HE SAID, SHE SAID

 

There are many stories of pregnancies outside of marriage in olden Guam, but this court case from 1929 is interesting to me because it involved a Catholic man and a Baptist woman.

I usually don't include the last names of people in embarrassing stories, in order to spare their descendants (some are old enough to have known the individuals involved) further embarrassment. With this story, even their first names are so uncommon that they could be identified, so I'll change their first names, too.

Let's call her Rosa. Rosa went to court in 1929 to lodge a complaint against Juan for making her pregnant. Both Juan and Rosa were single. Rosa was Baptist, and Juan was Catholic. Rosa claimed that she consented to have intimate relations with Juan four times, on the sole basis that Juan promised to marry Rosa very soon.

Rosa became pregnant, and Juan dragged his feet about marrying Rosa. 

Soon, Rosa's pregnancy couldn't be hidden. Rosa's female cousins at school told their mom, Rosa's auntie. The auntie told Rosa's mother. Rosa admitted to her mother that she was pregnant and that Juan was the father. Rosa's mom called Juan's mom.

Juan's mother agreed that Juan should marry Rosa, and asked Rosa's mother if she, Rosa's mother, a staunch Baptist, would agree to have Juan and Rosa marry before a Catholic priest.

Rosa's mother, the staunch Baptist, said "yes." Getting Rosa married and sparing everyone the shame was more important than where the marriage took place.

But Juan never went through with the wedding. And that is why Rosa went to court.

Juan was charged with seduction on the pretense of marriage, and Juan plead not guilty.

Rosa's problem in this court case was a lack of witnesses who could say they saw Juan and Rosa in carnal relations. Juan denied having ever touched Rosa.

Furthermore, witnesses were called in to testify that Rosa had had prior boyfriends, including a Filipino working for the Navy who seemed to be in high demand among the single ladies of Guam, since female rivals for this Filipino man's attention had quarrels with Rosa over him.

Rosa, according to some witnesses, was known for being a flirt with some of the young men, Baptist and Catholic. All of this was to insinuate that there could be more than one candidate for who impregnated Rosa.

In the end, the court acquitted Juan. There just wasn't enough evidence to convict him.

It was a matter of "he said, she said." There were no paternity tests, yet, to scientifically prove who the father was.

To this day, however, the family that Rosa eventually raised with a husband consider Rosa's first born the child of Juan, even though the child never took Juan's last name.

CHILD CRIMINALS

 

Juan was just 12 and Francisco was just 11, but they may have been the youngest individuals ever arrested in Guam history, at least before the war.

Court documents describe the two partners in crime as "incorrigible" and totally beyond the control of their parents.

In 1929, at around 10 in the morning, apparently when no one was home, Juan and Francisco broke into the house of a Navy Lieutenant working for the Naval Hospital in Hagåtña. Having free rein of the house, they helped themselves to the following list of items :

The two boys were caught and all the items, save one, were retrieved.

But, even as young as they were, the two boys were arrested and had to face the judge in court!

They plead guilty and were sentenced to two months' jail time plus court expenses, paid for, I'm sure, by the parents.

This was not the only time the criminal boys stole private property. They also stole a tricycle and a "kiddie car" from the front porch of Thomas Edward Mayhew, an American married to Emilia Duarte, born in Guam of a Spanish father and a mixed Chamorro mother.

A STRANGE, BUT GOOD, SPANISH GOVERNOR

 

A delightful anecdote about one of the Spanish Governors of the Marianas comes to us from reports from the Freycinet Expedition (1817-1820), a visit to the Marianas of French scientists and scholars.

Felipe de Cerain was Governor of the Marianas for an unusually long time - ten years - from 1776 until 1786. Most Governors served fewer years, sometimes two or three.

Cerain was considered a good man; humane and generous.

But he was bizarre in his habits, perhaps a wild man. He moved according to his whims; nothing went according to routine or schedule. He ate when he felt like it, regardless of the hour of day or night. Because the cook often had no advance warning, Cerain in his impatience would go into the kitchen and eat right out of the pot; sometimes food so hot as to burn the mouth, or food that was still not cooked completely.

It was under Cerain that Atantåno' was developed. Between the years 1784 and 1785, under orders by Cerain, a difficult road was laid linking Piti and Hågat. In the Atantåno' area, Cerain had planted coconut groves for the people's use, and was credited with many other good works.

The Santa Cruz monument at Atantåno' commemorates Cerain's projects in that location.

The upper monument speaks of Governor Cerain and his works.

EPIDEMIC OF 1700

 

We who lived through the Covid pandemic weren't the first, and probably won't be the last, people of the Marianas to go through such an ordeal.

When the Europeans came to our islands, they brought with them diseases for which our ancestors had no immunity. The saying, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger," rings true in this case. Exposure to viruses either kills you or strengthens your immunity against them. Being so isolated for thousands of years, our ancestors had no exposure to foreign viruses, and when they were exposed, our people died by the hundreds.

In 1700 a virus of some sort, some suspect influenza or chicken pox, reduced our islands' populations. Others think it was smallpox.

It was described by local missionaries as a catarrh, meaning an inflammation of the mucus membranes, blocking the air passages of the nose and throat and the interior sinuses of the head. Other symptoms were bloody stool, high fevers, body aches and, according to one Jesuit, jaundice.

