General | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 19, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Elisha Loomis

“Conceiving it to be my duty to serve the Lord with all my might, and to engage in whatever business that would serve to promote the cause of the Redeemer, I last spring offered myself to the Board of Commissioners. as a printer to go the Sandwich Islands.”

“I proceeded to Brookfield, Mass. where I received the information that the Board had determined on my going in the mission this year. This I did not desire, as I had no female companion.”

“Disappointed in my expectation of finding one at Brookfield, Mass, I resolved to return home, make what preparations I could, and go out single, trusting that providence would, if it should be best, provide a companion.”

“Little did I think then, that God had prepared and help meet for me. A young lady of Utica, had for a considerable time been wishing to engage in a mission. By a remarkable Providence I became acquainted with her. … She had long been wishing to engage in a mission. Had frequently spoken of the Owhyean Mission.”

“I have now spent several days with her … Tomorrow I leave this village for Canandaigua expecting to return as soon as possible and be joined in marriage with Miss Maria Sartwell. (They wed September 27, 1819.) With her I shall proceed to Boston in time to embark with the mission.” Elisha Loomis to Samuel Worcester of the ABCFM, September 16, 1819)

He and Maria Loomis were in the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries, who left Boston on October 23, 1819 and arrived at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Elisha Loomis was born December 11, 1799, son of Nathan and Dorcas Pratt Loomis at Middlesex Township, Ontario County, New York. He was a printer by trade.

“The first printing press at the Hawaiian Islands was imported by the American missionaries, and landed from the brig Thaddeus, at Honolulu, in April, 1820.”

“It was not unlike the first used by Benjamin Franklin, and was set up in a thatched house standing a few fathoms from the old mission frame house, but was not put in operation until the afternoon of January 7, 1822.” (Hunnewell)

“On the 7th of January, 1822, a year and eight months from the time of our receiving the governmental permission to enter the field and teach the people, we commenced printing the language in order to give them letters, libraries, and the living oracles in their own tongue, that the nation might read and understand the wonderful works of God.”

“The opening to them of this source of light never known to their ancestors remote or near, occurred while many thousands of the friends of the heathen were on the monthly concert, unitedly praying that the Gospel might have free course and he glorified.”

“It was like laying a corner stone of an important edifice for the nation.” (Bingham)

“Gov. Cox (Ke‘eaumoku), who seems to take as friendly and lively an interest in our work as any of the windward chiefs, was present, and assisted with his own hands in composing a line or two and in working a few copies of the first lesson of Owhyhee syllables, having the composing stick put into his hands, and being shown when to take and how to place the types, and then to pull the press.” (Mission Journal)

Later, “Liholiho, Kalanimōku, Boki and other chiefs, and numbers of the people, called to see the new engine, the printing-press, to them a great curiosity. Several were easily induced to undertake to learn the art of printing, and in time succeeded. Most of the printing done at the islands has been done by native hands.” (Bingham)

“The first lessons printed were eagerly received by those natives who had learned to read from manuscripts. For many years all the printing on the islands was done by the Hawaiians who had been taught by Mr. Loomis.”

“A few years later, when another printing press had been received, the first machine was taken to Oregon by a successor to Mr. Loomis, Mr. Edwin O. Hall, and was the first printing press seen west of the Rocky Mountains.” (Gulick)

On July 16, 1820, Elisha and Maria Loomis had a son, Levi Sartwell Loomis, the first white child born in the Hawaiian Islands.

Elisha and Maria would spend seven years in Hawai’i as missionaries. With his health failing, on January 6, 1827, they returned to New England but took up a new missionary post out in the Old Northwest – Mackinac Island – among the Ojibwe people. After two years in that missionary field they would return to New York. (Smola)

He recovered sufficiently to continue printing Hawaiian books in New York State, many for the American Bible Society and the American Tract Society. These books were sent to the Sandwich Islands with later missionary companies. (Judd)

Ka‘ahumanu wrote to Loomis, asking him to print and send her portions of the Bible, “Sincere love to you two Mr. & Mrs. Loomis – I have affection for you, my friends on account of your returning to America. To see all our friends there. Herein is my affection towards you. When you arrive in America, think of my love. Do not forget in the least.”

