ABCFM | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Bingham-Thurston

September 12, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ali‘i Letters – Kaʻahumanu to Evarts (1831)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, Elisabeth Kaʻahumanu writes to Mr. Jeremiah Evarts regarding the success of the mission in Hawaiʻi. She includes her religious sentiments to the brethren of the ABCFM.

Jeremiah F. Evarts was an early leader of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM). He was a reformer who advocated for the rights of Native Americans and wrote under the pseudonym William Penn.

Kaʻahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I, served as the Kuhina Nui, or regent at the time of this letter. She became a staunch advocate for literacy and Christianity for all her people.

“Oahu September 11, 1831”

“Regards to you, Mr. Evarts, missionary superintendent and my first brother in Christ Jesus,”

“Here is my message to you along with my joy.”

“Here I live by the voice of salvation of Jesus Christ who resurrected me from death. I was dwelling in the core of death. I was adorned and bedecked by the glory of death and its symbols.”

“When I heard the voice of Jesus sounding in my ears, it was a chill in my heart, speaking as follows, [“]Come unto to me all of you who are weary and heavy-laden and I shall give you rest.[”]”

“And his voice then said again, [“]He who thirsts, let him come and drink the waters of salvation.[”] So, I rose to come and lie under the shelter of his feet, with great trepidation.”

“Here I am bearing his yoke, thinking to myself that I am unable to move his yoke, he being the one who enables me with his assistance night and day; there I forever dwell in his glory and his love for me.”

“There is my desire and my affection, with the intention of my heart and my spirit to submit to Jesus. There my mouth and my tongue shall forever give thanks for the life I live until I join in his everlasting glory. That is my humble message to you.”

“Here is this other message of mine to you. I am grateful for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for his assistance in sending new teachers for us.”

“They have arrived and we have beheld their eyes and faces. We met in the presence of our Lord and in our own presence with gratitude to our Lord for protecting them on the ocean until they arrived here in Hawaii.”

“We abide here, teaching the native language of Hawaii so they will understand. Then, we sow the gardens with fruitful seeds for eternal salvation.”

“At that point, my elder brethren, them [the teachers] and my native brothers and sisters together will take up the will of our Lord in this archipelago, praying to him to assist so that the bumpy places be smoothed by him through his intentions for these islands from Hawaii to Kauai.”

“But my adopted child and I carried the word of our Lord from Hawaii to Kauai with love in our hearts for God, traveling to speak of his love, his word, and his laws and to tell people that they should abide by them.”

“That is what we, my adopted child and I, speak of. It is not according to our will, but according to the will of the Lord that we take this up.”

“That is my humble message to you.”

“Here is another remaining message that I say to you. Do express my regard to the brethren in Christ and my beloved sisters in Christ Jesus. Here are my regards to you all.”

“Do pray often to God for all the lands of the unenlightened, for all those remaining in enlightened lands, and for us as well and we shall do the same with the brethren here.”

“Pray often to God for the unenlightened lands, and for the remainder of those in enlightened lands, and for you all as well.”

“Thus we beseech our Lord so all peoples cooperate through him that his kingdom be unified to the bounds of the earth, and so all people unite behind him to praise his everlasting name.”

“That is my message of affection to you all. Deep regards to you.”

“Though we may not meet in person in this world, it is our hope that if we do meet in this world, our souls will also meet in the glory of the kingdom of our Lord of salvation, Jesus Christ.”

“That is the end of the message to you.”

“By Elisabeth Kaahumanu”

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

Kaahumanu to Evarts – September 11, 1831-1

Kaahumanu to Evarts – September 11, 1831-2

Kaahumanu to Evarts – September 11, 1831-3

July 6, 2017 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.” (Pratt & Smith)

Some suggest from then, on, 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.’” (LaFeber)

“By Missionary party is not meant that the members of it are missionaries, but that they are descendants of the early missionaries who went to the islands and because of the opportunities offered them became very rich. The descendants are not missionaries, but are mostly politicians and business men.” (Honolulu Republican, September 19, 1901)

“The Anglo-Saxon has made this country; he has not only improved his own condition, but he has that of the native as well … If the Anglo-Saxon has done all this, if he has so benefitted the native race, there should be some recognition of his services at the present he is ignored, the man who has done everything for this country is slighted and put aside; his wishes are systematically opposed.”

“An attempt has been made to try and call the Anglo-Saxon party, or better the commercial and agricultural party, the Missionary party, and papers abroad have been weak enough to be taken in by the claptrap.”

