A Biographical Sketch of American Samoa’s Thirty-fifth Governor
(and First Appointed Civil Governor): Phelps Phelps (Term of Office: February 23, 1951-June 20, 1952)
By Alex Phelps, nephew of Phelps Phelps
Phelps Phelps was born Phelps von Rottenburg, May 4, 1897, at Bonn, Germany. His father was Dr. Franz von Rottenburg (1), born 1845, at Danzig, Prussia, died, February 14, 1907, at Bonn. His mother was Marian (Phelps), born August 10, 1868, at Teaneck, New Jersey, died July 1, 1922, at New York City. Phelps had a sister, Frances, born July 30, 1895, at Bonn, died April 26, Lausanne, Switzerland. Phelps' father's family were shippers; his mother's, independently wealthy (2).
In about 1899 (3), Marian left Franz and Germany, returning to Teaneck, New Jersey, with both their children. There they were raised by Marian and her widowed mother, Ellen Maria (4). Phelps attended Yale, 1916 (5), then enlisted in August, 1917, reporting to the Aviation School, U.S. School of Military Aeronautics at Ithaca, N.Y., on October 1. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in Canada, before being demobilized at the end of the year (6). Attending Williams College, Phelps graduated in 1922, and from Fordham Law School in 1925. From 1923-'24, he was New York City's Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs. From 1924 - '28, he was a Republican State Assemblyman from Greenwich Village (7).
Following the 1932 Republican Convention, Phelps broke with the party, becoming a Democrat. He was a New York Delegate to the 1936 Democratic National Convention. From 1937-'38, he was an Assemblyman, and a State Senator from 1939-'42, when he lost his seat through reapportionment.
A commissioned officer in the Reserve Corps from 1933-1941, during World War II, Phelps, enlisting in the Army in 1942, was in the infantry, rising to the rank of captain. Following the end of the war, he served on the Japanese War Crimes Tribunal. He was demobilized through Camp Stoneman, California, in 1947.
Appointed by President Truman as the first civilian governor to American Samoa, Phelps served from February 23, 1951, to June 20, 1952 (8A). From June 27, 1952, to May 30, 1953, he was Ambassador to the Dominican Republic (8B). He was a New York Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1956 and 1960 and also, a Delegate to the New Jersey State Constitutional Convention in 1966 (9).
For about ten years from the mid 50s to 60s, Phelps was a Commissioner for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission (10).
Phelps authored two books: Our Defenses Within And Without, 1932, and America On Trial, 1933 (11). He was also a radio commentator, hosting a weekly show of political comment (12).
For many years, Phelps lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. He died June 10, 1981, at Wildwood, New Jersey (13). He was buried, July 3, at Arlington National Cemetery, Columbarium: Court 1, Section K, Stack 11, Niche 4.
Franz (1845-1907) was educated at Göttingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. At Heidelberg he is said to have been the best swordsman of his time - while I have pictures of him, no dueling scars are apparent. His field was law and he spent several years in France, studying French constitutional law. In 1876, he married Marian Hutton, an Englishwoman. There were two children, Otto and Elizabeth. The publication of his book "The Conception of the State" brought him to the attention of Bismarck, to whose staff he became attached in 1879. Made Chief of the Chancellery, he provided continuum for German policies following Bismarck's ouster in 1890. Appointed Undersecretary to the Minister for the Interior, he resigned in 1896, due to ill health. At the siege of Metz in the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, acting as a medical orderly he contracted typhoid fever, which had a permanently enervating effect upon his system. Appointed Curator (director) of Bonn University, he spent the rest of his life exploring social issues in a spirit of what was then seen as advanced liberalism. His doctorate, LL.D., was an honorarium awarded by Yale in 1899, the only occasion on which he visited the United States.
