Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

St Martin de Tours Chapel

Catholic Christian worship in Hilo was as early as 1839. The first chapel located on bay front was made from pili grass and was called Saint Martin de Tours. By 1848 the small grass chapel was replaced by a new wooden structure. In 1862 the parish of St. Martin de Tours had once again outgrown its place of worship.

A new larger church was built in the area of Kalākaua Park on Keawe and Waiānuenue Avenue; on July 9, 1862 Bishop Louis Maigret, Bishop of Honolulu dedicated the new church to Saint Joseph. By 1911, A new, larger church was needed in Hilo – the cornerstone was laid in 1917 and the church was dedicated at its present location in February 1919.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Was There a Missionary Political Party?

“Nothing resembling political parties developed in the Islands until the reign of King David Kalākaua in 1874. Over the next 20 years, prior to the overthrow of the kingdom, they existed as relatively unstable organizations with shifting memberships, and acted as rallying points for individuals and groups opposed to or in support of the monarchy.”

Some suggest there was a ‘Missionary Party’ – suggesting it was made up of missionaries, and/or their descendants. That is not true; there was no formal ‘Missionary Party’ – in fact, in part, “(Native Hawaiians) sarcastically termed Americans ‘the Missionary Party.’” The American Protestant mission in the Islands ended in 1863, there were no missionaries after that.

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Learning Western Governance

The Rev. William Richards came to Hawai‘i in 1823 as a member of the second company of missionaries sent to the Islands by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 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. They asked Mr. Richards to become their teacher, chaplain and interpreter. Richards accepted this appointment, beginning his service on July 3, 1838 (he resigned from the Mission to serve the Hawaiians).

He gave classes on political economy. “According to those engagements, l was to devote my time at my discretion to the instruction of the King & chiefs … As soon as the arrangements were completed, l commenced the compilation and translation of a work on political economy, following the general plan of Wayland, but consulting Lay, Newman and others, and translating considerable portions from the 1st mentioned work.” These classes laid the foundation for the political reforms started soon after; Richards had a profound, influence on Hawaii’s evolution towards a constitution form of government.

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Common Stock

An often repeated (and unfounded/incorrect) statement is, “The missionaries came to do good, and they did very well.” (Suggesting the missionaries personally profited from their services in the Islands.) A simple review of the facts show that the missionaries were forbidden to “engage in any business or transaction whatever for the sake of private gain” and they did not, and could not, own property individually. “No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money.)”

To supply the mission members, a Common Stock system was initiated – it was a socialistic, rather than capitalistic, economic structure. This was a community-based economic system designed to enable the missionaries to accomplish their goals without having to worry about finding sustenance and shelter – funding came from the continent. Mission family members were allowed to keep personal gifts from family and friends as private property, but those gifts were subtracted from what they would otherwise be entitled to receive from the Depository. In 1863, the ABCFM withdrew financial support for the mission and the Missionary Period ended.

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Morning Star

Many proudly proclaimed, “I owned shares in a ‘Morning Star.’” Titus Coan proposed that the ABCFM ask children on the continent to take ten cent shares of joint ownership in such a missionary vessel, to be called ‘Day Star;’ his proposal of such to folks in Boston was approved, but with one change, the name to be ‘Morning Star.’ It was the first of five ‘Morning Stars.’ Those ‘Morning Stars’ were on missions to the South Pacific.

Dr Hiram Bingham II, who had sailed to Micronesia on the first ‘Morning Star’ in 1856, and whose father, Hiram Bingham, Sr, had then been present at the launching of the 5th Morning Star and prayed at the time of departure, was present and offered the prayer of dedication. However, it became cost prohibitive to maintain the ship and a decision was made in 1905 to sell her. Thus ended a half century of missionary ‘Morning Stars,’ 1856 to 1905.