“This is what I desire, when you print; Do you print together the gospel of Matthew with John and Luke and Mark and Adam, and the Acts of the apostles, and the Epistles, and indeed the whole of the word of god. Let none be omitted.”

“There (with the scriptures) are my affections forever. Our thoughts centre in the love of God. I say unto you, give my love to all the chiefs in America. Together with all friends there: for the refreshing breeze now blows here even from the presence of God.” (Letter from Kaahumanu to the Loomis, June 3, 1827)

After Elisha’s death on August 27, 1836, Mrs. Loomis returned west to Ypsilanti, Michigan. She would spend the rest of her days there until she died in 1862. (Smola)

The mission press printed 10,000-copies of Ka Palapala Hemolele (The Holy Scriptures.) It was 2,331-pages long printed front and back.

Mission Press also printed newspaper, hymnals, schoolbooks, broadsides, fliers, laws, and proclamations. The Mission Presses printed over 113,000,000-sheets of paper in 20-years.

A replica Ramage printing press is at Mission Houses in Honolulu (it was built by students at Honolulu Community College in 1966.) Likewise, Hale Pa‘i in Lahainaluna has early Hawaiian printing displays.

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Mission Houses Printing Press Interpretive sign

Image of first printing press

Ramage Press replica at Mission Houses

Elisha Loomis headstone

Levi Sartwell Loomis-HMH

Levi Sartwell Loomis-headstone

September 17, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

The Face of the Future

After attending the National Baptist Convention in San Francisco and speaking in Los Angeles, Dr Martin Luther King flew to Hawaii for several engagements and a brief vacation.

On September 17, 1959, arriving just three weeks after Hawaii became the fiftieth state, he addressed the legislature at the state capitol, the ‘Iolani Palace. King thanks the Hawaiians for offering the nation “a noble example” of progress “in the area of racial harmony and racial justice.”

“Mr. Speaker, distinguished members of the House of Representatives of this great new state in our Union, ladies and gentlemen:”

“It is certainly a delightful privilege and pleasure for me to have this great opportunity and, I shall say, it is a great honor to come before you today and to have the privilege of saying just a few words to you about some of the pressing problems confronting our nation and our world.”

“I come to you with a great deal of appreciation and great feeling of appreciation, I should say, for what has been accomplished in this beautiful setting and in this beautiful state of our Union.”

“As I think of the struggle that we are engaged in in the South land, we look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country …”

“… and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.”

“People ask me from time to time as I travel across the country and over the world whether there has been any real progress in the area of race relations, and I always answer it by saying that there are three basic attitudes that one can take toward the question of progress in the area of race relations.”

“One can take the attitude of extreme optimism. The extreme optimist would contend that we have come a long, long way in the area of race relations, and he would point proudly to the strides that have been made in the area of civil rights in the last few decades.”

“And, from this, he would conclude that the problem is just about solved now and that we can sit down comfortably by the wayside and wait on the coming of the inevitable.”

“And then there is the extreme, the attitude of extreme pessimism, that we often find. The extreme pessimist would contend that we have made only minor strides in the area of human relations.”

“He would contend that we have created many more problems than we have solved. He would look around and see the tensions in certain sections of the country; he would listen to the rhythmic beat of the deep rumblings of discontent; he would point to the presence of Federal troops in Little Rock, Arkansas …”

“… he would point to schools being closed in some states of the Union and from all of this, he would conclude that we have retrogressed instead of progressed. And then he would go on later and contend that a monster human nature cannot be changed.”

“Sometimes he will turn to the realm of theology and talk about the tragic taint of original sin hovering over every individual, or he might turn to psychology and talk about the inflexibility of certain habit structures once they have been molded and from all of this, he would conclude that there can be no progress in the area of human relations because human beings cannot be changed once they have started on a certain road.”

“Now, it is interesting to notice that the extreme optimist and the extreme pessimist have at least one thing in common. They both agree that we must sit down and do nothing in the area of race relations.”