Marian's father, William Walter Phelps (1839-1894) was a corporation lawyer (law degree from Columbia), a four-term Republican Congressman from the Fifth District of New Jersey (1874-1876: Ulysses Grant's second term; 1883-1889, Chester Arthur and Grover Cleveland's first term), a diplomat (appointed Minister to Austria-Hungary by James Garfield, 1880, and by Benjamin Harrison to Germany, 1890), and a jurist, appointed by Governor Wertz of New Jersey to the State Court of Errors and Appeals, 1893. In 1889, he was appointed one of three U.S. commissioners to the Berlin conference on Samoa. A graduate of Yale (1860), with others he spearheaded the secular reorganization of the university's administration in 1870, being appointed a Trustee, in which position he remained for twenty years. Phelps Gate/Hall entrance to the Old Campus was raised in memory of him. In 1860, he married Ellen Maria Sheffield. There were three children: John Jay (1861-1948), Sheffield (1864-1902), and Marian (1868-1922). William Walter inherited wealth from his father, John Jay (1810-'69), a successful entrepreneur from Simsbury, Connecticut, who made his first fortune in the wholesale dry goods business in New York. A successful corporation lawyer from 1864-1869, William Walter sat on the boards of nine railroads and speculated on vast tracts of land in Texas. He owned 15,000 acres in northern New Jersey, 2,000 of them his estate at Teaneck, just across the Hudson from Manhattan - this acreage represented half the area of the town. As a commissioner of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, Phelps Phelps, William Walter's grandson, would oversee much of this land, which had by then passed out of the family's hands.
The exact date is not known, but the family believes that her departure coincided with Franz's one trip to the U.S. to receive his doctorate from Yale in 1899.
Ellen Maria Sheffield (1838-1920) was one of a number of daughters of Joseph Earl Sheffield (1793-1882). Joseph Earl was, first, a cotton shipper, then a railroad financier. Retiring in 1856, he devoted much of the rest of his life and much of his wealth to supporting the Sheffield Scientific School of Engineering at Yale, of which he was the principal benefactor.
Phelps was sent down from Yale for paying another student to take his exams.
I believe Phelps was attached to something called the Eighth Wing in the Canadian RFC. He was demobilized after a short time because there was an oversupply of pilots. I don't know whether he ever actually got in the air, but he was a founder of the Aero Club at Williams College.
Phelps' years as a Republican in New York city coincided with the term of the last Tammany Hall mayor of New York, Jimmy Walker. Family lore has it that he associated with Walker, but, while it was said that he was involved in some of his rackets, family envy is the probable source of this rumor - Phelps had lots of money and didn't need to get in the gutter. At the same time, he was a bon vivant and probably enjoyed the same nightclubs as Walker - "Beau James," "The Night Mayor," as he was known.
See the attached, "Phelps Phelps' Diplomatic Career," below.
Following his diplomatic postings, Phelps made efforts to get back into politics. I don't know the whole story, but I'm told that, in New Jersey where he was very popular, he was shut out by the Jersey Jewish political machine because he threatened to reveal their corruption. Another aspect that went against him was that he never married and had a family-he lived, consecutively, with four women.
As noted above (2), some of the land overseen by the Commission had been family owned.
Phelps' two books were written at a time when America was greatly challenged. Despite the Crash of '29, it wasn't until 1932 that the bottom of the market was finally signaled, and, of course, the Depression was having a devastating effect on the country. The first book, Our Defenses, aims to summarize the state of the country. There is much, and rather tedious, discussion of naval tonnage and so forth. On the other hand, he points usefully to the ways in which the courts had become corrupted in the process of enforcing Prohibition. The second book, written as the first glimmer of light in the shape of Roosevelt was becoming apparent, addresses economic policies and looks ahead to the future in a visionary manner. Phelps was politically of the persuasion that trade was preferable to war; in fact, I think it safe to say that he saw most international relations in the context of trade, which would aid in bringing light to developing countries. During Eisenhower's first term, Phelps split with him over the Point Four program. This was a foreign-aid program begun by Truman and initially administered by the Technical Cooperation Administration, a separate unit within the Department of State, established by Congress in 1950. When Eisenhower integrated it into the overall foreign aid program, Phelps believed it would lose its usefulness through becoming hostage to larger military interests. (Given Phelps' interests in trade as policy, it was no doubt disappointing to him that he was unable to improve the economy of American Samoa during his tenure.)