Since the missionaries were in daily contact with the boys living in their school, the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán, the names of some of the boys who died are mentioned.

Diego Hangi was a boy of 12. Unless there was a word hangi in the past, this could be hangai, which means to go somewhere with a set purpose.

Diego Ramen. Possibly låmen. The Spaniards often wrote R for L, as in Merizo instead of Malesso'. Låmen is a Chamorro word with more than one meaning; to harm, but also in prior times a need or to esteem. It's interesting that two boys named Diego are mentioned. Perhaps Diego was a more common name in the Marianas in 1700 in honor of Diego Luís de Sanvitores.

Lucas Emengro was a boy from Luta. He was unable to receive Viaticum, which is the last Holy Communion of the dying. When at last his vomiting subsided, he received Viaticum and died much consoled having received the Body of the Lord. His last name could have been emanglo', which can mean either to look for wind or to lack wind. The Spaniards often wrote E instead of A (for example Magofña was also spelled Megofña). And then we have the R / L issue again.

Francisco Javier Piritu suffered bad health even before the epidemic. He had so many ulcers all over his body that 60 were counted at one time. A very spiritual boy, he endured all these pains with great patience till death erased all suffering. Here again it is possible his name was pilitu (the R / L issue) but we don't know what pilitu could have meant.

Some of the Chamorros mentioned were not named.

There was a man from Saipan who suffered much with great patience, not uttering one word of complaint. He had made his confession and received the Last Rites, but the priest did not give him Viaticum (holy communion for the dying) because the man appeared to the priest to be somewhat rough. But the sick man called for the priest in the middle of the night and, as the priest neared the house, he could hear the man pray with such devotion that the priest was convinced that the man had real faith and gave him Viaticum.

On Easter Sunday in Malesso', at the priest's orders that all the sick be brought to Mass, the priest was overwhelmed to see the church filled with people, including the sick brought on hammocks or transported in boats. Not a single person in Malesso' missed Mass that day. Still I wonder if it was a wise idea to bring everyone, sick and not sick, together in one place. I suppose it didn't matter; the healthy would still be exposed to the sick in their own homes.

As a kind of a doctor, the Jesuit missionaries usually had a Jesuit brother (not a priest) assigned to Guam who knew something of medicines and basic medical treatment. In 1700, it was Brother Jaime Chávarri, who tended to the sick with whatever medicines he had.

The number of actual victims of this epidemic is unknown. An early report said there were "many" deaths, but a later report says not many died. Perhaps this was the missionary's way of covering up the decrease in population. If islands have fewer people, they then need less personnel. So there would be an interest in keeping the numbers higher.

What we can say is that by 1710 the population was just a little over 3000 people, whereas at the time of Sanvitores' arrival, the population could have been as high as 50,000 if not higher. A prior epidemic in 1688 also killed hundreds.

THE GOOD CARLOS MAAÑAO

 

Our ancestors both welcomed the Spanish missionaries AND opposed them.

One such Chamorro who embraced the Catholic faith was a young boy named Carlos Maañao.

Carlos died on February 22 in the year 1698. The missionaries wrote that he was a student at the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán, the school established in Hagåtña by Sanvitores for the education of select Chamorro boys.

He fell into sickness and two Jesuit priests assisted him in his last days. On his sick bed, Carlos spoke so tenderly and lovingly of Christ suffering on the cross, and of the Blessed Mother, that the priests and the young boys in the Colegio were moved, some to tears. He prayed ardently for the forgiveness of his sins and that he might not have to pass through Purgatory.

When he was told how serious his illness was, he began to go to confession and receive Holy Communion every eight days. He prayed the Rosary devoutly. He died, in the opinion of the missionaries, a holy death.

A CHAMORRO-GREEK PASSION

 

ISABEL GUERRERO VENEZIANO

He was Greek, she was Greek-Chamorro. But their union was not meant to be.

Athanasios Malis, a young Greek man in his 20s came to Guam in 1915 for reasons I am not sure of yet. He had only immigrated to the United States a few years before that, so there's a good possibility it was through the military. He was somehow connected to the American military collier Nereus.

There just happened to be on Guam, at the time, a fellow Greek man named Alexander Veneziano, married to the Chamorro Ana Guerrero. The two Greek gentlemen met, and some kind of friendship formed.

Veneziano had a daughter, the beautiful Isabel. Malis fell in love with her. He claimed she also fell in love with him, and asked him to marry her. 

Isabel denied falling for Malis and, even if she did have feelings for him at first, they didn't last. In 1917, she was giving clear signs to Malis she would not marry him.

Complaints about Malis were lodged by Isabel in April, July and August of that year. Even Isabel's new romantic interest, the Navy pay clerk John Charles Poshepny, filed a complaint. Malis was bothering Isabel and threatening to do harm, even to himself. A telephone operator heard Malis speak abusively to Isabel on the phone.

JOHN CHARLES POSHEPNY

Isabel's future husband filed a complaint against Malis

Malis showed up at Aina de Vásquez's store in Hagåtña, asking to buy bullets for his revolver. Aina wouldn't sell him any. She knew he was having trouble with Isabel. Thank goodness for Aina's good sense. She may have prevented the spilling of blood.

