Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings

December 18, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

St Peter’s Episcopal Church

One might wonder why two Episcopal Churches are within a block from each other (St Andrews Cathedral and St Peter’s Episcopal Church – at Emma’s Square in Honolulu.)

What may appear odd and unnecessary placement at first makes more sense as we look back (in context of those times) …

Kamehameha IV and his Queen were both very interested in the Anglican/Episcopal Church and in 1859 asked Queen Victoria to send them clergy of the Church of England and in 1861 gave land on which a Cathedral was to be built.

While planning and fund-raising began a small Pro-Cathedral was constructed of wood on the corner of Nuʻuanu and Kuakini Streets in 1862.

After the Bishop’s arrival in Honolulu, the King and Queen were baptized and confirmed in the Anglican Church. (This was the second baptism for each; in their childhood they had been baptized in the Calvinist faith.)

The first services of the church were held on October 12, 1862, amidst a time of mourning for the only son of the King and Queen had died shortly before the arrival of the Bishop.

The subsequent untimely death of King Kamehameha IV on St Andrew’s Day, November 30, 1863, led his brother, King Kamehameha V to dedicate the cathedral to St Andrew as a fitting memorial to a King.

Queen Emma traveled to England to raise money, to commission architects and to purchase stone from Caen in Normandy, which was shipped to Hawaiʻi. The corner stone was laid March 5, 1867 by King Kamehameha V and the cathedral was completed in time for Christmas, 1886. (Queen Emma died before completion of the cathedral.)

That same year, St Peter’s Episcopal Church was founded on land given by Queen Emma in 1885; however, the history leading to its founding is a little more complicated, as well as telling to the creation of neighboring Episcopal churches. We need to look back a little farther.

The first sugar mill was introduced to Hawai‘i by a Chinese in 1802. As interest in sugar production grew, to be commercially profitable, sugar plantations had to import foreign laborers. The Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, which was founded in 1850, began to bring workers to sugar plantations starting in 1852; the first came from China. (Fan)

After the signing of the Reciprocity Trade Agreement between the United States and Hawai‘i in 1875, there was a tremendous increase in immigration; by 1884 the Chinese laborers constituted about a quarter (22.6 percent) of the total population of Hawai‘i.

Many of the Chinese who came, and subsequently their children, had Christian backgrounds.

After the Opium War of the early 1840s, between Britain and China, the mainland of China was opened to western missionaries. Chinese population centers became of special interest to European Christian missionaries.

There was a heavy emphasis on Christian education. Children of converts, both boys and girls, were placed in parish and boarding schools, and a seminary trained future pastors and teachers, many of whom emigrated to Hawai‘i. (Kaestens)

The Chinese contract laborers coming to Hawai‘i included Christians who had been baptized in China. (Fan) Many ended up on the sugar plantations in Kohala.

Receiving preaching of the gospel in their native tongue and converting others to Christianity, around 1882, the St Paul’s Chinese Mission in Makapala, Kohala was established. (Char)

A few years later, the founding families of St Peter’s Church arrived on O‘ahu by way of Kohala on the Big Island as Christian families from China.

Brought to the Islands to work in the sugar plantations, following their contracted services, many moved to Honolulu for other work opportunities.

The congregation of the first Chinese church in the Anglican communion of Honolulu met at a store and at the Pro-Cathedral on the Cathedral grounds until its size demanded a building of its own. In 1914, the current church building was completed.

It is suggested that the naming of the churches (and their proximity) relate to the relationship of St Andrew and St Peter. St Andrew, the first disciple of Jesus, was the brother of St Peter (Simon Peter,) another disciple/apostle.

Both lived and worked as fishermen in Galilee but gave up their lifelong careers and lifestyles, leaving everything behind, to follow Jesus. They were each part of the original 12 apostles of Christ, leaders of the early Christian Church.