I don't have any details on this, but I suspect it was following WWII. Another more personal note is that Phelps was a great baseball fan and knew many of the players of his day. He died just before the first baseball strike. I always thought that was merciful, for he would have been appalled.
Phelps lived the last six or seven years in Wildwood, New Jersey, 'the convention capital of the East coast,' as it is sometimes described - B.P.O.E. etc. It seemed an odd place for him. He lived just off the boardwalk with his last companion, a Pole, Rosemary Weitz - she liked to be known as 'Wildwood Rosie' - who owned a couple of boarding houses. The truth was Phelps never worried much about his environment. For a number of years, he lived in a hotel in Jersey City - not exactly a beauty spot.
A brief appreciation of Phelps Phelps
The family patriarch William Walter Phelps' expectations for the future had unexpected and unforeseen consequences. To his oldest son, John Jay, he passed on the management of his estate. Sheffield, the other male, was given a very handsome financial inheritance. This division was foreshadowed by sibling rivalry between the brothers, which led to a rift between them following their father's death. Though John Jay married, he did not produce a male heir. Sheffield produced the first potential male heir, before William Walter died. Following William Walter's death, there was a veritable race to produce male offspring. Contrary fate, however, produced but a number of girls. At the last, Phelps Phelps was born and, while he was second past the post, William Walter's endorsement of his mother, Marian, as the standard bearer for the family, made him the de facto winner.
John Jay was apparently little affected by his father's ambitions for the family and never engaged in politics. He enjoyed what most would see as an enviably privileged life. He had two daughters, one of whom married, taking with her a major portion of the family's wealth. Following William Walter's death, Sheffield and his family moved to Aiken, South Carolina, away from Teaneck and the rest of the family. There, he pursued an extravagant life, dying prematurely in 1902 from the effects of drinking bad water. His widow found herself with three children and, unexpectedly, almost penniless. Fortunately, through associates of her father, a Delaware banker and, later, state governor, she managed to survive in the manner to which she was accustomed.
Meanwhile, at Teaneck, Phelps von Rottenburg became Phelps Phelps, enjoying all the attention the expectations placed upon him presupposed in such a wealthy setting - to the exclusion of his sister, Frances, my mother. She grew angry and resentful because of this and remained so throughout her life. In the 1920s, she left America, never to return; neither would she have any relations with her brother. Her response to an uncooperative world was to strive to produce, in her turn, a successful male, but this was doomed by a clumsy approach and the fact that she did not like males - of any sort. I will leave you to imagine the rest, if you will.
While Phelps Phelps could do no wrong, he expressed a passive rejection of the mantle thrust upon him. While revering his mother, he failed to marry and produce offspring. Equally, in a more material vein, he refused to own property of any sort and lived his life in hotels and clubs, and, at the end, in someone else's house. In the political sphere - noting his party change - while he supported the two parties, there was, certainly compared with his grandfather's political career, a certain lack of drive, an unwillingness to commit wholeheartedly. Despite this, he had strong political opinions. Living in his age of expanding empire, he saw expansion through trade, as opposed to war. How enlightened this was, depends on the point of view. When Jimmy Carter's policies became infused with a moral crusade, he left the Democrats and returned to the Republican party.
A genial, hospitable individual, who enjoyed life, he had a good one.
