Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

Click HERE to view/download Background Information on General Meeting

Mission Houses

April 25, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

General Meeting

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 Mission (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

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

The missionaries were scattered across the Islands, each home was usually in a thickly inhabited village, so that the missionary and his wife could be close to their work among the people. Meeting houses were constructed at the stations, as well as throughout the district. Initially constructed as the traditional Hawaiian thatched structures; they were later made of wood or stone.

By 1850, eighteen mission stations had been established; six on Hawaiʻi, four on Maui, four on Oʻahu, three on Kauai and one on Molokai.

Very prominent in the old mission life was the annual “General Meeting” where all of the missionary families from across the Islands gathered at Honolulu from four to six weeks.

“The design of their coming together would naturally suggest itself to any reflecting mind. They are all engaged in one work, but are stationed at various and distant points on different portions of the group, hence they feel the necessity of occasionally coming together, reviewing the past, and concerting plans for future operations.”

“Were it not for these meetings, missionaries at extreme parts of the group might never see each other, and in some instances we know that persons connected with the Sandwich Island Mission, have never seen each other’s faces, although for years they have been laboring in the same work.” (The Friend, June 15, 1846)

The primary object of this gathering was to hold a business meeting for hearing reports of the year’s work and of the year’s experiences in more secular matters, and there from to formulate their annual report to the Board in Boston. Annual General Meetings of the mission fixed policy – “the majority ruled”.

The General Meeting was held in an adobe school house (constructed during the period 1833-1835) still standing south of the Kawaiaha‘o Church, on Kawaiaha‘o Street.

An important object of the General Meeting was a social one. The many stations away from Honolulu were more or less isolated – some of them extremely so. Perhaps a dominant influence in the consumption of so much time was the appreciation of the social opportunity, and the unwillingness to bring it unnecessarily to a speedy close. (Dole)

“Often some forty or more of the missionaries besides their wives were present, as well as many of the older children. … Much business was transacted relating to the multifarious work and business of the Mission. New missionaries were to be located, and older ones transferred.” (Bishop)

Mission Houses Annual Meetings

The annual gathering of the Cousins, descendants of the early missionaries, continues. Today, the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a nonprofit educational institution and genealogical society, exists to promote an understanding of the social history of nineteenth-century Hawai‘i and its critical role in the formation of modern Hawai‘i.

The annual gathering of the Cousins, descendants of the early missionaries, continues. Hawaiian Mission Houses will be holding its annual meeting on April 25, 2020; however, due to present circumstances it will be held via video conference and not on the Mission Houses grounds, a stone’s throw from the old General Meeting house across Kawaiahaʻo Street.

The Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a nonprofit educational institution and genealogical society, exists to promote an understanding of the social history of nineteenth-century Hawai‘i and its critical role in the formation of modern Hawai‘i.

The Society operates the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, comprised of three historic buildings and a research archives with reading room. The Society also compiles the genealogical records of the American Protestant missionaries in Hawai‘i and promotes the participation of missionary descendants in the Society’s activities.

Through the Site and Archives, the Society collects and preserves the documents, artifacts and other records of the missionaries in Hawai‘i’s history; makes these collections available for research and educational purposes; and interprets the historic site and collections to reflect the social history of nineteenth century Hawai‘i and America. Lots of stuff is online – click HERE.

When we are allowed to reopen, we plan to continue the guided tours of the houses and other parts of the historic site, Tuesday through Saturday, starting on the hour every hour from 11 am with the last tour beginning at 3 pm.

Old School House-General Meeting-Site-Centennial Book

April 20, 2020 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.

Lasting Legacies

Mission Houses

Lahainaluna

Lahaina banyan

Punahou

Mission Memorial

December 3, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kulaokahu‘a

On January 9, 1847, the Polynesian reported there were 1,386 buildings in Honolulu, 1,337 of these were residences: 875 made of grass; 345 adobe; 49 coral; 49 wood and 29 stone/coral below, wood above.