St Peter’s is one of the oldest historically Chinese congregations among Asian American Episcopal churches. History and demographics have transformed St Peter’s along with the rest of Hawai‘i.

While remembering and honoring its Chinese heritage and founders, the present St Peter’s church community represents the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan dynamics of Honolulu and Hawai‘i. (St Peter’s)

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St Peters Episcopal Church

St Peter’s Episcopal Church

St Pauls Episcopal Church-Makalapa

Pro-Cathedral of St. Andrew’s built in 1866

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December 17, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Collaboration

Definition of collaborate – “to work jointly with others or together …” (Merriam-Webster)

The recent Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives project “Letters from the Ali‘i,” more than 225 letters written by 42 different ali‘i between 1820-1907, helps illustrate the collaboration between the missionaries and the ali‘i.

These letters have been digitized, transcribed, translated and annotated by interns under the direction of Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier, Executive Director of the Awaiaulu Foundation.

The Ali‘i Letters project “changed my perspective on the anti-missionary, anti-Anglo-Saxon rhetorical tradition that scholarship has been produced, contemporary scholarship, and it is not to discredit that scholarship, but just to change a paradigm, to shift the paradigm, and it shifted mine.” (Kaliko Martin, Research Assistant, Awaiaulu)

Jon Yasuda was another of the intern translators who participated in the translation project. He received his Master’s Degree in Hawaiian Language from UH Mānoa.

In a November 4, 2016 interview on ‘Ōlelo’s ‘First Friday’, interviewer Manu Ka‘iama noted that “the nice thing about these letters is it kind of is a portal” that illustrate the feeling at the time and “you have some proof of that”. She asked what Yasuda found interesting in the letters; he noted:

“I think one thing that is interesting is that it really shows the way that the missionaries and a lot of the chiefs at the time needed to work together. They worked together, and through their letters we can see the ways … that they helped each other. And I think that both sides had things to share with each other that were beneficial to both sides.”

“I think that one thing that is commonly believed is that the missionaries really came in and started barking orders, and saying this is how it’s going to be … and you are going to do this and you are not going to do that and this is how you need to be. But what we are really seeing is that it wasn’t quite like that.”

“There were very few missionaries in comparison to how many Hawaiians there were at the time. And so, the letters really show us the way that the missionaries and Hawaiians worked together and how some of the things the missionaries brought, for example, sewing and some business, and trade were attractive to the Hawaiians at the time. And, they really had to work together for a lot.” (Jon Yasuda)

Puakea Nogelmeier had a similar conclusion. In remarks at a Hawaiian Mission Houses function he noted,

“The missionary effort is more successful in Hawai‘i than probably anywhere in the world, in the impact that it has on the character and the form of a nation. And so, that history is incredible; but history gets so blurry …”

“The missionary success cover decades and decades becomes sort of this huge force where people feel like the missionaries got off the boat barking orders … where they just kind of came in and took over. They got off the boat and said ‘stop dancing,’ ‘put on clothes,’ don’t sleep around.’”

“And it’s so not the case ….”

“The missionaries arrived here, and they’re a really remarkable bunch of people. They are scholars, they have got a dignity that goes with religious enterprise that the Hawaiians recognized immediately. …”

“The Hawaiians had been playing with the rest of the world for forty-years by the time the missionaries came here. The missionaries are not the first to the buffet and most people had messed up the food already.”

“(T)hey end up staying and the impact is immediate. They are the first outside group that doesn’t want to take advantage of you, one way or the other, get ahold of their goods, their food, or your daughter. … But, they couldn’t get literacy. It was intangible, they wanted to learn to read and write”. (Puakea Nogelmeier)

When the Ali‘i Asked, the Missionaries Collaborated

An 1826 letter written by Kalanimōku to Hiram Bingham (written at a time when missionaries were being criticized) states, “Greetings Mr Bingham. Here is my message to all of you, our missionary teachers.”