STOREKEEPER AINA DE VÁSQUEZ 

MAY HAVE PREVENTED THE SPILLING OF BLOOD THAT DAY

It wasn't a surprise Aina knew about this drama. Malis could talk about nothing else other than Isabel. Even at work, that's all he would talk about. His work supervisors were of the opinion that Malis was love sick and mentally unbalanced.

So, the Navy doctors were asked to chime in. After examining Malis, they said he wasn't insane, but they recommended Malis be sent away. He was, and the Island Attorney asked that the case be dismissed. It's all recorded in court documents at the time. 

Two years later, in 1919, Athanasios Malis was described on a ship manifest as an "indigent American" traveling from Manila to San Francisco on US Army transport.

In 1920, he was admitted to a mental hospital, the Mendocino State Hospital in Ukiah, California, and was described as speaking irrationally and having delusions. He gave different answers to the same question.

He remained a patient at the hospital all the way till 1950, if not longer, and passed away in 1970. For much of its history, the Mendocino State Hospital was notorious for mixing serial killers and criminally insane with the mentally ill. The hospital was guilty of abuse, such as experimenting on patients and subjecting them to bizarre treatments against their will.

I hope Malis finally found peace in the merciful hands of Jesus. 

"More torturous than anything is the human heart. Beyond remedy; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

AGUEDA JOHNSTON ON COLLABORATORS

 

No one could ever say Agueda Johnston didn't earn her right to say what she had to say about Chamorro collaborators of the Japanese.

She, like many others, suffered much from the hands of the Japanese during the Occupation, who were aided in part by some Chamorro interpreters from Saipan and Luta, and by some collaborators from Guam.

She was beaten and whipped by the Japanese and made to understand in no uncertain terms that her life was just an inch from being lost if the Japanese came up with harder evidence against her for aiding Tweed, the American fugitive. Besides this, her American husband had been shipped off to prison camp in Japan. He died there due to weakened health.

Yet, Agueda did not yield to the Japanese. Even when she felt it would be better for Tweed to turn himself in, rather than see more Chamorro blood run, Agueda did not turn in Tweed herself, nor did she give the Japanese the information they wanted, despite the beating they gave her.

So it's remarkable that Agueda felt compassion and mercy for those local people who did buckle under the strong arm of the Japanese and who did collaborate.

Agueda wrote, "I am inclined to believe most of those accused of collaborating with the Japs were doing it to protect their own skin."

Agueda claimed to know the names of local people who gave the Japanese information that lead to Chamorro deaths, but "since they (the informants) were victims of severe torture and are no longer in the world, I shall not mention their names."

"There were a few who seemed to lose their good sense; on the other hand, there were those who had no choice. We must remember that one of the greatest tragedies of war is its effect on the human mind. People would do things that in ordinary times they would never think of doing."

And so we see that Agueda, like many others, understood that self-preservation is like the first law of nature. We should not be too hasty in condemning others for it. Agueda also said, "Don't be inclined to believe everything you hear." Right after the war, fingers were quick to be pointed; true or false, rumors abounded and people gossiped. Old scores were eager to be settled. You could get back at a prewar enemy by (falsely) accusing them of collaborating with the Japanese.

Even Agueda admitted that she and her family feigned friendliness to the Japanese in order to save their lives. She said she and her children bowed and smiled to the Japanese so much, it was a game they played, in order to avoid being put on a black list by the Japanese. They used flattery and false promises of cooperation to fool the Japanese.

Agueda, who was responsible for the start of Liberation Day celebrations, saw that observance as not only a day of gratitude for liberation from the Japanese, but as a way the Chamorro people of Guam could bury the bad memories of the Occupation, including any desire for retribution even among each other. She wanted those who had "shown delinquencies" during the war to be forgiven and to be allowed to truly live again.

They say never judge someone until you've walked in their shoes.

Agueda walked in the shoes of those abused by the Japanese. She did not cave in. She could have condemned those who did. But she didn't. And so we see another way of interpreting Liberation Day. It also sought liberation from vengeance and retaliation.

Guam Chamorros accused of collaborating with the Japanese; some Japanese residents of Guam; some Chamorro/Japanese mixed race Guam residents; Chamorros from the Northern Marianas were put by the US in a separate stockade in Agaña Heights (present Naval Hospital grounds) after the war.

WOULD-BE GOVERNOR OF GUAM

 

REAR ADMIRAL LOUIS KEMPFF

Captain Richard P. Leary is best known to us as the first American Governor of Guam.

But there was a prior Naval official who might have claimed that distinction but he never made it to Guam.

His name was Louis Kempff.

In December of 1898, the US Secretary of the Navy assigned him to take command of the Naval forces on Guam. This was eight months before Leary came to Guam.

Captain Henry Glass had taken the Spanish government officials away from Guam in June of 1898, but then sailed off to Manila, leaving Guam in a state of political uncertainty. A Spanish civilian official claimed power, and so did some local Chamorros, and various American Naval officials passing through made this or that change in Guam's government. But nobody knew what was up or down.