Phelps Phelps' diplomatic career
1) Civilian Governor of American Samoa
Following the Second World War, the United States was in possession of a large area of the Pacific. Recognizing the island groups as a trust territory, the United Nations passed them to the United States to administer. Since a treaty of 1899 between the United States, Great Britain and Germany, and the Deed of Cession of 1900, eastern Samoa, comprising the islands of Tutuila, Aunu¢u and the Manu¢a Islands, had been under the administration of the Department of the Navy. In 1947, in Truman's administration, it was agreed that the Department of the Interior should assume these responsibilities. In 1949, transfer plans were arranged and the date of July 1, 1951, set for the event. On February 22, 1951, Phelps Phelps arrived at the port of Pago Pago in Tutuila; the following day, he relieved the acting governor, representing the Navy Department until the date for the islands' transfer to the Department of the Interior.
A major problem involved in this transfer was posed by the need to replace the revenues that had accrued to the islands through the Navy's presence. While less than a full answer, it was decided to institute a yearly federal grant in aid of $790,000.
"The most serious problem facing Governor Phelps was the rapidly fading economy. The war had created what some referred to as "a false economy." Once the war ended and the navy departed, the economy had little foundation on which to expand. Phelps hoped to bring in outside capital by using the oil storage facilities to sell oil to shipping and to lure airlines from the growing South Pacific commercial airline market to the airport at Tafuna. He also made every effort to encourage Samoans to produce more copra for export and to make Samoan handicrafts for export to Honolulu to sell to tourists on the oceanic liners.
"Despite his efforts, Governor Phelps was greatly disappointed. Due to the large oil capacity of transoceanic shipping, the sale of oil was not substantial. The facilities at the Tafuna airport did not meet the needs of the transpacific airline carriers, who continued to use Canton Island to refuel. While many Samoans did produce handicrafts and curios in sufficient quantity, the money received from the sales did not significantly impact the island economy."
The internal governance of the islands also created a problem for Phelps.
The traditional social organization of Samoans revolves around the ¢aiga, "extended family," and the nu¢u, "village." The ¢aiga, which can be up to more than a hundred individuals related by blood, marriage or adoption, is headed by a matai, an individual who can be an Ali¢i, "chief," or Tulafale, "orator." Each of these two categories of leader contains its own hierarchical rankings. During the years in which the Navy Department administered the islands through a succession of appointed governors, the chiefs gathered annually to discuss local matters and make recommendations. These were purely advisory. With the change in American administration from Navy to Interior it was learned by the Samoans that the U.S. desired a more clearly defined status for its investment; Samoans feared this would jeopardize their traditional customs, in the process destroying their way of life (which had survived despite the insults of European and American colonization in the 19th century).
Since 1932, an orator of considerable eloquence, Tuiasosopo Mariota, had been striving to establish a legislative body to replace the advisory Annual Meeting of Chiefs. In 1933, he had issued a call for such a body, naming it the Fono. Though this initiative was resisted by the U.S., by 1946 Tuiasosopo had brought about a General Assembly, out of which a committee drafted a proposal for a legislative body. Though initially rebuffed, it was granted in 1947, establishing the First Legislature of the Fono in 1948, with Tuiasosopo as Speaker of the House. While Samoans had achieved their governing body, it remained advisory, as a consequence of the limits to local power imposed through the U.S. Code of American Samoa. Tuiasosopo called for a repeal of these limits.
"This step was too fast for Interior's new governor, Phelps Phelps. He had just told the Fono in his inaugural speech that Interior's policy was a 'step by step' government, with more measures of authority when Samoans have proven their ability to handle more responsibilities of government."
Phelps was posted to the Dominican Republic in 1952, following the end of his term on June 20, 1952. Following him there would be three civilian governors in American Samoa before Richard B. Lowe, who would remain until 1956, was appointed in 1953. One of these three appointments may be accounted for by the change in the U.S. administration from Truman to Eisenhower.
The larger context of modern Samoan history involves the arrival of missionaries from Britain in 1830, and commerce in the 1850s with the arrival of German interests. The latter would be followed by U.S. and, to a lesser extent, British designs on the islands. In fact, it was the missionaries who instituted the first Western style trading, but in large measure to distract the Samoans from their "licentious" ways.
