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November 19, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawai‘i’s Two Oldest Houses

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives is on an acre of land in the middle of downtown Honolulu. It includes Hawai‘i’s two oldest houses, the 1821 Mission House (wood frame) and the 1831 Chamberlain House (coral block) (an 1841 bedroom annex interpreted as the Print Shop).

In addition, the site has the Mission Memorial Cemetery, and a building which houses collections and archives, a reading room, a visitors’ store, and staff offices. A coral and grass stage, Kahua Ho‘okipa, was added in 2011. This was the headquarters for the American protestant Sandwich Island Mission. Across King Street is the red brick Mission Memorial Building 1915.

In addition to the buildings which are part of the collection, the Mission Houses object collection contains over 7,500 artifacts, including furniture, quilts, bark cloth, paintings, ceramics, clothing, and jewelry.

The archival collections include more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations, and Hawaiian church records. Mission Houses owns the largest collection of Hawaiian language books in the world, and the second largest collection of letters written by the ali‘i.

The size and scope of these collections make Hawaiian Mission Houses one of the foremost repositories for nineteenth century Hawaiian history. The archives, English and Hawaiian, are available on site and online. Together, these activities enrich our community “by fostering thoughtful dialogue and greater understanding of the missionary role in the history of Hawaiʻi.” (Mission Houses’ Vision Statement)

Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit educational institution, founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1907, acquired the 1821 Mission House in 1906, restored and opened it in 1908.

1821 Wood Frame House

The wood-framed Mission House, built in 1821, was one of the first wood-framed buildings built in Hawai‘i. The frame house stands on the grounds of the Hawaiian Mission Houses, near Kawaiahaʻo Church on the makai side of King Street.

It is the oldest wood frame structure still standing in the Hawaiian Islands.

The timbers of Maine white pine were cut and fitted in Boston in 1819 and came around the Horn on the brig Thaddeus with the first mission company in April 1820, arriving first in Kona. The frame of the house arrived in Honolulu on Christmas morning of that year on board the ship Tartar.

Since the lumber for this New England plan type was actually pre-cut prior to shipment, it could also be considered in a broad sense a very early example of prefabrication.

Architecturally, it has a simple and straight-forward design; the relatively low ceilings, and basement are strong evidence of its New England concept, foreign to the temperate climate of Honolulu. It has two stories plus a basement and measures about 40-feet in length and 24-feet in width, excluding the kitchen wing (which extends the basic rectangular plan on the right rear (Ewa-makai) by about 20-feet.) The overall height is just over 23½ feet.

The foundation wall is about a foot thick, except on the Waikīkī side where it becomes an average of almost 2-feet (where a now-demolished wing once stood.) The basement walls are adobe brick set in a mud mortar.

The Frame House was used as a communal home by many missionary families who shared it with island visitors and boarders. It served as a residence for various missionaries, including Hiram Bingham, Gerrit Parmele Judd and Elisha Loomis.

In 1904, several contractors were called in to examine the building which was found to be so badly eaten by insects it was considered beyond repair. After considerable study extensive repairs were undertaken to restore the house to its original appearance.

In 1925, the premises were again inspected and again extensive insect damage was found. By 1935, the house was completely renovated and restored. Since 1935, various minor repairs such as repainting and some plastering have been undertaken.

Today the frame house is maintained by the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society as a memorial to the early missionary effort in the Hawaiian Islands.

Furniture and other articles of the first mission families are displayed in the house, together with photographs of the men and women who lived and worked there.

1831 Coral Construction Chamberlain House

Hawaiian architecture evolved over time, starting with Hawaiians use of natural resources, to influences from all of the various visitors to Hawaiʻi. Soon after missionary arrival, builders began to incorporate coral blocks from Hawaiʻi’s reefs, with the coral serving as a substitute for bricks the American and Europeans used in their homeland.

The second oldest home in the Islands is referred to as the ‘Chamberlain House’. Started in 1830, the Chamberlain House is one of the early masonry houses constructed on O‘ahu.

Mr. Levi Chamberlain, business agent for the Sandwich Island Mission and member of the Second Company, built the structure to provide storage space for the goods of the mission and living quarters for his family.

Upon completion of the building in December of 1831, Chamberlain’s family moved into three rooms on the lower level. In 1910, the Mission Children’s Society acquired ownership of the house.