“There is no ‘missionary party’ any longer, that is a thing of the past: the opposition to the present administration, the opposition to the Palace party is composed of anything but so called ‘missionary’ elements, it is made up of the hard headed, hard handed pioneers of our national industries: …”

“… all that these men want is to have their due share in the direction of affairs; bearing the burden and heat of the fight they demand, and they have a right to demand that their views should receive careful attention.” (Hawaiian Gazette, August 23, 1882)

“The Anglo Saxon race have always been a pushing race and the Americans are the most pushing of all. When Americans get the treasury and the resulting power about a dozen of them could control the world. Why is it that those islands are ruled by the smallest minority that over controlled a nation?”

“We hear considerable about the ‘missionary party.’ Now there are two meanings to the term missionary. The first missionaries went there filled with a zeal and fire to save the people; they were the cream of the Earth.”

“But they took their families with them – and missionaries are usually blessed with large families and these young men born and brought up upon the islands soon gained the confidence of the natives gained riches and became more and more arrogant as the time wore on.”

“They sought power and the natives were soon deprived of their natural rights. We are apt to condemn the fathers for the sins of the children and to this day the term missionary party is tided as a reproach.”

“The children are very different from the noble band of Christian workers who came from Boston seventy or more years ago and are wealthy, powerful and arbitrary. The whole history of the political changes of the islands is the history of the progress of these sons and daughters of missionaries and the simple natives have been so influenced and over awed that today they are strangers in their own halls of legislation.” (The Independent, Match 26, 1897)

“It is admitted on all hands that the term ‘missionaries,’ so far as the word applies to Christian missionaries, is very far from applicable or appropriate … This name may not be literally applicable …” (Letter Opinion, Daily Bulletin, September 4, 1888)

“(There is a) political weapon of the vulgar and reactionary prejudice against what is popularly but improperly termed the ‘missionary party,’ this phase of the Government’s Polynesian policy will appear in its true light as the rankest hypocrisy.” (Daily Bulletin, January 22, 1886)

The Hawaiian Islands Mission Ended in 1863

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

At its General Meeting from June 3, 1863 to July 1, 1863, the Sandwich Islands Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM) met to discuss the future of the Mission. They formed the “Board of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association”.

“After twenty-one days of debate, the result was reached with perfect unanimity, and the Association agreed to assume the responsibility hitherto sustained by the Board. This measure was consummated by the Board in the autumn following, and those stations no longer look to the American churches for management and control.” (Missionary Papers, 1867)

In effect, “The mission has been, as such, disbanded and merged in the community.” (1863)

Control was passed to the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (which was formed in 1853); in 1959 it joined the United Church of Christ and later became known as the Hawai‘i Conference United Church of Christ.

Rufus Anderson, Foreign Secretary of the ABCFM, in his July 6, 1863 letter to Kamehameha IV notes, in part: “I may perhaps be permitted, in view of my peculiar relations to a very large body of the best friends and benefactors of this nation, not to leave without my most respectful aloha to both your Majesties.”

“The important steps lately taken in this direction are perhaps sufficiently indicated in the printed Address …. I am happy to inform your Majesty that the plan there indicated has since been adopted, and is now going into effect, — with the best influence, as I cannot doubt, upon the religious welfare of your people.”

“My visit to these Islands has impressed me, not only with the strength, but also with the beneficent and paternal character of your government. In no nation in Christendom is there greater security of person and property, or more of civil and religious liberty.”

“As to the progress of the nation in Christian civilization, I am persuaded, and shall confidently affirm on my return home, that the history of the Christian church and of nations affords nothing equal to it.”

“And now the Hawaiian Christian community is so far formed and matured, that the American Board ceases to act any longer as principal, and becomes an auxiliary,— merely affording grants in aid of the several departments of labor in building up the kingdom of Christ in these Islands, and also in the Islands of Micronesia.”

“Praying God to grant long life and prosperity to your Majesties, I am, with profound respect, Your Majesty’s obedient, humble servant, R. Anderson”

Elections and Formal Political Parties

The following list the subsequent elections, candidates and associated political parties.

