Charles Reed Bishop | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 16, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘I must own to one great disappointment’

“I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents. Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted.”

“Konia, my foster-mother, was a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and was married to Paki, also a high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi, afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister.”

“In speaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily used in the English language, but there was no such modification recognized in my native land. I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.”

“I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child; while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs’ families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage.”

“This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain its origin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us.”

“As intelligible a reason as can be given is that this alliance by adoption cemented the ties of friendship between the chiefs. It spread to the common people, and it has doubtless fostered a community of interest and harmony.”

“The house she lived in, ‘Haleakala,’ “was completed in 1851, and occupied by Paki until 1855, when he died. … It was there that the years of my girlhood were passed, after school-days were over, and the pleasant company we often had in that house will never cease to give interest to the spot.”

It was “one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu. To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“In the course of time Mr. and Mrs. Bishop were induced to take up their abode at ‘Haleakala,’ which, with other property, became hers as an inheritance from Paki.”

“This charming home, which immediately became the centre of all that was best, most cultivated, and refined in Hawaiian social life, has been graphically described by a cousin of Mr. Bishop, Mrs. Allen, who arrived in Honolulu in 1864 from California, on a visit.”

“It may be said that a warm and enduring friendship was formed at that time between the two, which continued unbroken during the lifetime of Mrs. Bishop. Of ‘Haleakala,’ as the house was called, and its picturesque life Mrs. Allen wrote:”

“‘At that time her home was the most beautiful in Honolulu, the house large and pleasant, the grounds full of beautiful trees, shrubs, and vines and so well cared-for. I shall never forget my first night’s rest in the home, and the satisfaction of waking in such pleasant surroundings.’”

“‘At that time there were at each end of the premises large yards with long low buildings on two sides, which were divided into rooms and occupied by numerous families attached to her as their chiefess to whom they looked for counsel in all their affairs—joys and sorrows.’”

“‘I was always interested to see her out under a large tamarind tree surrounded by her people, many of whom had come in from the country to advise with her. She would sit for hours with the utmost patience listening to them .’” (Allen; Krout)

Pauahi died October 16, 1884. “When the will of Mrs. Bernice Pauahi Bishop was read, in which she disposed of her own estate, I did not happen to be present …”

“… but her husband, Hon. Charles R. Bishop, informed me that I had been duly remembered, that his wife had bequeathed to me the lands of Kahala, island of Oahu, Lumahai on Kauai, Kealia in Kona, Hawaii …”

“… besides which he sent to me a pair of diamond wristlets, a diamond pin with crown which had once belonged to the Princess Ruth, and a necklace of pearls beautifully chased and set in tigers’ claws.”

“But nevertheless I must own to one great disappointment. The estate which had been so dear to us both in my childhood, the house built by my father, Paki, where I had lived as a girl …”

“… which was connected with many happy memories of my early life, from whence I had been married to Governor Dominis, when he took me to Washington Place, I could not help feeling ought to have been left to me.”

“The estate was called Haleakala, or House of the Sun, and the residence received the name of Aikupika; but both these are forgotten now in that of the Arlington Hotel.”

“This wish of my heart was not gratified, and, at the present day strangers stroll through the grounds or lounge on the piazzas of that home once so dear to me.”

“Yet memories of my adopted parents still cling to that homestead, and rise before me not only when I pass its walls, but I recall in a foreign land the days of my youth.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“The place was maintained as a chief’s residence for many years. It can only have been turned to other uses during the past fifteen years; at the outside. Mrs. Bernice Pauahi Bishop left the estate to her husband, who turned the property over to the Kamehameha estates.” (Bishop, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

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Haleakala-Bishop_Property-on_King_Street-1855

August 29, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keolaokalani

Pauahi was said to be carrying the child of Kāhalaiʻa when she married Kekūanāoʻa. Keʻelikōlani was born and Kekūanāoʻa claimed her as his own in court, and the matter was officially settled, though it would be debated again in later years, even by her own half-brother, Lot. (Nogelmeier)

After Pauahi’s death, Kekūanāoʻa married Kīna‘u, and they became the parents of Lot Kapuāiwa, Alexander Liholiho, and Victoria Kamāmalu, making Keʻelikōlani a half-sister to these three.