Washington Place was built that year by future-Queen Liliʻuokalani’s father-in-law.

Excluding visiting sailors, foreigners made up only some 6 per cent of Honolulu’s approximately 10,000-residents.

Following a road realignment program directed by Kuhina Nui Kīnaʻu (Kaʻahumanu II) to straighten out the streets, Honolulu was linked by four “big paths” or alanui: Beretania and Queen bordered it in the north and south and Alakea and Nuʻuanu defined its eastern and western limits.

Nearly two-decades before (about 1830,) Queen Ka‘ahumanu ordered that a wall be built in the Makiki area to keep cattle from the inland residential areas. The stone wall also marked a path across Makiki which was first called Stonewall Street; this former path is now covered by Wilder Avenue.

The government decreed that after May 4, 1850 no horses, cattle, or other animals could run at large there; more than 30 years later agents were being appointed to take up strays. (Greer)

Beyond Honolulu’s limits there were few residences other than the grass houses of Hawaiians. The population was growing toward and up Nuʻuanu, but Honolulu was hemmed on the Diamond Head end by the barren plains called Kulaokahuʻa.

Kulaokahu‘a translates as “the plain of the boundary.”

Kulaokahu‘a was the comparatively level ground below Makiki Valley (between the mauka fertile valleys and the makai wetlands.) This included areas such as Kaka‘ako, Kewalo, Makiki, Pawaʻa and Mōʻiliʻili.

“It was so empty that after Punahou School opened in July 1842, mothers upstairs in the mission house could see children leave that institution and begin their trek across the barren waste. Trees shunned the place; only straggling livestock inhabited it.” (Greer)

This flat plain would be a favorable place to play maika, a Hawaiian sport which uses a disc-shaped stone, called an ‘ulu maika, for a bowling type of game.

Pukui states that the name makiki comes from the type of stone used to make octopus lures. This is the same type of stone that was used to make ‘ulu maika, and some have speculated that the name of the ahupua‘a (Makiki) may have originated from its association with the maika sport rather than, or addition to, the making of octopus lures.

There were several horse paths criss-crossing the Kulaokahu‘a Plains. In the 1840s, it was described as “nothing but a most exceedingly dreary parcel of land with here and there a horse trail as path-way.” (Gilman) The flat plains were also perfect for horse racing, and the area between present-day Piʻikoi and Makiki Streets was a race track.

The Plains were described as dry and dusty, without a shrub to relieve its barrenness. There was enough water around Makiki Stream to grow taro in lo‘i (irrigated fields,) and there was at least one major ʻauwai, or irrigation ditch.

From 1840 to 1875, only a few unpaved roads were in the area, generally along the present course of King, Young, Beretania and Punahou Streets. These roads or horse paths “ran a straggling course which changed as often as the dust piled up deep”. (Clark)

“As early as 1847 a number of sales took place of lots in Honolulu, Kulaokahuʻa plain, Manoa and Makawao.” (Interior Department, Surveyor’s Report, 1882)

In the Great Mahele, the Kulaokahu‘a Plains were awarded to the Crown. On July 11, 1851, an Act was passed confirming certain resolutions of the Privy Council of the previous year, which ordered “that a certain portion of the Government lands on each island should be placed in the hands of special agents to be disposed of in lots of from one to fifty acres in fee simple, to residents only, at a minimum price of fifty cents per acre.” (Interior Department, Surveyor’s Report, 1882)

Between the years 1850 and 1860, nearly all the desirable Government land was sold, generally to Hawaiians. The portions sold were surveyed at the expense of the purchaser. (Interior Department, Surveyor’s Report, 1882) Most of the Kulaokahuʻa lands were not included.

Clark noted that “the settling of the Plains did not come until the 1880s, after water was brought from Makiki Valley.” Kulaokahu‘a became more hospitable when water became available from springs and artesian wells, and would gradually be transformed into an attractive residential district in the 1880s.

