Background
He was born in Potosi, Wisconsin and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1874.
He was born in Potosi, Wisconsin and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1874.
In 1901, Dorn was briefly acting-Commandant (and therefore acting-Governor) of American Samoa while Commandant Benjamin Franklin Tilley 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, he was the head of the Navy Relief Society.