6:

On November 6, 1914, New Zealand's Administrator of Western Samoa, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Logan, ordered that the mail to and from Germany come to a complete halt. "The last consignment of mail that reached Samoa was burnt in sight of the Germans." (Hiery 1995: 42)

November 7:

On November 7, 1918, The Union Steamship Company's SS Talune, with many Spanish Influenza-infested passengers aboard, arrived in Apia Harbor from Auckland, New Zealand at 9:35 a.m. Talune's captain told the medical officer, Doctor Atkinson, that nothing was serious, but that "'One old reverend told me he had been sick back in Auckland, but he seems fine now. Two Samoan kids, Tau and Faleolo, had headaches yesterday but are up and around again today.'" The doctor "questioned the pastor and two boys as they went by, but no one complained of being ill. Two hours later the yellow flag was lowered. The Talune had a clean bill of health." The flu devastated Western Samoa, killing at least 7,542 people.  No one died in quarantined American Samoa, which, thanks to the Naval Adminstration's precautions, was one of the few places in the world which was not affected by the flu pandemic. (Ala'ilima 1988: 145; Eustis 1979: 62; Field 1984: 35-41)

On November 7, 1940, expansion of the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila was authorized by the Director of the War Plans Division in Washington, D.C. (Burke 1945b: 25)

On November 7, 1943, "the men of the First Samoan Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve were disposed as follows:

124 men from Hq Co and Co B at Aua
130 men from Co A at Alega
34 men from Co A at Tula
66 men from Co B at Fagasa
141 men from Co C at Leloaloa
10 men from Co C at Pavaiai
7 men from Co C at Taputapu
44 men from Co B at Afono."
(Anonymous 1945: 12)

November 8:

On November 8, 1880, Malietoa Talavou died, thus leaving the newly constituted government "without the central figure about which it had been organized," and plunged "the islands once more into a state of confusion and rivalry." (Gray 1960: 68; Kennedy 1974: 25)

On November 8, 1933, the New Zealand Cabinet gave Western Samoa's Administrator, Brigadier General Herbert Ernest Hart, approval to act against Mau leader Olaf Frederick Nelson under the provisions of the Seditious Organizations Ordinance. (Field 1984: 208)

On November 8, 1961, Rear Admiral E.J. Peltier, USN, Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, informed American Samoa's Governor, Hapwell Rex Lee, that he had prepared the necessary documentation to transfer all Navy property in American Samoa to the Government of American Samoa, in accordance with Public Law 87-157, enacted on August 17, 1961 (q.v.). Thus, ten years and four months after the Navy left American Samoa, its property was formally transferred to the American Samoa Government. (Letter, Peltier-Lee: 11/08/1961)

November 9:

On November 9, 1901, in Pago Pago Harbor, Governor Benjamin Franklin Tilley's court martial (for being "in a state of intoxication," for "[lying] down amongst a number of native Samoans, both male and female," and for "[comporting] himself in a familiar and undignified manner with said natives" aboard USS Abarenda, en route from Apia to Pago Pago on May 15, 1901) began at 1:15 p.m., aboard USS Solace, with the battleship USS Wisconsin, flagship of Rear Admiral Silas Casey, lying at anchor nearby. Rear Admiral Robley D. ("Fighting Bob") Evans presided. The other members of the court were Captains Henry Glass, P.H. Cooper, P.F. Harrington, C.M. Thomas, George C. Reiter, and J.F. Merry, all of the U.S. Navy. The judge advocate was Captain J.T. Myers and the  provost marshal was Captain H.C. Davis, both U.S. Marine Corps officers. Navy Surgeon William R. DuBose acted as Tilley's counsel. The Naval Station's surgeon, Dr. Edward Morris Blackwell, was the first witness to testify against Tilley. He was unable to prove that Tilley was intoxicated; only that he was walking "unsteadily" on Abarenda's deck. (Anonymous 1901: 1-2; Gray 1960: 139)

November 10:

On November 10, 1839, the ships of the Wilkes Expedition assembled in Apia Harbor, weighed anchor, and left Samoa, en route to Sydney, Australia. (Wilkes 1845 [1970], II: 157)