Keʻelikōlani was an important figure during her lifetime, known for her high rank in the Kamehameha lineage, her social position as a governor and woman of means, and for her character as a woman of dignity, both strong-willed and kind.

She was a great-granddaughter of Kamehameha, a grand-niece to Kamehameha II and III, and a half-sister of Kamehameha IV and V.

When mentioned in the press, Keʻelikōlani was usually listed as Ka Mea Kiʻekiʻe, Ke Ali‘i Ruta Keʻelikōlani – Her Highness, Chiefess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. Foreigners knew her as “Princess Ruth.” (Nogelmeier)

At the age of sixteen, Keʻelikōlani married William Pitt Leleiōhoku. While serving as governor of Hawai‘i Island, Leleiōhoku died, only twenty-two years old. Their surviving son, William Pitt Kīnaʻu, died at the age of seventeen in an accident on Hawai‘i. (Silva)

Keʻelikōlani’s second husband was the part-Hawaiian Isaac Young Davis, grandson of Isaac Davis, a British advisor to King Kamehameha I. The two had a son, Keolaokalani (also known as Keolaonalani), whom Keʻelikōlani gave as a hānai to Bernice Pauahi.

“Born on the 30th of December, 1862, was a son by Her Highness R. Keʻelikōlani, at Hale Hala‘aniani of Maj. W. L. Moehonua. At 4 in the afternoon was the birth; the mother is in fine health without weakness.”

“The child has been given to Mrs. Bishop (Pauahi) as a hānai, with out hopes that the royal son lives a long life. They are at Haleakala [the residence of the Bishops].” (Hoku o ka Pakipika, January 1, 1863)

Then, “There was a Baptism at the Residence of the Honorable C. R. Bishop, ‘Haleakala;’ baptized was the child of the honorable R. Keʻelikōlani and J. Y. Davis, and he was called, ‘Keolaokalani Paki Bihopa.’”

“The Honorable C. R. Bishop and Pauahi (the wife of Bishop) were those who bestowed the name, and Rev. C. Corwin is the one who performed the baptism.” (Hoku o ka Pakipika, February 12, 1863)

Pauahi Pākī was born on December 19, 1831 in Honolulu, Hawai‘i to high chiefs Abner Pākī and Laura Kōnia Pākī. She was the great-granddaughter of Kamehameha I. (KSBE)

Pauahi was hānai (adopted) to her aunt, Kīnaʻu (the eldest daughter of Kamehameha, who later served as Kuhina Nui as Kaʻahumanu II, a position similar to a Prime Minister.) Pauahi lived with Kīnaʻu for nearly eight years, then Kīnaʻu died suddenly of mumps (April 4, 1839.)

High Chief Caesar Kapaʻakea and his wife High Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole had three children, a daughter was Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha (born September 2, 1838.)

Liliʻu was hānai (adopted) to the Pākīs, who reared her with their birth daughter, Pauahi. The two girls developed a close, loving relationship.

“…their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi … was therefore my foster-sister. … I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.” (Lili‘uokalani)

They lived on the property called Haleʻākala, in a two-story coral house that Pākī built on King Street. It was the ‘Pink House,’ (the house was name ʻAikupika (Egypt.)) It later became the Arlington Hotel.

In 1850, at the age of 19, Pauahi married Charles Reed Bishop, a young American businessman who had made his way to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i from Glens Falls, New York.

Charles became a pillar in the kingdom government and was a successful businessman, banker and philanthropist. He and Pauahi enjoyed traveling the world with particular fondness for museums and art. With no children of their own, they shared a deep commitment for the well-being and education of kamali‘i — young ones. (KSBE)

When her cousin, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, died, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers.”

The total land bequest included about 353,000 acres. Keʻelikōlani had previously inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa (King Kamehameha V.)

As the Bishop’s marriage was not blessed with children of their own, they made several attemps at adoption. Their first was Ruth’s baby whom they named Keolaokalani Paki Bishop when they officially adopted him in February 1863.

