Hiram Bingham | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 28, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Laniākea

Reverend Asa and Lucy Thurston were in the Pioneer company of American Protestant Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820.

They made their home in Kailua Village, in a home the Hawaiians named Laniākea. Thurston received Laniākea, a 5.26 acre homestead parcel as a gift from Governor Kuakini.

As noted by Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop, in his book “Reminiscences Of Old Hawaii” (1916:) “In the early (1830s,) Kailua was a large native village, of about 4,000 inhabitants rather closely packed along one hundred rods of shore, and averaging twenty rods inland.”

“It had been the chief residence of King Kamehameha, who in 1819 died there in a rudely built stone house whose walls are probably still standing on the west shore of the little bay. Nearby stood a better stone house occupied by the doughty Governor Kuakini.”

“All other buildings in Kailua were thatched, until Rev. Artemas Bishop built his two-story stone dwelling in 1831 and Rev. Asa Thurston in 1833 built his wooden two-story house at Laniakea, a quarter of a mile inland.”

“Most of the native huts were thatched with the stiff pili grass. The better ones were thatched with lau-hala (pandanus leaf) or with la-i.”

The following are excerpts from letters Lucy Thurston during her time in Hawaii, from “Life and Times of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston” (1882;) her own words best describe the property (including its cave and pond:)

“Back of the village on that arid slope, a third of a mile from the shore, was an unoccupied, eligible site for a house and grounds. There we set about making such a home as circumstances would allow, and as the double responsibilities required, of molding heathen society, and of forming the characters of our children.”

“Five acres were enclosed with a stone wall three feet wide and six feet high, with simply the front gate for entrance. A large thatched house was erected. Space was allowed for a yard twenty-five feet in breadth. Two close partition walls were built six feet high, running from the outer wall each side of the front gate, close up against the side of the house, each side of the front door.”

“At the back side of the house is a hall which leads both from the dining room and study to a door, the only entrance into a retired yard of three acres. There stands another thatched house, built after the custom of the country. The frame is tied together with the very strong bark of a certain tree.”

“Then from the ridge-pole to the ground, the frame is entirely covered with long slender poles, tied within a few inches of each other, over which the long lauhala leaves are laid, leaving the two ends to hang down on the outside.”

“That house is the home of our children. There is our family sitting room, eighteen feet square, and there are our sleeping apartments. And inasmuch as I often wish to invite my native friends to that sitting room, we enclosed the further bed room in a yard sixty feet square, with a wall six feet high, coming up close to the house on both sides.”

“In our kitchen yard, directly opposite and within a few feet of each other, are the two mouths of a large cave of volcanic formation.”

“The larger opening gives us the novelty of a subterraneous walk one-fourth of a mile toward the sea, where we reach a pond of brackish water. Some of the rooms of this cave are quite spacious. The natives made it a place of concealment in times of war.”

“The smaller mouth of the cave leads into a low cave which extends three miles up the mountain, where there is an opening, and when obliged to hide in the lower cave, the natives stole through the upper one to procure their food.”

“The name of the cave is Laniakea, signifying the broad heavens. As it is enclosed in our premises, the natives were quick to give the name to our establishment, so that it has become universally known as Laniākea.”

“Thatched houses are not durable, therefore, in the course of years, we had a succession of dwellings, but this was the general arrangement. In the 12th year of the Mission, a two-storied wooden house was erected in the children’s yard, and the wall for their special enclosure removed, as the times no longer required such an accommodation.”

Hawaii Register of Historic Places, September 24, 2005 notes: Laniākea: the Asa and Lucy Thurston House site is significant for its associations with Asa and Lucy Thurston and their profound involvement with the Protestant Missionary movement in Hawaii from 1820 to 1861.

With the permission of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), the missionaries built a grass house for worship in 1823 and, later, a large thatched meeting house.

Missionary Asa Thurston directed the construction of the present Mokuʻaikaua Church, then the largest building in Kailua. Its massive size indicates the large Hawaiian population living in or near Kailua at that time.

