A Biographical Sketch of American Samoa’s Eleventh Naval Governor: Commander John Martin Poyer, U.S. Navy (Term of Office: March 1, 1915-June 10, 1919)
On March 1, 1915, Commander John Martin Poyer, U.S. Navy, Retired, relieved Lieutenant Charles Armijo Woodruff and took office as American Samoa's 11th naval governor (until June 10, 1919). Poyer was American Samoa's longest-serving naval governor, spending four years, two months and ten days in office. He and Captain Henry Francis Bryan, the Territory's 16th naval governor (March 17, 1925-September 9, 1927), were the only two governors who had retired from the U.S. Navy prior to their gubernatorial terms. (2e. USNHC: Poyer RO)
On June 5, 1915, Governor Poyer ended the prohibition on the sale of liquor. (1e. Theroux 1985)
On April 17, 1917, Commander Poyer amended "Section 20: Copra Receipts" of the Codification of the Laws and Regulations of the Government of American Samoa, which was originally issued as "Regulation No. 10-1906" by Governor Charles Brainard Taylor Moore on November 27, 1906. (1a. Noble 1931: 25)
On November 19, 1918, the Navy Department's Alien Property Custodian informed Governor 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. (1d. Bryan 1927: 51)
On November 20, 1918, Commander 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 of the New Zealand Army, 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. (1a. Field 1984: 45-51; 1a. L. Garrett 1994: 157)
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. (1a. Field 1984: 45-46)
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