Edward J. Dorn was a captain in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. He was born in Potosi, Wisconsin

Potosi, Wisconsin

Potosi is a village in Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 711 at the 2000 census. The village is in the Town of Potosi.-Claim to fame:...

 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

 in 1874. In 1901, Dorn was briefly acting-Commandant (and therefore acting-Governor) of American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

 while Commandant Benjamin Franklin Tilley

Benjamin Franklin Tilley

Benjamin Franklin Tilley , often known as B. F. Tilley, was a career officer in the United States Navy who served from the end of the American Civil War through the Spanish–American War...

 was away on leave. Based in part on this experience, he was appointed as the Governor of Guam on December 28, 1907 and remained there until November 5, 1910. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he was the head of the Navy Relief Society.