View source for William Elbridge Sewell

{{Infobox officeholder 
|honorific-prefix = 
|name       = William Elbridge Sewell
|birth_date   = November 16, 1851
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1904|03|17|1851|11|16}}
|honorific-suffix = 
|image       =
|caption = 
|party = 
|order       = 6th
|office      = Naval Governor of Guam
|term_start  = February 6, 1903
|term_end    = January 11, 1904
|lieutenant  = 
|predecessor = [[Seaton Schroeder]]
|successor   = [[Frank Herman Schofield]]
|nationality = {{flag|United States}}
<!--Military service-->
|nickname     = 
|allegiance   = {{flag|United States}}
|branch       = {{nowrap|[[File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg|30px|United States Navy Seal]]}} [[United States Navy]]
|serviceyears = 1867–1904
|rank         = [[File:US-O5 insignia.svg|20px]] [[Commander (United States)|Commander]]
|unit         = 
|commands     = [[USS Alarm (1873)|USS ''Alarm'']]; [[Mare Island]] Observatory; [[USS Supply (1873)|USS ''Supply'']]
|battles      = [[Battle of Santiago de Cuba]]
|awards       = 
}}

'''William Elbridge Sewell''' (November 16, 1851 &ndash; March 17, 1904) was a [[United States Navy]] [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] and the 6th Naval [[Governor of Guam]] from February 9, 1903, until he returned to the mainland United States for medical treatment on January 11, 1904. He was born in [[Colchester, New York]], and appointed to the [[United States Naval Academy]] from that state in 1867. He served on numerous ships before becoming an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]], and eventually became [[executive officer]] or [[commanding officer]] of a series of ships and installations. He then became commanding officer of the [[Guam]] flagship, and soon after, governor of Guam. As governor, he initiated a series of tax and legal reforms, including many that restored the rights of the native population to practice their culture more freely. He legalized and taxed alcohol and set up a court system that lasted 30 years. In January 1904, he fell ill from intestinal troubles and was transported to [[California]] for treatment, where he died while still in office.

==Life==
Sewell was born November 16, 1851, in [[Colchester, New York]].<ref name=USNA>{{cite book|title=Class of '71, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md|year=1902|publisher=The Grafton Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ldHAAAAYAAJ&q=William+Elbridge+Sewell&pg=PT200|author=United States Naval Academy|author-link=United States Naval Academy|location=[[New York City]]}}</ref> He married Minnie Moore on October 14, 1890, and had three daughters. His wife died in 1901 when their children were still young.<ref name=USNA/> In [[Guam]], Sewell became seriously ill with an intestinal disorder, and was brought to [[San Francisco, California]], for treatment aboard {{USS|Supply|1873|6}}.<ref name=Guampedia/> He arrived in [[California]] on March 1, 1904, and died shortly after on March 17.<ref name="Call">{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19040318.2.18&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |title=FORMER NAVAL GOVERNOR OF GUAM IS DEAD |volume=95 |issue=109 |date=18 March 1904 |at=Page 2, column 4 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Call]] |access-date=3 February 2022 |via=[[California Digital Newspaper Collection]]}}</ref> His daughter [[Helen Sewell]] later became a famous children's book illustrator.<ref name=Guampedia/> Another of his daughters, [[Marjorie Sewell Cautley]], became an acclaimed [[landscape architect]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Zaitzevsky|first=Cynthia|title=Long Island Landscapes and the Women Who Designed Them|year=2009|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|isbn=978-0-393-73124-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pe7upwZyvSsC&q=guam+%22William+elbridge+Sewell%22&pg=PA210|access-date=27 October 2010|location=[[New York City]]|page=210}}</ref>

==Naval career==
Sewell was appointed to the [[United States Naval Academy]] in 1867 by [[United States House of Representatives|Congressman]] [[William C. Fields]]. He graduated the academy in 1871.<ref name=USNA/> His first post after graduation was aboard {{USS|Congress|1868|6}}, where served on a mission to deliver supplies to the [[Polaris expedition|''Polaris'' expedition]] and then to receive a visiting Russian fleet. He then participated in the escort of {{USS|Hornet|1865|2}}, a [[Filibuster (military)|filibuster]] vessel, out of a Spanish blockade in [[Port-au-Prince]] that aimed to capture it.<ref name=USNA/> ''Congress'' joined the [[European Squadron]], and Sewell was transferred to {{USS|Plymouth|1867|6}}, where he served for seven months before being transferred once again to {{USS|Wabash|1855|6}}. He remained there thirteen months before being reposted back to ''Congress''.<ref name=USNA/>

Following the [[Virginius Affair]], ''Congress'' sailed to [[Key West]], where Sewell took part in several drills and exercises on the [[Florida Bay]] before returning to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], aboard {{USS|Ticonderoga|1862|6}}. There he became an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] and began assisting in deep-sea exploration and [[Depth sounding|sounding]] of the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and [[Gulf of Maine]]. In 1878, he was ordered shortly to {{USS|Passaic|1862|6}} and subsequently {{USS|Alaska|1868|6}}, where he cruised the Pacific Ocean for three years.<ref name=USNA/> In 1881 he became [[executive officer]] of {{USS|Alarm|1873|6}}, and in 1882 became [[commanding officer]] of the vessel, his first command.<ref name=USNA/>