Election of Lunalilo (1873) – Lunalilo vs Kalākaua
Election of Kalākaua (1874) – Kalākaua vs Queen Emma
Election of 1884 –National (Hawaiian) vs Independent (Foreign)
Election of 1886 –National (Government) vs Independent (Opposition)
Special Election of 1887 – Government (Anti-Reform) vs Reform Party
Election of 1890 –National Reform Party vs Reform Party
Election of 1892 –National Reform Party, Reform Party, Liberal Party & Native Sons of Hawaii

June 22, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Morning Star

“The long looked for missionary ship was a thing of life and beauty, adorned with nearly her full complement of snow-white sails, and sitting so daintily upon the water.”

“’Beautiful,’ we exclaimed. ‘Nani,’ said our ninety native passengers, ‘nani loa,’ – ‘very beautiful!’ and so she was. With unmingled admiration we scanned her elegant proportions, her neatly turned stem, her graceful prow, her modest but significant figurehead, her perfect lines, her tall and beautiful tapering masts.” (Bond; Baker)

Many proudly proclaimed, “I owned shares in a ‘Morning Star.’”

Let’s look back …

In less than 30-years after the first missionaries landed in Hawai‘i, as the missionary spirit grew in the Hawaiian churches, the Hawaiian Missionary Society was formed.

This led the missionary fathers to the idea of exploring the islands to the west for the purpose of new mission work in Micronesia in partnership with the American Board.

In 1853, a mission south to the Marquesas Islands had been started. In carrying it on, it had been necessary to charter small and uncomfortable vessels at high prices to take out missionaries with their supplies and to send mail and delegates annually to encourage and look after them.

In Micronesia such a long time elapsed before the first mail arrived after the mission was established, that a missionary’s mother had been dead 2-years before he received the sad news.

At another station, where food was scarce and the variety limited, a missionary came so near starving that when a vessel arrived with supplies, he was so weak that he had to be carried on board the vessel and carefully nursed back to health.

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. The task of those men was outlined in Honolulu in 1870 at the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, where it was said, “Not with powder and balls and swords and cannons, but with the loving word of God and with His spirit do we go forth to conquer the islands for Christ.” (Nimitz; Baker)

On her first voyage to Micronesia (leaving Honolulu August 7, 1857) she had sailed about 10,000-miles, and her practical value for the work had been all that was expected. It was said that the little vessel had already performed a service that would warrant the whole expense of building her. (Baker)

By 1865, she had finally become so worn that they decided to sell her and build another vessel. In 1866 children were again asked to take stock in a new vessel. Enough was raised to build a new ship.

Like the first, the second ‘Morning Star’ was a hermaphrodite brig (square-rigged foremast and fore-and-aft mainmast.) She was built at East Boston, launched September 22, 1866; sailed from Boston under Captain Hiram Bingham, Jr, on November 13, 1866 and reached Honolulu March 15, 1867.

“Two thousand Hawaiian Sunday-school children marched to the wharf to see ‘their ship’; for three or four thousand out of one hundred and fifty thousand of her stockholders were Hawaiians.” (Bingham)

“It was on March 28, 1867, that the Star began her missionary work in the Pacific, still sailing under command of Captain Bingham. The plan for her yearly trip is to go from Honolulu first to the Gilbert Islands, although they are the southernmost group, lying directly under the equator.”

“This is in order to take advantage of prevailing winds and currents. Then she sails northwest nearly a thousand miles to Ponape, taking the other mission islands on the way.” (Bingham)

After only three years of service, unfortunately one evening the ‘Morning Star’ left Kusaie for Honolulu, but drifted dangerously near the island. Boats were lowered to tow, but she had to be anchored and held, when a severe squall struck her.

She tried to sail out of danger, but failed and struck the rocky reef in a heavy surf. The missionaries and all on board, with some of their possessions, were saved in a boat; the ‘Morning Star’ was wrecked. After waiting a month, the missionaries reached Honolulu on February 8, 1870, in a chance vessel which came along.

The children were called upon, and, again, responded and with insurance, a third ‘Morning Star’ (of similar design to the second ‘Morning Star’) was started. “(I)n the summer of 1871, a third ‘Morning Star’ dawned on the waiting isles.” (Bingham)

For the 10th annual trip, the captain noted, “The whole distance sailed during the voyage is 15,783 miles. Number of passengers carried, 243. The number of islands sighted is 48, at 27 of which we stopped one or more times.”

“We entered 16 lagoons, anchored 43 times, and spent 147 hours standing off and on. We laid at anchor 79 days, and boated 568 miles. We had 1,546 miles of adverse currents, and 989 hours of calm.” (Bray; Missionary Herald)

Unfortunately, on February 22, 1884, the third ‘Morning Star’ was wrecked on Kusaie, about 6-miles from where the second ‘Morning Star’ was lost.