A notation concerning an 1878 article in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser notes a new 400,000-gallon Makiki reservoir (to be completed June 1879) to supply the Kulaokahuʻa plains and Waikikī, and eventually Kapiʻolani Park. (Krauss)

In marketing material advertised in the Pacific Commercial in 1881, the area is described as, Beretania, King, Young, Victoria, Lunalilo and Kinau Streets, no taro patches, good roads, plenty of water, best of soil, beautiful scenery and pure air. (Krauss)

The Daily Bulletin on July 13, 1882 noted, “Mr. Philip Milton has some fine grape vines growing at his residence on King street, Kulaokahuʻa Plains. They are now bearing. A specimen of the grapes may be seen in the show window at Messrs. JW Robertson & Co.’s store. Those fond of eating this delicious fruit may have an opportunity of purchasing the article from AW Bush on Fort Street, who will have a small lot for sale.”

When looking at renaming the place in 1883, names suggested were Artesia, because of wells sunk there, also Bore-dumville, and Algarroba (kiawe) because the area was then covered with trees, thickly shaded. (Krauss)

Never-the-less, in 1892, Thrum noted that to get to Mānoa “for nearly a mile the road leads by or along pasture fields with no visage of tree or shrub other than the lantana pest … and passes along Round Top of Ualakaʻa”.

https://www.travelchannel.com/content/travel-com/en/shows/m/mysteries-at-the-museum/episodes/1700/fleeing-fidel-murder-by-shark-and-inflated-feud.html

No._2._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_Catholic_church._(c._1854)-Honolulu_to_Waikiki

Paul_Emmert_-_'Diamond_Head_from_Aliapaakai_(Salt_Lake)',_c._1853-59

No._2._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_Catholic_church._(c._1854)-Honolulu_to_Waikiki-Detail

Kakaako-From the cupola of Old Plantation, looking across the fish pond to the Ward’s beachfront lands, Kukuluae‘o-(avisionforward)

Edward_Clifford_(1844-1907)_-_'Diamond_Head,_Honolulu',_watercolor_painting,_1888

George_Henry_Burgess_-_'Queen_Street,_Honolulu',_watercolor_over_graphite_painting,_1856

Kawaiahao Church in 1885-Look towards Diamond Head

Honolulu_Harbor_to_Diamond_Head-Wall-Reg1690 (1893)-(portion_development_in_Kulaokahu‘a-and-wetlands_below_in_Kewalo)

Trails from Punchbowl Street to Waialae as described by 'I'i

November 7, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

A Gold Watch From President Abraham Lincoln

While there were several other participants, this story really relates to two people – James Kekela and Jonathan Whalon … and because of the meeting between these two, President Abraham Lincoln stepped into the picture.

James Kekela was born in 1824 at Mokuleia, in Waialua. After public schooling, he was selected as a promising candidate to attend the mission school at Lahainaluna.

“Here he acquired what that center of light had to give; some knowledge of life, of the world in which we live, and of the divine revelation made in the Sacred Scriptures. And more than all else, he acquired a firm faith in a personal Savior and Redeemer.” (The Friend)

Mr. Kekela was the first Native Hawaiian to be ordained as a minister in Hawaiʻi, ordained at Kahuku on December 21, 1849 and settled as pastor of the Hauʻula church.

He served as pastor for two or three years until he was called to foreign missionary work – in 1853, the Hawaiian churches decided to unite to support a mission to the Marquesas Islands, sending out missionaries from among their own ranks.

Rev. James Kekela and Rev. Samuel Kauwealoha, and their wives, were accompanied by New England missionary Benjamin Parker of Kāneʻohe Mission Station; these native couples were the first Hawaiian families to serve as missionaries in the Marquesas, 1853-1909.

They settled on the island of Hiva-Oa in Puamau, a large valley with 500 inhabitants – the valley rises two miles inland, where it terminates in an abrupt precipice 2,000 feet high.

