Boki | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

College Hill

In 1829, Hiram Bingham was given the lands of Kapunahou – he subsequently gave it to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) – to establish Punahou School.

Founded in 1841, Punahou School (originally called Oʻahu College) was built at Kapunahou to provide a quality education for the children of Congregational missionaries, allowing them to stay in Hawaiʻi with their families, instead of being sent away to school. The first class had 15 students.

The land area of the Kapunahou gift was significantly larger than the present school campus size. Near the turn of the last century, the Punahou Board of Trustees decided to subdivide some of the land – they called their subdivision “College Hills.”

Inspired by the garden suburb ideals then becoming popular both in North America and Europe, and especially England, College Hills was initiated as a way of raising revenue for the school.

College Hills was one of several enclaves for Honolulu’s wealthier residents and marked the true beginning of park-like suburban developments in Hawaiʻi.

Following upon earlier subdivisions, such as the 1886 Seaview Tract in the area now known as “lower Manoa,” the College Hills Tract was an important real estate development in the history of Honolulu.

Using nearly 100 acres of land previously leased out as a dairy farm, Punahou subdivided the rolling landscape into separate parcels of from 10,000- to 20,000-square feet.

The “Atherton House” was built on one of the most attractive of these parcels (actually six lots purchased together.) Situated on a slight rise, and protected by the hillside of Tantalus rising to the west (Ewa) side, the Atherton House, part of the new wave of Mānoa residences. It represented the move of one of Hawaiʻi’s elite families into an area thought before to be countryside.

College Hills soon became a desirable residential area served by a streetcar, which traveled up O‘ahu Avenue and made a wide U-turn around the Atherton home on Kamehameha Avenue.

The Atherton House was the residence of Frank C Atherton and his wife Eleanore from 1902 until his death in 1945. (Mrs. Atherton continued living in the house until the early-1960s.)

Designed by architect Walter E Pinkham, the shingled two-story wood-framed house reflects the influence of the late Queen Anne, Prairie and Craftsman styles, but its lava rock piers, ʻōhia floors and large lanai denote it as Hawaiian.

The house was a gift to Atherton from his father, Joseph Ballard Atherton, the family patriarch in Hawaiʻi, who was one of a small group of North Americans and Europeans that became prominent in Hawaiʻi’s business and political life toward the end of the 19th century.

Arriving in Honolulu from Boston in 1858, JB Atherton worked first for the firm of DC Waterman, before taking a position with the larger company of Castle and Cooke.

In 1865, JB Atherton married Juliette Montague Cooke, a daughter of the Reverend Amos Starr Cooke, one of the islands’ early missionaries. Together they had six children (including Frank.)

JB Atherton became a junior partner of Castle and Cooke; by 1894, as the sole survivor of the firm’s early leadership, he became president.

He worked closely with the Pāʻia Plantation and the Haiku Sugar Company on Maui, and in 1890 was one of the incorporators of the ʻEwa Plantation Company. Together with BF Dillingham, he organized the Waialua Agricultural Company, Ltd and became the first president

Atherton served for many years the president of Castle and Cooke, one of the “Big Five” companies in Hawaiʻi. At Castle and Cooke, he distinguished himself as an energetic and progressive leader, who helped transform Hawaii’s economy away from the single agricultural crop of sugar toward greater diversity.

Eventually, Frank C Atherton would become vice-president and then president of Castle and Cooke.

For 60 years the “Atherton House” was the home of the Atherton family; the Atherton’s children donated it to the University of Hawaiʻi in 1964 to serve as a home for the University of Hawaiʻi president – the University named the home “College Hill.”

While it is the designated home for the University of Hawaiʻi president, and now bears the name “College Hill,” it didn’t get its name because the UH president lives there. (The Mānoa residence was built five years before the University was founded.)

Oʻahu College – as Punahou School used to be called – was located nearby. Thus, the Mānoa Valley section where Frank and Eleanore Atherton had their country home was called “College Hills Tract.”

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College-Hill-Miyamoto-Collection-Oct.-1964

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Aerial photograph,(UH_Manoa)-04-04-26-noting College Hill

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August 4, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Haleuluhe

Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III, stepped into the position of King at age 10 (in 1825,) upon the death of his brother Liholiho.