Even when the fighting stopped in August between American and Spanish forces, Guam's destiny was not immediately clear. It had to go all the way to December of 1898 for the Treaty of Paris to make clear that Guam would now be a possession of the United States.

Fine. But under who specifically?

Just before the Treaty was signed, President McKinley made that decision. Through Executive Order 108-A, Guam would now come under the rule of the US Department of the Navy. It took another month, in January of 1899, for McKinley to appoint Leary the first American Governor of Guam.

But prior to Leary's appointment, sometime in December of 1898, Captain Louis Kempff was supposedly tapped for the job as Governor of Guam, but by a lower authority than the President himself. It was Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long who had chosen Kempff. This was overturned by the US President within a month's time.

So what happened?

There were some reports that Kempff balked at the idea of going to Guam. Even his influential friends campaigned to have that appointment changed.

Apparently enough voices were heard in the Oval Office and McKinley changed the appointment and chose Leary instead.

Kempff went on to serve in a more newsworthy capacity in China and especially during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 when certain Chinese militants rose up against the foreign presence in China. It took close to 2 years for the Americans, Europeans and Japanese to put down the uprising. Kempff was made Rear Admiral in 1899.

THE FAMOUS KAMALEN FIRE

 

Everyone has their version of the ways things happened in the past. 

The following story comes from the late Sister Mary Mark Martinez, a Mercy Sister who was 17 years old and present in Hagåtña on December 8, 1945 when the first procession with Our Lady of Camarin (Sånta Marian Kamalen) took place since 1940. The procession in 1941 was impossible to observe since the Japanese attacked Guam on that day. I had many talks with Sister Mark; the closer she got to her death, the more openly she shared things about the war she previously was hesitant to share.

SISTER MARY MARK MARTINEZ, RSM

After having moved around to be sheltered in several places during the Japanese Occupation and having survived American bombing, the statue of Our Lady of Camarin looked weathered and worn after the war. Her hair, especially, made from hemp, was disheveled. The Sodality girls used shampoo and chemicals to smooth out the hair as best they could.

The karosa, or wheeled cart, to be used for the procession in 1945 was the same one used before the war. Even the crescent moon which was placed at the rear of the karosa, providing a background for the statue, was the one that was supposed to be used in the 1941 procession. The karosa was heavily decorated, as usual, with cotton balls simulating clouds placed all around. The afternoon had clear skies; everyone was overjoyed that they could be with their beloved Blessed Mother on her feast day. The procession was coming to an end.

When the karosa entered the temporary church built on the same site as the prewar Cathedral, the crowds gathered around Our Lady on the karosa. Father Calvo told the people to blow out the candles they had carried in their hands during the procession. One old lady, probably hard of hearing, did not hear this instruction and knelt close to the karosa with her lit candle. Up in flames the fabric, crepe paper and cotton balls went on the karosa!

The fire spread fast and furious; so quickly that many people were stunned and did not move. Within seconds, though, people started to scream in Chamorro, “Save our Lady!” “Såtba si Sånta Maria!” Men wearing jackets took them off and started to beat the flames, trying to kill them. The crescent went up in flames and withered away. Amidst the screams of the people, a man stuck his arms into the karosa and pulled out the statue. Not a hair on his arms was singed, nor his skin burnt. This point alone amazed the people, besides the fact that the statue, too, did not burn at all, including not a single strand of her "hair."

JOSÉ DUEÑAS LEÓN GUERRERO

Since I'm writing this, I think I better mention that José Dueñas León Guerrero claimed to have been the man who rescued the statue from the flames.

NOTES ON LEADING CHAMORRO MEN

 

In 1874, a Spaniard by the name of Francisco Chacón Lara was exiled to Guam for political reasons. Years later, he wrote a book about his time on Guam in which he shares some anecdotes about some of the Chamorros he got to know about.

RITA CRUZ TORRES. She was the mother of the first Chamorro priest, José Bernardo Torres Palomo. Although Rita was long dead when Chacón was on Guam (she died in the smallpx epidemic of 1856), Chacón wrote of her reputation as a very generous contributor to works of charity for the unfortunate. He said that her son, Padre Palomo, followed her example in this regard.

PADRE PALOMO

Son of a charitable and generous mother

JUAN DE CASTRO. A sergeant in the Chamorro militia, he was also an important government official in charge of many things, including the provincial archives, personnel, the supervision of public works projects and the courts. He received a monthly salary of 15 pesos. Unfortunately, there were several men of adult age by the name of Juan de Castro at that time so more research is needed to figure out which Juan de Castro is mentioned here.

JOSÉ CRUZ PÉREZ was Gobernadorcillo (Mayor) of Hagåtña. He had various other roles, too, in the Spanish Government.

JUAN GUERRERO was the English interpreter for the Government. English was an important language to know as the British and Americans were a constant presence in the Pacific by the 1800s, especially with the whaling trade. Quite a number of Chamorros spoke some English because of their contact with the whalers or because they themselves joined the whaling crews for a while then came back. 

I was thinking this Juan Guerrero is the same Juan Guerrero from Guam who lived in Hawaii in the 1850s to the 1870s but Juan Guerrero died in Hawaii in 1878, so he probably was not the same Juan Guerrero who was English interpreter on Guam in 1874. 