The building was made of coral blocks cut away from the ocean reef, which were dried and bleached by the sun. These blocks were arranged and assembled to build the Chamberlain House.

In getting the coral, “When the tide was low, the men would pray as they entered the water, and they would pray again on exiting. They carried tools, mamaki with koa for long handles, and the ‘ō‘ō, a metal rifle barrel pounded to a sharp point inserted over a wooden shaft. “

“Tools were made by the men themselves to gouge out of the reef blocks of coral … The blocks were hoisted onto canoes and paddled ashore, where they were shaped with special tools. They also practiced breathing and would take turns diving, going to depths of no more than fifteen to twenty feet, or it became too hard to hammer. When they did this at night it looked like torch fishing.” (Cheever)

In his June 1, 1830 journal entry, Levi Chamberlain recorded the following entry: “Walked down to the sea where the natives were cutting the coral stone for my building. The coral forms the surface of the whole flats; it is in thicknesses from three to four inches to about twelve inches; the natives cut it the right width and pry it up with levers. The work of getting it resembles cutting up the surface of a pond frozen over.” (Chamberlain)

Hale Pili o Na Mikanele

The wood frame and coral houses were actually subsequent homes of the missionaries. When they first arrived, and generally the first home for most companies, were hale pili, just like the homes of the Hawaiians.

“(The frame of) the building assumes the appearance of a huge, rude bird cage. It is then covered with the leaf of the ki, pandanus, sugarcane, or more commonly (as in the case of the habitations for us) with grass bound on in small bundles, side by side, one tier overlapping another, like shingles.”

“A house thus thatched assumes the appearance of a long hay stack without, and a cage in a hay mow within. The area or ground within, is raised a little with earth, to prevent the influx of water, and spread with grass and mats, answering usually instead of floors, tables, chairs, sofas, and beds.”

“Such was the habitation of the Hawaiian, – the monarch, chief, and landlord, the farmer, fisherman, and cloth-beating widow, – a tent of poles and thatch-a rude attic, of one apartment on the ground-a shelter for the father, mother, larger and smaller children, friends and servants.” (Hiram Bingham)

“The Hawaiian mode of building habitations was, in a measure, ingenious, and when their work was carefully executed, it was adapted to the taste of a dark, rude tribe, subsisting on roots, fish, and fruits, but by no means sufficient to meet their necessities, even in their mild climate.” (Hiram Bingham)

As part of the expanding interpretive plans at Hawaiian Mission Houses, a hale pili will be constructed near the 1821 wood frame house. The reconstructed hale pili will not use pili grass for the covering; instead a fire-retardant thatch panel will be used (it is situated next to the oldest wood frame house in the Islands.)

The proposed Richard’s hale pili will be reproduction of a hale that Boki ordered built for the new missionaries arriving as the Second Company in 1823. The hale represents a bridge between cultures and represents support given to the missionaries by the host culture, and the cooperative relationship that existed between the chiefs and the missionaries.

Clarissa Richards dimensioned her house with “one room – 22 feet long and 12 feet wide” with a height of “12 feet from the ground to the ridge pole. … (It) had three windows, or rather holes cut through the thatching with close wooden shutters.” The door was “too small to admit a person walking in without stooping.” (Betsey Stockton)

This is only a summary; click HERE to read more.

MISSION HOUSES-drawing by James P. Chamberlain-(LOC)-ca 1860)
MISSION HOUSES-drawing by James P. Chamberlain-(LOC)-ca 1860)
L2R Ellis, Richards & Stewart-Stockton; Frame House-Kawaiahao
L2R Ellis, Richards & Stewart-Stockton; Frame House-Kawaiahao
OLD MISSION HOUSES (Frame House to the left- Chamberlain House to the right), ca 1883
OLD MISSION HOUSES (Frame House to the left- Chamberlain House to the right), ca 1883
SOUTH ROOM, FIRST FLOOR, REAR WALL, SHOWING FIREPLACE AND DUTCH DOOR - Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966
SOUTH ROOM, FIRST FLOOR, REAR WALL, SHOWING FIREPLACE AND DUTCH DOOR – Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966
EAST ROOM, SECOND FLOOR - Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966
EAST ROOM, SECOND FLOOR – Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966
MIDDLE BEDROOM, SECOND FLOOR - Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966
MIDDLE BEDROOM, SECOND FLOOR – Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966
Mission_Houses-Frame-House
Mission_Houses-Frame-House
Mission Houses-PP-13-1-001-00001
Mission Houses-PP-13-1-001-00001
Mission_Houses-1944
Mission_Houses-1944
EAST REAR AND NORTH SIDE - Chamberlain House-(LOC)-1902
EAST REAR AND NORTH SIDE – Chamberlain House-(LOC)-1902
Chamberlain House-Cross Section
Chamberlain House-Cross Section
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili-June 5, 2018
Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili-June 5, 2018

