Raymond Stone

{{Short description|United states navy officer}}

{{Infobox Governor

|honorific-prefix =

|name = Raymond Stone

|birth_date =

|death_date =

|honorific-suffix =

|image =

|caption =

|party =

|order = 8th

|office = Naval Governor of Guam

|term_start = January 28, 1904

|term_end = May 16, 1904

|lieutenant =

|predecessor = Frank Herman Schofield

|successor = George Leland Dyer

|nationality = {{flag|United States}}

|nickname =

|allegiance = {{flag|United States}}

|branch = {{nowrap|File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg}} United States Navy

|serviceyears =

|rank = 20px Commander

|unit =

|commands =

|battles =

|awards =

}}

Raymond Stone was a United States Navy officer and Governor of Guam from January 28, 1904 to May 16, 1904. He served in multiple posts in the Navy, including aboard the battleship {{USS|Kearsarge|BB-5|6}}. He was stationed in Guam in the early 1900s, where he became aide to the governor. When William Elbridge Sewell was transported back to California with an intestinal disease, Stone became acting governor. He issued a series of orders limiting drug sale on the island and forcing vendors to lower prices on food and other essential items. After George Leland Dyer became governor, Stone became a judge on the Supreme Court of Guam before returning to the mainland. He would later serve as a liaison to the United States Army, where he oversaw the transfer of Naval prisoners of war from World War I to Army control.

Life and naval career

Stone was married, and had one son and daughter, Raymond and Esther. His mother and brother both lived in Point Clear, Alabama.{{cite news|title=A|newspaper=Mobile Register|date=8 September 2005|agency=Advance Publications|location=Mobile, Alabama|page=A2}} Starting June 20, 1900, Stone served aboard the battleship {{USS|Kearsarge|BB-5|6}}.{{cite book|title=Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on Active Duty|year=1902|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|url=https://archive.org/details/registercommiss12deptgoog|quote=Stone.|access-date=1 November 2010|location=Washington, D.C.|page=[https://archive.org/details/registercommiss12deptgoog/page/n17 16]}} He was stationed in Guam, where he acted as acting Governor; after George Leland Dyer was given the position, Stone remained to serve as judge of the Supreme Court of Guam.{{cite book|title=The Iowa Official Register|year=1905|publisher=Iowa Secretary of State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DscGAQAAIAAJ&q=guam+%22Raymond+Stone%22&pg=PA525|access-date=1 November 2010|location=Des Moines, Iowa|page=525|volume=20}} As a Commander, Stone was designated a naval representative to mediate the transfer of World War I prisoners of war captured by the Navy to the authority of the United States Army, taking over the position from Lieutenant Commander Adolphus Staton.{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=George G.|title=History of Prisoner of War Utilization by the United States Army 1776-1945|date=June 1955|publisher=United States Department of the Army|url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA438000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515224319/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA438000&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 15, 2012|author2=John Mewha |access-date=1 November 2010|page=49}}

Governorship

Stone served as acting Governor of Guam from January 28, 1904 to May 16, 1904,{{cite web|title=Naval Era Governors of Guam|url=http://guampedia.com/naval-era-governors-of-guam/|work=Guampedia|publisher=University of Guam|access-date=29 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711134857/http://guampedia.com/naval-era-governors-of-guam/|archive-date=11 July 2011|url-status=live|location=Guam|date=10 August 2010}} following William Elbridge Sewell's return to California for intestinal disease treatment. He was fairly young during his term, and held the rank of Lieutenant.{{cite news|title=Curbs Trust in Guam: Naval Lieutenant Puts Stop to Exorbitant Prices of Foodstuffs|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/06/19/101167253.pdf|access-date=31 October 2010|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 June 1904|agency=The New York Times Company|location=New York City}} He grossly underestimated the native Chamorro population as lacking "ambition or the desire for change or progress."{{cite journal|last=Viernes|first=James Perez|title=Chamorro Men in the Making: Capitalism and Indigenous Masculinities under US Naval Colonialism in Guam|journal=Australian Association for the Advancement of Pacific Studies e-Journal|date=April 2010|volume=2|issue=1|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/pacificurrents/viernes.htm|access-date=29 October 2010|publisher=Australian National University|location=Canberra, Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224135217/http://intersections.anu.edu.au/pacificurrents/viernes.htm|url-status=live|archive-date=24 February 2011}} His administration sought, for its own benefit, to evolve the native economy past a personal agrarian society, and specifically wanted to utilize them for labor in military work projects. Noting the exorbitant prices that merchants were charging Guamanians for food and other necessities, Stone issued an order limiting the maximum price of most foodstuffs. He also issued orders in an attempt to regulate the Guam drug trade.{{cite book|last=Cox|first=Leonard Martin|title=The Island of Guam|year=2010|publisher=Read Books|isbn=978-1-4455-6452-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dxy5kUp1yyEC&q=guam+%22Raymond+Stone%22&pg=PA44|access-date=1 November 2010|page=44}}

References