The image shows my Grandparents and my Mother in the Laniākea house ruins (in 1928) – (Great grandson and Great-great grand-daughter of Hiram Bingham, leader of missionaries to Hawai‘i, who came to Hawai‘i with Asa Thurston)

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Laniakea-Bertram

Laniakea-LSY-1928

Ruins_of_Thurston_home_in_Kailua

William_Ellis,_Ruins_of_an_ancient_Fortification,_near_Kairua_(1827)

Asa Thurston and Lucy Goodale Thurston

Kailua-Kona_Circa_1883

Mokuaikaua_Curch_Kona_1900-Wikimedia_Commons

Mokuaikaua-1928

Kailua_Bay-Map-Jackson-Reg1325 (1883)-portion

WLA_haa_James_Gay_Sawkins_Kailua-Kona-1852 (Laniakea is on the right – above the coconut trees)

Persis_Goodale_Thurston_Taylor_–_Kailua_from_the_Sea,_1836

View of Kailua from Laniakea-1836

March 5, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamehameha’s Attempts to Conquer Kauai

In 1784 Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kauai.

Kauai and Niʻihau were ruled by King Kaumuali‘i. He was born in 1780 at the sacred royal Birthstone at Holoholokū Heiau in Wailua.

King Kamehameha I launched his first invasion attempt on Kauai in April of 1796, having already conquered the other Hawaiian Islands, and having fought his last major battle at Nu‘uanu on O‘ahu in 1795.

Kauai’s opposing factions (Kaumuali‘i versus Keawe) were extremely vulnerable as they had been weakened by fighting each other (Keawe died and Kaumuali‘i was, ultimately, ruler of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.)

About one-fourth of the way across the ocean channel between O‘ahu and Kaua‘i, a storm thwarted Kamehameha’s warriors when many of their canoes were swamped in the rough seas and stormy winds, and then were forced to turn back.

Some of the advance troops made it to Kauai and were killed when they reached shore. Kauai remained unconquered by Kamehameha and Kaumuali‘i ruled.

In 1804, King Kamehameha I moved his capital from Lahaina, Maui to Honolulu on O‘ahu, and continued planning an attack on Kaua‘i. Kamehameha’s forces for this second invasion attempt included about 7,000 Hawaiians along with about 50 foreigners (Europeans).

Kamehameha’s troops were armed with muskets, as well as eight cannons, 40 swivel guns, and other Western weaponry. Kamehameha’s massive fleet of double-hulled canoes was accompanied by 21 armed schooners.

Kamehameha’s second attempt was thwarted, again, when an epidemic, thought to be typhoid or dysentery, swept through the population, killing thousands. The sickness delayed for a second time Kamehameha’s goal of conquering Kauai.

In a renewed effort for a large-scale attack on Kauai, Kamehameha began assembling a formidable armada of sailing ships in Waikīkī, using foreigners to construct the vessels.

The invasion never took place. In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully unite with Kamehameha and join the rest of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Kaumuali‘i still retained his title and responsibilities as the head of Kaua‘i, but ceded Kauaʻi and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader.

The agreement with Kaumuali‘i marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the archipelago. Kaumuali’i returned to Kaua’i still serving as the paramount chief.

Although Kaumuali‘i had ceded Kaua‘i to Kamehameha I in 1810, he generally maintained de facto independence and control of the island following his agreement with Kamehameha.

After King Kamehameha I died in 1819, Kaumuali‘i pledged his allegiance to Liholiho, Kamehameha’s son and successor. In 1821, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II) anchored his royal ship Ha‘aheo o Hawai‘i (Pride of Hawai‘i) in Waimea Bay, and invited Kaumuali‘i aboard.

After boarding the ship Kaumuali‘i was effectively taken as a prisoner and the ship sailed for O‘ahu. There, Ka‘ahumanu (Kamehameha’s widow) married him – some suggest it was based on romance, others suggest it was an act of diplomacy.

Kaumuali‘i passed away on O‘ahu in 1824, effectively ceding the island to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi upon his death.

Hiram Bingham was on a preaching tour of the island of Kauai in 1824, shortly before King Kaumuali‘i died. Kaumuali‘i had been living on Oahu for three years. Bingham spoke to him just before coming to Kauai.