Filed Under: Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: 1821 Frame House, Chamberlain, Coral, Hale Pili, Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, Oldest Houses

August 13, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society (HMCS)

“The name ‘Cousins’ Society’ was given by Mr. Orramel Gulick, who said that as the fathers and mothers spoke constantly of each other as ‘brother’ and ‘sister,’ their children were cousins – hence ‘Cousins’ Society’ became the common name.”

“The children of missionaries on these islands have formed an association among themselves which they call the ‘Cousin’s Society.’” (Anderson)

“The society was organized on June 5, 1852, by the young people of Honolulu. These young folk had assembled informally two weeks before, on May 22, at the old adobe school house – still in Kawaiaha‘o Lane”. (Andrews, Mid-Pacific Magazine, December 1913)

It Started as a Social Society

In 1852, the initial Constitution of the organization noted in its preamble, “We the children of the American Protestant Mission to the Hawaiian Islands, desiring to strengthen the bond of union that naturally exists among us, and to cultivate the missionary spirit among ourselves … do hereby organize ourselves into a Social Missionary Society …”

That initial constitution noted that, “The design of this Society is to cherish and promote union among its members, to cultivate in them an active missionary spirit; to stir them up to good works, and more especially to assist in the support of those children of Missionaries who may go forth from these islands on Christian Missions.”

“At the time our Society was organized June 5, 1852, there were no places of entertainment, for social enjoyments or organized mission work, or any society for the missionary children, no uplifting influences at their disposal. The family rules were strict.”

“Native prayer meetings at five o’clock in the morning and long Sunday services, mostly in Hawaiian, were the only change the poor children had, and the formation of the HMCS was a beautiful and wise undertaking. It has done its work faithfully and well.” (Cooke, 1900)

“Meetings were appointed for ‘the last Saturday evening of each month,’ which time was soon changed to ‘the Saturday evening of each month nearest the full moon.’”

“These meetings were opened by prayer and singing, and closed with the missionary hymn, ‘Waft, waft ye winds His story,’ and a collection for their missionary was taken up. Otherwise the meetings were social, literary and musical.”

“The first entertainment consisted of essays … The social attractions were perhaps even greater than the literary, as the ‘veranda brigade,’ men and women now in middle life, then belonging to the younger set, can aver. Lifelong friendships were made, and at least one marriage, that of OH Gulick and Annie Clark occurred at a ‘cousins’ meeting’ in that same adobe schoolhouse …”

“At the time of the organization of this society there were perhaps not more than twenty white families outside the mission circle. As the monthly ‘cousins’ meeting’ was about the only social function in Honolulu society, other people of refinement were very glad to receive invitations to these meetings.”

“Many of them became annual members, and some secured a life membership and became, and are still, as devoted adopted cousins, as loyal as are those born into the mission.” (Andrews, Mid-Pacific Magazine)

HMCS Transitioned into an Educational Institution

“But the years went by. The original members were scattered. A new generation arose. Society’s demands were many and moonlit Saturday nights were wanted for other meetings. … The society seemed to have outgrown the purpose for which it had been organized, and there was talk of disbanding. (Andrews, Mid-Pacific Magazine, December 1913)

In the 1900 annual meeting of the HMCS, retiring President, AF (Amos Francis Cooke, known as A Frank) Cooke gave his ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ address. In it, he challenged, “Having fulfilled its original design, let us now form a new society with broader aim, and with a more extended scope for membership, and plan to become a historical centre for all missionary efforts in the wide Pacific.”

“A historical or commemorative society offering occasion for missionary intelligence and personal reminiscences of the lives of our fathers and mothers on special or appointed days, would give to us and to our children and to the Christian world, a most valuable record and much history might be preserved that would otherwise remain unknown.