Kekela’s counterpart in this story, Jonathan Whalon, was born at Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1822. On July 13, 1841, he applied for and was granted Seaman’s Protection Certificate #58 at Fall River, Massachusetts.

He served on whaling ships and made a total of seven whaling voyages, working his way up the chain of command, from green-hand to captain on his fifth and sixth voyages.

His seventh and final voyage (in 1864) was on board the whaling ship Congress 2, as first mate. Evidently everything went smoothly until he decided to visit the natives on the island of Hiva-Oa.

Unbeknownst to all, previously, a Peruvian vessel had stolen men from Hiva-Oa, and the Marquesans were waiting for an opportunity to revenge the deed.

Mr. Whalon went on shore to trade for pigs, fowls, etc, and the natives, under the presence of hunting pigs, decoyed him into the woods, where, at a concerted signal, large numbers of men had been collected. Mr. Whalon was seized, bound, stripped of his clothing, and taken to be cooked and eaten.

“Kekela and others made haste to rescue the mate. At first the wrathful chief refused to give up his victim; but he yielded at length to Kekela’s entreaties, and offered to receive as a ransom his new six-oared boat, given him by his benefactor in Boston, which he greatly prized, and greatly needed in his missionary work. But the good man did not hesitate a moment to accept the hard terms.” (Hiram Bingham Jr.)

The dramatic circumstances of Jonathan Whalon’s capture and rescue were reported when his ship reached America, and the incident eventually came to the attention of President Abraham Lincoln.

Although the President was engrossed in the ‘War Between the States,’ he was so moved that he sent $500 in gold to Dr. McBride, US Minister resident in Honolulu, for the purchase of suitable gifts that would express his gratitude to those who had participated in the rescue.

The President presented a total of 10-gifts: two gold hunting case watches; two double-barreled guns (one to the Marquesan chief who rescued Mr. Whalon and the other to B. Nagel, the German who assisted the chief;) a silver medal to the girl who hailed the whaleboat and told the men to “pull away”; and, lastly, a spy-glass, two quadrants and two charts to the Marquesan Mission. All were inscribed in Hawaiian. (The Friend)

“This act of the President, in rewarding these persons, will have a good effect all through the ocean, for it will be circulated far and near, and will show them that the President not only hears of the good deeds of Polynesian islanders, but stands ready to reward them.” (The Friend)

Most interesting among the gifts was a large gold watch the President gave to Kekela (a similar watch was given to Kaukau, Kekela’s associate in the rescue.)

The inscription on it is translated from Hawaiian as follows:
“From the President of the United States to Rev. J. Kekela For His Noble Conduct in Rescuing An American Citizen from Death
On the Island of Hiva Oa January 14, 1864.”

Rev. Kekela sent a thank you letter, in response. In part, it stated: “Greetings to you, great and good Friend! … When I saw one of your countrymen, a citizen of your great nation, ill-treated, and about to be baked and eaten, as a pig is eaten, I ran to save him, full of pity and grief at the evil deed of these benighted people.”

“As to this friendly deed of mine in saving Mr. Whalon, its seed came from your great land, and was brought by certain of your countrymen, who had received the love of God. It was planted in Hawaii, and I brought it to plant in this land and in these dark regions, that they might receive the root of all that is good and true, which is love.”

“I gave my boat for the stranger’s life. This boat came from James Hunnewell, a gift of friendship. It became the ransom of this countryman of yours, that he might not be eaten by the savages who knew not Jehovah. This was Mr. Whalon, and the date, Jan. 14, 1864.” (Kekela as quoted by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Unfortunately, President Lincoln never received the thank you note; Lincoln was assassinated shortly before the note’s arrival.

After forty-seven years of foreign missionary service in the Marquesas, Rev. and Mrs. Kekela returned to their native islands. Kekela died in 1904. He is buried in Mission Houses cemetery a few steps from where his gold watch and letters are kept at the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

The story is depicted in a recent Mysteries at the Museum – here is a link to the full program, the Kekela Watch sequence is within this video (go to 20:44):