Boki, governor of the island of O‘ahu, built a Honolulu royal residence called ‘Haleuluhe’ (fern house) for the young King at ‘Pelekane’ (Britannia … i.e. Beretania) in the vicinity of the site of the present St. Andrew’s (Episcopal) Cathedral.

The Rev. Charles S. Stewart, who returned to Hawaii in 1829 as Chaplain of the US ship-of-war “Vincennes,” provides a good description of this palace. His October 15, 1829 description of Haleuluhe Palace is most complete:

“The king’s establishment, but lately erected, is quite in the outskirts of the town – having the open plain towards Punchbowl Hill immediately in the rear.

“On entering it (the main entrance of the palace grounds was closed by a large white gate,) we found ourselves in a spacious yard of some acres …”

“… enclosed on all sides by a well-constructed and high fence, and furnished with two other gates similar to that through which we had passed-one, on another street, in the direction of the residences of most of the chiefs in the neighborhood of the chapel and mission houses, and the other, inland towards the hill and valleys.”

“Everything within, appeared exceedingly neat. On the side of the square at which we entered and near the gate, there are three or four good sized houses, but not differing, externally, from most of the better kind of native dwellings. These, we were informed, are the dining and sleeping rooms, offices, etc., of the king and his household.

“At a considerable distance, on the opposite side, stands the palace – a fine lofty building of thatch, some hundred or more feet in length, fifty or sixty broad, and forty or more high …”

“… beautifully finished and ornamented at the corners, from the ground to the peak, and along the ridge of the roof, with a rich edging of fern leaves (uluhe fern: Dicranopteris linearis, also known as false staghorn fern]”.

“It is enclosed by a handsome and substantial palisade fence, with two gates-one large, in front, and a smaller at the side and a pebbled area within.”

“All the timbers in sight, the numerous posts, rafters, and centre pillars, are of a fine substantial size, and of a dark hard wood, hewn with the nicest regularity. The lashing of sinnit [sennit], made of the fibres of the cocoanut bleached white, are put on with such neatness, and wrought into so beautiful a pattern, at close and regular intervals …”

“… as to give to the posts and rafters the appearance of being divided into natural sections by them; and to produce, by the whiteness and nice workmanship of the braid, in contrast with the colors of the wood, an effect striking and highly ornamental.”

“But that, which most attracted my admiration in the building, is an improvement – a device of native ingenuity – of which I was told, we then saw the first specimen, and which gives to the interior a finish, as beautiful as appropriate, to such an edifice.”

“It is a lining between the timbers and the thatch, screening entirely from sight, the grass of which the external covers is composed; and, which always gives an air of rudeness, and a barnyard look, even to the handsomest and best finished of their former establishments.”

“The manufacture is from a small, round mountain vine, of a rich chestnut color (some say the stem of the uluhe fern) – tied horizontally, stem upon stem, as closely as possible, in the manner, and probably in imitation, of the painted window blinds of split bamboo, brought from the East Indies, once much in fashion and still occasionally seen in the United States.”

“The whole of the inside, from the floor to the peak of the roof – a height of at least forty feet – is covered with this, seemingly in one piece; imparting by the beauty of its color and entire effect, an air of richness to the room, not dissimilar to that of the tapestry, and arras hangings of more polished audience chambers.”

“The floor also is a novelty, and an experiment here: consisting – in place of the ground strewn with rushes or grass, as a foundation for the mats, as was formerly the case – of a pavement of stone and mortar, spread with a cement of lime, having all the smoothness and hardness of marble.”

“Upon this, beautifully variegated mats of Tauai (island of Kauai) were spread – forming a carpet as delightful, and appropriate to the climate, as could have been selected.”

“Large windows on either side, and the folding doors of glass at each end, are hung with draperies of crimson damask; besides which, and the mats on the floors, the furniture consists of handsome pier tables, and large mirrors; of a line of glass chandeliers suspended through the centre … and of portraits in oil of the late king and queen, taken in London, placed at the upper end, in carved frames richly gilt.”

“In the middle of the room, about sixty feet in front, or two thirds the length of the apartment, the young monarch was seated, in an armchair, spread with a splendid cloak of yellow feathers.”

“His dress was the Windsor uniform, of the first rank, with epaulettes of gold – the present of George IV – and an undress of white, with silk stockings and pumps.”

“On a sofa, immediately on his right, were Ka‘ahumanu, the regent, and the two ex-queens, Kīna’u – at present the wife of General Kekūanaō‘a and Kekauruohe (Kekauluohi).“ (Information here is from ‘Palace and Forts of the Hawaiian Kingdom.’)