“The extreme optimist says do nothing because integration is inevitable. The extreme pessimist says do nothing because integration is impossible.”

“But I think there is a third position, a third attitude that can be taken, namely the realistic position. The realistic attitude seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites while avoiding the extremes of both.”

“So the realist in the area of race relations would agree with the optimist that we have come a long, long way, but he would balance that by agreeing with the pessimist that we have a long, long way to go.”

“And so this is my answer to the questions of whether there has been any progress in the area of race relations. I seek to be realistic and say we have a long, long way to go.”

“Now, it is easy for us to see that we have come a long, long way. Twenty-five years ago, fifty years ago, a year hardly passed that numerous Negroes were not brutally lynched in our nation by vicious mobs. Lynchings have about ceased today.”

“We think about the fact that just twenty-five years ago, most of the Southern states had a system known as a poll tax to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters. The poll tax has been eliminated in all but four states.”

“We think about the fact that the Negro is voting now more than he has ever voted before. At the turn of the century, there were very few Negro registered voters in the South. By 1948 that number had reached to 750,000, and, today, it stands at about 1,300,000.”

“And even in the area of economic justice, we have seen a good deal of progress. The average Negro wage earner in the South today and over the nation makes four times more than the average Negro wage earner of ten years ago and the national income of the Negro is now $17 billion a year.”

“That is more than all of the exports of the United States and more than the national income of Canada. So, we’ve come a long, long way.”

“Then we’ve come a long, long way in seeing the walls of segregation gradually crumble. When the Supreme Court rendered its decision in 1954, seventeen states and the District of Columbia practiced segregation in the public schools, but, today, most of these states have complied with the decision …”

“… and just five states are left that have not made any move in the area of compliance and two of these states are now under orders to integrate – Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana.”

“So after next September, that will only leave Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina as the states that have not complied with the Supreme Court’s decision.”

“So, you can see that we have come a long, long way. But before stopping –it would be wonderful if I could stop here – but I must move on for two or three more minutes and say that there is another sign.”

“You see, it would be a fact for me to say we have come a long, long way, but it wouldn’t be telling the truth. A fact is the absence of contradiction, but truth is the presence of coherence. Truth is the relatedness of facts.”

“Now, it is a fact that we have come a long, long way, but in order to tell the truth, it is necessary to move on and say we have a long, long way to go.”

“If we stop here, we would be the victims of a dangerous optimism. We would be victims of an illusion wrapped in superficiality. So, in order to tell the truth, it’s necessary to move on and say we have a long, long way to go.”

“Now, it is not difficult to see that. We know that the forces of resistance are rising at times to ominous proportions in the South. The legislative halls of many of our states ring loud with such words as ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification.’”

“While lynchings have ceased to a great extent, other things are happening. Churches are being bombed, homes are being bombed, schools are being bombed, synagogues are being bombed by forces that are determined to stand against the law of the land.”

“And although the Negro is voting more than ever before, we know that there are still conniving forces being used to keep the Negro from being a registered voter. Out of the potential 5,000,000 Negro registered voters in the South, we only have 1,300,000.”

“This means that we have a long, long way to go in order to make justice a reality there in the registration of voting. And although we have come a long, long way in the economic realm, we have a long, long way to there in order to make economic justice a reality. And then segregation is still with us.”

“Although we have seen the walls gradually crumble, it is still with us. I imply that figuratively speaking, that Old Man Segregation is on his death bed, but you know history has proven that social systems have a great last-minute breathing power, and the guardians of the status quo are always on hand with their oxygen tents to keep the old order alive, and this is exactly what we see today.”

“So segregation is still with us. We are confronted in the South in its glaring and conspicuous forms, and we are confronted in almost every other section of the nation in its hidden and subtle forms.”

“But if democracy is to live, segregation must die. Segregation is a cancer in the body politic which must be removed before our democratic health can be realized.”

“In a real sense, the shape of the world today does not permit us the luxury of an anemic democracy. If we are to survive, if we are to stand as a force in the world, if we are to maintain our prestige, we must solve this problem because people are looking over to America.”