Bingham writes: “We found Kaumuali‘i seated at his desk, writing a letter of business. We were forcible and pleasantly struck with the dignity and gravity, courteousness, freedom and affection …”

“… with which he rose and gave us his hand, his hearty aloha, and friendly parting smile, so much like a cultivated Christian brother.”

When the king died, Bingham said a gloom fell over Kauai.

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Mahiole_of_Kaumualii,_1899- Kaumualiʻi (c. 1778 – May 26, 1824) was the last independent Aliʻi Aimoku (King of the islands) of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau

King Kaumuali‘i, the last king of Kauai, from a portrait by Laka Morton (Kauai Museum)

Maui-Lahaina-Waiola_Cemetery-Kaumualii

February 27, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sybil’s Bones

Sybil Moseley’s mother died in 1811 – leaving 19-year old Sybil an orphan to support herself as a schoolteacher, while other relatives took care of her younger sisters. (Bingham)

“At first her school was at Hartford and later at Canandaigua in western New York, which village was then in the far west. After three years at Canandaigua she determined to visit her friends and relatives and the people whom she was leaving tried to make her promise to return.”

“Her answer was, ‘I will, unless the Lord opens another door.’ She little imagined what that door would be. … She was interested in missions and had even desired to be a missionary.” (Restarick)

She met Hiram Bingham in Goshen Connecticut at his ordination. “He was introduced to Miss Moseley and he recalled a conversation with a fellow student at Andover who had said if he got an appointment as missionary he would ask a Miss Moseley to go with him as his wife.”

“Before he left Windsor he had asked her to go with him to the Sandwich islands as his wife. Their common desire to work in some mission field drew them together in affectionate sympathy and she told him she would be his co-worker among people whom they supposed were savages.”

“The ordination took place on September 29 (1819), and, as there was no time to lose they were married on October 11. On October 23 they sailed from Boston on the Thaddeus in company with six other missionaries and their wives.”

“Sybil Moseley Bingham wrote to her sister: ‘Since that memorable evening when I was introduced to him, I find that he has secured my love. God did indeed choose for me.’” (Restarick)

A couple weeks into the trip (November 9, 1819). Sybil’s journal entry notes, “Have been seventeen days on board. Hitherto the good hand of our God has been upon us. … Sea-sickness has been severe upon most, yet not so much so as upon many who have gone before us.” (Sybil)

“For the first month out, the sea was rough, and the winds not favorable, and most of the passengers felt the inconvenience of their new mode of life; and some suffered much and long from sea-sickness.” (Hiram) Sea sickness continued for her and the others throughout the 18,000-mile voyage.

“Life in the Paradise of the Pacific was anything but healthy in the years when Honolulu was a village of grass huts on a dusty plain.”

“Sybil was frail to begin with, if one can judge from her likeness in the portrait of the Binghams painted by Samuel FB Morse (of the Morse code and telegraph) before their departure for the Pacific: where an idealized Hiram gazes confidently from the little oval frame, Sybil’s long thin nose and watery blue eyes make her look as if she had a cold.” (Bingham)

“For twenty years she worked with him and for him and bore his children, but the cost to nature was a wasted body that finally came to seem to Hiram more important than his mission.”

“Hiram anticipated that a few months rest in what they considered the more healthful climate of New England would put her on her feet, and they would return to carry on the great work with which the Mission Board had originally charged them.” (Bingham)

On August 3, 1840, they sailed back to the continent on the Flora. “The cabin of the Flora is very small, having three state-rooms, one of which belonging to the captain is the only one whose dimensions were intended, for comfort.” (Olmstead)

They returned to New England. “Sybil’s health did not improve. … (she went to) Hartford to be nursed by her sister. She had a chronic cough. Whether she or Hiram knew it, she was dying of the prevailing malady, ‘consumption.’” Then “Hiram and Sybil had found a ‘refuge’ in Easthampton (Massachusetts) with ‘kind friends.’”