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April 12, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Catholicism in Hawaiʻi

The first church in Hawaiʻi was built by the New England Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1820. However, Western religious services had been held in the islands prior to that.

Some would suggest that Catholicism started in Hawaiʻi with the arrival of Don Francisco de Paula Marin (Manini) to the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 or 1794 (at about the age of 20.)

While Marin was reportedly a Spanish Catholic, he did live a polygamous life while in Hawaiʻi. Never-the-less, there are several reports of him baptizing Hawaiian chiefs and others (over three hundred) into the Catholic religion.

In 1819, Kalanimōkū was the first Hawaiian Chief to be formally baptized a Catholic, aboard the French ship Uranie. “The captain and the clergyman asked Young what Ka-lani-moku’s rank was …”

“… and upon being told that he was the chief counselor (kuhina nui) and a wise, kind, and careful man, they baptized him into the Catholic Church” (Kamakau). Shortly thereafter, Boki, Kalanimoku’s brother (and Governor of Oʻahu) was baptized.

It wasn’t until July 7, 1827, however, when the pioneer French Catholic mission arrived in Honolulu. It consisted of three priests of the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Father Alexis Bachelot, Abraham Armand and Patrick Short. They were supported by a half dozen other Frenchmen.

Their first mass was celebrated a week later on Bastille Day, July 14, and a baptism was given on November 30, to a child of Marin.

The American Protestant missionaries and the French Catholics did not get along.

The Congregationalists encouraged a policy preventing the establishment of a Catholic presence in Hawaiʻi. Catholic priests were forcibly expelled from the country in 1831. Native Hawaiian Catholics accused King Kamehameha III and his government of imprisoning, beating and torturing them.

Later that year, Commodore John Downes, of the American frigate Potomac, made a plea for freedom of religion, telling the Hawaiian court that civilized nations did not persecute people for their religion.

While his intervention brought about a brief let-up, the king continued to forbid the presence of Catholic priests.

Finally, on September 30, 1836, the captain of the French Navy ship La Bonté persuaded the king to allow a Catholic priest to disembark in Honolulu. The king restricted the priest’s ministry to foreign Catholics, forbidding him to work with Native Hawaiians.

On April 17, 1837, two other Catholic priests arrived. However, the Hawaiian government forced them back onto a ship on April 30. American, British and French officials in Hawaii intervened and persuaded the king to allow the priests to return to shore.

France, historically a Catholic nation, used its government representatives in Hawaiʻi to protest the mistreatment of Catholic Native Hawaiians. Captain Cyrille-Pierre Théodore Laplace, of the French Navy frigate “Artémise”, sailed into Honolulu Harbor in 1839 to convince the Hawaiian leadership to get along with the Catholics – and the French.

King Kamehameha III feared a French attack on his kingdom and on June 17, 1839 issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.

The King also donated land where the first permanent Catholic Church would be constructed, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace; the Catholic mission was finally established on May 15, 1840 when the Vicar Apostolic of the Pacific arrived with three other priests – one of whom, Rev. Louis Maigret, had been refused a landing at Honolulu in 1837.

On July 9, 1840, ground was broken for the foundation of the present Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, and schools and churches were erected on other islands to advance the mission.

At the end of the year 1840, Maigret jots down this balance sheet: Vicariate of Oceania: Catholics: 3,000; Heretics: 30,000 and Unbelievers: 100,000. (Charlot)

On August 15, 1843, the newly-finished cathedral of Honolulu was solemnly dedicated and 800 Catholics received Holy Communion.

From the very start, the Catholic mission also established, wherever feasible, independent schools in charge, or under the supervision, of the priest.

Maigret divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Shortly after, the Windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels. The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded by the Catholic mission on the Windward side of Oʻahu in 1846.

“Outside the city, at Ahuimanu, Maigret has now a country retreat that he refers to by the Hawaiian word māla. It is a combination garden, orchard and kitchen garden.”

Nuhou describes it, “The venerable bishop has built his own vineyard and planted his own orchard … His retreat in the mountain, his “garden in the air” as he terms it, is a pleasant and profitable sight … with a small stone-walled cottage about fifteen feet by ten.” When the pressure of events allows it, Maigret takes refuge there.” (Charlot)

Although the College of Ahuimanu flourished, as apparently reported by the Bishop in 1865, “The college and the schools are doing well. But as the number of pupils is continually on the increase, it has become necessary to enlarge the college. First we have added a story and a top floor with an attic; then we have been obliged to construct a new building. And yet we are lacking room.”

