William Gilmer William Wirt Gilmer ( died January 8 , 1955 ) was a United States Navy Captain who served as both the 22nd and 24th Naval Governor of Guam . A graduate of the United States Naval Academy , he commanded the USS " South Carolina " during World War I , for which he received the Navy Cross . During his two terms as governor , he proved one of the most contentious leaders in Guam ' s history . He exercised a large amount of control over islanders ' daily lives , including banning whistling and smoking and setting up a curfew . He came into conflict with prominent Americans and Washington Naval leaders when he outlawed marriage between whites and non - whites on the island , believing the Chamorro people inferior . Eventually , concerned islanders gained the attention of Secretary of the Navy Robert Coontz , who had Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D . Roosevelt personally order the rescinding of the act . Gilmer was removed for a short time before serving a second term . During his second term , he continued making numerous edicts , eventually equaling 50 separate orders . He required all men over sixteen to carry identification cards , partially in an effort to wipe out the Spanish naming customs of adopting both the mother ' s and father ' s name . Seen as autocratic and abusive of his power , the Navy ultimately removed him from the post in 1920 . A number of geographical features in Alaska , as well as a school in North Carolina , are named after him , largely during an expedition that he took part in to explore parts of the Alaskan islands . Life and naval career . Gilmer graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1885 . As an ensign , he served aboard the USS " Nipsic " . In 1906 , he married Florence Peterson . During World War I , he commanded the USS " South Carolina " , for which he received the Navy Cross . He retired with the rank of Captain after resigning his commission . Gilmer died on January 8 , 1955 . Governorship . Gilmer served two terms as Naval Governor of Guam . His first term lasted from November 15 , 1918 to November 22 , 1919 . A month before he arrived , Guam experienced an outbreak of influenza , and though he set up quarantine zones upon taking command , the pandemic lasted through December , with nearly a thousand dead . Gilmer ' s administration proved very controversial as he exercised a large amount of control over the activities of the island ' s inhabitants . He outlawed alcohol , smoking , and whistling . Further , he forbid any parties that lasted after 10 p . m . In an effort to curtail the growing rat problem , Gilmer forced all residents to either deliver the heads of five rats or a tax of twenty - five cents to the government every month . Gilmer came into conflict with prominent American families on the island and stateside naval officials . He issued an order that forbade any white American from marrying a Chamorro or Filipino spouse , arguing such marriages created a new class that " wields a powerful influence " and caused servicemen to leave the navy and fall under the influence of native religions . A committee of forty - two prominent Guamanians signed a petition against the order , and the Legislature of Guam formally objected to the order . Gilmer attempted to justify his order to the committee in 1919 by claiming that " if a man in the United States marries a woman of any other color , he sinks immediately to the level of his wife . " James H . Underwood , postmaster of the island , wrote directly to officials in Washington , D . C . to protest the move , as many Americans had already married Chamorros . He eventually obtained a meeting with the Chief of Naval Operations , former Guam governor Robert Coontz , and soon after Franklin D . Roosevelt , then Assistant Secretary of the Navy , personally wrote to Gilmer and ordered the law revoked , allowing whites to again marry Chamorros and Filipinos . He was relieved of duty soon after the incident . Gilmer returned for a second from December 21 , 1919 to July 7 , 1920 . In March 1920 , Gilmer began requiring that all men sixteen and older obtain a " cèdula personal " , essentially an identification document issued by the government . These documents were used to interact with the government during matters like tax payment , land transfers , birth certification , and anything in the court system . At the same time , these documents were meant to discourage the Guamanian practice of using Spanish naming customs , in which a person used the father ' s last name , followed by the mother ' s maiden name , and forced the western custom of using the father ' s name as the last name upon the people . Throughout his two terms , he issued over 50 orders , many of them later viewed as autocratic , and increased the use of the death penalty exponentially , which had only been used once before during America ' s occupation of the island before him . Eventually , Gilmer was removed from office after many of his orders were seen as abuses of power and embarrassing to the Navy . After his removal from his post , Gilmer resigned his Navy commission . Legacy . In Fletcher , North Carolina , a parochial elementary school administered by the Seventh - day Adventist Church , Captain Gilmer School is named after him . The school ' s name was changed to " Captain Gilmer School " in 1950 after Gilmer gave $ 2000 for the construction of an additional classroom and two bathrooms . Gilmer Bay on the western shore of Kruzof Island was named after him in 1897 , while he was a lieutenant . As an ensign , he served in an exploration party , during which Gilmore Cove on Partofshikof Island was named after him .