“I am telling you that I have not seen your wrong doing. If I had seen you to be wrong, I would tell you all. No, you must all be good. Give us literacy and we will teach it. And, give us the word of God and we will heed it … for we have learned the word of God.”

“Then foreigners come, doing damage to our land. Foreigners of America and Britain. But don’t be angry, for we are to blame for you being faulted.”

“And it is not you foreigners, (it’s) the other foreigners.” (Kalanimōku to Bingham, 1826)

Ali‘i Asked the Missionaries for Christianity, the Missionaries Collaborated

“Here’s my message according to the words of Jehovah, I have given my heart to God and my body and my spirit. I have devoted myself to the church and Jesus Christ.”

“Have a look at this letter of mine, Mr Bingham and company. And if you see it and wish to send my message on to America to (your President,) that is up to you. Greetings to the chief of America. Regards to you all, Kalanimōku.” (Kalanimōku to Bingham, 1826)

Kaumuali‘i and his wife, Kapule, reiterated appreciation of the missionaries in letters transcribed on July 28, 1820 to the ABCFM and mother of a recently-arrived missionary wife.

“I wish to write a few lines to you, to thank you for the good Book you was so kind as to send by my son. I think it is a good book – one that God gave for us to read. I hope my people will soon read this, and all other good books …”

“When your good people learn me, I worship your God. I feel glad you good people come to help us. We know nothing here. American people very good – kind. I love them.” (Kapule to the mother of Mrs Ruggles)

Ali‘i Asked the Missionaries for Literacy, the Missionaries Collaborated

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawai¬ʻi in 1820 marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

“By August 30, 1825, only three years after the first printing of the pīʻāpā, 16,000 copies of spelling books, 4,000 copies of a small scripture tract, and 4,000 copies of a catechism had been printed and distributed.”

“On October 8, 1829, it was reported that 120,000 spelling books were printed in Hawaiʻi. These figures suggest that perhaps 90 percent of the Hawaiian population were in possession of a pīʻāpā book!”

“This literacy initiative was continually supported by the aliʻi. Under Liholiho, ships carrying teachers were not charged harbor fees. During a missionary paper shortage, the government stepped in to cover the difference, buying enough paper to print roughly 13,500 books.”

“This legendary rise in literacy climbed from a near-zero literacy rate in 1820, to between 91 to 95 percent by 1834. That’s only twelve years from the time the first book was printed!” (KSBE)

Ali‘i Asked the Missionaries for More Teachers, the Missionaries Collaborated

On August 23, 1836, fifteen chiefs signed a letter addressed to the American missionaries, asking for more teachers,

Shortly after, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent the largest company of missionaries to the Islands; including a large number of teachers.

Ali‘i Asked for a Special School for their Children, the Missionaries Collaborated

In 1839, King Kamehameha III, Hoapili and Kekāuluohi (mother of William Charles Lunalilo, who became the Kuhina Nui or regent of the Hawaiian Kingdom) signed a letter asking missionaries to run the Chiefs’ Children’s School.

In a missionary general meeting, “This subject was fully considered in connection with an application of the chiefs requesting the services of Mr. Cooke, as a teacher for their children; and it was voted, …

“That the mission comply with their request, provided they will carry out their promise to Mr. Cooke’s satisfaction; namely, to build a school house, sustain him in his authority, over the scholars, and support the school.” (Sandwich Islands Mission General Meeting Minutes, 1839)

The school was unique because for the first time aliʻi children would be brought together in a group to be taught, ostensibly, about the ways of governance. The School also acted as another important unifying force among the ruling elite, instilling in their children common principles, attitudes and values, as well as a shared vision.

Ali‘i Asked for Instruction in Western Governance, the Missionaries Collaborated

It was a time of transition, when the Hawaiian people were faced with the difficult task of adjusting themselves to changing conditions. They turned to their teachers, the American missionaries, for guidance along this intricate path.