One of its students, Damien (born as Jozef de Veuster,) arrived in Hawaiʻi on March 9, 1864, at the time a 24-year-old choirboy. Determined to become a priest, he had the remainder of the schooling at the College of Ahuimanu.

Bishop Maigret ordained Father Damien de Veuster at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, on May 21, 1864; in 1873, Maigret assigned him to Molokaʻi. Damien spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi. In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The College of Ahuimanu changed locations and also changed its name a couple of times. In 1881, it was renamed “College of St. Louis” in honor of Bishop Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX. It was the forerunner for Chaminade College and St Louis High School.

In 1859 the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary arrived at Honolulu to take charge of a boarding and day-school for girls. In 1883-84 the Brothers of Mary, from Dayton, Ohio, took charge of three schools for boys: St. Louis’s College at Honolulu, St. Mary’s School at Hilo and St. Anthony’s School at Wailuku.

In 1882, the mission received a considerable increase by the immigration of Portuguese imported from the Azores as laborers for the plantations.

In January 1883, Walter Gibson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and president of the Board of Health, appealed to Hermann Koeckemann, Bishop of Olba, head of the Catholic Mission in Hawai‘i, to obtain Sisters of Charity from one of the many sisterhoods in the US to come and help care for leprous women and girls in the Islands.

On October 23, 1883, Mother Marianne and her companions set off for Hawai’i, arriving on November 9. These were: Sister M Bonaventure Caraher, Sister Crescentia Eilers, Sister Ludovica Gibbons, Sister M Rosalia McLaughlin, Sister Renata Nash and Sister Mary Antonella Murphy.

Father Damien himself succumbed to leprosy on April 15, 1889. Upon the death of Damien, Mother Marianne agreed to also head the Boys Home at Kalawao. The Board of Health had quickly chosen her as Saint Damien’s successor and she was thus enabled to keep her promise to him to look after his boys.

Mother Marianne was canonized on Oct. 21, 2012, making her the first Franciscan woman to be canonized from North America and only the 11th American saint. Forevermore, she will be known as St Marianne Cope, with the title “beloved mother of outcasts.”

By 1911, Hawaiʻi had 85 priests, 30 churches and 55 chapels. The Catholic population was 35,000; there were 4 academies, a college and 9 parochial schools established by the mission, and the total number of pupils was 2,200.

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Our Lady of Peace Cathedral, Honolulu, 1843

Portrait Of Monsignor Louis Désiré Maigret SS.CC., (1804 – 1882), The First Apostolic Vicar Of The Apostolic Vicariate Of The Sandwich Islands

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Father Damien-Pineiro

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Sr. M. Rosalia, Sr. M Martha, Sr M. Leopoldina, Sr. M Charles, Sr. M. Crescentia, and Mother Marianne rear-Walter Murray Gibson-1886

Gibson with the Sisters of St. Francis and daughters of Hansen’s disease patients, at the Kakaako Branch Hospital-1886

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October 12, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Two Rival Houses

Kamā‘ule‘ule, later known as ‘Iliopunahele and eventually as Boki, was the child of Kekuamanohā and Kamakahukilani. Through his father he was a grandson of the Maui king. Kekaulike, and was a first cousin of Ka‘ahumanu.

Kamā‘ule‘ule, literally ‘the dispirited one’, was a reference to the fainting spells of Kahekili which were occurring around the time of Boki’s birth. As a close companion of Kamehameha he was called ‘Iliopunahele, or ‘favorite dog’.

His name was changed to Boki after Kamehameha met with a large American dog named Boss, the Hawaiian pronunciation of Boss, and was the name by which Kama’ule’ule was known throughout the rest of his history. (Nogelmeier)

During the missionaries’ first years in Hawai’i, Boki’s relationship with the mission was similar to that of his fellow chiefs. Although he and his brother, Kalanimoku, were already baptized prior to the arrival of the American Protestant mission, their involvement with the church was no more enthusiastic than that of the chiefs in general.