In 1904, the Constitution was changed, and the purpose expanded, “The design of the Society shall be to perpetuate the memory of the missionary fathers and mothers who brought Christianity to these Islands, also to promote union among its members, to cultivate in them an active missionary spirit, stir them up to good deeds, and to assist in the support of Christian work.” (Noted in the HMCS Annual Report 1904)

“Today (amended in 2015) the Society, preserves the memory and spirit of the original mission, promoting union among its members, stirring them up to good deeds, assisting in the support of Christian work, collecting, preserving, and interpreting archival and library materials, buildings, objects, historic fencing, and the grounds …”

“… at a historic site and library relating to the history of American Protestant Missionaries to Hawai`i and their descendants and relationships with the peoples of Hawai`i, and caring for, regulating and preserving the Mission Cemetery at Kawaiaha‘o.” (HMCS Constitutional Provisions 2015)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

A 501(c)3 non-profit educational institution, Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society was founded in 1852, incorporated in 1907, and has no religious affiliation. It acquired the 1821 Mission House in 1906, restored and opened it in 1908. (HMCS now operates as Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.)

Mission Houses Museum was established in 1920, and in 1974, the museum was granted full accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM). The property was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

The historic site, one acre in the middle of downtown Honolulu, includes Hawai‘i’s two oldest houses, the 1821 Mission House and the 1831 Chamberlain House, a bedroom annex interpreted as the Print Shop (1841), the Mission Memorial Cemetery, and a building which houses collections and archives, a reading room, a visitors’ store and staff offices.

A coral and grass stage, Kahua Ho‘okipa, was added in 2011; addition of a reconstructed grass dwelling is in permitting process. This was the headquarters for the American protestant Sandwich Island Mission established here from 1820 through 1863.

The organization developed a professional staff in 1970 and named the public program component Mission Houses Museum. An extensive strategic planning process culminated in early 2012 with a new name, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

The archival collections include more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations, and Hawaiian church records.

Hawaiian Mission Houses owns the largest collection of Hawaiian language books in the world, and the second largest collection of letters written by the ali‘i. The size and scope of these collections make Hawaiian Mission Houses one of the foremost repositories for nineteenth century Hawaiian history.

Visit the website at www.missionhouses.org

Click HERE to View/Download more on Hawaiian Mission Houses.

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Mission Houses
Mission Houses

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Childrens Society, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

July 2, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lasting Legacies

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.

Collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the
• Introduction of Christianity;
• Development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• Promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• Combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine; and
• Evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing)

Notable lasting legacies of the mission are the numerous historic churches and restored mission residences, across the Islands. Among the other legacies are reminders of the Hawaiian Islands Mission and the good work of the missionaries who were part of it; here are a handful of only some of the reminders of the mission:

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

The Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) includes three restored houses, two of which are the oldest houses in Hawai‘i, the 1821 Mission House (wood frame) and the 1831 Chamberlain House (coral block,) and a 1841 bedroom annex interpreted as the Print Shop, and a research archives which provides a unique glimpse into 19th-century Hawai`i both onsite and online.

Mission Houses sits on an acre of land in the middle of downtown Honolulu. In addition, the site has the Mission Memorial Cemetery, and a building which houses collections and archives, a reading room, a visitors’ store and staff offices. A National Historic Landmark, Mission Houses preserves and interprets the two oldest houses in Hawaiʻi through school programs, historic house tours, and special events.

Lahainaluna

On September 5, 1831, classes at the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (Upper Lāhainā)) began in thatched huts with 25 Hawaiian young men (including David Malo, who went on to hold important positions in the kingdom, including the first Superintendent of Schools.)

Under the leadership of Reverend Lorrin Andrews, the school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents”. It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

Lahainaluna was transferred from being operated by the American missionaries to the control of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1849. By 1864, only Lahainaluna graduates were considered qualified to hold government positions such as lawyers, teachers, district magistrates and other important posts.

O‘ahu College – Punahou School

The missionaries established schools associated with their missions across the Islands. This marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of Chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

However, the education of their children was a concern of missionaries. There were two major dilemmas, (1) there were a limited number of missionary children and (2) existing schools (which the missionaries taught) served adult Hawaiians (who were taught from a limited curriculum in the Hawaiian language.)

During the first 21-years of the missionary period (1820-1863,) no fewer than 33 children were either taken back to the continent by their parents. That changed … Resolution 14 of the 1841 General Meeting of the Sandwich Islands Mission changed that; it established a school for the children of the missionaries (May 12, 1841.) Meeting minutes note, “This subject occupied much time in discussion, and excited much interest.” On July 11, 1842, fifteen children met for the first time in Punahou’s original E-shaped building.