On November 10, 1897, William Churchill, recently sacked as U.S. Consul in Apia, arrived in Honolulu with his wife LLewella aboard SS Mariposa. "They spent nearly a month there, calling on Yale classmates and Samoan residents and visiting the Big Island to see the volcano." (Theroux 1995: 107-108)

On November 10, 1910, Commander William Michael Crose relieved Captain John F. Parker, and took office as the seventh naval governor of American Samoa (until March 14, 1913). (ASG: Governors' List)

On November 10, 1913, the Governor of American Samoa, Commander Clark Daniel Stearns, issued his "Regulation No. 4-1913," which amended Commander William Michael Crose's "Regulation No. 3-1910," which in turn amended Commander Benjamin Franklin Tilley's "Regulation No. 11-1900: Licenses, Etc., for Firearms." (Noble 1931: 40-43)

On November 10, 1955, the MV Joyita, which had left Apia on October 3, 1955 with 25 people aboard, en route to Tokelau, was sighted, listing and half sunken, by the inter-island vessel MV Tuvalu, ninety miles north of Fiji with no one aboard, and most of her cargo missing. (One of the Pacific's most famous unsolved mysteries). (Day 1969 [1986]: 200-203; Eustis 1979: 132-140)

November 11:

November 11, 1876, in a letter to Fiji's  Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, Reverend George Turner of the London Missionary Society said that the Samoans were "very much afraid" of the Germans.  (Morrell 1960: 219)

On November 11, 1907, American Samoa's Governor, Commander Charles Brainard Taylor Moore, issued his "Regulation No. 11-1907: Ineligibility for Title or Office Because of Nonresidence." (Noble 1931: 65)

On November 11, 1920, Captain Waldo Evans took office as American Samoa's 13th naval governor (until March 1, 1922), following the suicide of Commander Warren Jay Terhune on November 3, 1920 (q.v.). (USNHC: Evans RO)

On November 11, 1941, Dr. Augustin Krämer, former Chief Naval Medical Officer in German Samoa and author of Die Samoa Inseln (The Samoa Islands) died in Stuttgart, Germany. (Theroux 1985)

On November 11, 1963, septuagenarian solo seaman William Willis, aboard his raft Age Unlimited, completed his second 6700-mile voyage to Samoa, landing at Puipa'a, 'Upolu. (Willis 1966: 147-149)

November 12:

On November 12, 1729, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, who would explore Samoa in 1768, was born in Paris, France. (Dunmore 1991: 35)

On November 12, 1884, "King" Malietoa Laupepa once again petitioned Queen Victoria to annex Samoa, thus pre-empting German seizure. (Bryan 1927: 29)

On November 12, 1898, in a fono at Leulumoega, 'Upolu, the orators of Tumua and Pule announced that Mata'afa Iosefo had been elected "King of Samoa." (Gilson 1970: 425)

On November 12, 1901, the court martial of American Samoa's first naval governor, Commander Benjamin Franklin Tilley, was concluded. Tilley was acquitted of all charges, and the presiding officer, Rear Admiral Robley D. ("Fighting Bob") Evans, said that he was unable to "hide his disgust with the affair, or his pleasure at the outcome." (Anonymous 1901: 57-60; Gray 1960: 139)

On November 12, 1913, the Governor of American Samoa, Commander Clark Daniel Stearns, enacted his "Regulation No. 5-1913," which amended Commandant Benjamin F. Tilley's "Regulation No. 4-1900: Alienation of Native Lands." (Noble 1931: 54-55)

November 13:

On November 13, 1850, Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Bell 1994: 3)

On November 13, 1946, the "Fono of All Samoa" convened at Mulinu'u to discuss the proposed United Nations Trusteeship Agreement with New Zealand's Assistant Secretary of External Affairs, Foss Shanahan. (Davidson 1967: 165-166)

November 14:

On November 14, 1814, Eli Hutchinson Jennings---trader, planter, adventurer, shipbuilder and founder of Samoa's Jennings family---was born in Southhampton, Long Island, New York. (Theroux 1985)

