James Harrison Oliver

James Harrison Oliver (left) with Charles Frederick Hughes , later Chief of Naval Operations (1914)

James Harrison Oliver (born January 15, 1857 in Houston County , Georgia , † April 6, 1928 in Charles City , Virginia ) was an American naval officer. Between 1917 and 1919 he was the military governor of the US Virgin Islands .

Career

James Oliver attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington until 1872 . He then graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis . He then began a long military career in the US Navy , where he served between 1877 and 1921 and rose to the position of Rear Admiral . In 1905 he was brought before a court martial after a ship collision in which he was involved, but was acquitted. Annoyed by the procedure, he temporarily resigned from military service in 1905. In 1906 he returned to the Navy, where he continued his career. He was promoted to captain in 1910 and to rear admiral in 1916.

In 1917, Oliver was named the first governor of the US Virgin Islands by President Woodrow Wilson . Until he arrived at his new place of work, he was temporarily represented there by Edwin Taylor Pollock . Oliver held his new office between 1917 and 1919. During this time the defenses there were expanded. He also supported the education of the local population and called for more teachers to be sent to the area. In 1921, James Oliver retired from military service. He died on April 6, 1928, in his Charles City home, which he had purchased in 1893.

Web links

• James Harrison Oliver in the database of Find a Grave (English)