The infant had also been given the nick-name Hoku o ka Pakipika (Star of the Pacific). Unhappiness filled the Bishop’s household when on August 29, 1863, the child died at six months. (Zambucka)

Bernice Pauahi died childless on October 16, 1884. She foresaw the need to educate her people and in her will she left her large estate of the Kamehameha lands in a trust “to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.”

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Keolaonalani – Kamehameha Crypt-Mauna Ala

December 4, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Pahala Plantation

“Among the gigantic enterprises which had their birth at the consummation of the Treaty of Reciprocity between this Kingdom and the United States of America …”

“… notible mention should be made of a Company which was incorporated in 1877 under the name of the Hawaiian Agricultural Company (limited.) This Company chose for its locality or base of a site, at Pahala, situated on the southeast side of the Island of Hawaii.” (BF Dillingham; Daily Honolulu Press, November 26, 1885)

“Peter C. Jones, Charles R. Bishop, J.D. Brewer, H.A.P. Carter and several others chose to take advantage of the economic situation and incorporate on December 22, 1876 under the name Hawaiian Agricultural Company.” (HSPA)

“In due time the mill and other necessary buildings were erected, five miles from Punaluu Landing, at an elevation 800 (feet above the sea level, commanding a wide range of ocean, and an extensive view of the surrounding country.”

“Twenty-five miles along the shore by fifteen miles inland, reaching into the mountains, form the boundaries of the magnificent extent of territory taken up by this Company.”

“The first acre of virgin soil on this plantation was broken in 1877. A mill second in size to only one ever built in the history of the world, complete with building frame, and cover all of iron, was landed at Punaluu, in 1878.”

“Hundreds of acres of land had been plowed and planted with cane at an aggregate cost of an amount sufficient to yield more than a Princely income, when the outlook from long continued drought, seemed so strongly to betoken utter failure, that it was proposed by those who had been most sanguine among the promoters of the enterprise, to abandon the undertaking.”

“Without even erecting the ponderous mill which was now lying in a heap at the landing. A delegation of experts appointed by the Company at Honolulu took passage to the scene of distress, and it is said, their report favored the retrograde movement …”

“… and the delegation was of opinion that the prospective capacity of the whole plantation would not exceed 900 tons of sugar per annum. Fortunately for all interested parties, better counsels prevailed: forward! was the order cultivature progressed; rains came at last; cane fields almost white, put on their mantle of thrifty green, and hope revived.”

“In 1880, the ponderous mill, which had already been condemned under the euphonious name of ‘White Elephant,’ was removed from its quiet resting place and put in active service.”

“The area of cane under cultivation has steadily increased from 1,200 acres in 1880 until now there is a belt of cane fields stretching over a distance of seven miles, lying in a north easterly and south-westerly direction.”

“The lower edge of this belt barely reaches the elevation of the mill, rising thence toward the mountain top to a height of 1800 to 2000 feet. The number of acres under cultivation by the Company is 2000; and 600 acres more are cultivated by private planters”.

“The highest numbers of tons of sugar made, bagged, weighed, and shipped during any one day this 26½ tons. The best weeks work during the year shows an average of 46 clarifiers per day, or 138 tons of sugar for the week.”

“This much abused ‘White Elephant’ I am informed upon indisputable authority, has no superior in this kingdom, if any where else.”

“Its mechanism seems perfect as indeed do all its appointments. Its three little rollers, each of eleven tons weight, revolve with majestic quiet and dignity, performing their work of crushing cane in a manner which force upon one the thought suggested in the adage ‘Tho’ the Mills of the Gods grind slowly yet they grind exceedingly small.’” (BF Dillingham; Daily Honolulu Press, November 26, 1885)

“The original mill was brought from London in 1879 and was the largest in the islands at that time. But by 1914, it was necessary to increase it from a 9 roller mill to a 15 roller mill with a capacity of 45 tons of cane per hour. A new flume system and cane weighing scheme were also installed.”

“The flumes were arranged so that each contractor’s cane could be weighed separately, instead of weighing every tenth bundle in the field and averaging the weight. The cane was flumed into cars and weighed on track scales.”