The king and chiefs, acknowledging their own inexperience, had sought for a man of probity and some legal training who could act as their advisor in matters dealing with other nations and with foreigners within the Islands. (Judd)

Richards “accepted the invitation of the Chiefs to become their teacher, and entered into engagements with them which were signed on the 3d of July (1838). According to those engagements, (he) was to devote (his) time at (his) discretion to the instruction of the King and chiefs, as far as (he) could and remain at Lahaina, and do the public preaching.”

“(He) also met king & chiefs daily when other public business did not prevent, and as fast as (he) could prepare matter read it to them in the form of lectures. (He) endeavored to make the lectures as familiar as possible, by repeating them, and drawing the chiefs into free conversation on the subject of the Lecture.”

“The conversation frequently took so wide a range that there was abundant opportunity to refer to any and to every fault of the present system of government. But when the faults of the present system were pointed out & the chiefs felt them & then pressed me with the question, ‘Pehea la e pono ai,’ (How will it be bettered?)”

“A system of laws has been written out by (Boaz) Mahune, a graduate of the (Lahainaluna) high school, and he was directed by the King to conform them to the principles of Political Economy which they had learned. Those laws are some what extensive and protect all private property.”

“According to this code, no chief has any authority over any man, any farther than it is given him by specific enactment, and no tax can be levied, other than that which is specified in the printed law, and no chief can act as a judge in a case where he is personally interested, and no man can be dispossessed of land which he has put under cultivation except for crimes specified in the law.” (Richards Report to the Sandwich Islands Mission, May 1, 1839)

This is a summary; click HERE for more on Collaboration between the Hawaiians and missionaries.

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December 16, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Borders of the Grave

“As another instance of the unremitted kindness of my dear S(ybil), who every day gives me proof of the richness of that divine goodness, which in a way, unexpected ‘mysterious and kind’, brought to my bosom, a companion and helpmate …” (Hiram Bingham)

“About two months after the union of Ka‘ahumanu with Kaumuali‘i, she had a severe trial and admonition. Sickness, so much deprecated by the high and low, in Christian and in heathen lands, is often the messenger of mercy to the proud and gay lovers of the world …”

“… to make them feel the need of a friend in adversity, and to apprise them of the frailness of the tenure by which they hold their cherished share of earth, and to remind them of the necessity of something more satisfying and enduring.”

“Never perhaps was such an unwelcome messenger of mercy more opportunely sent to a haughty ruler, than in Dec. 1821, when the hard and lofty-hearted Kaahumanu was laid low and brought to the borders of the grave.”

“Repeatedly we called on her during this illness, and endeavored to secure her confidence and to do her good. So severe were her paroxysms, December 15th, that much apprehension was entertained that she would not live through the day.”

“Two skilful physicians connected with the Russian ships of discovery, before mentioned, under Commodore Vascilietf, now returned, prescribed for her.”

“On the evening of the 16th, Mrs. B. and myself visited her, when she returned our salutations with unwonted cordiality, and as I said to her, ‘I trust you are thinking seriously of the great God and our Savior,’ she replied, ‘I think more about him in my sickness.’”

“I endeavored to assure her that the blessed Savior who died for sinners could preserve her body and her soul; that he could restore her to health; or, if she trusted in him, he could take her ransomed soul to Heaven, if her body should be laid in the grave. To which she replied, ‘Maikai,’ it is well.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Sabbath. Dec. 16th. … This evening Mr. B. and I called again upon the sick Kahoomanoo. This sickness, we fear, may be unto death; still we hope that it will be to the glory of God.”

“She listened with an interest, such as she has never before manifested, to what was said concerning the blessed Redeemer. All her affected airs of dignity were laid aside. Lying on her sick couch, one hand given to Mr. Bingham, the other placed between mine, she seemed not only willing, but desirous to hear something from the servants of the living GOD.”

“After giving her such instructions as he thought suitable at this time, Mr. B. asked if he should pray; to which she readily assented, giving orders that the yard, filled with her attendants of every rank, should be kept in silence.”