Already planned for replacement, a fundraising campaign was already underway for a fourth ‘Morning Star’. As with the others, it was successful and the Board felt justified in building at once, and the contract was made at Bath, Maine. Thus they began to build the same month that the third ‘Morning Star’ was wrecked.

The fourth ‘Morning Star,’ was a barkentine (foremast only being square-rigged, main and mizzenmasts fore-and-aft rigs but carrying no topsails so far as pictures show). She had a hollow iron mainmast for a smokestack, for auxiliary steam-power for use in calms and strong currents and in entering lagoons.

She had comfortable cabins, staterooms, etc., between the main-deck and a hurricane-deck, and three water-tight compartments below, the center compartment having the engine boilers and coal-bunkers. Upon the substantial hurricane-deck all the working of the ship was done, and it provided a promenade of nearly a hundred feet.

She sailed on her first missionary voyage to Micronesia on May 2, 1885, and reached one of the Gilbert Islands in just three weeks. However, on January 26, 1886:

“… late in the afternoon, we ran upon a small coral reef in Ponape lagoon, where we remained upwards of forty hours. I need not say we heartily rejoiced when we were afloat again, damaged only by a small leakage.” (Wetmore; Baker)

The fourth ‘Morning Star’ “served long and well until 1900,” when she was sold for the ‘carrying trade’ between San Francisco and Cape Nome, Alaska. There was a break until 1904, when it was decided to build a fifth ‘Morning Star’.

This fifth and last ‘Morning Star’ (a steamer,) after being inspected at Boston by many shareholders, was dedicated and farewell services held on board on June 4, 1904.

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 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. (Lots of information and images here are from Baker and Bingham.)

Morning Star-launch-1

Morning Star-1

Morning Star_1

Welcome of the Morning Star-1

Morning Star-2

Morning Star-3

Morning Star-4

Morning Star 4

Morning Star-5

Map of Eastern Micronesia-Bingham

Certificate for the Children’s Morning Star

Certificate for the Morning Star

Certificate for the missionary packet, Morning Star

June 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Steward’s House

In the years following his arrival in New England in the summer of 1809, ‘Ōpūkaha’ia would become integral to the founding of the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut.

‘Ōpūkaha‘ia became legendary for his earnest pursuit of an American education. He captured the hearts and Christian spirits of the New Haven community, where he first resided.

‘Ōpūkaha‘ia’s situation encouraged his hosts and community members to explore the possibility of creating a formal school in the US for students like him: “heathens” who were stranded in the US but who were interested in being “civilized” and “saved” nonetheless.

The Foreign Mission School was instituted in the autumn of 1816, and opened in the beginning of May, 1817. “There belong to it a commodious edifice for the school, a good mansion house, with a barn, and other out-buildings, and a garden, for the Principal; a house, barn, &c with a few acres of good tillage land for the Steward and Commons …”

“… all situated sufficiently near to each other and to the Congregational meeting-house, in the south parish of Cornwall, Connecticut, and eighty acres of excellent wood land, about a mile and a half distant.” (American Missionary Register, 1821)

The Foreign Mission School was a religious experiment. Instead of sending missionaries to foreign lands, it brought students to America.

It was believed that a mission school in religiously pious New England would be more efficient and effective than traditional mission schools established within ‘heathen’ settings because it removed these young students from the pagan influences of their native communities.

At the beginning of the school’s tenure, ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia was considered a leader of the student body, excelling in his studies, expressing his fondness for and understanding of the importance of the agricultural labor, and qualifying for a full church membership due to his devotion to his new faith.

Between 1819 and 1826, there were altogether ninety-seven students on the official record. The ages of these ninety-seven students ranged from ten to thirty.

Among them there were forty-three Indians, nineteen Hawaiians, thirteen Americans, five Chinese, three Marquesans, two Greeks, two Jews, two Malays, two Tahitians, one Bengalese, one Hindu, one Javanese, one New Zealander, one Portuguese, and one Scotch.

The year 1819 saw increased diversification of the student body as several Cherokee students arrived in Cornwall. Over the span of its operational years, the FMS taught Native Americans from fourteen tribes: one Abenaquis, eleven Cherokees, five Choctaws, five Delawares, one Mexican, one Mohegan, one Narragansett, two Ojibwas, two Omahas, three Oneidas, three Osages, two Senecas, four Stockbridges, and two Tuscaroras.