VICENTE PANGELINAN is remembered as a man working in the Spanish Government financial offices. This was quite possible Vicente Luján Pangelinan, who married Antonia Martínez Pangelinan connected to the Pedro Martínez family of later fame.

Known as outstanding farmers are JOSÉ SABLAN AGUILAR, LUÍS LINO, ANDRÉS CRUZ DE CASTRO, VICENTE MENDIOLA, FRANCISCO FLORES and LUÍS GUZMÁN SABLAN. "Lino" is not a last name, so it could be his nickname, being a son of a father named Lino, and more than one person can fit that description. 

MANUEL PANGELINAN was an excellent carpenter.

JOSÉ HERRERO was a skilled tailor. There was only one José Herrero old enough in 1874 to qualify as is, and that was José Aguon Herrero, the son of the former Spanish Governor José Ganga Herrero.

JUAN GUERRERO and JUAN ARRIOLA were good tin smiths.

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ was a jack-of-all-trades. He was a prosperous farmer, too, with many children, most of them daughters who were sought after by many male suitors. 

FRANCISCO PÉREZ was a highly-regarded locksmith and blacksmith.

LUÍS MARTÍNEZ BAZA was called a "smart and inventive" man, but Chacón considered him an arrogant, strong-willed man. Baza was a fighter, who filed lawsuits against the Spanish Government. Baza was engaged in commerce and business. He was also engaged in commerce and operated a store in Hagåtña up to American times. He is the grandfather of Rosie Herrero Baza, the widow of former Governor Paul McDonald Calvo.

NOTABLE VICTIMS OF 1918 INFLUENZA

 

The 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic hit Guam like a ton of bricks.

It began in November and, by the end of that month, more people had died in one month than in entire years prior to the pandemic. Some 673 Guam residents died that month alone, and in the entire year prior to this, in 1917, only 243 Guam had died. So many people were dying daily that carts were brought up and down Hagåtña's street picking up bodies to be buried quickly at Pigo cemetery. 

The flu was very bad on the elderly. Some of the island's oldest people died in November 1918. Every human life is precious, but some stand out because they were patriarchs or matriarchs of large clans, or were notable people in the community or lived to a very long age. Here are some of them who died in November 1918 during the pandemic.

GREGORIO CRUZ PÉREZ

Goyo

HUSBAND AND WIFE DIE DAYS APART

Gregorio Cruz Pérez and Rosa Aguon Flores

GREGORIO CRUZ PÉREZ was the founder of the Goyo clan of Perezes, which has played an important part in Guam's recent history. Gregorio himself was a big landowner and held some civic posts, including Associate Judge. Some of his descendants include Guam politicians (including a Governor, Felix Camacho) and businessmen. He died at age 71.

Just two days later, in the same pandemic, his wife ROSA AGUON FLORES, of the Kabesa clan, passed away at age 75. They are buried in the family cemetery in Yigo.

NICOLÁS AND AGUSTÍN EVARISTO DUEÑAS

Brothers

Two brothers, from a respectable family who themselves are the patriarchs of many descendants, died days apart because of the pandemic.

NICOLÁS EVARISTO DUEÑAS was the grandfather of Father Jesús Baza Dueñas, only the 2nd Chamorro priest ordained in history and who was executed by the Japanese in 1944. He is also the great grandfather of Judge Cristóbal Camacho Dueñas. He was 87 when he died.

His younger brother AGUSTÍN died not long after. Agustín is the founder of Oting clan, and another branch coming from the Oting clan is the Kaila family. He died at age 74.

KATSON

One branch of Aflagues are known as the Katson family. VICENTE FLORES AFLAGUE was one of them, the son of Manuel Camacho Aflague who served as a judge during Spanish times. Vicente's mother was Saturnina Manalisay Flores.

Just 54 years old, Vicente died from the Spanish influenza.

He was the great grandfather of Governor Lourdes Aflague León Guerrero.

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ

Although he did not leave many male descendants, ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ, while he lived, was one of Guam's highest level elites. He had tremendous land holdings, including a cattle ranch in Dandan. His several daughters married prominent men, including foreigners. He died from influenza at the age of 81.

KUETO

JUANA PÉREZ SAN NICOLÁS was the matriarch of the large Kueto clan. Her husband, who did not die from influenza and who lived many more years after the pandemic, was José Mendiola Taitano, a former whaler. When a Protestant mission was opened on Guam as soon as the Americans took over Guam, José'n Kueto joined them. Juana was 68 when she died, leaving behind many children whose descendants include many politicians, including a Governor (Carl Gutiérrez). She is buried in the Custino (General Baptist) Cemetery in what is now called East Agaña.

HUSBAND AND WIFE DIE SAME DAY

Down in Sumay, a husband and wife died from influenza on the same day. They were FRANCISCO GUZMÁN SABLAN, aged 80, and his wife ANDREA DÍAZ PÉREZ, aged 73. What a sad day for that family to have to bury both spouses on the same day. They left many descendants.

OTHERS

Others who perished in the pandemic were PEDRO GUZMÁN SABLAN, the grandfather of Baptist minister Reverend Joaquín Flores Sablan. He was 76.

FÉLIX BORJA PANGELINAN, of the numerous Kotla clan, died at age 45. Still being relatively young, his widow remarried.