Boki provided land for the mission in Honolulu and erected houses for the use of the church, all in accordance with the king’s approval of their residence there. He attended occasional services and expressed interest in study of the bible, even agreeing to daily instruction for a time. (Nogelmeier)

Boki accompanied Liholiho and his entourage to England; Liholiho died, and they returned in 1825. “After an hour or two, the whole company proceeded to the residence of Karaimoku – who was too unwell to go out – near the Mission House: and shortly afterwards to the chapel, to attend prayers, and tender thanks to God for the interesting incident of the day.”

“Before leaving the chapel, Governor Boki delivered a short but excellent address, recommending, as the result of his observation and experience abroad, a renewed and devoted attention to the palapala and the pule—letters and religion.” (Stewart)

“This was a happy moment for Boki to make his report on the question most immediately connected with our business, or the trustworthiness of Christianity. In a short address he expressed his conviction of the truth of the Christian religion, and recommended attention to the palapala and the service of God.”

“In a more free conversation in the evening, he said the ‘King of Beritania,’ with whom he was honored to have a personal interview, after the death of the king and queen, told him to give good attention to the missionaries at the islands, for they were sent to enlighten them and do them good, and make them acquainted with the good Word of God.” (Bingham)

Boki’s ties to the British and his involvement in trade placed him in conflict with his fellow chiefs’ growing acceptance of the American Protestant Christianity. (Nogelmeier)

After his return from England (when Liholiho and his wife died), Boki appeared to fit harmoniously with the changes that were taking place. His experiences on the journey to England and King George’s support for Christianity had made a strong impression on him. He called for prayer immediately on landing at Maui and attended service again at O‘ahu. (Nogelmeier)

“In May, 1827, she charged Boki, Liliha and several members of the king’s train with misconduct, intemperance, fornication, and adultery, and had them fined—just a few days after the facile Boki had told Levi Chamberlain that he wanted to turn to the pono (the good) and that the king had acquired a Christian teacher.” (Daws)

In spite of his stormy relationships with Ka‘ahumanu and his alienation from the church, Boki cooperated on projects that he felt was for the betterment of his people.

He provided support for the missionaries in the way of buildings, land and labor, long after he had become disgruntled with their religion. He collaborated on the provision of schools for the populace, in his own districts of ‘Ewa and Wai‘anae and throughout the island. (Nogelmeier)

“Among the Hawaiian aristocracy there are two rival families, like the houses of York and Lancaster. Governor Boki represents the claims of one, and our good queen the other.”

“Both claim the guardianship of the young king, Kauikeaouli, and are equally anxious for paramount influence, but with widely different views”

“The governor has visited foreign lands. He is ambitious to gain the influence of the resident foreign traders, and the captains of ships to his party.” (Judd)

“Using his position as governor of Oahu to conscript labour, he plunged into the sandalwood trade. Later, he speculated in local and foreign trade, sugar-making, tavern-keeping, and commercialised prostitution. None of these businesses except the last was profitable.” (Daws)

“Ka‘ahumanu, on the other hand, is anxious to lighten the burdens of the people. She makes frequent tours around the islands, assembling them at each hamlet, exhorting them to forsake every heathen custom, learn to read, and listen to the teachings of God’s word and law.”

“She watches the young king with the solicitude of a tender mother, weeping and rejoicing alternately, as he yields to, or resists, temptation to wrong-doing.” (Judd)

“By 1829, both (Boki) and his country were deeply in debt to foreigners. Always a gambler, Boki made a desperate throw to redeem his fortunes by taking an expedition to the Southwest Pacific to search for sandalwood.” (Daws)

Boki attempted to recover by assembling a group of followers and set out for a newly discovered island with sandalwood in the New Hebrides. Boki fitted out two ships, the Kamehameha and the Becket, put on board some five hundred of his followers, and sailed south. Boki and two hundred and fifty of his men apparently died at sea.

Boki’s disappearance, along with hundreds of his supporters, did weaken and eventually bring about a complete closure to the only remaining indigenous opposition to the puritan government of Ka‘ahumanu and her missionary advisors. The changes that followed his disappearance led to an entrenchment of mission interests and American ties. (Nogelmeier)

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Two Rival Houses-Kaahumanu-Boki

September 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keōpūolani Baptism

On the arrival of the American missionaries in April 1820, all the chiefs were consulted respecting the expediency of their establishment in the islands. Some of the chiefs seemed to doubt; but Keōpūolani without hesitation approved their proposals. (Memoir)

Keōpūolani welcomed them. As the highest ranking ali‘i of her time, her embracing of Christianity set a crucial seal of approval on the missionaries and their god. (Langlas & Lyon)

Keōpūolani was the daughter of Kīwalaʻo. Kīwalaʻo was the son of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by Kalola (sister of Kahekili.) Her mother was Kekuiapoiwa Liliha, Kīwalaʻo sister. She was aliʻi kapu of nī‘aupi‘o (high-born – offspring of the marriage of a high-born brother and sister or half-brother and half-sister.)