“Just two years ago I traveled all over Africa and talked with leaders from that great continent. One of the things they said to me was this …”

“No amount of extensive handouts and beautiful words would be substitutes for treating our brothers in the United States as first-class citizens and human beings. This came to me from mouth of Prime Minister Nkrumah of Ghana.”

“Just four months ago, I traveled throughout India and the Middle East and talked with many of the people and leaders of that great country and other people in the Middle East, and these are the things they talked about …”

“That we must solve this problem if we are to stand and to maintain our prestige. And I can remember very vividly meeting people all over Europe and in the Middle East and in the Far East, and even though many of them could not speak English, they knew how to say ‘Little Rock.’”

“And these are the things that we must be concerned about – we must be concerned about because we love America and we are out to free not only the Negro.”

“This is not our struggle today to free 17,000,000 Negroes. It’s bigger than that. We are seeking to free the soul of America. Segregation debilitates the white man as well as the Negro. We are to free all men, all races and all groups.”

“This is our responsibility and this is our challenge, and we look to this great new state in our Union as the example and as the inspiration. As we move on in this realm, let us move on with the faith that this problem can be solved, and that it will be solved, believing firmly that all reality hinges on moral foundations, and we are struggling for what is right, and we are destined to win.”

“We have come a long, long way. We have a long, long way to go.”

“I close, if you will permit me, by quoting the words of an old Negro slave preacher. He didn’t quite have his grammar right, but he uttered some words in the form of a prayer with great symbolic profundity and these are the words he said:”

“‘Lord, we ain’t what we want to be; we ain’t what we ought to be; we ain’t what we gonna be, but thank God, we ain’t what we was.’ Thank you.” (Dr Martin Luther King)

He later shared his impressions of Hawai‘i’s multi-ethnic society: “As I looked at all of these various faces and various colors mingled together like the waters of the sea, I could see only one face – the face of the future!” (King)

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martin-luther-king-jr-in-hawaii-1959

September 16, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Missionary Arrested

The westward push of settlers had begun to dramatically affect the Cherokee. The Cherokees steadily refused to treat for the sale of their country. (Worcester)

The American Indians, with the help of Samuel Austin Worcester (nephew of the ABCFM Corresponding Secretary Samuel Worcester), his former teacher Jeremiah Evarts and the American Board, formulated a plan to fight the encroachment in court, their last hope.

The missionaries ““Resolved, As our unanimous opinion, that the establishment of the jurisdiction of Georgia and other states over the Cherokee people, against their will, would be an immense and irreparable injury.” (Worcester)

No other civil authority would support the Cherokee right to live on the land they called home for hundreds of years. The board hired former U.S. Attorney General William Wirt to defend George Tassel, a Cherokee convicted of murder in Hall County. (About North Georgia)

But President Andrew Jackson’s program of ‘Indian removal’ – forced marches to lands across the Mississippi – soon led to a confrontation between the ABCFM and the US government.

In 1830, ABCFM missionaries Samuel Worcester and Elizur Butler ended up in the Georgia State Penitentiary for resisting these unjust policies.

They were tried on September 16, 1831, for violation of Georgia law. The jury brought a quick verdict of guilty, and Worcester was condemned to 4 years of hard labor in a penitentiary.

“The imprisoned missionaries were treated with all the kindness which the rules of the prison would allow. Except that all letters sent or received by them must be seen by some officer of the prison, they corresponded freely with their friends; and Mr. Worcester still continued to give advice and directions concerning the management of the mission.”

“Severe tasks were not imposed upon them; and when any peculiarly unpleasant work was to be performed, some of the other convicts often begged the privilege of doing it in their stead. Still, they did their full share of labor, and refused every indulgence which could distinguish them invidiously from their fellow prisoners.”

“Their case was brought, by a writ of error, before the Supreme Court of the United States, and argued by William Wirt and John Sargeant on the 20th, 21st and 23d of February. No one appeared before the Court in behalf of Georgia.”

“On the 3d of March (1832), Chief Justice Marshall pronounced the decision of the Court in favor of the missionaries, declaring the laws of Georgia, extending her jurisdiction over the Cherokee country, to be repugnant to the constitution, treaties and laws of the United States, and, therefore, null and void.”