TITO QUICHOCHO BAZA, patriarch of many Bazas in Yoña and a large landowner, died of influenza at age 59.

MARÍA LUJÁN IGLESIAS was 54 when she died of influenza. She was the grandmother of Agueda Iglesias Johnston. 

OLDEST

The oldest victim of the Spanish Influenza of 1918 we have on record was JOSEFA DEMAPAN TANOÑA. She was 99 years old, and possibly older, since ages were notoriously inaccurate in those days, as many people could neither read nor write and documentation was not only unnecessary but also useless to many people in those days.

Josefa was married to a Borja and they had land in Cañada, Barrigada.

And so, these members of Guam's past and present history pictured above, a Protestant minister, a Catholic priest, a leading island educator and a Governor of Guam all lost a grandparent or great grandparent in the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1918 that took the lives of over 600 people on Guam in pretty much a month's time. 

STEALING PORK

 

In March of 1928, Antonio Concepción Pérez from Sumay killed a pig and hung it up to dry, after cleaning it, in his kitchen, which was a separate structure by his house. The pig was to be cooked to feed the men helping him reroof his house. In those days, when most homes had thatched roofs, people joined together to replace the old leaves with new ones. Some people wove, some people threw the fronds up to others who were fastening the new fronds to the roof. Women generally did the cooking to feed the workers.

In those days, people often left their doors unlocked, and that night Antonio did just that. He went to bed without locking the kitchen door. His wife, Ana Rivera Babauta, discovered in the morning that some of the pork had been cut away during the night. Taken away were part of the pig's belly and its hind legs. An estimated 50 pounds of meat had been stolen.

Antonio tried to find out who could have stolen the meat. A woman named Rita happened to notice that a certain José had pork in his house, and Rita asked José's sister how did her brother get the meat. She said José had bought it from Antonio. Now Antonio had a suspect, and he reported it to the Sumay Commissioner (what we call Mayor now), Joaquín Cruz Díaz.

Díaz questioned José, but José denied stealing the pork. José said, at the time Antonio's pork went missing, he had been at his ranch in Chalan Taipilan, an area in the vicinity of Sumay, to look after a sick pig of his. He found the pig dead and cut it up. A witness, Pedro Taitano Santos, testified that he was with José the day after José said he was at his ranch, cutting up the dead pig, and that José was sleepy, and that José explained he was sleepy because he was up all night cutting his dead pig.

PREWAR SUMAY

HE PLEADS GUILTY

And then, just like that, José admitted his guilt before the court.

He was sentenced to four months' imprisonment and to pay Antonio for the stolen pork.

We do not know what induced José to change his mind. Did he think it would just be a matter of time that some evidence is discovered or some witness come forward?

Could it have been a troubled conscience?

It's noteworthy that a good number of accused on Guam before the war plead guilty when brought before the court, for a number of different crimes.

Perhaps people, being more religious before the war, had a stronger conscience. They might be criminals, but they were honest about it.

NO NEW YEAR'S EVE

 

Prior to the establishment of a Catholic mission and Spanish government in the Marianas, there was no western calendar in the Marianas as we have today. We're not even sure if our ancestors marked the passing of an old year and how many past years had gone by.

But when the Marianas did enter western time-keeping, the Marianas were on the eastern side of the Date Line, as can be seen in the German map of the Date Line above.

Notice that the Philippines was also on the eastern side of the Date Line in the map, and that explains it all.

When both the Marianas and the Philippines first came under Spanish rule, power flowed from Spain then to Mexico and then to the Marianas/Philippines. Since Mexico is east of the Date Line, so were the Philippines and the Marianas.

But then Mexico became independent of Spain in 1821 and contact between Mexico and the Philippines/Marianas dwindled to barely anything.

NARCISO CLAVERIA

Governor-General of the Philippines in 1844

The Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, Narciso Claveria, decided to place the Philippines and the Marianas (which were under his authority) on the Asian, or western, side of the Date Line since our islands had more contact with Asia now.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE FROM 1899 EXPLAINS THE STORY

In order to achieve this, Claveria decided that December 31, 1844 would not exist on the calendar. December 30, 1844 would be immediately followed by January 1, 1845 and the Philippines and Marianas would now be one day ahead of Mexico, the United States and Hawaii.

So, December 31, 1844, or New Year's Eve that year, never happened in the Marianas.

COMMENDED BY SPAIN

 

CIVIL ORDER OF CHARITY OF SPAIN

Orden Civil de Beneficiencia

From 1872 to 1876, Spanish society was rocked by a civil war. The Carlistas were a political faction in Spain that supported a different line of kings than the one then in power. The Carlist uprisings were eventually squashed by the ruling Spanish government.

Those captured in the war faced deportation to several places around the world under Spanish jurisdiction, including the Marianas. When the Spanish deportados, or deportees, landed in the Marianas, there was no prison big enough to house them all. Feeding them, too, was an issue.

OLD HAGÅTÑA

In order to handle this situation, many deportados were allowed to live with Guam families, both Spanish and Chamorro. Some families accommodated these deportados in such a way that the Spanish Government wanted to commend them in some way when the war was done.