“She seemed most comfortable sitting in her rocking chair, the chair he had lovingly fashioned for her on their arrival in Honolulu twenty-eight years before -as a Vermont farm boy he had been handy with tools—and then brought back around Cape Horn. Now, as it became clear the end was near.” (Bingham)

“(I)n accordance with her former request to be in her chair when God should send the summons, we placed her there, and sustained her head and hands and feet. I asked, how do you feel now, ‘I feel a little rested’ (or ‘exhausted’) not quite distinctly.”

Sybil’s rocking chair, “which a thousand times rested her weary frame & gave her much comfort … proved to be remarkably easy as to its form & balance, light, strong and durable having now been in use about 30 years”. (Bingham letter to H Hill, March 12, 1850)

“I said again, ‘do you feel exhausted?’ ‘Not as much as I should expect,’ she said, and soon repeated ‘Let His name be praised’. ‘Be bold to speak the truth’ – ‘The Lord cares for me’ – then, in a low tone ‘Stop, Stop – I live.’”

“Then passed into a comatose state and spoke no more, but appeared to sleep.” (Hiram) “(Daughter) Lydia, thirteen years old, in her later account, shortened the time to ‘a few more throbbings of her loving heart’ …”

“while ‘father prayed, commending her to God,’ and sang two verses of a hymn beginning: Go, pilgrim, to thy Saviour; On joyful wings ascend.” (Bingham)

Sybil died in her rocking chair on February 27, 1848 in Easthampton, Massachusetts. “For Hiram, Jr., finally helping his father lift his mother out of the rocking chair, her death must have been deeply affecting. But he was young and strong.”

A generation later he wrote to his own son (Hiram III), ‘If ever there was in this world a woman who was noble, honest, generous, loving, tender-hearted and sympathetic, that woman was your grandmother.” (Bingham)

“Sybil was buried in the Williston family plot in the old cemetery not far from the Academy (a school her children had attended).” (Bingham)

Hiram later remarried. “In an age when housework was not yet a male occupation, few men willingly remained widowers. It was natural for Sybil’s husband to remarry, and all the more if Sybil had known and approved the new wife.” (Bingham)

Hiram and his second wife (Naomi) were buried in the New Haven City Burial Ground. Later, Hiram III took it upon himself to reunite Hiram and Sybil by disinterring Sybil’s bones and placing them next to Hiram in New Haven.

Hiram III “provided a suitable box 3 ft x 16 in x 18 in and had his man ready to make the exhumation. … After digging down about three feet through a sandy soil we came upon the remains. They lay together directly in front of the stone. There was no trace of any box or container of any sort except two old fashioned brass handles which were probably on the coffin.”

“The bones were all together. The skull, leg bones and ribs were all within a few inches of each other. We looked very carefully for traces of a box but found none. … The gravedigger searched very thoroughly, and I believe that all of the remains that lay there were safely removed.”

Ultimately, Hiram III “brought them with him in his personal luggage when he had come to Yale as a freshman”. (Bingham) (Much of the information here, as well as the title, comes from Alfred Bingham, son of Hiram III.)

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Sybil Bingham-Naomi Bingham – Hiram Bingham headstones

Sybil Binghams Headstone

December 31, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Melton Mowbray

They called it Melton Mowbray (and referred to as “a favorite song of Zion;”) it is generally known as ‘Head of the Church Triumphant’.

Hiram Bingham & Asa Thurston of the Pioneer Company spontaneously broke into singing this song at:
• Ordination of Bingham and Thurston at Goshen (Sep 29, 1819);
• Receiving Instructions from the ABCFM at Park St. Church (Oct 15, 1819);
• Parting Address delivered by Asa Thurston at Park St. Church (Oct 16, 1819);
• Long Wharf, Boston Harbor on the day of their departure to Hawaiʻi (Oct 23, 1819) and
• Kawaihae, shortly after the arrival of the Pioneer Company (Apr 1, 1820)

Ordination of Bingham and Thurston at Goshen

At the ordination of Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston, “A larger assembly than had ever congregated here thronged the old meeting-house. There were many outside who could find no accommodation within.”