Lāhainā Banyan Tree

James William Smith was in the Tenth Company of ABCFM missionaries to the Islands, arriving on September 24, 1842. His son, William Owen Smith, born at Kōloa, Kauai, was educated at Rev David Dole’s school at Kōloa, later attending Punahou School in Honolulu.

On April 24, 1873, while serving as Sheriff on Maui, William Owen Smith planted Lāhainā’s Indian Banyan to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lāhainā.

Today, shading almost an acre of the surrounding park and reaching upward to a height of 60 feet, this banyan tree is reportedly the largest in the US. Its aerial roots grow into thick trunks when they reach the ground, supporting the tree’s large canopy. There are 16 major trunks in addition to the original trunk in the center.

Mission Memorial Building

“Impressive ceremonies marked the laying of the cornerstone yesterday afternoon of the Mission Memorial building in King street, Ewa of the YWCA Homestead, being erected at a cost of $90,000 as a monument to pioneer missionaries and to be the center pf the missionary work in Hawaii in the future.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 20, 1915)

Designed by architect H.L. Kerr and built between 1915 and 1916, these structures were commissioned by the Hawaii Evangelical Association in preparation for the centennial commemoration of the arrival of the American Protestant missionaries to Hawaii in 1820. (C&C)

“‘Various forms of memorials have been suggested, but instead of some monument of beauty, perhaps, but which could be put to no practical use, why not something which would be of lasting value and usefulness and what would combine all so well as a building which would be the center of activity for the Hawaiian board, where work along the lines of those whose memories are now being revered, should be directed!’” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 20, 1915)

During World War II, the city administration moved to have the building condemned. The large, red-brick, neoclassical structures are the only example of Jeffersonian architecture in Hawaii. In 2003, after decades of use as city office space, the auditorium was renovated back to its original state.

This is only a summary; Click HERE for more on the Lasting Legacies.

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Lasting Legacies
Lasting Legacies
Mission Houses
Mission Houses
Lahainaluna
Lahainaluna
Lahaina banyan
Lahaina banyan
Punahou
Punahou
Mission Memorial
Mission Memorial

Filed Under: General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Schools Tagged With: American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, American Protestant Missionaries, Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, Missionaries

April 4, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Missionary Sewing Circle

Kalākua (also Kaheiheimālie) (c. 1778–1842) was daughter of Keʻeaumoku (a chief from Hawaiʻi Island) and Nāmahana, from the royal family on Maui. She was described as physically being ‘tall and gigantic,’ like her siblings. (Bingham)

“Kalākua, a widow of Kamehameha … asked (the missionary women) to make a gown for her in fashion like their own.” (Bingham) “(She) was told that it was the Lord’s day, and that they would make it tomorrow.” (April 2, 1820, Thaddeus Journal)

The next day, the first Hawaiian sewing circle was held on the decks of the Thaddeus, “Kalākua brought a web of white cambric to have a dress made for herself in the fashion of our ladies, and was very particular in her wish to have it finished while sailing along the western side of the island, before reaching the king.”

“Monday morning April 3d (1820,) the first sewing circle was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in the Hawaiian realm. Kalākua was directress. She requested all the seven white ladies to take seats with them on mats, on the deck of the Thaddeus.”

“The dress was made in the fashion of 1819. The length of the skirt accorded with Brigham Young’s rule to his Mormon damsels, – have it come down to the tops of the shoes. But in the queen’s case, where the shoes were wanting, the bare feet cropped out very prominently.” (Lucy Thurston, part of the Pioneer Company)

Later, another ‘sewing circle’ was presented by some of the early missionary descendants. But first, some background …

About 30-years after the first sewing circle (June 5, 1832), the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society (HMCS) was formed. At the time, “there were no places of entertainment, for social enjoyments or organized mission work, or any society for the missionary children, no uplifting influences at their disposal.”