While missionaries introduced Christianity to the islanders, commercial interests introduced guns and a system of “kings”. Christianity failed to entice many of the islanders, while guns brought increased bloodshed to the not infrequent Samoan civil wars, which the institution of a system of kings exacerbated. In 1878, by treaty the US established rights to the port of Pago Pago on Tutuila, using it as a coaling station for the navy. In 1889, the Treaty of Berlin, of which Phelps Phelps' grandfather, the Honorable William Walter Phelps, as one of three American commissioners was a designer, established a tripartite system of supervision over the islands between the Americans, Germans and British. This failed to bring peace to the region and, in 1899, following a succession of further upheavals, another conference partitioned the islands, granting the easternmost to the U.S. Amongst its first acts was the collection of all guns from the Samoans and termination of the king system.
In 1898, Laupepa Malietoa died. Since the coming of the missionaries, Laupepa had been a significant figure in the islands. He had been chosen as the first king and featured prominently in events which led up to the Treaty of Berlin. Subsequently, he was seen as a puppet of the Europeans and lost much of his power. Despite this, he was recognized as embodying many of the traits of Samoan life. With his death died the dream of Samoan independence.
By 1977, the initiative for legislative authority begun by Tuiasosopo, who died in 1956, came to fruition. The following year, the first locally elected governor, Peter Coleman, took office. American Samoan representation in Washington was first established in 1970, with the election of A. U. Fuimaono as Delegate-at-Large. In 1981, following elections in the previous year, Fofo I. F. Sunia, the third delegate, entered the U.S. House of Representatives as American Samoa's first congressional delegate.)
2) Ambassador to the Dominican Republic
On June 27, 1952, Phelps Phelps was appointed Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. His term of office would end on May 30, 1953, with the change in U.S. administrations.
Phelps replaced a Foreign Service officer, Ralph H. Ackerman, who had held the position since 1948. In Dominican history this was the era of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, sometimes known as "Little Caesar of the Caribbean," who had come to power through a coup in 1930 and would be assassinated in 1961 in a plot engineered in part by the CIA. His reign was notorious for corruption in the region. While Trujillo presented himself as a foremost soldier in America's fight against communism, his behavior, particularly latterly, frequently challenged his relations with Washington. At the time that Phelps served as ambassador, Rafael had newly stage-managed the election of his brother, Hector, as president. Hector would serve as a puppet, while his brother assumed the role of delegate to the United Nations.
During Phelps' term, the dictator bought what the Dominican press described as a "flying yacht," a private plane provided with bath and other comforts; the exiled writer Andres Requena was murdered in New York on October 2 - several such homicides on American soil were attributed to Trujillo; and, "on February 24, 1953, Trujillo arrived (on his one visit to the General Assembly of the United Nations) protected by about twenty bodyguards,…." There was a brief meeting with the newly-inaugurated president, Eisenhower, and the dictator, "El Jefe" (the chief) as he was known, appointed his youngest daughter and her cousin, both under fourteen, ambassadresses extraordinary to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth of England.
Phelps was replaced as ambassador by William T. Pheiffer.
Sources
The American Samoan account is based largely on J. Robert Shaffer's American Samoa: 100 Hundred Years Under The American Flag, Island Heritage Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2000, from which the quotes are taken.
The Dominican Republic account is based primarily on The Era of Trujillo by Jesus de Galindez and edited by Russell H. Fitzgibbon, University of Arizona Press, 1973. A foremost authority on Trujillo's regime and a strong critic, de Galindez disappeared from his home in New York in 1956 and is believed to have been murdered on the dictator's orders. His disappearance was a cause celebre and helped to bring about Trujillo's downfall.
This record has been compiled by Alex Phelps, a nephew of Phelps Phelps.
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