“Nearly all the Foreign Mission School were present; as also several students from the Andover Seminary, who afterwards became missionaries. Strangers, too, from a distance were here, the honored and the excellent.”

“‘The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Heman Humphrey, who had been a theological pupil of Mr. Hooker in this place, and was afterwards President of Amherst College, from the words: ‘And there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.’ (Joshua xiii: 1.) It was quite in advance of the general spirit and sentiment of the times.’” (Hibbard, History of Goshen)

“ Without previous intimation the two consecrated young men stepped into the broad aisle, and with clear, strong, ringing voices — Thurston, tenor; Bingham, bass; sung Melton Mowbray (‘Head of the Church Triumphant’).’”

“‘The effect was electrical. Those young missionaries were looked upon as martyrs. Some pictured them as finding their graves in the bottom of the ocean; some as meeting with death at the hands of savages; some as the welcomed heralds of glad tidings to isles waiting for God’s law, and for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Enthusiasm rose to the highest pitch. There are junctures when nothing but the voice of sacred song can either lift the soul to heights unattained before, or give utterance to its exalted emotions.’” (Hibbard, History of Goshen)

Receiving Instructions from the ABCFM at Park St. Church

“The mission received the public instructions of the Prudential Committee given by Dr. Worcester, on the evening of the 15th of Oct., at Park St. Church, when one of these pioneers preached ” on the grand design of the Bible to promote benevolent action.”

“Many churches, in different parts of the country, moved by the same spirit, engaged in special, earnest prayer for the success of this mission, and many a heart began to anticipate the happy result of the enterprise.” (Bingham)

Parting Address delivered by Asa Thurston at Park St. Church

“The next morning, Saturday, October 16, at 10 o’clock, Mr. Thurston delivered a farewell address in the same church to a large congregation of friends of missions from various parts of New England.

Kawaihae, shortly after the arrival of the Pioneer Company

When the American Protestant missionaries first arrived in the Islands, they broke into song. Hiram Bingham notes that on April 1, 1820, off Kawaihae, Kalanimōku came onboard their boat.

“The chiefs, on this occasion, were rowed off with spirit by nine or ten athletic men in each of the coupled canoes, making regular, rapid and effective strokes, all on one side for a while, then, changing at a signal in exact time, all on the other.”

“Each raising his head erect, and lifting one hand high to throw the paddle blade forward beside the canoe, the rowers, dipping their blades, and bowing simultaneously and earnestly, swept their paddles back with naked muscular arms, making the brine boil, and giving great speed to their novel and serviceable sea-craft.”

“These grandees and their ambitious rowers, gave us a pleasing indication of the physical capacity, at least, of the people whom we were desirous to enlighten, and to whose necessities we rejoiced to know the Gospel to be adapted.”

“As they disappeared, the sun sank to his western ocean bed towards populous China, and the full orbed moon, brightly reflecting his light, rose majestically from the east, over the dark Pagan mountains of Hawaii, symbolizing the approach of the mission Church, designed to be the reflector of the sun-light of Christianity upon that benighted nation.

“Then, ere the excitement of the chiefs’ visit was over, Mr. Thurston and his yoke-fellow (Hiram Bingham) ascended the shrouds, and, standing upon the main-top (the mission family, captain and crew being on deck) …”

“… as we gently floated along on the smooth silent sea, under the lee of Hawaii’s dark shores, sang a favorite song of Zion (Melton Mowbray), which they had sung at their ordination at Goshen, and with the Park St. Church choir, at Boston, on the day of embarkation.” (Bingham)

New Musical Tradition with Harmony and Choral Singing

When the missionaries first arrived at Kailua-Kona in 1820, King Kamehameha II and his entourage came aboard the Brig Thaddeus and listened to the hymns sung by the missionaries. “Happy to show civilities to this company, at our own table, we placed the king at the head of it, and implored the blessing of the King of kings, upon our food, and on the interview.”

“All assembled on the quarter-deck of the Thaddeus; and the mission family with the aid of a bass-viol, played by George P. Kaumuali‘i, and of the voices of the captain and officers, sang hymns of praise.”