“The mandate of the Court was immediately issued, reversing and annulling the judgment of the Superior Court of Georgia, and ordering that all proceedings on the indictment against the missionaries ‘do forever surcease,’ and that they ‘be, and hereby are, dismissed therefrom.’”

“Meanwhile, the work of taking possession of the Cherokee country went on. A law of Georgia forbade the Cherokee government to act, or to exist. An armed force was sent, to arrest the members of the national council, if they should attempt to meet; and the meeting was thus prevented.”

“The country was laid out into lots of 140 acres each, to be distributed by lottery. Possession was to be given immediately, except in cases of lots on which Cherokees were actually residing.”

“White men crowded into the nation to take possession of the vacant lots, even before the lottery was drawn. Some of these were appointed justices of the peace, and a show was made of enforcing the civil code of Georgia.”

“The drawing of the lottery commenced on the 22d of October, and, after a short suspension, to investigate certain frauds in the manner of conducting it, was soon completed. The legislature met early in November.”

“The Governor in his message, stated what progress had been made in taking possession of the Cherokee lands, and the legislature repealed the law, under which the missionaries had been imprisoned.” (Worcester)

“Suppose we have gained nothing. Ought we therefore to repent of having made the attempt? Are we never to make efforts and sacrifices for the accomplishment of an important object, without the certainty of success?”

“No. If we have gained nothing else, we have at least gained a very cheerful testimony of our consciences, that we have done what we could, for the preservation of injustice, oppression, and robbery, and the preservation of the national faith.” (Letter of Defense, Samuel Worcester and Elizur Butler, CongressionalLibary)

In 1838, Butler joined the ‘Trail of Tears’ to Oklahoma, a march which took the lives of 4,000-Cherokees and Butler’s own infant daughter – and eventually fueled a public backlash against Indian removal. (CongressionalLibary)

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Cherokee mission at Brainerd, TN

September 14, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hind-Clarke Dairy

Robert Hind and Hannah Peirce Low were married in Honolulu, April 26, 1892. In 1893 he entered into a partnership with his brother-in-law, Eben P. Low, in the cattle ranch on the Island of Hawaii, now known as Puuwaawaa.

In 1903 Mr. Hind purchased Mr. Low’s interest in the ranch and took over full management of the property, resigning his position with the Hawi Mill and Plantation Co., Ltd. which he had held continuously since 1885. Mr. Hind now has more than two thousand head of cattle on the Puuwaawaa ranch.

Identified for forty years with the development of cattle ranching and dairying in Hawaii, Robert Hind, son of a pioneer sugar planter who came to the islands from England in the 60’s, has also been prominent in public life and at present is devoting most of his attention to the improvement of land holdings on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu. (Nellist)

In 1918 Robert Hind started Kapahulu Dairy. (Kelly) In 1924, Hind purchased 2,090-acres and established the Hind-Clarke Dairy with John K Clarke. “Rancher and Cattleman To Import 100 Pure Bred Guernseys At Once Will Be Added To Stock Ready for Opening of Hind-Clarke Dairy”

“One hundred pure bred Guernsey milch cows for the Hind-Clarke dairy, which is to be opened for business in the Waialae district later in the summer, will arrive from San Francisco June 30, announces Robert Hind, rancher and dairyman, who returned from the mainland on the steamer Wilhelmina Tuesday.”

“The cows, which represent one of the largest purchases of milch cows ever made for any dairy In Hawaii, were obtained by Hind during his recent trip to the mainland. The cost of the cows has not yet been announced, but it will total many thousands of dollar.”

“‘The cows are of the purest breed.’ explained Hind in discussing his purchase. ‘I bought them in Wisconsin and I expect them to arrive about the latter part of June.’”

“‘These cows will produce the highest quality of milk, which will be of a rich color and of a taste for which the Guernsey is famous. The animals have the best kind of pedigrees and would be valuable additions to any dairy.’”

“The dairy already has 150 Holstein cows, which produce milk In quantity, and the coming herd will increase his herd to at least 250 milk producers.”

