# James Sutherland Spore

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Commander James Sutherland Spore Spore, US Navy Commander and Acting Governor Acting Naval Governor of Guam In office February 27, 1921 – February 7, 1922 Preceded by Ivan Wettengel Succeeded by Adelbert Althouse Acting Governor of American Samoa In office March 24, 1931 – April 22, 1931 Personal details Born (1885-05-13)May 13, 1885 Died April 28, 1937(1937-04-28) (aged 51) La Mesa, California, US Spouse Grace Walling Spore Children 3 Parents Melvin Spore (father) Helen Spore (mother) Relatives Marian Spore Bush (sister), Belle Spore Tunison (sister) Alma mater U.S. Naval Academy Known for Acting Governor of Guam and American Samoa Military career Allegiance United States of America Branch United States Navy Rank Commander

**James Sutherland Spore** (May 13, 1885 – April 28, 1937) was a [commander](/source/Commander) in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy). He served as acting governor of [Guam](/source/Guam) from February 27, 1921 to February 7, 1922 and as acting governor of [American Samoa](/source/American_Samoa) from March 24, 1931 to April 22, 1931.

James S. Spore grew up in [Bay City, Michigan](/source/Bay_City%2C_Michigan), and graduated from the [U.S. Naval Academy](/source/United_States_Naval_Academy) with the nickname of "Wooden Willie." His sister was [Marian Spore Bush](/source/Marian_Spore_Bush)[1] and he had three children.

## Career

Spore served as acting Naval governor of [Guam](/source/Guam) from February 27, 1921 to February 7, 1922.[2]

Spore served as acting governor of [American Samoa](/source/American_Samoa) from March 24, 1931 to April 22, 1931.

As of 1933, he was stationed in [San Pedro, California](/source/San_Pedro%2C_Los_Angeles%2C_California).[3] After retiring from the Navy, he moved to [La Mesa, California](/source/La_Mesa%2C_California) (in [San Diego County](/source/San_Diego_County%2C_California)) to farm [avocados](/source/Avocado).

## Personal life

On April 29, 1916, Spore married Grace Walling at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in [South Orange, New Jersey](/source/South_Orange%2C_New_Jersey).[4][5]

In 1937, Spore died in La Mesa, California. He was buried in [Arlington National Cemetery](/source/Arlington_National_Cemetery).[6]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Prophetess"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081214185950/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,885000,00.html). *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))*. June 7, 1943. Archived from [the original](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,885000,00.html) on December 14, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-09. v. XLI n.23, p. 71-2

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Guam Naval Governors 30 August 1899 – 10 December 1941"](https://www.guampedia.com/naval-era-governors-of-guam/). *guampedia.com*. 12 January 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** "Melvin S. Spore" (August 5, 1933). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, p. 11

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Personal Matters"](https://books.google.com/books?id=VFI-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA405). Army and Navy Register. March 25, 1916. p. 405. Retrieved November 17, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Personal Matters"](https://books.google.com/books?id=VFI-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA597). Army and Navy Register. May 6, 1916. p. 597. Retrieved November 17, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Burial detail: Spore, James S, Sr"](https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/index.html#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgVzcG9yZRIFamFtZXM-/). *ANC Explorer*. Retrieved November 17, 2025.

## External links

- [James Sutherland Spore at ourcampaigns.com](https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=108840)

- [Burns W. Spore oral history interview, April 28, 2001 at ecu.edu](https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/11264)

v t e Governors of American Samoa Commandant (1900–1905) Tilley Sebree Minett Underwood Naval (1905–1951) Moore Parker Crose Post Stearns Post Woodruff Poyer Terhune Evans Pollock Kellogg Bryan Graham Lincoln Spore Emerson Lincoln Landenberger Latimore Dowling Fitzpatrick Milne Hanson Wallace Wild Larsen (alongside Wild) Moyer Hobbs Hungerford Canan Houser Huber Darden Civil (1951–1978) Phelps Elliott Ewing Judd Lowe Coleman Lee Aspinall Haydon Mockler Ruth Barnett Lee Elected (since 1978) Coleman Lutali Coleman Lutali Sunia Tulafono Moliga Mauga Pula

v t e Governors of Guam Commissioner (1898–1899) Glass Martínez Sisto Roberto Sisto Taussig Pérez Coe Kaiser Naval (1899–1941) Leary Schroeder Swift Schroeder Sewell Schofield Stone Dyer McNamee Potts McNamee Dorn Freyer Salisbury Coontz Hinds Maxwell Cronan Simpson Smith Gilmer Hodgman Gilmer Wettengel Spore Althouse Miller Althouse Price Brown Shapley Bradley Root G. Alexander McCandlish J. Alexander McMillin Military (1944–1949) Geiger Larsen Pownall Civilian (1949–1969) Skinner Herman Elvidge Corbett Lowe Boss Flores Daniel M. Guerrero C. Camacho Elected (since 1969) C. Camacho Bordallo P. Calvo Bordallo Ada Gutierrez F. Camacho E. Calvo L. Guerrero

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Sutherland Spore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Sutherland_Spore) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Sutherland_Spore?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.