“Apparently pleased with this exercise, and with their interview with the strangers, our royal visitors gave us a friendly parting aloha, and returned with favorable impressions of the singular group of newcomers, who were seeking among them an abode in their isolated territories.” (Bingham)

“Our singing, aided by the bass viol, on which G. P. Tamoree (Humehume) played, was pleasing to the natives, and will probably have a salutary influence in winning them to approve and to engage in Christian worship.” (Journal of the Mission, Missionary Herald, May, 1821)

“One of the oldest residents, Mr. H—, at the sound of the songs of Zion had the tears upon his furrowed cheek. He had heard nothing of the kind for more than twenty years. He is a native of Mass. O, that it might appear that the gospel is not sent to him and others, after this long voluntary banishment from it, in vain.” (Sybil Bingham)

It has been stated that formerly there was no word in the Hawaiian language for singing as we know it. The modern term is hīmeni an adaptation of the word hymn. The native Hawaiians first obtained an idea of real melody from the hymn singing of the missionaries. (Roberts)

The Pioneer Company of missionaries (April, 1820) introduced new musical traditions to Hawai‘i – the Western choral tradition, hymns, gospel music, and Western composition traditions.

They brought strophic hymns and psalm tunes from the late-18th century in America. The strophic form is one where different lyrics are put to the same melody in each verse. Later on, with the arrival of new missionaries, another hymn tradition was introduced was the gospel tune with verse-chorus alternation. (Smola)

Once established in the Islands, missionaries used songs as a part of the celebration, as well as learning process. “At this period, the same style of sermons, prayers, songs, interrogations, and exhortations, which proves effectual in promoting revivals of religion, conversion, or growth in grace among a plain people in the United States was undoubtedly adapted to be useful at the Sandwich Islands. … some of the people who sat in darkness were beginning to turn their eyes to the light”. (Bingham)

This is a summary; click HERE for more on Melton Mowbray.

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Bingham-Thurston

October 24, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bingham Girls Return

“Honolulu Female Academy (is) another of the schools provided by Christian benevolence for the benefit of the children of this highly favored land. This institution will, it is hoped, supply a felt need for a home for girls, in the town of Honolulu, yet not too near its center of business.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 13, 1867)

“The inception of this school emanated from Mrs Halsey Gulick. In 1863, when living in the old mission premises on the mauka side of King street, she took several Hawaiian girls into her family to be brought up with her own children … The mother love was strong in that little group as some of us remember.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 23, 1897)

The usefulness of such a school became evident; as the enrollment grew, the need for a more permanent organization was required. It became known as Kawaiahaʻo Female Seminary.

In 1867, the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society (HMCS – an organization consisting of the children of the missionaries and adopted supporters) decided to support a girls’ boarding school.

HMCS invited Miss Lydia Bingham (daughter of Reverend Hiram Bingham, leader of the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi) to return to Honolulu to be a teacher in this family school; she was then principal of the Ohio Female College, at College Hill, Ohio.

“Her love for the land of her birth and Interest for the children of the people to whom her father and mother had given their early lives, led her to accept the position, and in March, 1867, she arrived on the Morning Star via Cape Horn.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 23, 1897)

In January 1869, her sister, Miss Elizabeth Kaʻahumanu (Lizzie) Bingham, arrived from the continent to be an assistant to her sister. Lizzie was a graduate of Mount Holyoke and, when she was recruited, was a teacher at Rockford Female Seminary. (Beyer)

Later, Lydia and Lizzie’s niece (daughter of Hiram’s first child Sophia Bingham), Clara Lydia Moseley (later Sutherland), joined them at Kawaiaha‘o.

“It was my sister Mary that my aunt first asked for, and this was at least two years before she asked for me. But while Mary was considering the matter, along came a fine young man from Boston by the name of Charles Crocker. … He was a man of such fine character that we came to like him more and more, so how could my sister refuse him when he asked her to marry him?”

“It was quite natural that she should choose to marry him rather than go off to some little Island in the middle of the Pacific which very few people knew anything about at that time.”