“The family rules were strict. Native prayer meetings at five o’clock in the morning and long Sunday services, mostly in Hawaiian, were the only change the poor children had, and the formation of the HMCS was a beautiful and wise undertaking. It has done its work faithfully and well.” (Cooke; HMCS, 1900)

Then in 1900, the HMCS membership was asked, “What is the future of the Society?” Outgoing HMCS president, AF Cooke noted, “Having fulfilled its original design, let us now form a new society with broader aim …”

“… and with a more extended scope for membership, and plan to become a historical centre for all missionary efforts in the wide Pacific. … A historical or commemorative society offering occasion for missionary intelligence and personal reminiscences of the lives of our fathers and mothers …”

“…would give to us and to our children and to the Christian world, a most valuable record and much history might be preserved that would otherwise remain unknown.” (Cooke; HMCS, 1900)

The Society acquired the 1821 Mission House in 1907 and later the coral block Chamberlain house. The making of a museum was underway (and remains under HMCS control to today).

A House warming was given here on April 4th, 1908. The officers of the Society and others received the Cousins and their friends in the old historic reception room where royalty was entertained in the long ago, and where, no doubt, every missionary to these sunny islands has gathered in consultation and knelt in prayer.

Many guests went up the winding stairs to the chambers above, out to the stone kitchen and down to the cellar dining and store rooms before going through to the makai lawn where chairs were arranged for the audience.

A dramatic performance of an old-time missionary sewing circle, supposedly held during the General Meeting of 1840, was presented.

“Our Cousin James A. (Judd) Wilder has with a most sympathetic hand, woven together various incidents and anecdotes from unwritten missionary history, into a brief drama of one scene, apologies need be made for any anachronisms as to pretense to be more than a composite picture.”

“The missionary mothers are represented by grand and great-grand-daughters, and the old-time dress will enhance family resemblances and are sure to be pleasing to those who remember dear faces gone.” (HMCS Annual Report, 1908)

“The acting was good and the whole scene very realistic. The play was given at the rear of the Old Mission Home, between that and the vine-clad coral kitchen, and the audience were seated on the lawn.”

“A platform was built in front of the stage, between trees and draped with flags, ferns and ilima wreaths, on which sat the guests of honor, Queen Lili‘uokalani, Gov. Pinkham, Admiral Moore and General Macomb.” (HMCS Annual Report, 1912)

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'OLD MISSION HOUSE' (LOC)-photo ca 1907
‘OLD MISSION HOUSE’ (LOC)-photo ca 1907

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, Kalakua, Liliuokalani, Lucius Eugene Pinkham, Pinkham, Queen Liliuokalani, Sewing Circle

July 17, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hale Pili o Nā Mikanele

The Second Company of American Protestant missionaries to Hawai‘i left on the Thames from New Haven Connecticut and arrived at Honolulu on April 27, 1823. (The Hawaiians called the missionaries mikanele.)

The members of the first reinforcement were critical in the expansion of the Mission, important relationships with the royal family and, through the efforts of missionary William Richards, the development of a Hawaiian constitutional government.

William & Clarissa Richards and Charles & Harriet Stewart (and their dear friend Betsey Stockton) were assigned a hale pili (thatched homes) on Missionary Row.

“While in America my imagination had often portrayed scenes of the future – the humble cot on missionary ground, and all its appurtenances fancy had dressed in fairy colours …”

“… She had twined around her happy dwelling many romantic sweets, and scattered with a lavish hand the beauties of natural scenery. You will ask if the picture exists in real life. I answer no. I find nothing (of) this kind; but I do find what is infinitely more valuable.” (Charissa Richards Journal, May 1, 1823; Leineweber, Mission Houses)

Despite her initial disillusionment, Clarissa looked with pleasure on her new accommodations. “If our cottage has not all that elegant simplicity about it that I had fancied, it is far more comfortable within.”

“Her husband, William Richards was a little more direct, ‘We are living in houses built by the heathen and presented to us.” Within a grouping of six grass houses were “two … put up for our accommodation before our arrival.” (Leineweber, Mission Houses)

Levi Chamberlain (another member of the 2nd Company, noted, “Monday July 28 (1823.) The wind has been excessively strong today, rendering it very uncomfortable to go abroad, and indeed uncomfortable to be at home from the necessity of having the windows & doors of our houses shut to keep out the dust.”