On November 14, 1899, a tripartite commission, consisting of Freiherr Speck von Sternberg for Germany, Mr. C.E.N. Elliott for Britain and the Honorable Bartlett Tripp representing the United States, meeting aboard USS Badger, reached and signed an agreement for the partition of Samoa. Under the terms of this Tripartite Agreement, the United States gained control of Tutuila, Aunu'u and Manu'a. Germany was awarded the remaining Samoan islands, and gave up her claims in Tonga, and certain disputed areas in the Solomon Islands and in West Africa. Britain gave up her claims in Samoa in exchange for dominion over the Solomon Islands and a sphere of influence in Tonga. (Gray 1960: 101-102)

On November 14, 1915, Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe, one of the leading orators of his time and a leader of the Mau a Pule, died on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. He was en route to Samoa from Saipan in the Mariana Islands, whence he had been exiled by the Germans. (Davidson 1970: 298)

On November 14, 1942, planning was begun by the U.S. Navy Seabees and Marines to build a road which would bisect the island of 'Upolu, thus enabling "rapid dispersal of troops and mobile equipment in the event of ground forces attack by the enemy." (Burke 1945c: 39-43)

November 15:

On November 15, 1898, after a great fono in Mulinu'u, Mata'afa Iosefo was declared "King." This news was relayed to the Three Consuls and the Chief Justice. The Germans supported his claim, but Malietoa Tanumafili I and Tui A'ana Tupua Tamasese Lealofi I denied the legality of the election. Chief Justice William Lea Chambers agreed with them, and civil war once again erupted. (Gilson 1970: 426-427)

On November 15, 1902, on Tutuila, the U.S. Government purchased "Parcel No. 19: Faletoi," totalling 0.67 acres, from Paul Hoeflich for $931.21. (Anonymous 1960: 3)

On November 15, 1919, Governor Warren Jay Terhune established the Department of Public Works as the sixth department in the American Samoa Government. (Darden n.d.: 8)

On November 15, 1943, "Naval Administrative Group (One)" became "Advance Naval Base, 'Upolu, British Samoa." (Burke 1945c: 56)

November 16:

On November 16, 1933, the police raided Mau leader Olaf Frederick Nelson's home in Tua'efu, Western Samoa and seized a great deal of documentation, which, according to Administrator Herbert Hart, contained "a good indication of the activities and intentions of the Mau, showing steady and regular progress in a definitive attempt towards control and government of the territory." (Field 1984: 208)

On November 16, 1943, "more promotions for the [First] Samoan Battalion [U.S. Marine Corps Reserve] were authorized and two promotions to field cook, 18 promotions to corporal, and 6 promotions to assistant cook were made." (Anonymous 1945: 18)

November 17:

On November 17, 1896, Thomas Benjamin Fitzpatrick, American Samoa's 24th naval governor (acting: January 15-20, 1936) was born in Brooklyn, New York. (USNHC: Fitzpatrick RO)

On November 17, 1902, on Tutuila, the U.S. Government purchased "Parcel No. 20: Fanuatanu," totalling 0.23 acres, from "Taamu & Tuama" for $468.40. (Anonymous 1960: 3)

On November 17, 1984, the MV Misimoa---named for Harry Jay Moors, journalist, businessman, politician, author of With Stevenson in Samoa and founder of Samoa's Moors clan---sank in Pago Pago Harbor. (Theroux 1985)

November 18:

On November 18, 1902, on Tutuila, the U.S. Government purchased "Parcel No. 21: Utunono," totalling 0.30 acres, from "Mailo--Josh Hunkin" for $479.93. (Anonymous 1960: 3)

On November 18, 1946, Western Samoa's "Fono of All Samoa" presented a letter to Foss Shanahan, New Zealand's Assistant Secretary for External Affairs, in which the members thanked New Zealand for its assistance, but expressed their complete opposition to the draft United Nations Trusteeship Agreement. The Fono asked for self-government, with New Zealand acting "as Protector and adviser to Samoa in the same capacity as England is to Tonga." (Davidson 1967: 166)

