Henry Clay Ide (September 18, 1844 – June 13, 1921) was a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

judge, colonial commissioner, ambassador, and

Governor-General of the Philippines The Governor-General of the Philippines (Spanish: ''Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas''; Filipino: ''Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas''; Japanese: ) was the title of the government executive during the colo ...

Biography

Early life, States Attorney, Senator, and Presidential Commissioner to Samoa

Ide was born in Barnet,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, on September 18, 1844, a son of Jacob and Lodoiska (Knights) Ide. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1866, where he was named valedictorian. He studied law, first with Benjamin H. Steele, and later with Jonathan Ross, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1870. He practiced law in St. Johnsbury, Vermont from until 1891, and was the partner of

Wendell Phillips Stafford Wendell Phillips Stafford (May 1, 1861 – April 21, 1953) was an American attorney and jurist. He was most notable for his service as an Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Dist ...

. Among the prospective attorneys who studied law in their office was William H. Taylor, who later served as an Associate Justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, from 1876 to 1878, Ide was State's Attorney for Caledonia County. From 1882 to 1885 he was a member of the

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

. President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

appointed Ide Presidential Commissioner to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

in 1891. The formal title of the post was American Land Commissioner in Samoa, one of three representatives (of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain) responsible for adjudicating land claims by foreigners in the islands, as provided for in the

Treaty of Berlin (1889) The Treaty of Berlin (1889) (also known as the Samoan Treaty) was the concluding document of the conference at Berlin in 1889 on Samoa. The conference was proposed by German foreign minister Count Herbert von Bismarck (son of chancellor Otto von ...

. Ide reached Apia on May 16, 1891, but only held the office for six months, until he resigned because of a serious illness in his family and left the islands on November 12, 1891.

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

wrote to him two days beforehand, saying "I hear with great regret of your departure. They say there are as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it, but I doubt if they will come to our hook. It is not only that you have shown so much capacity, moderation, tact, and temper ; but you have had the talent to make these gifts recognized and appreciated among our very captious population. For my part, I always thought your presence the best thing that the treaty had brought us." Ide returned to the islands in 1893 as Chief Justice, another position provided for by the Treaty of Berlin. He accepted the appointment in August, and sailed for the islands two months later. As Chief Justice, Ide presided over trials of both native Samoans and foreign nationals of the three Treaty of Berlin signatories. He also had the power to recommend criminal and taxation legislation to the government of Samoa. He resigned in 1896, but there was a delay in the arrival of his successor, requiring him to continue in office until 1897. At his departure, the '' Samoa Weekly Herald'' editorialized that Ide had been a just and able judge. Similarly, King

Malietoa Mālietoa ( ''Mālietoa'') is a state dynasty and one of the four paramount chiefly titles of Samoa. It is the titular head of one of the two great royal families of Samoa: Sā Malietoa. Literally translated as "great warrior", the title's orig ...

told Ide that "You will not be forgotten in Samoa, you will be remembered as the good Chief Justice who knew our ways and laws and customs and who was kind to us". Ide was succeeded as Land Commissioner and Chief Justice by

William Lea Chambers William Lea Chambers (4 March 1852 – 26 August 1933) was a United States federal judge. Biography He was born on March 4, 1852 in Columbus, Georgia. He was appointed Chief Justice of Samoa c.1897, where the English, Germans and Americans wer ...

Presidential Commissioner to the Philippines

Ide was one of the Commissioners of the

Taft Commission The Taft Commission, also known as the Second Philippine Commission (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Ikalawang Komisyon ng Pilipinas''), was established by United States President William McKinley on March 16, 1900, following the recommendations ...

, appointed in 1900. Like the other Commissioners, he arrived in the Philippines in June of that year, and assumed official legislative power on 1900-09-01. In 1901, Ide and the other commissioners gained executive power when they were appointed to the cabinet of territorial Governor

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

. Ide was appointed Secretary of Finance and Justice, and served until 1904. Ide was appointed Vice-Governor of the Philippines in 1904. In November 1905 he became Acting Governor General after Luke Wright, then Governor General, took leave. Wright formally resigned in April 1906, and Ide formally succeeded him Governor-General. Ide was Governor-General until September, when he resigned and was recalled to Washington D.C. In part, Ide's few months as Governor-General were a political face-saving exercise (as was Wright's resignation). Taft had visited the Philippines in August 1905, and after that visit that Taft intended major changes to the Philippine Commission. Wright and Ide were two of the Commissioners he intended to replace, and allowing Wright to resign and Ide to serve briefly as Governor-General were seen by contemporary observers as face-saving moves. The issue Taft sought to solve was a conflict between the Commission members and the Federalistas. The Federalistas disagreed with and disliked both Wright and Ide. However, while they found Wright's Governor-Generalship outright offensive, they were happier with Ide's ten months in office. Hailing his resignation from office, ''La Democracia'' (as quoted in the September 5, 1906 ''

Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrative offices at 2/F ...

'') praised Ide and his work, and stated that "in his social relations, Mr. Ide has reestablished the good times of Taft, which the latter's successor tried to make us forget".

Ambassador

Ide served as minister to Spain 1909–1913.

Family, personal life, and business affairs

On October 26, 1871 Ide married Mary M. Melcher, daughter of Joseph and Sophia Melcher of

Stoughton, Massachusetts Stoughton (official name: Town of Stoughton) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 29,281 at the 2020 census. The town is located approximately from Boston, from Providence, Rhode Island, and from Cape ...

. They had four children before her death in 1892: Adelaide (Addie) M., Annie L., Harry J. and Mary M. During his time on Samoa, Ide became friends with

, who was heavily engaged in the politics of the region and a frequent commentator on Samoan affairs to the world at large. One day, Ide mentioned to Stevenson the feelings of his daughter Annie about having been born on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

and so having no birthday celebration separate from the family's Christmas celebrations. Stevenson drew up a formal deed of gift, properly sealed and witnessed as a legal document, and then published in the press, donating his birthday to Ide's daughter. The daughter and Stevenson corresponded further on the matter in November 1891, with Stevenson assuring her that "I am sure [your father] will tell you this is sound law." The affair was the root of a strong bond between the Ide and Stevenson families. Anne H. Ide, who was known as "Levei-malo" to the Samoans, married William Bourke Cockran in 1906, becoming his third wife. In 1912, his daughter Marjorie married

Shane Leslie Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet (Irish: ''Sir Seaghán Leslaigh''; 24 September 1885 – 14 August 1971), commonly known as Sir Shane Leslie, was an Irish-born diplomat and writer. He was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill. In 1908 ...

, a first cousin of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

Death

Ide died in St. Johnsbury, Vermont on 13 June 1921. His body was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in St. Johnsbury.

Biography

Early life, States Attorney, Senator, and Presidential Commissioner to Samoa

Presidential Commissioner to the Philippines

Ambassador

Family, personal life, and business affairs

Death

References

Further reading

Ide's published works