During the Spanish period (1668 - 1899) Guam wasn't a separate dependency, but only
the major administrative, economic and religious center of the dependency of the
Mariana Islands (to be added).
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SPANISH ADMINISTRATORS
Governors of the Mariana Islands
Gobernadores de las Islas Marianas (1)
(subordinated to the Spanish Governors General of the Philippines - not all ranks
could be retraced)
1843 - 1848 Gregorio Santa Maria 1... - 1848
1848 Félix Calvo*
1848 - 1855 Pablo Pérez
1855 - 1866 Felipe Maria de la Corte
1866 - 1871 Francisco Moscoso y Lara
1871 - 1873 Luis de Ybánez y García
1873 - 1875 Eduardo Beaumont y Calafat
1875 - 1880 Manuel Bravo y Barrera
1880 - 1884 Francisco Brochero y Parreno
1884 Enrique Solano
1884 Angel de Pazos Vela-Hidalgo 1... - 1884
1884 Antonio Borreda*
1884 - 1885 Francisco Olive y García
1885 - 1890 Enrique Solano (2x)
1890 - 1891 Gen. Joaquín Vara del Rey y Rubio 1840 - 1898
1891 - 1892 Luis Santos
1892 - 1893 Vicente Gómez Hernández
1893 Juan Godoy del Castillo*
1893 - 1895 Emilio Galisteo Brunenque
1895 - 1897 Jacobo Marina
1897 Angelo Nieto*
1897 - 1898 Gen. Juan Marina, surrendered to the
US troops.
(1) In view of this style it's perhaps not fully correct to lists the governors
on this page. But as Guam was the only Mariana island where their authority
was firmly established it seems logic to do so.
US TERRITORY OF GUAM
In 1898 - during the Spanish-American War - the US Navy captured Guam, which was
formally ceded by Spain to the US by the Treaty of Paris (1898) and organized as
an unincorporated US Territory, subordinated to the Navy Department in 1899.(1)
(1) The US showed no interest for the other Mariana islands, which Spain later
sold to Germany.
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US ADMINISTRATORS
Provisional Administrators
(Sometimes styled commissioners, but in fact it seems to have been no more than a
succession of individuals who governed Guam between the American conquest in 1898
and the formal annexation of the island in 1899.
They were subordinated to the US authorities in the Philippines)
1898 Comm. Henry Glass, Commander of the USS
Charleston, who conquered the island. 1844 - 1908
1898 Francisco (Frank) Portusach Martínez , a
naturalised American citizen, installed by
Glass, deposed by his successor. 1864 - 1919
1898 José Sisto, a Filipino who styled himself
"Governor of Guam and Provisional Governor
of all the Marianas", deposed after a
Chamorro revolt headed by José Palomo.
1898 - 1899 Venancio Roberto, a Chamorro, deposed by
by Vincedon L. Cottma, Commander of a by-
passing US warship who re-installed Sisto.
1899 José Sisto (2x), deposed by his successor.
1899 Comm. Edward David Taussig, Commander of
the USS Bennington, toke formally possession
of the island 1847 - 1921
Naval Governors
(Subordinated to the Navy Department - also Commanders of the Guam naval base - not
all ranks could be retraced)
1899 William Coe*
1899 - 1900 Capt. Richard Phillips Leary 1842 - 1901
1900 - 1901 Comm. Seaton Schroeder 1849 - 1922
1901 William Swift
1901 - 1903 Comm. Seaton Schroeder (2x)
1903 - 1904 Comm. William Elbridge Sewell
1904 R. Stone*
1904 - 1905 Comm. George Leland Dyer 1849 - 1914
1905 - 1906 Lt. Luke McNamee*
1906 - 1907 Templin Morris Potts
1907 Lt. Luke McNamee* (2x)
1907 - 1910 Capt. Edward John Dorn
1910 - 1911 Lt. F. B. Freyer*
1911 - 1912 George Robert Salisbury
1912 - 1913 Capt. Robert Edward Coontz 1864 - 1935
1913 - 1914 A. W. Hinds.
1914 - 1916 Capt. William John Maxwell
1916 W. P. Cronan*
1916 E. Simpson*
1916 - 1918 Capt. Roy Campbell Smith
1918 - 1920 Capt. William Wirt Gilmer
1920 - 1921 Capt. Ivan Cyrus Wettengel
1921 - 1922 Lt. James S. Spore*
1922 - 1923 Capt. Adelbert Althouse
1923 - 1924 Capt. Henry Bertram Price
1924 - 1926 A. W. Brown*
1926 - 1929 Lloyd Stogell Shapley
1929 - 1931 Capt. Willis Winter Bradley 1884 - 1954
1931 - 1933 Capt. Edmund Spence Root
1933 - 1936 Capt. George Andrew Alexander
1936 - 1938 Benjamin Vaughan McCondlish
1938 - 1940 James Thomas Alexander
1940 - 1941 Capt. George Johnson McMillin,
surrendered to the Japanese
forces.
JAPANESE TERRITORY OF OMIYA JIMA
In 1941 Guam was occupied by the Japanese who renamed it Omiya Jima.
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JAPANESE COMMANDERS
(all subordinated to the Commanders-in-Chief of the 4th Fleet)
(note : in Japanese names the family name is given first)
Commander of the Guam Invasion Group
(in overall command)
1941 - 1942 RearAdm. Kasuga Atsushi 1887 - 1976
Commander of the South Seas Detachment
(commanding the landed forces, also subordinated tothe Japanese High
Command)
1941 - 1942 LtGen. Horii Tomitaro 1890 - 1942
Island Commander
1942 - 1944 Lt. Homura ...
Commanders of the Japanese Army defending Omiya Jima
(de facto in charge at the moment of the US landing)
1944 LtGen. Takeshi Takeshina, Commander
of the 29th Division (part of the
31th Army) 1... - 1944
1944 Ltgen. Obata Hideyoshi, Commander-in
-Chief of the 31th Army 1880 - 1944
US TERRITORY OF GUAM
In 1944 Guam was liberated by US forces.
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US ADMINISTRATORS
Military Commanders
(subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Pacific Area)
Commander of the Southern Attack Force (Guam)
(in overall command)
1944 RearAdm. Richard Lansing Conolly 1892 - 1962
Commander of the 3rd Amphibious Corps
(commanding the landed forces)
1944 Gen. (USMC) Roy Stanley
Geiger "Rugged Roy" 1885 - 1947
Governors
Island Commander
(also subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Pacific Area)
1944 - 1946 MajGen. (USCM) Henry Louis Larsen 1890 - 1962
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