“(B)efore I was fifteen, a wonderful thing happened to me which probably changed the whole course of my life. Two of my mother’s sisters, Aunt Lydia and Aunt Lizzie, returned to Honolulu, the home of their birth and engaged in teaching in a school for Hawaiian girls which was called Kawaiahaʻo Seminary.”

“It was located at that time on King St. just opposite the Old Mission house where the Mission Memorial Building now stands.”

“My Aunt Lydia was Principal of this school and she wrote to my mother asking if she couldn’t spare me and let me come out and teach music to her girls, knowing that I was musically inclined.”

“When my aunt wrote asking for me, she said she wanted me to have a teacher for a few months intervening before I should leave home, and she would pay for my lessons, so I took lessons … for about three months.”

“Of course my parents were willing to let me go, knowing it was too fine an opportunity for me to miss. A friend of my aunt’s, Miss Julia Gulick, was coming to the states that year so it was planned that I should go back with her.”

“Uncle Hiram (II) met us at the wharf that Sunday morning we arrived, and when we reached the house my three aunts gave me such a warm and cordial welcome that I was no longer homesick, but oh! so glad to be here on terra firma.” (Clara Lydia Sutherland)

It started with boarders and day students, but after 1871 it has been exclusively a boarding school. “Under her patient energy and tact, with the help of her assistants, it prospered greatly, and became a success.” (Coan)

“To those of us who were then watching the efforts of these Christian ladies the school became the centre of great interest. The excellent discipline, the loving care, the neatness and skill shown in all departments of domestic life …”

“… the thoroughness of the teaching and the high Christian spirit which pervaded it all caused rejoicing that such an impulse had been given to education for Hawaiian girls.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 23, 1897)

“Every Sunday one of the teachers accompanied the Girls to Kawaiahaʻo Church diagonally across the street to the morning service.” (Sutherland Journal)

“Just across the driveway from the main house and close to the old Castle home was a long narrow adobe building known as the ‘Bindery’ as that is what it was originally used for by the early missionaries.”

“There were three rooms down stairs and these were occupied by my Uncle Hiram and Aunt Clara. At the head of the stairs, which were on the outside of the building was my Aunt Lydia’s room; then a dormitory where eight or ten of the older girls slept, and at the east end of the building, toward the Castle’s home was my room.” (Clara Lydia Sutherland)

“When Miss Bingham came to Hilo (on October 13, 1873 she married Titus Coan,) the seminary was committed to the charge of her sister (Lizzie), whose earnest labors for seven years in a task that is heavy and exhausting so reduced her strength, that in June, 1880 she was obliged to resign her post.” (Coan)

“I had planned to stay five years when I first went out to the Islands (however) ‘Old Captain Gelett) felt he must do something to change the course of my life. So he persuaded my aunts to let him send me away to school as soon as I had finished my third year at the Seminary.”

“Accordingly, in August, 1875, I sailed from Honolulu on the ‘DC Murray’ with a group of other young people who were going over to school. This sailing vessel was twenty one days in getting to San Francisco”. (Clara Lydia Sutherland)

At the end of the century, all the female seminaries began to lose students to the newly founded Kamehameha School for Girls. This latter school was established in 1894.

It was not technically a seminary or founded by missionaries, but all the girls enrolled were Hawaiian, and its curriculum was very similar to what was used at the missionary sponsored seminaries.

Since Kawaiahaʻo Seminary was located only a few miles from this new female school, it experienced the biggest loss in enrollment and adjusted by enrolling more non-Hawaiian students.

In 1905, a merger with Mills Institute, a boys’ school, was discussed; the Hawaiian Board of Foreign Missions purchased the Kidwell estate, about 35-acres of land in Mānoa valley.

By 1908, the first building was completed, and the school was officially operated as Mid-Pacific Institute, consisting of Kawaiahaʻo School for Girls and Damon School for Boys.

Finally, in the fall of 1922, a new coeducational plan went into effect – likewise, ‘Mills’ and ‘Kawaiahaʻo’ were dropped and by June 1923, Mid-Pacific became the common, shared name.

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Kawaiahaʻo_Female_Seminary,_Honolulu,_c._1867