“The Pahala mill also purchased cane from Wood Valley homesteaders, about 20 Hawaiians and Portuguese, who cultivated about 600 acres of land. This group of homesteaders was one of the most successful in the Territory.” (HSPA)

“While we stand watching the packing process, which is manipulated with mechanical precision and dispatch; a six-mule team is driven to the door, and in just four minutes from the time of arrival, the team is started to the tramway with a load of two and one half tons of sugar.”

“The narrow gauge railroad or tramway referred to was graded and built under the supervision of the present manager. Commencing at the wharf at Punaluu this tramway curves among the ledges of pahoehoe, rising on a grade of four feet in every hundred.”

“By the most rigid economy, the meager water supply afforded in very dry weather, by springs, found in the mountains at a distance of five to six miles, a sufficient amount is stored each night to ‘flume’ the required cane during the following day.”

“In making a tour through the cane fields, one is impressed with the thourough cultivation which was noticeable on every acre of ground. With loose earth and perfect freedom from weeds or grass, the full strength of the soil is given to nourish and foster the growth of the cane.”

“The whole working force on this plantation consists of a manager seven Lunas and 325 mill and field hands.”

“The portion of this great property embracing the Sugar Plantation is a small part of the whole; the bulk of the lands being suitable only for a cattle ranch.”

“Large herds of cattle (the aggregate number of which is said to be six thousand), roam at will over the vast expanse of territory. The cattle ranch is under the management of Mr. Julian Monsarrat who resides at Kapapala at the residence of the late WH Reed, former owner of that property. Under the management of this gentleman an effort is being made to improve the breed of both cattle and horses.”

“The plantation is a financial success, and every department is conducted with a quiet orderly mechanical precission, which is a comfort to both governor and governed.” (BF Dillingham; Daily Honolulu Press, November 26, 1885)

“In 1972, C. Brewer & Co. decided to consolidate the Hawaiian Agricultural Company with Hutchinson Sugar Plantation Company. The new entity was named Kau Sugar Company.” (HSPA) In 1999, Hawai‘i Island’s sugar era ended with the closure of Kau Sugar Mill.

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Japanese sugar plantation laborers at Kau, Hawaii Island-(HSA)-PP-46-4-010-1890

HAWAIIAN AGRICULTURE COMPANY PLANTATION HOSPITAL

HAWAIIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY – JAMES COMPSIE AND WIFE

Kau_Irrigation

Punaluu village, Hawaii-(HSA)-PPWD-5-6-003-1880

Hawaiian Agricultural Co – stock

August 1, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Queen’s Hospital Subscribers

Hawaiians called the hospital and dispensary Hale Ma‘i o ka Wahine Ali‘i (literally, sick house of the lady chief,) or Hale Ma‘i for short. Opening day was August 1, 1859. (Greer)

“The Queen’s Hospital was founded in 1859 by their Majesties Kamehameha IV and his consort Emma Kaleleonalani. The hospital is organized as a corporation …”

“… and by the terms of its charter the board of trustees is composed of ten members elected by the society and ten members nominated by the Government ….” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 31, 1901)

“(A) number of persons, resident in Honolulu and other parts of the Kingdom have entered into a voluntary contribution, by subscription, for the purpose of creating a fund, for the erection and establishment of a Hospital at Honolulu, for the relief of indigent sick, and disabled people of the Hawaiian Kingdom, as well as of such foreigners, and others, as may desire to avail themselves of the same …”

The “subscribers … resolved that they should associate themselves together as a Body Politic and Corporate, for the purpose of carrying into effect the objects and intentions of the said subscribers …”

“…the following on behalf of the said subscribers were elected by ballot to act as Trustees, on behalf of the said subscribers, viz, BF Snow, SC Damon, SN Castle, CR Bishop, JW Austin, EO Hall, TJ Waterhouse, WA Aldrich, WL Green and H Hackfeld …”

“His Majesty then designated the following ten persons, Trustees, on behalf of the Government, viz, His Royal Highness Prince L (Lot) Kamehameha, David L Gregg, Wm Webster, GM Robertson, TC Heuck, John Ladd, James Bissen, HIH Holdsworth, AB Baker, L John Montgomery.” (Charter of the Queen’s Hospital)

Some 250 businesses, groups, and individuals had subscribed $13,530; the king and queen headed the list of subscribers with pledges of $500 each. (Greer) The following are the initial 10-Trustees who were elected:

Benjamin Franklin Snow had “a spacious two-story coral building that stood on Merchant street, near the corner of Fort … The building was erected early in the forties,’’ and for some time was occupied by Makee & Jones, afterwards Makee & Anthon.