In 1882 and 1883, he served at the [[United States Naval Observatory]]. From there he was ordered to {{USS|Ossipee|1861|6}} during its tour of Asian ports. For his services aboard this ship he received a commendatory letter from the [[Secretary of the Navy]].<ref name=USNA/> In April 1891, he relinquished command of the [[Mare Island]] Observatory and reported for a tour of China aboard {{USS|Lancaster|1858|6}}. From July 1894 to May 1897 he once again commanded the Mare Island Observatory, where he was placed in charge of accurate time keeping for the [[West Coast of the United States]] and distribution of [[marine chronometer]]s to ships in the Pacific Fleet.<ref name=USNA/> On June 1, 1897, he became [[navigator]] for {{USS|Montgomery|C-9|6}}, serving only until July 12 of the same year before becoming executive officer of {{USS|Vesuvius|1888|6}} and then executive officer of {{USS|Topeka|PG-35|6}} until March 1899.<ref name=USNA/> He participated in the [[Battle of Santiago de Cuba]], for which he received commendation from commanding Admiral [[William T. Sampson]].<ref name=USNA/>

From March 1899 to June 1900 he served as executive officer of {{USS|Abarenda|AC-13|6}}, on which he sailed to [[American Samoa]]. He was in [[Pago Pago]] when the United States assumed control of the island chain. In 1900, he served in equipment department of the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]] and then equipment officer at the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]].<ref name=USNA/> He later became commanding officer of USS ''Supply'', which became the [[flagship]] for Guam when he became governor.<ref>{{cite news|title=Governor of Guam: Commander Sewell Will Succeed to That Responsible Position|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qf8aAAAAIBAJ&pg=1104,3708102&dq=william-sewell+guam&hl=en|access-date=27 October 2010|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press]]|date=5 August 1902|agency=[[E. W. Scripps Company]]|location=[[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]|page=3}}</ref>

==Governorship==
During his term as governor, Sewell issued twenty-four orders, most of them concerned with taxes. He conducted major overhauls of the taxation, [[criminal code]], and prison system.<ref name=Guampedia>{{cite web|last=Leon-Guerrero|first=Jillette|title=Guam Leaders from 1899-1904|url=http://guampedia.com/guam-leaders-from-1899-1904/#toc-jose-sisto-rodrigo-1898|work=Guampedia|publisher=[[University of Guam]]|access-date=27 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726153643/http://guampedia.com/guam-leaders-from-1899-1904/|location=[[Guam]]|date=9 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-date=26 July 2011}}</ref> He also repealed a number of laws limiting the practice of native Guamanian culture, including once again allowing [[United States military]] personnel to live among the [[Chamorro people]] and allowing the [[Caroline Islands]] to wear native clothing and participate in [[cockfight]]s.<ref name=Guampedia/> At first, he raised the property taxes, which had only been one percent under Spanish rule, which caused many natives to default and lose their land.<ref name=Rogers/> After a series of crop failures caused economic hardship on the island, he reduced [[property tax]]es by fifty percent.<ref name=Guampedia/>

He also issued a number of corporate reforms. He legalized [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]], allowing its manufacture and sale given the government issue of a special license to do so.<ref name=Guampedia/> He continued the unpopular policy of keeping those with [[leprosy]] separate from the general populace and improved the judicial laws of the island with General Order 69 on November 30, 1903. The court system he set up lasted until the 1930s.<ref name=Rogers>{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Robert|title=Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam|year=1995|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|isbn=0-8248-1678-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEn9J3tXFS8C&q=sewell&pg=PA128|access-date=27 October 2010|location=[[Honolulu, Hawaii]]|pages=128–129}}</ref> Under his administration, the first [[telegraph]] cable reached the island.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cunningham|first=Lawrence|title=A History of Guam|year=2001|publisher=[[Bess Press]]|isbn=1-57306-047-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bkaLkgHEFvIC&q=guam+%22William+e+Sewell%22&pg=PA196|access-date=27 October 2010|location=[[Hawaii]]|page=196|author2=Janice Beaty }}</ref> On March 18, 1904, Sewell died while in office.<ref name=Guampedia/><ref name="Call"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of Governors of Guam|Naval Governor of Guam]]|before=[[Seaton Schroeder]]|after=[[George Leland Dyer]]|years=1903–1904}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors of Guam}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sewell, William Elbridge}}
[[Category:1851 births]]
[[Category:1904 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from digestive disease]]
[[Category:Governors of Guam]]
[[Category:People from Delaware County, New York]]
[[Category:Prohibition in the United States]]
[[Category:United States Naval Academy alumni]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]