“During his visit on the mainland Hind visited many of the leading dairies of the United States. He studied their methods and has brought back to Hawaii many ideas and plans for the dairy.”

“According to present plans the Hind-Clarke dairy will wholesale and retail milk. The dairy will specialize in certified milk and it is planned to make the dairy one of the most efficient In the islands. Modern machinery, such as bottling machines, will be used In the dairy, Hind added.”

“Hind for some years has been operating a large dairy at Kaimuki, but bought a big tract of land between Kaimuki and Koko Head and is developing a model dairy plant there, construction of which has been under way for many months.”

“John K. Clarke is associated with him and O. A. Young, dairy expert, formerly of Seattle. is resident manager.” (Star Bulletin, June 10, 1925)

The Hind-Clarke Dairy was a favored stop along the road, as noted in a 1930 visitor’s guide …

“The Hind-Clarke Dairy, a short way ahead and to our left with a large sign over the entrance, is not to be passed unnoticed. The dairy is a model of its kind and well affords an opportunity to see dairying in its most scientific form. The cottage cheese on sale is, perhaps, the most delicious you have ever tasted.” (Cultural Surveys)

“And Hind-Clarke Dairy had this drive-in where they had their own ice cream parlor [Hind-Clarke Drive Inn]. And later on it got to be known as M’s Ranch House.” (‘M’ referencing Mona Hind Holmes, Robert’s daughter.)

“Until only recently it was still there, and they finally closed down. But it started out as a Hind-Clarke Dairy ice cream parlor, but people drove in there to buy ice cream.” (Yamaguchi Oral History)

Robert Hind died in December 1938. Robert Hind, Ltd, under the direction of Trustee John K. Clarke (who oversaw the trust until his death in 1951), continued operation of the Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a Ranch holdings, and various interests both on Hawai‘i (Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a, Captain Cook, and Honomalino) and O‘ahu (Aina Haina). (Rechtman)

In 1946, the ‘Āina Haina dairy operation was sold to Creameries of America, and soon after that began to develop the remainder of his land for residential use.

The former cattle pasture was subdivided into lots to form a new residential community called ‘Āina Haina (which means, “Hind’s land.”)

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Hind Clarke Dairy aerial-1930s

robert-hind

Aina_Haina_Valley_Honolulu-(gsu-edu)-1930s

People standing in front of the Hind-Clarke Dairy Ice Cream Stand, Aina Haina Valley-(gsu-edu)-1930s

Hind-Clarke Dairy Truck-Women_of_YWCA_helping_out-(maunalua-net)

Hind-Clarke Dairy Ice Cream Stand, Aina Haina Valley, Honolulu-(gsu-edu)-1930s

Hind-Clarke Dairy Ice Cream Stand-(maunalua-net)-1930s

Hind-Clarke Dairy Cattle going to Milking Barn-Henke-UH-1929

Hind-Clarke Dairy Drive Inn Ad-Adv-June 16, 1933

Sign posted within the garage of the Hind-Clarke_Dairy Ice Cream Stand, Aina Haina Valley-(gsu-edu)-1930s

Sign posted within the garage of the Hind-Clarke Dairy Ice Cream Stand, Aina Haina Valley-(gsu-edu)-1930s

Hind Clarke Dairy Token-(maunalua-net)

Ranch House

M’s Ranch House

Hind-Clarke Dairy Patch-(maunalua-net)

1940s-hind-clarke-surfer

Hind-Clarke Dairy Milk Bottle

Hind-Clarke Dairy Milk Bottle-(back)

Hind-Clarke Dairy-Milk Cap

Hind-Clarke Dairy Milk Cap

September 9, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Victoria Falls

In 1843, Samuel Thomas Alexander and Henry Perrine Baldwin, sons of early missionaries to Hawaiʻi, met in Lāhainā, Maui. They grew up together, became close friends and went on to develop a sugar-growing partnership.

Alexander was the idea man, more outgoing and adventurous of the two. He had a gift for raising money to support his business projects. Baldwin was more reserved and considered the “doer” of the partners; he completed the projects conceived by Alexander.