Due to the variety in national background, the students’ prior experiences were also enormously diverse. The majority came from seafaring careers; however, others were military personnel, farmers, barbers, coopers, servants and students from other schools.

The object of the School as set forth in the Constitution, is – “The education in our own country of Heathen Youths, in such manner, as, with subsequent professional instruction will qualify them to become useful Missionaries, Physicians, Surgeons, School Masters, or Interpreters …”

“… and to communicate to the Heathen Nations such knowledge in agriculture and the arts, as may prove the means of promoting Christianity and civilization.” (Missionary Herald, January 1821)

Students studied penmanship, grammar, arithmetic, Latin, Greek, rhetoric, navigation, surveying, astronomy, theology, chemistry, and ecclesiastical history, among other specialized subjects.

Students rose around 5 or 6 am and ate breakfast together at 7 am in the dining room of the steward’s house. Daily classes ran from 9 am to noon, and again from 2 to 5 pm, with all sessions taking place on the first floor of the main school building just across the street from the steward’s house.

Curricula operated at various levels, as some of the pupils were more advanced in their studies while others where just learning basic literacy – the more advanced students helped teach the others.

Academics were balanced with mandatory outdoor labor. Students were tasked with the maintenance of the school’s agricultural plots and assigned to labor in the fields “two (and a half) days” a week and “two at a time.” Additionally, the school enforced strict rules for students’ social lives and study times.

The months of May and September included scheduled vacation times for the school’s boarded students; however, only certain pupils were authorized by the administration to “go abroad.”

Much of the Foreign Mission School’s campus buildings were acquired through donations. The citizenry of Cornwall donated fourteen acres of land as well as the building that would become the main educational site, which had been built in 1797 as a school house.

The ground floor of the school building housed one large classroom, while the second floor was refurbished for students’ quarters. Located near this school building was the Principal’s house. Purchased in 1815, the Principal’s house was acquired before the establishment of the school was complete.

The third of the main campus buildings, and certainly the most social and vibrant, was the Steward’s house. This building was constructed in 1814 by architect Eber Maxfield and was sold to the school. The exchange of property included 18-more acres that were used for agriculture by the students and staff.

As a site for regular and informal interactions between students and Cornwall residents, the Federal-style farmhouse (built 1814) served as the steward’s family home, the school dining hall, a boarding house and a nurse room for sick students. (Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation)

According to the school ‘constitution,’ the role of the Steward was to “superintend the agricultural interests of the school,” though the actual responsibilities necessitated far more involvement with both the school’s operations and the students’ daily lives.

Over time, the Steward’s role expanded to include counseling and skills training. The Steward was expected to reside in the Steward’s House on the school campus. Thus, because of the consistent level of daily activity that mixed different communities within this house, the Steward remained abreast of the major events and social issues happening within the student body.

Steward’s duties were broadened to include supervising the school’s landed properties, training the scholars in the art of agriculture, bookkeeping and managing the FMS accounts, assuring a steady supply of firewood, buying and selling livestock, arranging travel for staff and students, providing the students with clothing, and hosting visitors, among others tasks.

Over time, there was an increased the level of care given to the students outside of their academic activities and instituted greater involvement between the steward’s family and the student body. For example, the steward’s wife was in charge of the kitchen and cooking.

Daily, she prepared bread and meals for all of the students. She also outfitted the students with new clothes and tended to the laundry and repair of these items. And, she was also primarily in charge of the students’ medical care.

Whenever one of the students fell ill, “he was moved into the Steward’s house” to live with the family for as long as was necessary for recovery. These duties also fell to daughters of the steward, who were effectively housewives in training.

The year the school opened, it housed twelve students. Enrollment doubled to twenty-four by the second year. Four students left as seven others joined in the school’s third year, bringing the enrollment to twenty-seven.

In the fourth and fifth years, enrollment rose to twenty-nine and thirty-five students, respectively. By the seventh year, however, the student body dropped to twenty-four. The school experienced another spike in enrollment in its eighth year with thirty-six pupils from seventeen different nations.

In its ninth year, the school’s population once again decreased, this time to twenty-five. By the time the school closed in 1826, only fourteen students remained.

Operated from 1817 to 1827, the Foreign Mission School remains the first and last experiment in a domestically located “foreign” mission and represents educational and social politics concerning racial tolerance, Asian and Native American migration, and American identity in the early 19th century.