In 1878, the Overseas Ministry of the Spanish Government was given permission to award half a dozen Chamorros and some Spaniards with membership in the Órden Civil de Beneficiencia, or the Civil Order of Charity. This distinction recognized acts of extraordinary service by individuals to the community in times of calamity, natural or otherwise.

The Chamorros so awarded were :

FATHER JOSÉ TORRES PALOMO. He was the first Chamorro priest, ordained in Cebu in 1859. Since he was not a member of a religious Order, who have the vow of poverty, Palomo was free to own his own houses and properties, so he was able to house deportados in his own private residence. Father Palomo lived to see the Americans take over Guam and he did nothing to stand in the way; in fact, he was considered by the Americans a great help in showing cooperation with the new regime. He died in 1919.

FATHER JOSÉ TORRES PALOMO

ANDRÉS CRUZ CASTRO. He was an officer in the Chamorro militia, known as the Compañía de Dotación. Castro was married to Ramona Alejandro.

FRANCISCO DÍAZ TORRES. Descendant of the famous official Luís de Torres. He was married to Joaquina Crisóstomo Martínez. 

FÉLIX DÍAZ TORRES. Brother of Francisco and also a descendant of the celebrated Luís de Torres. He was married to Martínez then Rosa Salar Pérez.

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ. His daughter Josefa married a Spaniard named Julián Sáiz. Antonio was married to Eduviges Díaz Wilson, the daughter of the Irishman James Wilson and the Chamorro Rufina Díaz.

JOSÉ RIVERA PÉREZ. He was a Sergeant in the local military force.

VICENTE OLIVARES CALVO. Although technically not a Chamorro, he was a Spanish-Filipino mestizo whose whole family had firm Marianas roots, dividing their lives equally between Manila and Guam. Some in his family married Chamorros, so I consider Vicente to be "local," if not Chamorro by blood. Among the various things he did, he was for a time the captain of the port at Apra, in charge of the arrival and departure of various ships. His children mainly lived in the Philippines so he has no descendants on Guam, but he is an uncle to the other Calvos who did remain on Guam.

FIRST AMERICAN SHIP ON GUAM?

AMERICAN FLAG IN 1792

When the Hope set sail

In March of 1792, the American ship Hope, under the command of Captain Benjamin Page, left Providence, Rhode Island and made its way over many months to the Pacific Ocean.

In February of 1793, the Hope touched at Tinian - but there was nobody there! The Americans found Tinian full of cattle, pigs and abundant fruit, but all untended. The temporary Chamorro workers from Guam (and some perhaps from Luta) had not been there for a while. They got water from the well near the House of Taga.

In 1798, another American ship, the Betsey, commanded by Captain Edmund Fanning, reached Tinian on July 14. But the only people living on Tinian at the time were a shipwrecked crew, including two women and a baby, who were rescued and taken away. Many of the crew were Malays and Indians, and these were left behind on Tinian by the Betsey, only to be apprehended later by the Spaniards from Guam who must have heard of a group of foreigners living on Tinian.

One of the crew, an Indian, ran into the woods of Tinian and escaped capture by the Spaniards. Luckily for him, Captain Benjamin Page returned to Tinian in November of 1798, this time on the commercial American ship, the Ann and Hope. The Indian was rescued, but no Spaniards or Chamorros were found on Tinian.

The first American ship to visit Guam was the Resource, in the year 1799. 

The Resource did not make much of a splash while it was here on Guam. All that is said is that the ship took on supplies and allowed the crew some shore time for relaxation. Much more valuable for history's sake was the visit of the next American ship, the Lydia, in 1802. A member of that crew wrote many pages of what he observed on Guam when he was here and we still have that account.

I have found, so far, only one American ship called the Resource during the same period it supposedly came to Guam. It was not described as a whaling ship but it was a commercial ship, transporting goods. It is also on record for having made foreign journeys on business. So, conceivably, this is the same Resource that visited Guam. It was owned by a J. Sanford Barker in Charleston, South Carolina. But, for all we know, this could have been another ship by the same name, though that is rare.

PEACE CORPS ACCULTURATION

 

The Peace Corps is an independent agency of the US Government which enlists volunteers who go out to developing countries to assist in their progress in many areas of life.

Since all of Micronesia, except Guam, was considered "foreign" in the sense that none of those islands were formally part of the United States at the time, Peace Corps volunteers could be found all over Micronesia. In the late 1960s and early 70s, that volunteerism often blended with the cultural revolution going on in the US. Many young people in those days wanted to break out of "old fashioned" cultural norms.

A number of Peace Corps volunteers, then, sought to adopt the various Micronesian cultures in which they worked. They wanted to live like the people they were working with, and even dress, or undress, like them.

Renowned Saipan singer Candy Taman told me the story of one such Peace Corps volunteer.

It was the early 1970s, when one could still watch passengers descend from the airplanes when they landed. Security was very lax in those days. There were no jetways. The airplane door opened and passengers went down the stairs onto the tarmac. Friends and family members coming to pick up arriving passengers got up very close to the plane, separated from the runway by a chain-link fence or sometimes just a concrete or wooden barrier.

Candy related to me,

"Påle', katna måtai yo' annai hu li'e' un palao'an Peace Corps annai humuyong gi batkonaire ya tåya' ni håfafa chininå-ña! Annok todo i sisu-ña. Ya blondie na Amerikåna! Sus te guåtde!"

