Samoa (Western and American): Difference between revisions

The land in Samoa is owned by genealogical rights. Only the “half-caste” land (bought by foreigners generations ago when they would say it was for the Church (not the LDS Church) and then have the chief record it as their own land) can be bought and sold. This is a reason why people do not want their genealogies made public. People could try to get land from another family by disputing it.  

'''Oral legends:''' ''Pili’s ''four sons become rulers: ''Atua, A`ana, Tuamasaga ''and ''Tolufale.<br>'''''950''' Tongans conquer Samoa and rule until ''Tuna,''Fata' and ''Savea ''drove them from the country. ''Malietoa ''(brave warrior) becomes a ''Matai ''title.<br>'''1000 '''''Faiga becomes Malietoa. ''He abandons cannibalism by not eating his son ''Polu. ''He gives his grand daughters titles. One becomes ''Gato`aitele, ''and the other ''Tamasoali`i.<br>'''''1550 '''A&nbsp;great woman ''named Nafanua''from ''Falealupo, Savai`i'' is the ruler and gains the ''Tafa`ifa ''title. The Samoan high chief married the daughter of the Tongan king. Their daughter, ''Salamasina'', is adopted by ''So`oa`e'', the widow of the high chief of ''Atua ''district. ''Salamasina'' also possesses royal Fijian and Tongan blood from her mother.<br>'''1700''' ''Tupua'' becomes the progenitor of the ''Sa Tupua ''family, who has the right to kingship for 100 years.<br>'''1722''' Dutchman ''Jacob Roggeveen ''trades in Samoa.<br>'''1768''' Frenchman ''Antoine De Bougainville ''trades with Samoans.<br>'''1800''' White traders begin to settle in Samoa.<br>'''1802''' ''Malietoa Vai`inupo ''is appointed king after the death of King ''I`amafana''. <br>'''1830''' ''John Williams ''of the London Missionary Society brings Christianity to Samoa<br>'''1835''' Methodists and London Missionary Society agree that Methodists will proselyte in Tonga and leave Samoa to the London Missionary Society.<br>'''1840 '''''Malietoa Vai`inpo ''dies.''Moli Malietoa, Tamasese, Tui-Aj`ana,'' and ''Mata`afa Tui-Atua ''contend for power.<br>'''1849''' ''Willliam T. Pritchard ''sets up the first permanent store.<br>'''1855''' ''Goddeffroy and Sons ''of Germany establish a store.<br>'''1861 '''''Maliatoa ''dies and his sons,''Laupepa ''and ''Talavou'' battle over the ''Malietoa ''title.<br>'''1873''' Peace is declared between ''Laupepa'' and ''Talavou.'' Colonel ''A. Steinberger ''of the USA helps the Samoans establish a government. ''Tupua Pule ''declares himself king. Alternating 4-year terms for each king begin.<br>'''1875''' ''Steinberger'' becomes premier of ''Samoa.<br>'''''1880''' ''Talavou ''dies. ''Laupepa'' becomes king, ''Tamasese Sa Tupua ''becomes vice-king, and ''Mata`afa Sa Tupua ''becomes prime minister. They wage a bloody war for power.<br>'''1860-89''' Samoa exports cotton. Europeans purchase large amounts of land from Samoans. <br>'''1888''' The LDS ''Samoan Mission ''was established.<br>'''1889''' A devastating hurricane hits. German, British, and American warships sink. ''Malieatoa'' is crowned king of Samoa and ''Mata afa ''is given a high position. The land commission declares foreign land claims invalid and purchase of land outside Apia forbidden to non-Samoans. ''Robert Louis Stevenson ''moves to Samoa. Dies 5 years later and is buried on Mt. Vea.<br>'''1890''' Wars occur between ''Malietoa Laupepa ''and ''Mata`afa.<br>'''''1899 '''Laupepa’s son, ''Tanumafil''i is installed as king by force of foreign powers.<br>'''1899''' USA, Great Britain and Germany agree to Western Samoa’s independence and neutrality. They set up a multi-government. Kingship is abolished in Samoa.  

