Sokehs road workers revolt and kill Boeder and three other Germans (Navy 1911: two officials) plus boatmen.
What happened
The workers refused to continue and threatened their overseers, who fled to the nearby Catholic mission; Boeder was shot when he came to settle the matter, and three other Germans and several servants and boatmen were also killed (a 1911 Navy account counts Boeder, two officials and five islanders). The rebels, under the leader German files call Jomatau (Soumadau en Sokehs), then besieged the colony at Kolonia, which other chiefdoms helped defend.
Why it matters
Only Palikir joined Sokehs at the time, but the rising is now remembered across the FSM as resistance to colonial rule.
Who’s who
- Soumadau en SokehsLeader of the 1910–11 Sokehs Rebellion against German rule; German files spell him Jomatau, and he was baptized Samuel. Executed in Kolonia on 24 February 1911.
- Gustav BoederGerman district officer on Pohnpei whose flogging order set off the Sokehs Rebellion; killed 18 October 1910.