“We knelt by her couch and sought to look to Him who has purchased the heathen with his own most precious blood. It would be impossible to speak the feelings which filled the breast. We took our leave. The friendly hona, with like friendly alloah was given by numbers as we passed out the yard.” (Sybil Bingham)

“She united with her husband in requesting us to come again. On the following evening, as we entered the room, her sister, Nāmāhāna, said, ‘Here comes the kahunapule’ (master or leader of religious worship) – ‘I hope we shall hear him pray.’” (Hiram Bingham)

“Dec. 17th. Accompanied Mr. B. again to the village. It is hoped K. is better. She received us with the same kindness as in the two former visits. I had a seat given me at her head, and while rubbing her with spirits of camphor …”

“… with which she seemed comforted, endeavored to divert her mind to Him who once endured pain and death for our sakes, but was now in glory–his placed upon us.”

“As we rose to go she requested that Mr. B. should pray with her again. I need not say this was a pleasant sound to our ears; and when she had commanded silence in all her attendants, with melting hearts we knelt by her side and offered our petitions. “ (Sybil Bingham)

“The sick queen appeared in some measure relieved; but yet not free from anxiety. She seemed gratified by our attentions. After pointing her to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, I was requested by her to pray, before leaving her.”

“At her direction that conversation should be suspended among the group around, there was a solemn stillness (altogether unusual in such an assemblage of natives, chiefs, and foreigners) …”

“… while a minister of Christ kneeled by the couch of the sufferer, and implored the health-giving mercies of God upon her body and soul. She was soon restored, and with her friends set a higher value on the religion which we were endeavoring to inculcate.”

“There was from this period a marked difference in her demeanor towards the missionaries, which became more and more striking, till we were allowed to acknowledge her as a disciple of the Divine Master.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Rarely has a missionary a more favorable opportunity to exert an influence on a whole nation, than was here afforded in the circle of the highest chiefs of these islands, balancing, as they were, between Idolatry, atheism, and the service of the true God.”

“Rarely has a Christian female, in any circumstances, a better opportunity to make an impression, powerful and salutary, than In attending a missionary husband at the couch of such a patient, surrounded by such a circle of relatives and dependants.”

“As Mrs. B. sat down by the side of the sick queen, and with unfeigned sympathy for her sufferings and danger, bathed her aching temples, she bound a silken cord around her heart, from which I think she never broke loose while she lived.”

“Kaumuali‘i not only desired me to repeat my visits to instruct her and pray for her, but when I requested him to teach her and guide her, he said, ‘I have told her some things about God, and I like to tell her what I understand.’”

“His rank and weight of character, his abstinence now from profaneness and intemperance, his confidence in the missionaries, and in what he had learned on the subject of religion, enabled him to exert a good influence in his new, though not altogether the most welcome circumstances.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Dec. 26th. It was most pleasant, this evening, in visiting Kahoomanoo, to see our faithful friend Thomas Hopoo superintending the sick chamber. It is a laborious and very responsible post; but we trust the hand of the Lord has placed him in it for good.”

“The Russians appear interested in him– have had him on board several days to assist them in forming a vocabulary of this language. It is through their influence that he is now attendant upon the queen.” (Sybil Bingham)

“Dec. 27th. The firing of the cannon last night announced the arrival of the king. The sickness of K. has hastened his return.”

“Dec. 28th. Great order and stillness appear in the chamber, tonight. The king, with two or three of his wives, Adams, Gov. of Owhyhee, and some others, were present. Thomas appeared awake to his duty.”

“K(a‘ahumanu) is lodged in the upper room of a framed house, lately purchased by government of American traders. Two more are upon the islands for sale. One is erected. This room is well done off – has in it two large glasses, a good sofa, a straw carpet, and a mahogany table filled, at present, with things suitable for a sick-room.”