"Father, I almost died when I saw a Peace Corps woman exit the plane and she had no blouse on at all! All her breasts were exposed. And she was a blonde American! Oh my gosh!"

It was one thing to see a Yapese, Ulithian or Outer Islander woman topless, but a blonde, blue-eyed American lady from Wisconsin or where-have-you? It was too much.

I don't think this thing happened much, but it did happen.

Usually the Peace Corps taught in schools or helped in community projects, among other things.

A Peace Corps volunteer assisting in a water supply project in Chuuk

ONE-PARTY VILLAGES?

 

It used to be that Guam, in the 1950s and 60s, was almost a one-party island.

The Popular Party, and then the Democratic Party, held onto 100% of the Guam Legislature between 1956 and 1970, with just a two-year break (1964 to 1966) when the Territorial Party won the majority.

By 1970, Guam had become a two-party island, with the newly-established Republican Party winning some seats in the Legislature and even eventually the majority of the Legislature for a time. The Republicans also did well in the Gubernatorial elections, starting with the first one in 1970 which they won.

VILLAGE COMMISSIONERS / MAYORS

THREE CANDIDATES FOR COMMISSIONER IN 1968

NO PARTY AFFILIATION STATED

Up until 1970, village Commissioners (what we now call Mayors) were not elected under a party banner.

In 1970, a law was passed giving some villages (Dededo, Hågat) an Assistant Commissioner. So an election was held that year for that position, and this time it was by party affiliation. No Commissioner was being elected in 1970, since the last election for that office was in 1968 for a four-year term.

It was not until the 1972 election that candidates for Commissioner were now placed on the ballot under a party, Democrat or Republican.

Even when the Commissioner's office was non-partisan, nearly all the Commissioners were known for their allegiance to one of the two parties. It's just that they didn't run under a political party till 1972.

SINCE 1972 : NEVER ELECTED A DEMOCRAT

ALL MANGILAO MAYORS SINCE 1972 HAVE BEEN REPUBLICANS

But since the office of Commissioner (later Mayor) became partisan in 1972, three villages have never elected a Democrat as Commissioner or Mayor.

They are :

MANGILAO

Nick Francisco, Nito Blas and Allan Ungacta have all been Republicans.

TAMUNING

Greg Calvo, Sr., Al Dungca, Luís Herrero, Concepción Dueñas, Francisco Blas and Louise Rivera have all been Republicans.

HAGÅTÑA

For the record, in 1972, Hagåtña elected an Independent. Tomás Flores Mendiola ran as an Independent seeking the seat of the Republican incumbent at the time, Lucas San Nicolás.

Still, electing an Independent is not the same as electing a Democrat, and everyone knew that Mendiola was a Republican, and he identified as such in the 1976 election. But since he was after a sitting Republican's position in 1972, he ran as an Independent.

Those who came after Mendiola - Félix Ungacta and John Cruz - have both been Republicans.

NEVER ELECTED A REPUBLICAN

ALL DEMOCRATS

On the other end of the political spectrum is my village - SINAJAÑA - which has never elected a Republican Commissioner or Mayor since the office became partisan in 1972. Sometimes the Republicans just didn't enter a candidate at all for the mayoral race in Sinajaña.

Every other village on Guam has elected Commissioners or Mayors from either party, even if it was only one time for one of the two parties.

2024 ELECTION

Among all four villages which have never elected a Mayor from the opposing party, things will stay exactly the same for the next four years. This year, the voters will elect their Mayor for the next four years, but in three of these four villages, the current incumbent is running unopposed, securing their victory before a single ballot has been cast.

They are :

MANGILAO	ALLAN UNGACTA	REPUBLICAN
SINAJAÑA	ROBERT HOFMANN	DEMOCRAT
TAMUNING	LOUISE RIVERA	REPUBLICAN

Because these three incumbents have been automatically re-elected, their respective parties retain the Mayor's position.

But even in the fourth village, where there are more than one candidate for Mayor, both candidates are from the same party.

They are from Hagåtña and they are both Republicans.

HAGÅTÑA	JOVYNA SAN AGUSTIN	REPUBLICAN
HAGÅTÑA	MICHAEL GUMATAOTAO	REPUBLICAN

Thus, no matter who wins the Mayor's position for Hagåtña in 2024, it will be a Republican, maintaining that party's exclusive claim on that office for now.

THE FUTURE

Only God knows if, one day in the future, a Democratic Mayor will be elected in Hagåtña, Mangilao or Tamuning, and a Republican Mayor in Sinajaña.

Most people would agree that, in the near future, the hardest would be Sinajaña, where the Democratic Party has been historically so strong that even the occasional Republican is dissuaded from running. "Don't even bother," some are told, if they are Republican. But fifty years from now? Who knows?

Mangilao might have the better chance for a Democrat to be elected. Its population is very mixed politically, and it all depends if the Democrats can present a strong candidate one day.

Hagåtña and Tamuning tend to be Republican, but the future depends on the attractiveness of the individual candidate and on weakening party loyalty. A Democrat may well win in those villages, but the future remains to be seen.