Her ancestors on her mother’s side were ruling chiefs of Maui; her ancestors on her father’s side were the ruling chiefs of the island of Hawai‘i. Keōpūolani’s genealogy traced back to Ulu, who descended from Hulihonua and Keakahulilani, the first man and woman created by the gods.

In the year 1822, while at Honolulu, she was very ill, and her attention seems to have been then first drawn to the instructions of the missionaries. (Anderson)

In May 1823, Keōpūolani and her husband Hoapili expressed a desire to have an instructor connected with them. They selected Taua, a native teacher sent by the church at Huaheine, in company with the Rev. Mr. Ellis, to instruct them and their people in the first principles of the Gospel, and teach them to read and write.

The mission approved, and Taua resided until the death of Keōpūolani. He proved a faithful teacher, and by the blessing of God, we believe, he did much to establish her in the Christian faith. (Memoir)

Keōpūolani requested, as did the king and chiefs, that missionaries might accompany her. As Lahaina had been previously selected for a missionary station, the missionaries were happy to commence their labors there under such auspices. William Richards and Charles Samuel Stewart therefore accompanied her. (Memoir)

On the May 31, 1823, Keōpūolani arrived in Lahaina with Messrs. Richards and Stewart and their families. On their passage, she told them she would be their mother; and indeed she acted the part of a mother ever afterwards.

Immediately on their arrival, she requested them to commence teaching, and said, also, “It is very proper that my sons (meaning the missionaries) be present with me at morning and evening prayers.”

They were always present, sung a hymn in the native language, and when nothing special prevented, addressed through an interpreter the people who were present, when Taua, or the interpreter, concluded the service with prayer.

She spent a principal part of her time every day in learning how to read. and notwithstanding her age, numerous cares, constant company, and various other hindrances, made respectable proficiency.

She was indeed a diligent pupil, seldom weary with study; often spent hours over her little spelling book; and when her teachers rose to leave her, rarely laid it aside, but usually continued studying after they had retired.

She was apparently as diligent in searching for divine truth, as in learning to read, and evidently gave attention to her book, that she might know more of her duty to her Maker. (Memoir)

On the last week in August, Keōpūolani began to be seriously affected by a local indisposition, which soon seemed to relax her whole system, and in her view was a premonition of her approaching death.

On the first day of September, the chiefs began to collect in consequence of her illness. This was agreeable to their universal custom. Whenever a high chief is taken ill, although there may be nothing threatening in his illness, all the chiefs assemble from every part of the islands, and wait the result.

Thus, it was in Keōpūolani’s sickness. Vessels were dispatched to the different islands before there was any occasion for alarm. It was not many days, however, before it was seriously apprehended that the disease would prove fatal. (Memoir)

“They regarded her as a fit subject for baptism, but were unwilling to administer the ordinance without some means of communicating with her and with the people, so that there might be no danger of misunderstanding on so interesting an occasion.”

“They feared lest there should be erroneous impressions as to the place the ordinance held in the Christian system. Happily, Mr. Ellis arrived just in season, and the dying woman was thus publicly acknowledged as a member of the visible church.”

“The king and ail the heads of the nation listened with profound attention to Mr. Ellis’s statement of the grounds on which baptism was administered to the queen …”

“… and when they saw that water was sprinkled on her in the name of God, they said, ‘Surely she is no longer ours. She has given herself to Jesus Christ. We believe she is his, and death will go to dwell with him.’ An hour afterwards, near the close of September 16, 1823, she died.” (Anderson)

Keōpūolani is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the islands and the first to receive a Protestant baptism. (Kalanimōku and Boki had previously (1819) been baptized by the French Catholics. Kalanimōku later (1825) joined the Protestant Church, at the same time as Ka‘ahumanu.)

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Missionaries_preaching_under_kukui_groves,_1841