“It is difficult to say what is the state of Kahoomanoo’s mind. She still appears disposed to give an ear to what is said of another world.” (Sybil Bingham)

“Dec. 31st. Dismissed school at sun-set, took my tea, laid my little one to rest, and once again went to visit K. … We told the queen that the Russians had given something towards educating one or two orphan children …”

“… and if she would commit to our care two little girls, this should be expended for them, and no pains should be spared on our part to do them good and train them up for usefulness …”

“The purpose pleased her. She at once said, that when well, she would look about her people, and two promising ones should be given me. We had a pleasant visit – joined in prayer and took our leave.” (Sybil Bingham)

“Of what amazing consequence was it that Ka‘ahumanu should be a believer and advocate of Christianity! Who would not covet the privilege of giving a right impulse to the mind and heart of one so high in rank, possessing her mental powers and occupying a position so favorable for exerting influence over a nation?”

“The Lord had a great work for her to accomplish, and was now recovering her from dangerous illness, and ordering circumstances and applying influences favorable for making her what her Christian friends desired her to be and what she was at length to become – a humble disciple of Christ, and a reformer of her nation.”

“But, rising from her illness to comfortable health, she was still too proud, too independent, too fond of pleasure, gaiety, honor, and amusement, to take the place of a cross-bearing servant of Christ.” (Hiram Bingham)

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December 14, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Samuel Whitney’s Death

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of the American Protestant missionaries set sail on the Thaddeus for Hawai‘i – (two Ordained Preachers, Hiram & Sybil Bingham and Asa and Lucy Thurston; two Teachers, Samuel & Mercy Whitney and Samuel & Mary Ruggles; a Doctor, Thomas & Lucia Holman; a Printer, Elisha & Maria Loomis; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain (and his family.)

On the boat was Humehume, son of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i. On May 3, 1820, Ruggles and Whitney took Humehume home to Kauai. Whitney primarily stayed on Kauai as a missionary teacher.

Then, “(Samuel Whitney) was taken ill on the island of Kauai, on the 21st of September last (1845). His symptoms, from the first, indicated a disordered liver.”

“After trying a change of air at his summer retreat at Hanapepeluna and employing various remedies, he, with his family, sailed on the 21st of October for Honolulu, where he arrived in three days, very much exhausted by bilious vomiting and diarrhoea, which continued for several weeks to pull down his strength.”

“It then received a temporary check, and for a little while he was better; but soon a renewed attack of vomiting and diarrhoea prostrated him again. From this, however, he partially recovered, and he was induced, by an earnest invitation, to come to Maui, to try the effects of a residence at the cool and elevated retreat of Mount Ball, above Lahainaluna.”

“He and his family (wife and daughter) accordingly sailed for Maui, Dec. 1st, and in less than twenty-two hours were at anchor at Lahaina.”

“When he arrived, he was quite fatigued, and he was ever afterwards confined mostly to his bed. He now rapidly wasted away under the influence of disease, though his friends generally hoped he would soon begin to mend. He seems to have understood better than they the serious nature of his disorder.”

“Almost a week before his death, he said one morning, ‘I am sinking, and if you have anything more to do for me, you must do it during the few remaining days of this week.’”

“On Friday morning, he was distinctly informed that his physician did not think he would recover, and when Mr. Baldwin, who had watched with him the night previous, came to take his leave, he said, ‘I am sinking,’ to which Mr. B. replied, ‘Well, perhaps your work is done, the Lord only knows.’”

“In the course of the day, he sent for his domestics (a man and woman, who had lived with him nineteen years) and said to them in the Hawaiian tongue, ‘The physicians have just told me that I am about to die. Here is my dying charge to you. Take care of her (pointing to his wife); she will act as my successor; obey her as you have obeyed me.’”

“At another time, he requested his dying, affectionate farewell to be given to all his flock, among whom he had labored and over whom he had been placed as a shepherd, to feed and guide them, naming with much tenderness various individuals.”