“Mrs. Loomis, & Mrs. Bishop, & Mr. & Mrs. Ely were obliged to leave their thatched houses & come into the wood house to avoid the dust. which came into their houses in such abundance thay they could not remain with comfort.” (Levi Chamberlain Journal)

“The Hawaiian mode of building habitations was, in a measure, ingenious, and when their work was carefully executed, it was adapted to the taste of a dark, rude tribe, subsisting on roots, fish, and fruits, but by no means sufficient to meet their necessities, even in their mild climate.” (Hiram Bingham)

“(The frame of) the building assumes the appearance of a huge, rude bird cage. It is then covered with the leaf of the ki, pandanus, sugarcane, or more commonly (as in the case of the habitations for us) with grass bound on in small bundles, side by side, one tier overlapping another, like shingles.”

“A house thus thatched assumes the appearance of a long hay stack without, and a cage in a hay mow within. The area or ground within, is raised a little with earth, to prevent the influx of water, and spread with grass and mats, answering usually instead of floors, tables, chairs, sofas, and beds.”

“Such was the habitation of the Hawaiian, – the monarch, chief, and landlord, the farmer, fisherman, and cloth-beating widow, – a tent of poles and thatch-a rude attic, of one apartment on the ground-a shelter for the father, mother, larger and smaller children, friends and servants.” (Hiram Bingham)

Most Hawaiian family hale compounds had several special-purpose hale. This collection was called a kauhale. The household complex was the center of the Native Hawaiian family and household production of the necessities of life. Men and women’s activities took place in different areas. (Leineweber)

Missionary Row was Diamond Head side of the present wood frame building at Mission Houses – it fronted along what is now King Street.

The proposed Richard’s hale pili will be reproduction of a hale that Boki ordered built for the new missionaries arriving as the Second Company in 1823. The hale represents a bridge between cultures and represents support given to the missionaries by the host culture, and the cooperative relationship that existed between the chiefs and the missionaries.

Clarissa Richards dimensioned her house with “one room – 22 feet long and 12 feet wide” with a height of “12 feet from the ground to the ridge pole. … (It) had three windows, or rather holes cut through the thatching with close wooden shutters.” The door was “too small to admit a person walking in without stooping.” (Betsey Stockton)

The interior of each of the houses was one large room with no floors, but the “ground spread with mats.” Most of the furniture in each of the houses had arrived with the individual family in the reinforcement.

Clarissa Richards described the sleeping accommodation in her house, “Mats are fastened over and at the sides of our bed, except the front, which has a tappa curtain.” The rest of the furniture in the Richards’ House consisted of “a bed, two chairs, (one without a back,) a dozen trunks and boxes, and a couple of barrels.” Four large square trunks made a table. (Leineweber)

“Mr. R’s writing desk and the beautiful workbox presented by my beloved Cordelia. Over this table hangs a small looking glass – and on the other table (at) the other side of the window are arranged a few choice books, most of them testimonials of affection from absent friends.” (Clarissa Richards; Leineweber)

When William Richards and Charles Stewart left for Lahaina with Keōpūolani, Maria Loomis moved into one of the vacated houses. “Employed today in assisting Mrs Loomis to remove the furniture of her room into the thatched house recently occupied by Mr. Richards.”

In 1831 with Lorrin Andrews, Richards helped to build the high school at Lahainaluna on the slopes above Lahaina. In 1838 the king asked him to become a political adviser; he resigned his position with the mission and spent his time urging the improvement of the political system.

Richards was instrumental in helping to transform Hawai‘i into a modern constitutional state with a bill of rights (1839) and a constitution (1840). In 1842, he went abroad with Timoteo Haʻalilio as a diplomat seeking British, French and US acknowledgment of Hawaiian independence.

William Richards later became the Minister of Public Instruction in 1846 and worked with the legislature to make education a legal mandate.

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives is in the process of reconstructing the Richards hale pili. The Hale Pili o na Mikanele is a non-traditional hale, as many activities took place here and missionaries did not separate gender activities into different buildings.

The reconstructed hale pili will not use pili grass for the covering; instead a fire-retardant thatch panel will be used (it is situated next to the oldest wood frame house in the Islands.)

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L2R Ellis, Richards & Stewart-Stockton; Frame House-Kawaiahao
L2R Ellis, Richards & Stewart-Stockton; Frame House-Kawaiahao
Missionary Row-Chamberlain-Oct 11, 1820-TheFriend Oct 1925
Missionary Row-Chamberlain-Oct 11, 1820-TheFriend Oct 1925
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Section
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Section
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Location
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Location
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Floor Plan
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Floor Plan

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Hawaiian Traditions, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hale Pili, Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, William Richards

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