It was moved into by Captain Snow, following his fire in the Brewer premises on Fort street in 1852. Snow was associated with the early entities that eventually formed C Brewer. Snow died December 20, 1866 on the fortieth anniversary of his arrival in Honolulu from Boston in the brig Active. (Thrum)

Samuel Chenery Damon, son of Colonel Samuel Damon, was born in Holden, Massachusetts, February 15, 1815. He was graduated from Amherst College in 1836, studied at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1838-39, and was graduated at Andover Theological Seminary in 1841. He was an American missionary.

He was preparing to go to India as a missionary and was studying the Tamil language for that purpose, when an urgent call came for a seaman’s chaplain at the port of Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands. He was ordained September 15, 1841, and he decided to accept the position at Honolulu.

Damon was pastor of the Seamen’s Bethel Church, chaplain of the Honolulu American Seamen’s Friend Society and editor of the monthly newspaper The Friend. He died February 7, 1885, at Honolulu, and his funeral next day was attended by a very large congregation, including King Kalākaua his ministers. (Crane, Historic Homes, 1907)

Samuel Northrup Castle landed in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiʻi) in 1837 as part of the 8th Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was assigned to the ‘depository’ (a combination store, warehouse and bank) to help the missionaries pool and purchase their supplies, to negotiate shipments around the Horn and to distribute and collect for the goods when received.

Twelve years after Castle had landed in the Islands, the American board decided that its purposes had been accomplished. It advised its representatives that their work was done and the board’s financial support would end. He needed to make a living since monetary support from Missions headquarters had been discontinued.

Castle and his good friend Amos Starr Cooke decided they would become business partners. Many of the missionaries were planning to remain; their needs must be met, so those of other residents and the crews of the whaling ships which wintered in Honolulu harbor. On June 2, 1851, they formed Castle & Cooke.

Charles Reed Bishop was born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York, and was an orphan at an early age and went to live with his grandparents on their 120-acre farm learning to care for sheep, cattle and horses and repairing wagons, buggies and stage coaches.

By January 1846, Bishop was ready to broaden his horizons. He and a friend, William Little Lee, planned to travel to the Oregon territory, Lee to practice law and Bishop to survey land. They sailed around Cape Horn on the way to Oregon. The vessel made a stop in Honolulu on October 12, 1846; both decided to stay. (Lee later became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.)

Bishop met and married Bernice Pauahi Paki. Bishop was primarily a banker (he has been referred to as “Hawaiʻi’s First Banker.”) An astute financial businessman, he became one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom from banking, agriculture, real estate and other investments.

James Walker Austin was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, January 8, 1829. He graduated from Harvard College in 1849, and from the Law School two years later. He went in 1851 to California, and then to the Sandwich Islands and was determined to settle there. He was admitted to the Bar in that country, and in 1852 was appointed district attorney.

He was elected to the Hawaiian Parliament, and reelected for three sessions. He was speaker of the House one session. In 1868 he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court by a special act of the Legislature, and he was chosen to revise the criminal code of the islands, in connection with two other judges of the Supreme Court. He was the guardian a number of years, of Lunalilo, heir to the throne.

He returned to the US in 1872 for the education of his children, after a residence at the Sandwich Islands of twenty-one years. He went to Europe the last year of his life, with his wife and daughter; he died in Southampton, England, October 15, 1895. (New England Historic Genealogical Society)

Edwin Oscar Hall arrived with the 7th Company of American missionaries in 1835. He was a Printer and Assistant Secular Agent. He was released in 1850 and became the editor of “The Polynesian” and manager of the Government printing office, 1850-52. The business of EO Hall & Son, Limited started in 1852 at the corner of Fort and King streets.