“Being asked by his wife whether he had any message to send to his surviving brothers and sisters, and to his own dear children in America, he answered, ‘Yes,’ and lying for a few moments apparently in deep thought, he said, …”

“‘Those dear children of Mr. Chamberlain, remember me affectionately to them. I little thought, when I parted with them, that it would be the last time I should ever see them. Dear children! – how I love them!’”

“He had lodged in Mr. Chamberlain’s family, while at Honolulu, and had ever manifested a deep interest in his children. It would seem that the tender recollection of these dear little ones made him forget his own children, or perhaps he was exhausted by the effort he had made.”

“In the evening, his wife said to him, ‘I have often thought that you I would outlive me, but you are about to go first and leave me behind.’ He replied, ‘Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.’”

“She added, she thought it would not be long before she should follow him, and I hoped they should have a happy meeting in heaven.”

“Saturday night, the night previous to his death, the north-east storm, which had been blowing for several days, increased to a gale and filled the air with dense clouds of dust, which added much to his suffering. But within, all was calm and peaceful.”

“After midnight, as the storm was raging, he was told that the Sabbath had arrived. ‘Blessed Sabbath,’ he said, ‘type of the rest above! Here it is dark and stormy; how sweet the contrast there! Peace and joy are there, and no pain, and there I will soon be. Yesterday I had some clouds, but now all clouds are brushed away. All is light and peace.’”

“Towards morning, on receiving some little attention, he said, ‘How kind you all are! I am under great obligation to you all.’ To which was replied, ‘We esteem it a great privilege to take care of you, on your way to your Father’s house,’ when he said with much energy, ‘Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’”

“After getting relief from a severe fit of vomiting, he said, ‘It is hard work to die. This close union of soul and body, which has so long existed, is hard to dissolve.’”

“He bid farewell to his native man, enjoining upon him to prepare to meet him in heaven, saying he wished all his domestics and all the people of his charge to meet him there, that he was going soon, and it had been his desire all night to depart and be with Christ.”

“When his physician, who had attended him with tender solicitude, went to bid him farewell, he grasped his hand and said, ‘Doctor, Jesus Christ is the star of the universe; He is my hope, my life, my all.”

“Thirty-six years ago I set my affections on Him, and nothing has ever made me I swerve. Nothing can separate me from Him. The devil has tried to baffle me, but Jesus Christ is near to help me, Jesus Christ is here.’”

“About an hour before his death, his wife went to his bedside, but as his sight seemed to have failed, he did not at first notice her; but when told who she was, he raised his arms, and clasped them around her neck, and pressed her to his bosom.”

“Our departed friend and brother was blessed with a robust constitution and generally enjoyed good health, which enabled him so constantly to perform the great amount of labor which he kept up during more than a quarter of a century.”

“He also possessed a strong intellect, a well-balanced mind, and a sound judgment, united with firmness of purpose. He never engaged in visionary schemes; his projects were generally wise and well-digested, and with steadiness of purpose carried into execution.”

“He had a warm heart. His friendship was ardent. He was a whole soul man. In whatever he engaged, all his energies were summoned. What his hands found to do, he did with all his might. No trait in his character was more prominent than that of enlarged benevolence – a benevolence bounded only by his ability to confer happiness.”

“It was this that prompted him to abandon friends and country, and all the blessings of Christian society, and cast in his lot with a little band, who purposed to carry the Gospel of Jesus to the darkened savages of Hawaii. It was this which led him so often to strip himself of comforts and bestow them on his friends whom he thought more needy than himself.”

“Few have become acquainted with him, who have not received substantial tokens of his kindness and friendship. Most of the permanent houses of public worship on the islands contain a deposit from his benevolence. Few have been found more ready than he, to deny themselves, in order to do good to others.”

“He embarked in the missionary work as a work of self-denial, and cheerfully adopted the resolution that he would engage in no business for the purpose of private gain.”