After studying on the Mainland, Alexander returned to Maui and began teaching at Lahainaluna, where he and his students successfully grew sugar cane and bananas.

Word of the venture spread to the owner of Waiheʻe sugar plantation near Wailuku, and Alexander was offered the manager’s position. Alexander hired Baldwin as his assistant, who at the time was helping his brother raise sugar cane in Lāhainā. This was the beginning of a lifelong working partnership.

In 1869, the young men – Alexander was 33, Baldwin, 27 – purchased 12-acres of land in Makawao and the following year an additional 559-acres. That same year, the partners planted sugar cane on their land marking the birth of what would become Alexander & Baldwin (A&B.)

In 1883, Alexander and Baldwin formalized their partnership by incorporating their sugar business as the Paia Plantation also known at various times as Samuel T Alexander & Co, Haleakala Sugar Co and Alexander & Baldwin Plantation.

By spring of 1900, A&B had outgrown its partnership organization and plans were made to incorporate the company, allowing the company to increase capitalization and facilitate expansion.

A&B was one of Hawaiʻi’s five major companies (that emerged to providing operations, marketing, supplies and other services for the plantations and eventually came to own and manage most of them.) They became known as the Big Five.

Hawaiʻi’s Big Five were: C Brewer (1826;) A Theo H Davies (1845;) Amfac – starting as Hackfeld & Company (1849;) Castle & Cooke (1851) and Alexander & Baldwin (1870.)

“It came as no surprise to Samuel’s family and friends when he announced plans to embark on an African safari in the summer of 1904. Neither did the inclusion of Annie (his daughter).”

“The part of British East Africa that Samuel had selected for their safari was considered at the time to be the greatest hunting ground on the entire African continent, if not in the world.”

“He envisioned an expedition that would traverse a distance of almost 800 miles, beginning several hundred miles northwest of Mombasa near Nakuru and continuing west to the terminal point of the Uganda railroad at Port Florence, approximately 580 miles inland.”

“Henry Stanley and David Livingstone had explored much of this region during the last half of the nineteenth century and their reports had piqued the interest and excitement of adventurers and armchair travelers alike.” (Stein)

“The trip commenced in early April 1904 when father and daughter, aged 67 and 36, traveled by boat from New York to Europe. From there they boarded a German steamer, the Kanzler, from a Dutch port and landed in Mombasa, British East Africa (present day Kenya) more than a month later.” (Childers)

“Samuel’s original itinerary did not call for their journey to end in British East Africa but rather to travel south from Mombasa by steamer and to visit Victoria Falls.”

“Although he and Annie now held less enthusiasm for this significant addition to their journey, at her behest he agreed to go, fearing that if they did not they might always regret it.”

“The two secured passage on the German steamer the Konig, sailing to Beira. From there they traveled by rail to Bulawayo and then to Matapao, a small town on the Zambesi River where they visited the grave of Cecil Rhodes.”

“Rhodes had died two years earlier, a mere three years before the completion of the famed Zambesi Railway Bridge. Through his foresight and backing, the bridge would span the canyon below Victoria Falls, promoting commerce and uniting the areas that became Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe).” (Stein)

“On the morning of September 9 they crossed to the northern shore of the Zambesi River by cable in order to view the great chasm into which the water was falling. Work on the famous 900-foot bridge across the river had barely begun. “

“Finding a trail leading into the Palm Grove Ravine, the two descended to view the falls at their exit point, the narrow chasm from which the water emerges after falling over the precipice.”

“Just as the pair reached the point that afforded them their best view into the chasm, they became aware of small rocks falling from the heights directly above them.”

“They turned and ran, Annie reaching safety first and setting up her camera. While Samuel stood just a few feet from her, a large boulder fell, striking a rock, veering and hitting Samuel on his left foot, disabling him.” (Stein)

“He was transported, in agony and with much loss of blood, to a doctor’s house six miles away where his leg was amputated. He died the next morning, September 10, 1904, at the age of sixty-seven, Annie having sat by his side during the operation and throughout the night. Annie buried her beloved father in a small cemetery at Livingstone, Zambia.” (Williams)

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