The firm continued to deal in hardware, agricultural implements, dry goods, leather, paints and oils, silver-plated ware, wooden ware, tools of all kinds, kerosene oil, etc, until about the year 1878, when dry goods were dropped, except a few staple articles. (Alexander)

On May 7, 1891 several EO Hall corporate officers, under the direction of Jonathan Austin, filed with the Hawaiian government to form a partnership to produce and supply electricity as the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO.) (HAER) Five months later – on October 13, 1891 – the co-partnership was dissolved and Hawaiian Electric was incorporated, with total assets of $17,000 and William W Hall as its first President. (HECO)

John Thomas Waterhouse “was born in Berkshire, England, in 1816, and went to school at Wood House Grove boarding school in 1825. The school was a Methodist preacher’s son’s school. I attended that until I was 13 years of age.” He became a businessman.

“I will tell you how the spirit of trade first came upon me. A man was allowed to come on the play ground once a week, Saturdays, to sell notions, etc. I used to invest my little money in sundries which I bought from this man, and sell them again to my playmates during the week at an advance, on credit.”

“Well, I had made a little money, and had heard of the United States, and concluded to cross the Atlantic to (the US.) I had become infatuated with reading the life of John Jacob Astor, and I started out from England, April, 1833, with a determination to become a John Jacob Astor”.

Later, “My father was appointed to a position at Australia and Polynesia and he went there with our entire family, ten brothers and sisters and my wife. I was in business in Hobert Town, Tasmania, for ten years, owning a large number of vessels, and I was a very active man in business there.”

“I had very poor health and was recommended to go to Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands. Well, I went there in one of my own vessels and purchased the property where I now live. That was in 1851, and from San Francisco I travelled backward and forward a great deal and improved very much in health …”

“… and I wish to say right here that the Sandwich Islands are really as fine islands as you can find anywhere in any part of the Pacific, and are known as the ‘Paradise of the Pacific.’” (Hawaiian Gazette, September 24, 1889)

William Arnold Aldrich was born March 27, 1824 at Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. In 1853, Aldrich and Charles Reed Bishop were business partners in Aldrich & Bishop, Importers and Dealers in General Merchandise.

Their building was located on the ewa-mauka corner of Queen and Kaʻahumanu Streets. They primarily sold merchandise to be shipped to supply the California Gold Rush, as well as provisioning whaling vessels.

The general store partnership of Aldrich and Bishop terminated as the whaling industry declined and they later formed a banking institution, the kingdom’s largest financial institution (1858;) this later became First Hawaiian Bank.

William Lowthian Green “was born in Doughty street, London, September 13, 1819. He received his early education in Liverpool, which was completed at King William’s College in the Isle of Man. … He was by profession a merchant. His family for two generations had been engaged in commercial pursuits in the north of England.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 21, 1900)

He joined the rush to California to try his luck finding gold (some of his friends were fortunate, there – he wasn’t.) Green’s health failed after some time in the goldfields and in 1850 he determined to go to China. The ship called at Honolulu, and Green, unable to withstand the hardships of a sailor’s life, and having letters to prominent residents of Honolulu, presented his credentials. (Nellist)

“During the intervals of leisure in his several occupations as merchant, founder of the now prosperous iron works, sugar planter, Deputy British Commissioner, Senator and at times Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, his mind, we may be certain, was fixed upon the working out of the geological theory of the conformation of the earth’s crust.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 21, 1900)

Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld arrived in Honolulu with his wife, Marie, her 16-year-old brother Johann Carl Pflueger and a nephew BF Ehlers on September 26, 1849. Having purchased an assorted cargo at Hamburg, Germany, Hackfeld opened a general merchandise business (dry goods, crockery, hardware and stationery,) wholesale, as well as retail store on Queen Street.

As business grew its shipping interest, manufacturing and jobbing lines developed a web of commercial relationships with Europe, England and the eastern seaboard. Hackfeld outfitted several whalers and engaged in the trans-shipment trade.

