Albert L. MyerHis name has sometimes been erroneously spelled "Albert L. Meyer". See, for example, ''Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico'' at Categories > Municipalities > Municipalities from O to R > Ponce > Ponce Municipality > Mayors, linked vi
this
link. (14 November 1846 – 16 July 1914) was a soldier in the United States Army from 1865 to 1912, and interim

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, in 1899 starting on 12 September. He filled as interim mayor of the city after the forced resignation of popularly elected mayor Luis Porrata-Doria.

Early years

Albert Lee Myer was born 14 November 1846, in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

, to

Lt. Col. Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Aaron B. Myer and Julia A. Myer. Myer went to school in the public education system of Troy. His father was a member of the 125th Regiment of the New York State Volunteer Infantry which was organized at Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. The 125th participated in the

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Arm ...

. On May 8, 1863, his father died of the wounds which he received in action during the battle. On 15 June 1870 he married Wilhelmina Henderson. The couple had two sons, George Henderson Myer and Eagar Myer, both who would eventually join the military. George Henderson Myer, his oldest son, died in 1891, while attending West Point. He was buried in the grounds of the academy.''Military art and science.'' Army-Navy-Air Force Register and Defense Times. Volume 56. 1914.

Military career

Myer enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a private in 1865, and was assigned to Company F, 3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry. In 1868, he took part in the

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

of the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

. While participating in the Reconstruction, he was briefly kidnapped and later released by the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. During the U.S. Indian Wars, Myer served in the

territory of Arizona The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

as an acting Indian agent in the San Carlos Agency and as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 11th Infantry in 1896. In April 1898, he was transferred with the Eleventh Infantry from Fort Whipple in Arizona to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri. The Eleventh Infantry left Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, 19 April 1898, then to a training camp near Mobile, Alabama, via Chickamauga, and on to Tampa, Florida arriving 7 June, for transport to Puerto Rico. On 12 December 1898, he landed in Guanica with the 11th Infantry as part of the invading forces of General

Theodore Schwan Theodore Schwan (July 9, 1841 – May 27, 1926) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Peebles' Farm. He also served with distinction during the Spanish–American ...

. During The Spanish–American War, the Eleventh Infantry saw action under Brigadier General Schwan in the Battle of Silva Heights in the Puerto Rican Campaign. Myer was among the officers who received a distinguished mention in General Schwan's reports, for service rendered under fire during the campaign in western Puerto Rico. Myer and the American Army remained in Puerto Rico where a provisional military government was installed. It was during this time in Puerto Rico that Myer was commissioned to mayor the city of Ponce. Major Myer was appointed by the first military governor of Puerto Rico, Major General

Nelson A. Miles Nelson Appleton Miles (August 8, 1839 – May 15, 1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, Miles served as the last Commanding Gen ...

Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico

On 8 August 1899, while the provisional American military government ruled Puerto Rico, the devastating

Hurricane San Ciriaco The 1899 San Ciríaco hurricane, also known as the 1899 Puerto Rico Hurricane or The Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1899, was the longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record, and the second-longest-lived tropical cyclone globally on record (in terms ...

hit Ponce and the southern coast of Puerto Rico. General

had been installed by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

as the first

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

military governor of the Island, and

Francisco Porrata Doria Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

had been elected mayor by the people of Ponce as was the custom for many decades under the former

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

system.''The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, and Society in Puerto Rico, 1899–1901.'' Stuart B. Schwartz. Hispanic American Historical Review. Vol 72, No. 3. (1992) Pages 316–317. Duke University Press.
/ref> San Ciriaco, however, proved to be the test of the mayorship of Porrata Doria. As a result of the impact of the hurricane, a number of demonstrations took place around the island to denounce the municipal governments’ poor response to the disaster. “The most serious demonstration of tension took place in Ponce, where damage and mortality had been extensive, especially for the poor. A large crowd of several hundred

indigent Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

residents gathered to denounce mayor Porrata Doria for not giving the population adequate warning or taking appropriate measures. A detachment of the U.S. Fifth Cavalry broke up the demonstrations, but the mayor was eventually forced to resign.” At this point the military governor of the Island, General Miles, appointed Major Albert L. Myer, then U.S. military commanding officer for Ponce, as interim mayor of the municipality. Major Myer did not, as intended, perform all the functions of the mayor. Instead he assumed only some of the authority of the municipal government. Despite the mayoral change, however, tensions remained high, with the blame being placed back and forth on various factions. In 1900, Major Myer was replaced by popularly elected civil mayor Pedro Juan Rosaly. In December 1900, Myer together with the 11th Infantry Regiment left Puerto Rico and returned to the United States.

Post-Puerto Rico military career

Myer continued his service to the U.S. Army and, in 1906, he became a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Also in 1906, he was assigned 600 men to assist in the cause of the

San Francisco Earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...

. On 23 March 1907, Myer was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

by President William Taft during the Second Cuban Campaign.''The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia.'' Paul L. Miles. Publisher: Routledge. ; . In 1912, he was the Commanding Officer of the Field Artillery School in

Fort Sill, Oklahoma Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

Death

On 16 July 1914, while at his home in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Myer suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

that took his life. His funeral was held three days later, on July 19, in New York City where he received full Military Honors by a detachment of the

Watervliet Arsenal The Watervliet Arsenal is an arsenal of the United States Army located in Watervliet, New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River. It is the oldest continuously active arsenal in the United States, and today produces much of the artillery for ...

. He is buried at Section G-C plot of the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York.''Albert L. Myer.''
Findagrave.com Accessed 7 February 2019.

Early years

Military career

Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico

Post-Puerto Rico military career

Death

See also

Notes

References

Further reading