{{Short description|American admiral (1857–1928)}} {{Infobox military person | name = James Harrison Oliver | image = Portrait of James Harrison Oliver.jpg | caption = | birth_date = 1857 | death_date = 6 April {{Death year and age|1928|1857}} | burial_label = Place of burial | burial_place = | birth_place = [[Houston County, Georgia]], U.S. | death_place = [[Shirley Plantation]], [[Virginia]], U.S. | burial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | nickname = | allegiance = {{USA}} | branch = [[Image:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg|25px]] [[United States Navy]] | service_years = 1877&ndash;1921 | rank = [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] | unit = | commands = {{USS|Culgoa}} | battles = [[World War I]] | awards = [[Navy Cross]] | relations = | other_work = }} '''James Harrison Oliver''' (1857 &ndash; April 6, 1928) was a [[Rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]] and member of the [[Naval Board of Strategy]] in [[World War I]]. He was the first military [[governor of the United States Virgin Islands]] from 1917 to 1919. He was often referred to as '''J. H. Oliver'''.

==Biography== Oliver was born in [[Houston County, Georgia]]. He graduated from [[Washington and Lee University]] in 1872 and the [[United States Naval Academy]] in 1877. In 1893, he moved to [[Shirley Plantation]] in [[Charles City, Virginia]], where he married and established his lifelong residence, returning there whenever he was not serving in the navy.

==Resignation from the navy== [[File:Culgoa 1890 Boston 1901-10-01 19-N-14279.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Culgoa}} in 1901]] In October 1904, as a [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]], he was put in command of {{USS|Culgoa}}. On the evening of 9 November, off the coast of [[New Jersey]], ''Culgoa'' collided with the [[schooner]] ''Wilson and Hunting'': capsizing the schooner, and causing the deaths of four of the people aboard her.<ref>{{cite news |title=Four sink with vessel |newspaper=[[New-York Tribune|New-York Daily Tribune]] |date=12 November 1904 |page=1 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1904-11-12/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=14 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Skipper, wife and two lost |newspaper=[[The Sun (New York City)|The Sun]] |place=New York |date=12 November 1904 |page=1 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1904-11-12/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=14 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Schooner cut down and four are lost |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=12 November 1904 |page=16 |url-access=subscription |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/11/12/120273069.html?pageNumber=16 |access-date=14 November 2024}}</ref> Oliver was arrested and charged, but his [[court-martial]] was delayed for more than a year, during which time he remained in command of his ship, despite being technically under arrest. (In Navy tradition, he had also been stripped of his sword, a humiliating gesture.) He was eventually acquitted "with honor". At the ceremony where his sword was officially returned, Oliver broke the sword and threw it into the ocean, then immediately resigned from the navy. In his retirement, he briefly served as inspector of the [[United States Lighthouse Board|Fourteenth Lighthouse District]] in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]]. In 1906, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] reinstated his commission, reportedly saying, (with respect to his resignation) "I'd have done the same thing myself." Upon reinstatement, he was simultaneously promoted to [[Commander (United States)|Commander]].

He was promoted to [[Captain (United States)|captain]] in 1910 and rear admiral in 1916, just prior to the United States entrance into [[World War I]]. He was subsequently elevated to [[Chief of Naval Intelligence]] by 1917.

==Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands== On March 28, 1917, he was appointed as Governor of the United States Virgin Islands by President [[Woodrow Wilson]]. ([[Edwin Taylor Pollock]] was made acting governor until his arrival.) He held the position for two years, until 1919. He was awarded the [[Navy Cross]] for his service as governor.<ref>{{Cite web|title=James Oliver - Recipient -|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/9895|website=valor.militarytimes.com|language=en|access-date=6 May 2020}}</ref>

The US government promptly granted him a loan of $200,000 ($3.4 million, adjusted for inflation) to cover occupation expenses, including building fortifications and stationing troops on the island. Dissatisfied with the quality of local educators, Oliver also requested additional instructors from the mainland.

From 1919 until the end of the war, he served on the [[Naval Board of Strategy]]. Oliver retired from the Navy in January 1921. He died of heart disease in 1928 at his home in Virginia.

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite news |title=Orders to Naval Officers |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=July 27, 1905 |page=7 }} (''Announcing his retirement / resignation.'') * {{cite news |title=Orders to Naval Officers |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 23, 1905 |page=4 }} (''Appointment as inspector, listed as retired.'') * {{cite news |title=Army Orders |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 7, 1906 |page=3 }} (''Appointment as Commander.'') * {{cite news |title=Oliver to Govern our New Islands |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |date=March 29, 1917 |page=12 }} * {{cite journal |date=February 1918 |title= Under The Stars And Stripes The Virgin Islands Are A Disappointment To The Natives |journal= [[The Literary Digest|Current Opinion]] |location=[[New York City]] |volume= LXIV |issue=2 |pages=152–153 }} * {{cite news |title=$200,000 For Virgin Islands.; Wilson Authorizes Gov. Oliver To Spend Sum "In His Discretion." |newspaper=The Washington Post |date= July 28, 1918 |page=ES4 }} * {{cite news |title= Admiral J.H. Oliver Is Dead In Virginia |newspaper=The New York Times |date= April 7, 1928 |page=11 }} * {{cite news |title=Admiral Oliver, Who Broke Sword and Resigned, Dies |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 7, 1928 |page=1 }} * {{cite news |title=Oliver Laid To Rest While Guns Salute |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |date=April 8, 1928 |page=17A }}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}} {{succession box|title=[[Governor of the United States Virgin Islands|Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands]]|before=[[Edwin Taylor Pollock]]|after=[[Joseph Wallace Oman]]|years=1917&ndash;1919}} {{s-end}} {{Governors of the U.S. Virgin Islands}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, James Harrison}} [[Category:1857 births]] [[Category:1928 deaths]] [[Category:People from Houston County, Georgia]] [[Category:Governors of the United States Virgin Islands]] [[Category:United States Navy admirals]] [[Category:Directors of the Office of Naval Intelligence]] [[Category:Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)]] [[Category:United States Navy World War I admirals]]