On November 18, 1974, torrential rains in northeast 'Upolu caused widespread flooding and landslides, which blocked or destroyed the Apia-Falefa road in several places. A family of seven were buried alive inside their fale at Solosolo. (Sorensen PR)

November 19:

On November 19, 1916, Sinagogo Hope Nelson (later Annandale), the fourth daughter of Olaf Frederick and Rosabel Moors Nelson, was born in Western Samoa. Mrs. Annandale had a distinguished career in agricultural experimentation (cocoa, bananas, pineapple, peanuts and passionfruit), as an advocate of women's rights, and as a Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1982. (Warburton 1996: 9)

On November 19, 1918, the Navy Department's Alien Property Custodian informed American Samoa's Governor, Commander John Martin Poyer, that the English Government had "wound up the affairs of the D.H. & P.G. [Deutsche Handels und Plantagens Gesellschaft {German Commercial Plantations Company}] as an enemy corporation." Benjamin Franklin Kneubuhl was appointed as liquidator for the company's assets. (Bryan 1927: 51)

On November 19, 1943, at the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, the Ships' Service Department closed, with a cash balance certified by the Bank of Samoa to be $40,000. It was replaced by the Base Depot Post Exchange, operating the Naval Station Store as Branch No. 10. (Burke 1945b: 143)

November 20:

On November 20, 1839, the Reverend John Williams of the London Missionary Society, pioneer Christian missionary in Samoa and many other Pacific islands, was martyred on the island of Erromango in the New Hebrides at age 42. His assailants apparently thought that he was a "blackbirder," intent on kidnapping them for slave labor on the plantations of northern Australia. He was widely mourned, and became one of the best-known martyrs of the mid-nineteenth century. (Moyle 1984: 4)

On November 20, 1918, American Samoa's governor, Commander John Martin Poyer, offered to send volunteer medical personnel to Western Samoa to assist with the treatment of influenza victims. Western Samoa's Administrator, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Logan, pocketed Poyer's telegram and disconnected the telegraph, because he was too stubborn to accept aid, and "didn't like Americans." At least 8,500 people were killed by the flu in Western Samoa; probably the highest percentage of any country in the world. In American Samoa, which the Navy strictly quarantined, no one died; one of the few places which was not affected by the influenza pandemic. (Field 1984: 45-51; L. Garrett 1994: 157)

November 21:

On November 21, 1877, French Marist Bishop Louis Elloy, Vicar Apostolic of Central Oceania and the Navigators, was received by U.S. President Rutherford Birchard Hayes in Washington, D.C. (Heslin 1995: iv)

On November 21, 1897, "A week before his departure, the Hawaiian Historical Society asked [William Churchill, former U.S. Consul in Apia] to lecture on Samoan origins at the YMCA in Honolulu. The talk was entertaining, Churchill delivering it while leaning on a to'oto'o staff, Samoan orator fashion. When the talk was over, he was elected an honorary member of the society. The members eyed his prized Samoan war club, Malietoa's [Laupepa's] gift, and suggested that it would make a fine contribution to the Bishop Museum. Churchill 'only smiled.'" (Theroux 1995: 108)

November 22:

On November 22, 1858, the chief from Palauli, Savai'i who murdered oil trader William Fox in 1856 and was apprehended on September 12, 1858, was hanged at the yardarm of HMS Cordelia, after being convicted by an all-Samoan jury in a trial aboard ship. (Morrell 1960: 211)

On November 22, 1878, French Marist Bishop Louis Elloy, former Vicar Apostolic of Central Oceania and the Navigators, passed away at Bon Econtre, near Egen, France. (Heslin 1995: iv)