“His whole life was an illustration of this resolution, and on his dying bed he charged his wife, saying, ‘You will remember, we own nothing at Waimea. The house, herd, &c., are, all, the property of the American Board.’”

“Confidence in God sustained him amid all the trials through which he passed. He was calm and unmoved, however dark the clouds that overhung the horizon. This confidence was the legitimate fruit of walking with God.”

“He told his daughter, on his dying bed, that from the time that he first covenanted to be the Lord’s, he had never, for a single day, I neglected prayer. That God whom he had honored in secret, rewarded him openly, and took him up from us in triumph to His rest above.” (Alexander; The Friend, January 15, 1846)

Samuel Whitney died in Lahaina on December 15, 1845; he was buried in the Lahainaluna School cemetery.

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Samuel_Whitney,_1819,_by_Samuel_F.B._Morse

December 12, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Early Church Buildings

“In an old journal of the writer’s father, the Rev. A. Bishop, then missionary at Kailua, is the following: ‘January 18, 1826 – Gov. Adams (Kuakini) and all the other chiefs, together with all the men of the place, left here this morning’ for Keauhou, to cut wood for a new church.’”

“This well illustrates the immense labor and activity with which the chiefs and people zealously united in church-building. The writer, then a child, well remembers in the thirties that immense thatched structure, with its lofty posts and huge rafters.”

“These were all cut by the Governor and his people in the great inland forest, probably six miles from the sea, to which the timbers were hauled by men.”

“That church was probably 100 feet by 50, holding 1,000 people. It was burned in 1835, and replaced the next year by a stone structure still standing.”

“That also was built by the chiefs and people. Men dived for bunch coral to burn for lime with ohia logs carried on their shoulders from the mountain.”

“When we removed in 1836 to Ewa, the adobe walls of a large church were already partly erected by the people under the direction of their chiefs and of Rev. Lowell Smith, our predecessor.”

“Rev. A. Bishop continued the work, and frequently went up several miles into the mountains with the native gangs after roofing timbers, which were hauled to the hilltop with great shoutings. That old church stood until about twenty years ago, when it was replaced by the present wooden edifice and steeple.”

“In 1837, Rev. Lowell Smith induced the building of the old Kaumakapili church with adobe walls and a steep thatched roof, with overhanging lanai, very similar to the old Ewa church. The walls of both churches were well plastered, inside and out.”

“A fine brick church with two steeples, some fifteen or twenty years ago, replaced the old adobes of Kaumakapili. (Adobes are large brick of dried mud and straw.)”

“The great Kawaiahaʻo stone church, still in use after much renovation, was a labor of pride and love by King Kauikeaouli and his royal chiefs, who felt an ownership in it. The corner-stone was laid in 1839. It was dedicated two or three years later.”

The earliest stone church in the Islands was the Waine‘e structure at Lahaina, built by Gov. Hoapili, advised by Rev. Wm. Richards, in 1833.”

“Many other stone churches were erected by chiefs and people during the succeeding fifteen years, at all of the mission stations, replacing the decayed thatched structures. Many of these are still in use.”

“In the work of church-building, the chiefs led the way, both by use of authority and by contributions of money. But the common people eagerly co-operated, both with money, materials and labor.”

“They felt a peculiar pride in creating a fine meeting-house. It has always been easy to raise contributions for church-building, when for nothing else.”

“From 1850 on, the plain square white houses of worship became conspicuous in the larger country villages, long before any dwellings of civilized form were visible.”

“Steeples were not common during the first forty years of the Mission. Lahaina, Kawaiahaʻo, and Kailua stone churches were perhaps the only ones with tower or steeple.”

“Bells began to be procured in the early thirties, and were objects of great ambition to the people. Before they came, the sonorous note of the great conch shell resounded over the hills, calling the people to worship.” (All here is from Sereno Bishop; The Friend)

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