Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Patriotic League

“A Great Meeting of Makaʻāinana will be held at Palace Square, at 5 pm on this very day, July 2, 1894; to show our steadfastness in our patriotism.” “Hawai‘i’s own Lahui, as well as the other ethnicities who are of the same mind, are invited to go in unity and show their insistence behind the Resolution that will be passed at that time.”

“Invited are the Men, the Women, and all the young people of the Hawaiian Patriotic League (Hui Aloha ‘Āina,) and all friends, to go immediately with great enthusiasm and festivity to fill the meeting with numbers of Twenty and more thousand people.” “Therefore, we have nothing to be concerned about. Let us however maintain the peace.” (Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Buke II, Helu 974, Aoao 2. Iulai 2, 1894)

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

$25,000 Annuity

“‘The people of my country do not want to be annexed to the United States. Nor do the people of the United States wants annexation … There is no provision made in this treaty for me. In the Harrison treaty I was allowed $20,000 a year, but that treaty never went into effect. I have never received one dollar from the United States. … ‘No one looked after my interests in the preparation of this treaty. Yet my people, who form so large a part of the population of the islands, would want justice done me.’” (Lili‘uokalani noted in Los Angeles Herald, June 18, 1897)

“One day while dining with Paul Neuman I said: ‘I think it would be a good thing if the Queen could be pensioned by the Provisional Government; it would make matters harmonious, relieve business, and make matters much simpler.’” “In the meantime he (Blount) had been to the Queen, to Mr. Dole, and had done what he could to prevent the carrying out of the plan.” (Bowen; Morgan Report) “Thus Blount intervened to scuttle negotiations between the Queen and President Dole that were strongly on track toward a mutually agreeable settlement whereby the Queen would give up all claims to the throne in return for an annuity.” (MorganReport)

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Father of Annexation

“There is a gentleman still living at Honolulu whose boast is that he was the father of the project to annex Hawaii to the American Union. … Dr. John S. McGrew, – and was then openly advocated by him as a preliminary to the obliteration of the native government by the annexation of the whole group to the United States.” (Lili‘uokalani) John Strayer McGrew was born at Lancaster, Ohio, on December 23, 1825. He earned his MD in 1847. During the Civil War, Dr McGrew was among the first to volunteer.

Following his wedding to Pauline Gillet, the McGrews started on a world tour which brought them to Hawaiʻi on March 6, 1867, aboard the ‘AA Eldrich.’ Enchanted with the Islands, they abandoned their tour and settled in Honolulu. His home, which was originally built by Dr. Robert Wood in 1840, stood on the former site of the Alexander Young Hotel on Bishop and Hotel streets (now Bishop Square) and was a Honolulu landmark and social center of the city. When annexation was accomplished in 1898, Dr McGrew was hailed as “The Father of Annexation”.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1890s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1890s – Kapi‘olani Hospital is formed, Kalākaua dies, Overthrow, Annexation, Pali Road is completed and the first Beachboys organization is formed. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

John Leavitt Stevens

John Leavitt Stevens, journalist, author and diplomat, was born in Mount Vernon, Maine, August 1, 1820. In 1870, Stevens accepted the position of United States Minister to Uruguay and Paraguay under President Grant. In June, 1889, Stevens was appointed Minister to the Hawaiian Islands, his title soon after being changed to Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary.

Stevens supported annexation by the US and in December 1893, he wrote ‘A Plea for Annexation’ in The North American Review where he concluded, “To say that we do not need the Hawaiian Islands as a security to our immense future interests is but the babble of children or of incompetent men.” President Cleveland, following his inauguration, withdrew and question of annexation. Stevens resigned and returned home. He died February 8, 1895 at his home in Augusta Maine.