On November 22, 1901, "By invitation of Leiato, County Chief of two of the largest counties of the District of Falelima East, and his people---being the largest number of chiefs and people under any of the County Chiefs of the United States Naval Station, Tutuila---Captain B.F. Tilley and wife, accompanied by other guests, including myself, visited the Town of Fagaitua...for the purpose of attending a feast given in honor of, and the presentation of a house to, Captain Tilley. There was a most enthusiastic welcome extended by the people who are building the McKinley Memorial Road referred to in other letters sent by this mail. There was much speaking, kava drinking---which is a Samoan custom accompanying almost every gathering of this kind,---an elaborate feast, 'taalolo' and 'siva.'" (Lieutenant J.L. Jayne, Acting Commandant, U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, wrote this letter to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in support of Captain Tilley, who had been the subject of attacks by Harry Jay Moors and others). (Letter, Jayne-AsstSecNav, 11/27/1901)

On November 22, 1926, American Samoa's Governor, Captain Henry Francis Bryan, amended Governor Waldo Evans's "Regulation No. 3-1921: Assessment and Collection of Taxes." (Noble 1931: 80-82)

On November 22, 1932, New Zealand's Administrator of Western Samoa, Brigadier General Herbert Ernest Hart, hosted a dance for his guest, Captain Gatewood Sanders Lincoln, Governor of American Samoa. No Samoans were invited, nor were any officials who were married to Samoans. (Field 1984: 203)

November 23:

On November 23, 1932, prior to his departure for Western Samoa at the end of his term of deportation, Mau leader Taisi Olaf Frederick Nelson met with New Zealand's Prime Minister, George Forbes. Forbes treated Nelson with contempt; the meeting was not successful. (Field 1984: 204, 251 n.41)

On November 23, 1933, Western Samoan Mau leader Taisi Olaf Frederick Nelson was arrested and charged with sedition following the seizure of documentation at his house in Tua'efu on November 16, 1933 (q.v.). (Field 1984: 208-209)

On November 23, 1952, John C. Elliott completed his term as American Samoa's second appointed civil governor.  (ASG: Governors' List)

On November 23, 1960, Captain Allen Hobbs, American Samoa's 30th naval governor (February 8, 1944-January 27, 1945), died in the U.S. Naval Hospital at Bethesda, Maryland. (USNHC: Hobbs RO)

November 24:

On November 24, 1871, the New Zealand Government recommended to Her Majesty's Government that the Samoan Islands should be brought "in some form under the protection or guidance of Great Britain or a British colony." (Morrell 1960: 215)

On November 24, 1906, American Samoa's Governor, Commander Charles Brainard Taylor Moore, enacted "Regulation No. 9-1906: Interest," which ordered that "The limit of the amount of interest which any person may lawfully contract to pay shall not exceed the rate of 8 per cent per annum." (Noble 1931: 54)

On November 24, 1939, American Samoa's last execution was carried out. Imoa, who was convicted of stabbing Sema to death, was hanged in the Customs House. (Theroux 1985)

November 25:

On November 25, 1904, on Tutuila, the U.S. Government purchased "Parcel No. 48: Blunts Point," totalling 3.40 acres, from "Fano & E.W. Gurr," for $804.55. (This transaction was completed on December 2, 1904). (Anonymous 1960: 4)

On November 25, 1904, At the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, Assistant Astronomer C.W. Frederick, having supervised the construction of four buildings for the Naval Station's observatory ("(1) transit circle, (2) clock, (3) observer's dwelling, [and] (4) caretaker's dwelling"), recommended that a house be built "for the 5-inch equatorial telescope and outdoor piers for the azimuth mark and collimator with louvre work shelters." (Bryan 1927: 114)

On November 25, 1907, American Samoa's Governor, Commander Charles Brainard Taylor Moore, issued his "Regulation No. 12-1907: County of Ta'u in the District of Manu'a," which combined the villages of Si'ufaga and Luma "into a county to be known as the county of Ta'u," and stated that "The chiefs of said county shall be Lefiti of Si'ufaga and Soatoa of Luma, who shall hold the office of county chief during alternate years..." (Noble 1931: 80)

On November 25, 1944, CBMU (Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit) 111 returned to Tutuila after closing its facilities in Western Samoa and the Wallis Islands. (Denfeld 1989a: 40)

On November 25, 1951, Alfred John Tattersall, a leading Apia photographer since 1888 who was noted for his many photos, including those of the last big 'alia (double-hulled voyaging canoe) built in Samoa (for Kaiser Wilhelm II, in 1905) died in Apia, aged 90. (Theroux 1985)