'''1900''' [[Great Britain]] and [[Germany Genealogy|Germany]] cede rights to the islands east of 171 degrees west of Greenwich. Later, a few other islands are added. At present this is unincorporated territory of the United States. Western Samoa becomes a German protectorate and ''Heinrich Solf ''is governor for ten years. Workers migrate from Micronesia and Melanesia to help on plantations. Eastern Samoa (Tutuila and surrounding islands) become a U.S.A. protectorate.<br>'''1902 '''An LDS church and school are built in ''Pesega''. Mission headquarters moves there.<br>'''1903''' Over&nbsp;two thousand Chinese laborers are imported to Samoa. The Samoan translation of the ''Book of Mormon ''becomes available.<br>'''1905''' The volcano ''Matavanu'' on Savai`i erupts and the refugees move to two villages on Upolo.<br>'''1910''' ''Dr. Eric Schultz ''is governor of Samoa and the ''Malietoa'' and ''Tupua'' families are given titles as counselors to the governor.<br>'''1914''' Western Samoa is occupied by a New Zealand force during World War I. ''Colonel Robert Logan ''becomes Military Administrator.<br>'''1918''' A deadly flu epidemic kills one-fifth of the Samoan population (approximately 8,000 people).<br>'''1920''' New Zealand administers the islands because Germany loses the war. <br>'''1920s''' Schools are built in Sauniatu and Mapusaga. The chiefs of ''Taup`ele`ele ''decide to dismiss their minister and join the LDS Church. Land is purchased, a school built, and the village becomes known as ''Vaiola'' (''Living Waters''). <br>'''1923''' ''Major George Richardson ''becomes administrator and dissension between him and Samoans begins.<br>'''1929''' The Independence movement ''(Mau'') becomes a political power.<br>'''1939''' U.S. Marines establish airfields and a radio station in Eastern Samoa during World War II.<br>'''1951''' American Samoa administered by the U.S.A. Department of the Interior instead of the Navy.<br>'''1954''' A Constitutional convention is held to prepare Western Samoa for independence.<br>'''1958''' Native Samoans carry out most of the LDS missionary work because of government restriction on non-native missionaries in the country. <br>'''1962''' Western Samoa becomes an independent country, which renames itself the Independent State of Samoa. The First LDS stake is organized in Samoa in Apia.<br>'''1972''' Samoa becomes the first country to be covered by Latter-day Saint stakes.<br>'''1976''' First LDS area conference in Samoa.<br>'''1983''' The Apia, Samoa LDS temple is dedicated.<br>'''2000''' The LDS Church has one mission in Samoa. There are 16 stakes in Western Samoa with 58,000 members''', '''and 6 stakes in [[American Samoa Genealogy|American Samoa]] with 13,000 members.  

'''2008''' There are 66,249 LDS Church members in Western Samoa and&nbsp;14,514 members in American Samoa.  

My great-great grand father was a true Englishman. We didn’t know anything about him until a lady in Springville, [[Utah Genealogy|Utah]], told us her great grandfather was a missionary with my great grandfather and he wrote in his journal about him. It was not my great grandfather who joined the LDS Church. It was my grandfather. My great grandfather’s relationship with the missionaries made it so it was easy for my grandfather to join the Church. He would have the missionaries over for dinner, and would have them sleep in his house. He was “dumb” enough to go against the decree of the Chief, who said there could be only one church in the village, and it wasn’t the Mormon Church. My grandfather told him he would do as he pleased. So he defended the Church with the village chief.  

The property where the LDS Church is located in Samoa is the property of my family. We lease it to the Church for one dollar a year. There is a place for the Church, the Bishop’s home, a volleyball and basketball court, and land to grow some food on.  

An important collection of compiled genealogies from Samoa is found in the ''<u>Cole Jensen Collection: Oral Genealogies and Genealogical Information Collected from the Polynesian Peoples and from the Pacific Islands.</u>'' These records were collected by William Cole and Elwin Jensen over a period of 50 years and microfilmed by the Genealogical Department of the LDS Church in 1984. The original collection consisted of 51 binders. The original materials no longer exist as an intact collection. However, there are nine microfilms (1358001-1358009) available at various family History centers. This collection has family group records, pedigree charts, oral genealogies, and other genealogical materials collected from the islands of [[Hawaii Genealogy|Hawaii]], [[New Zealand Genealogy|New Zealand]], [[Samoa Genealogy|Samoa]], [[Tonga Genealogy|Tonga]], [[Niue Genealogy|Niue]], [[Cook Islands Genealogy|Cook Islands]], and French Polynesia, including the Society, Marquesas, Austral Islands, and the Tuamotu Archipelago.&nbsp;