Hackfeld developed a business of importing machinery and supplies for the spreading sugar plantations and exported raw sugar. H Hackfeld & Co became a prominent factor – business agent and shipper – for the plantations. They also opened BF Ehlers dry goods store.

With the advent of the US involvement in World War I, things changed significantly for the worst for the folks at H Hackfeld & Co. In 1918, using the terms of the Trading with the Enemy Act and its amendments, the US government the companies and ordered the sale of German-owned shares. (Jung)

Shares in the companies were sold to American interests and the former H Hackfeld & Co took a patriotic sounding name, ‘American Factors, Ltd;’ BF Ehlers dry goods store also took a patriotic name, ‘Liberty House.’

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Old_photograph_of_the_Queen’s_Hospital

July 20, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bishop Bank – Waimea

Charles Reed Bishop was born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York; his father was a toll collector who worked on a toll booth in the middle of the Hudson River. Glens Falls was later known as “Hometown USA,” a title given to it by Look Magazine in 1944.

Shortly after his brother was born (1824,) his mother became ill and died a few weeks later. Her older sister, Lucy, takes the two-year old to Fort Ann, New York to live with her awhile.

He then went to live with his paternal grandfather, Jesse. He didn’t have much schooling, attending Glens Falls Academy for 7th and 8th grades, his only years of formal schooling.

After leaving school, he was a clerk for Nelson J Warren, the largest business in Warrensburgh, New York. He learns bartering, bookkeeping, taking inventory, maintenance and janitorial duties.

At about the age of 20 (in 1842,) the younger worked as a bookkeeper and head clerk for Charles Dewey in the Old Stone Store in Sandy Hill.

He then sailed (February 23, 1846) for the continent’s west coast aboard the ‘Henry,’ however the ship needed extensive repairs and landed at Honolulu Harbor on October 12, 1846.

He became ‘Hawaiʻi’s First Banker’ and formed Bishop & Co Bank in 1858. The Bishop Bank Building at 63 Merchant Street was the earliest of the Italianate (or Renaissance Revival) structures on the street, built in 1878 and designed by Thomas J. Baker (one of the architects of ʻIolani Palace.)

In 1895, Samuel M Damon bought Bishop & Co. from founder Charles Bishop. After the turn of the century the bank started opening neighbor island branches, including the Waimea branch on Kauai in 1911.

The Waimea branch at one time served the entire island of Kauai. As the economy of the island developed, however, additional branches on that and other islands were opened. The Bank incorporated as Bank of Bishop & Co. Ltd in 1919.

(After some mergers, in 1956 it was renamed Bishop National Bank of Hawai‘i; in 1960, First National Bank of Hawai‘i; then, in 1969, First Hawaiian Bank.) (FHB)

“One of the oldest and most reliable banking institutions in the Territory is Bishop’s Bank. With head offices in Honolulu, it has branch banks in Waimea, Kauai, and Hilo, Hawaii, both of which are conducted in the same prompt and highly satisfactory manner.”

“The bank issues Commercial and travelers’ Letters of credit, available to all parts of the world. All business entrusted to this institution or to either of its branch houses, receives prompt attention.” (The Garden Island, April 29, 1913)

On December 29, 1929, construction was completed on the Bishop National Bank of Hawaii’s Waimea Branch. It replaced an earlier structure on the same site which had been built in 1911.

Its eclectic style and solid, imposing appearance is typical of post-World War I banking architecture. It is designed to give an aura of permanence and stability a visual assurance to Waimea’s inhabitants that the bank was ‘here to stay.’ (NPS)

Like many buildings in Waimea, the first floor was constructed three feet off the ground to protect against flooding. This presented an opportunity for the architect to create an important entry porch.

Stairs lead up to the main entry, which is flanked on each side by two classic columns of simple Ionic order supporting an entablature above which a dental cornice with crown mould surrounds the building, topped by a partially balustraded parapet.

Although a small structure, it contributes a sense of permanence and solidity. The exterior has retained most of its original appearance; however, extensive remodeling to the bank interior has altered the appearance from the typical 1920s era banking structure.

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