November 26:

On November 26, 1869, Waldo Evans, 13th naval governor of American Samoa (November 11, 1920--March 1, 1922), was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. (USNHC: Evans RO)

On November 26, 1941, "Tutuila was hammered by a hurricane, which damaged plantations, native fales, and tents." (Bearss 1978-1981: 82)

On November 26, 1942, Tutuila "was visited by a mild hurricane which caused damage to plantations, native houses, and tents." (Denfeld 1989: 26)

On November 26, 1942, Captain Edward V. "Eddie" Rickenbacker, America's leading "ace' in World War I (26 victories in a Spad XIII) was released from the U.S. Navy's Mobile Hospital No. 3 ("MOB 3") in Mapusaga. He and his companions spent 22 days in a raft after their plane (a Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress) went down, on a flight to Australia. They were rescued by an airplane and a PT boat near Funafuti, in the Ellice Islands, were treated there, and were then taken to Samoa for more extensive medical care. Rickenbacker wrote that wartime Tutuila "was alive with all kinds of military activities; and from being one of those so-called island paradises of the South Seas it was fast becoming an ocean fortress. The scenery is wonderful, and in many other respects the South Seas is the most attractive place in the world to fight a war. But the region has its drawbacks. The rainy season had just begun, and you have my word for it, it doesn't just rain out there---the ocean tilts up and swamps you." (Rickenbacker 1943: 65-78)

November 27:

On November 27, 1901, Commander Benjamin Franklin Tilley completed his term as American Samoa's first naval governor. (ASG: Governors' List)

On November 27, 1901, Captain Uriel Sebree took office as American Samoa's second naval governor (until December 16, 1902). (USNHC: Sebree RO)

On November 26, 1901, Captain Uriel Sebree, Commandant, U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, ordered that three principal roads, "suitable to native needs," be built without delay. (Bryan 1927: 78)

On November 27, 1906, Commander Charles Brainard Taylor Moore, Governor of American Samoa, issued his "Regulation No. 10-1906: Copra Receipts." (This was subsequently amended by Commander John Martin Poyer on April 17, 1917). (Noble 1931: 25)

On November 27, 1957, Western Samoa's new Legislative Assembly met for the first time. (Davidson 1967: 338)

November 28:

On November 28, 1897, William and Llewella Churchill left Honolulu for Washington, D.C., after William was sacked as U.S. Consul in Apia. (Theroux 1995: 108)

On November 28, 1907, the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila's station ship, USS Annapolis, "with Commander Charles Brainard Taylor Moore, United States Navy, Governor of Tutuila, in command, left the Naval Station, Tutuila, for Papeete, Tahiti"..."to observe the total eclipse of the sun on January 3, 1908"..."at Flint Island, longitude 151° 48' W., latitude 11° 26' S." An "eclipse party" from the Lick Observatory (in Santa Cruz, California) was on board, assisted by Assistant Astronomer Benjamin Boss. (Bryan 1927: 114)

On November 28, 1918, Western Samoa's Administrator, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Logan of the New Zealand Army, angry because of American Samoa's quarantine of all ships (to guard against the worldwide outbreak of Spanish influenza) ordered that all wireless communications with American Samoa be cut. Because of Logan's actions, Western Samoa received no medical aid from American Samoa during the pandemic, although American Samoa's governor, Commander John Martin Poyer, had offered to send help. (Field 1984: 45-46)

On November 28, 1952, James Arthur Ewing took office as American Samoa's third appointed civil governor (until March 4, 1953). (ASG: Governors'List)

November 29:

On November 29, 1940, Admiral Harold Raynsford Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, directed that U.S. Marine Corps Captain Alfred R. Pefley's plan for the defense of Tutuila be implemented immediately. (Hough et al. 1958: 68).

On November 29, 1970, His Holiness Pope Paul VI visited Western Samoa and later American Samoa, thus becoming the only Pontiff to visit Samoa. (Heslin 1995: vii; WSFDC 11/29/1970)

November 30: