Kalakaua | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 10, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Julia Fayerweather Afong

Emmeline, Toney, Nancy, Mary, Julia, Elizabeth, Marie, Henrietta, Alice, Caroline, Helen, Martha, Albert, Melanie, Henry and James

These are the sixteen children (4-boys and 12-girls) of Chun Afong and his wife, Julia Fayerweather Afong (15 would live into adulthood – James died as an infant.)

But wait … we need to step back a few years to get a better perspective.

A legal notice signed by Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, the former missionary doctor, appeared in the newspaper in March 1857. Titled “Julia Fayerweather,” it read: “Having eloped or been enticed away from my guardianship, I forbid all persons harboring or trusting her, under penalty of the law.”

No, wait; let’s go back a little farther.

Julia Hope Kamakia Paʻaikamokalani o Kinau Beckley Fayerweather was the daughter of Abram Henry Fayerweather and Mary Kekahimoku Kolimoalani Beckley (daughter of Captain George Beckley and High Chiefess Elizabeth Ahia) (February 1, 1840.) The Fayerweathers had three children.

Julia’s grandmother, the chiefess Ahia, married Captain George Beckley, one of “Kamehameha’s haoles” and the first commander of the Fort of Honolulu. (Dye)

The Fayerweather daughters, Julia (age 10,) Mary (8) and Hanna (7,) were orphaned in 1850. They were raised by foster parents.

Julia’s foster father was Keaweamahi Kinimaka. (Another hānai child raised in the same family was David Kalākaua (later, King of Hawaiʻi.))

Julia was later placed under the guardianship of missionary Gerrit P Judd.

Julia met Chun Afong (he was a Chinese national who came to Hawaiʻi in 1849 – leaving his Chinese wife and son in China.) By 1855, Afong had made his fortune in retailing, real estate, sugar and rice, and for a long time held the government’s opium license. He was later dubbed, “Merchant Prince of the Sandalwood Mountains” and is Hawaiʻi’s first Chinese millionaire.

When Julia was 15, Chun Afong began to ask for permission to marry from her guardian, Dr. Judd.

The Grand Ball of 1856, celebrating the marriage of King Kamehameha IV and Emma Rooke, was a combined effort of the Chinese merchants of Honolulu and Lāhainā communities; Afong attended.

The March 1857 newspaper proclamation posted by Judd (noted above) was done when Julia was sixteen.

In May 1857, Chun Afong became a naturalized Hawaiian citizen, a requirement for foreigners who wished to wed native Hawaiian women; shortly thereafter, he married the teenager, Julia.

The ceremony took place on June 18, 1857 at Afong’s Nuʻuanu home and was performed by the Reverend Lowell Smith of Kaumakapili Church. (Afong also had a house on the water in Kālia, Waikīkī, where Fort DeRussy is now located.)

Over the following years, the Afongs had 16-children. They sent their firstborn son of his Hawaiian wife to his Chinese wife in Zhongshan in exchange for his China-born son, who was brought to Honolulu to be reared.

Emmeline Afong, their first child, became the hānai child of Keaka (a retainer at Princess Ruth’s home) and Haʻalilio. Emmeline married J. Alfred Magoon, a lawyer – they had seven children.

Alfred Magoon helped found the Sanitary Steam Laundry, invested in Consolidated Amusement Co. and the Honolulu Dairy. He died and Emmeline took over leadership of his business interests. In her 70s, she moved to South Kona and managed the Magoon Ranch at Pāhoehoe – riding horseback and overseeing the cattle ranch. She died in 1946 at age 88.

Eldest son, Toney, decided to live as a Chinese in Asia. Toney married a Chinese woman and became a prominent Hong Kong businessman, the governor of Guangdong for a time and a philanthropist.

All of Afongs’ daughters, with the exception of Emmeline, moved to California, most of them to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chun Afong returned to China and died peacefully on September 25, 1906 in his home village and is buried there; Julia remained in Hawaiʻi, died February 14, 1919 and is buried at Oʻahu Cemetery, surrounded by many of her descendants.

In 1912, Jack London published a short story called “Chun Ah Chun”, based on the life of Chun Afong and his family. An Afong great-grandson, Eaton Magoon Jr., updated the capitalistic context of London’s story by having Chun market his daughters by “merchandise packaging” them in a musical comedy called Thirteen Daughters.

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January 5, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiʻi National Anthem

The history of Hawaiʻi’s National Anthems generally starts in 1861. Before then, the kingdom of Hawaiʻi did not have its own anthem, but used the British royal anthem “God Save the King”.

E Ola ka Mō‘ī i ke Akua (“God Save the King”) (Lunalilo)

The Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Nūpepa Kū‘oko‘a, wishing to promote a Hawaiian national song sponsored an anthem writing contest in 1861. The rules specified four stanzas in the Hawaiian language, but still set to the tune of God Save the King.

Fifteen anonymous entries were submitted. In January of 1862, the judges chose an entry titled “E Ola ka Mō‘ī i ke Akua” as the winner. The composer was Prince William Lunalilo, age 27; his prize was $10.00.

His song was a faithful translation of “God Save The King” into Hawaiian, yet it fits the music of the British tune. Lunalilo’s new song was sung first on the birthday of Kamehameha IV.

E Ola ka Mō‘ī i ke Akua
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqRB83I3X24

He Mele Lahui Hawaiʻi (“The Song of the Hawaiian Nation”) (Liliʻuokalani)

King Kamehameha V wanted to replace the translated British anthem by a song with a truly Hawaiian background. At the request of King Kamehameha V, the new song “He Mele Lāhui Hawaiʻi” (“The Song of the Hawaiian Nation”) was composed in 1868 by Mrs. John Dominis (later known as Queen Liliʻuokalani.)

Liliʻuokalani’s memoir, Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen, stated: “In the early years of the reign of Kamehameha V, he brought to my notice the fact that the Hawaiian people had no national air. Each nation, he said, but ours had its statement of patriotism and love of country in its own music; but we were using for that purpose on state occasions the time-honored British anthem, ‘God save the Queen.'” (Liliʻuokalani)

“This he desired me to supplant by one of my own composition. In one week’s time I notified the king that I had completed my task. The Princess Victoria had been the leader of the choir of the Kawaiahaʻo church; but upon her death, May 29, 1866 I assumed the leadership. It was in this building and by that choir that I first introduced the ‘Hawaiian National Anthem.’” (Liliʻuokalani)

“The king was present for the purpose of criticising my new composition of both words and music, and was liberal in his commendations to me on my success. He admired not only the beauty of the music, but spoke enthusiastically of the appropriate words, so well adapted to the air and to the purpose for which they were written.” (Liliʻuokalani)

The lyrics of this song praise the Hawaiian Islands. It asks the lord for blessing for the land, its people, chiefs and king. Liliʻuokalani was then the leader of the Kawaiahaʻo church choir, which introduced the new anthem in a public service.

He Mele Lahui Hawaiʻi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIDoJUpa7cE

Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī (“Hawaiʻi’s own”) (Kalākaua)

King David Kalākaua (brother of Liliʻuokalani) wrote the words to “Hymn to Kamehameha I” (Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī) in 1874 and the music was composed by Captain Henri Berger, then the king’s royal bandmaster.

Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī was one of the national anthems of the Republic of Hawaiʻi and the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, having replaced Liliʻuokalani’s composition He Mele Lahui Hawaiʻi.

Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī was the adopted song of the Territory of Hawaiʻi; and later became the State song for the State of Hawaiʻi, by an act of the Hawaiʻi State Legislature in 1967:

“HRS-§5-10 State song. The song “Hawai‘i Pono‘i” is adopted, established, and designated as the official song of the State, to be effective for as long as the legislature of the State does not otherwise provide.”

Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymLBxhHteh4

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December 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

First White House State Dinner

“It is very seldom that the streets of Washington presented a more animated appearance than they did on this occasion. The sidewalks of Pennsylvania avenue were crowded with men, women and children, all anxious to catch a glimpse or the first reigning King ever on our shores.”

“Every window seemed to be filled with anxious spectators, and the house tops were covered with people. The appearance or the street could only remind one familiar with such scenes or an Inauguration day.”

“At 12 o’clock, the royal party reached the Arlington, and while alighting from their carriages and entering the hotel, received by Mr. Roessle, the marines, again in line, presented arms, and the band played the national anthem of the Sandwich Islands.”

“The King was Immediately shown to bis apartments, consisting or the throne roomy the royal dining room, the secretary’s office and the royal bed chamber.”

“… It is the Intention of the President and Mrs. Grant to give a Grand Reception at the White House one evening this week”. (National Republican, December 14, 1874)

Kalakaua “left Honolulu for the United States on the 17th of November, in the American man-of-war Benicia, and reached San Francisco November 21, taking the cars on December 5 arrived in Baltimore at 10.16 Saturday morning, December 12, en route for Washington.”

“The King was accompanied by his excellency JO Dominis, Governor of Oahu, and his excellency John M Kapena, Governor of Maui, the former a representative of the Anglo-American Hawaiian-born element or the nation, and the latter of the educated pure Hawaiian.” Baltimore Sun, December 14, 1874)

“Kalākaua was reportedly the first sitting monarch to visit the United States when he made a cross-country trip from San Francisco to Washington aboard the still-new transcontinental railroad in 1874.”

“He was seeking better trade between the United States and his Sandwich Islands, which is how mapmakers of the day labeled the Pacific archipelago that would become an American territory in 1898.”

“President Ulysses S. Grant, then halfway through his second term, decided to put on a display of diplomatic pomp-and-romp unlike any seen in Washington before.” (Hendrix; Washington Post)

When the king had arrived in San Francisco, he received a telegraph: “The President of the United States extends the cordial welcome of the nation to his great and good friend, His Royal Highness Kalakaua, on his arrival in the United States, and tenders his personal congratulations on the safety of his voyage.”

“The President anticipates with great pleasure the opportunity of a personal greeting, and assures His Highness of the sincere friendship which in common with the people of the United States he entertains for His Royal Highness, and hopes that his journey across the continent may be guarded by a kind Providence.” (Journal of the Telegraph)

“The President anticipates with great pleasure the opportunity of a personal greeting.’” (White House Historical Association)

“On the arrival of the palace train at the Sixth-street depot the King, escorted on his right and left by Secretary Fish and Mr. Commissioner Allen, walked through the depot to the mala B street entrance.”

“On this street a full battalion of Marines were drawn up In line, and as the King stood in the doorway or the depot they presented arms, while the full Marine band played appropriate music.” (National Republican, December 14, 1874)

“By the time of the state dinner 10 days later, Kalākaua was a well-documented celebrity (reporters wrote multiple stories on the king’s cough, picked up, apparently in Omaha — you know how train travel is).”

“There was equally breathless reporting on the dinner. The East Room and the Dining Room were laden with flowers, including banks of them along a framed mirror running the length of the banquet table. The Green Drawing Room featured a portrait of Grant on horseback recently given to him (“The likeness is good and the horse spirited,” the Star said.)”

“Grant, and more specifically, his wife, Julia, amazed the city with a White House table awash in flowers, crystal decanters and a $3,000, 587-piece set of Limoges china imported four years earlier by D.C. merchant J.W. Boteler and Bro.”

“‘Brilliant beyond all precedent,’ marveled the Washington Evening Star the following day.” (Hendrix; Washington Post)

“The Grant museum staff doesn’t have the menu from that first state dinner, but they know what was served at the many that followed. In fact, they recently held a mock state dinner, complete with impersonators standing in for the first couple and a historically correct menu of mulligatawny soup and charred tenderloin of beef.”

“‘Grant did not like any meat that was not thoroughly cooked’ … The original feast went on for some 30 courses.”

“There was probably a mid-meal intermission, with a Marine band playing. Julia Grant sat by the king, the president opposite. The chief justice, the speaker of the House, all the Cabinet members and their wives were at the table lined with glasses and decanters.”

“There were no young ladies present,” the Star reported. (Hendrix; Washington Post)

“(T)he extravagant black-tie blowout that has become America’s highest diplo-social ceremony was not French or British, Russian or Mexican. He was … Kalākaua, the last king of Hawaii.” Hendrix; Washington Post)

“The first ever foreign ruler to be given a White House state dinner was King David Kalākaua. He was hosted by President Ulysses S Grant on December 12, 1874, while in Washington on a mission to win trade concessions.”

“Kalakaua’s traveling was not restricted to visits to the US. In 1881, Kalakaua left his sister in charge and embarked on a lengthy global tour, calling on a host of important courts, from the Forbidden City (the imperial palace in China) to the Holy See (the universal government of the Catholic Church in Vatican City).” (Time)

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Kalakaua_Grant_state_visit_1874

November 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Queen For A Day

The aliʻi attained high social rank in several ways: by heredity, by appointment to political office, by marriage or by right of conquest. The first was determined at birth, the others by the outcomes of war and political processes.

King Kamehameha I conquered most of the islands by late-1795 and negotiated a peaceful unification of the islands under single rule in 1810. Before this, the Hawaiian Islands were ruled by a network of independent island kings (High Chiefs called Aliʻi Nui) through most of its history.

Queen Kaʻahumanu was Kamehameha’s favorite wife; but her role in leadership became more than that. She was, at one time, arguably, the most powerful figure in the Hawaiian Islands, helping usher in a new era for the Hawaiian kingdom.

When Kamehameha died on May 8, 1819, the leadership was passed to his son, Liholiho, who would rule as Kamehameha II. At that time, Kaʻahumanu created the office of Kuhina Nui and would rule as an equal with Liholiho.

Ka‘ahumanu assumed control of the business of government, including authority over land matters, the single most important issue for the Hawaiian nation for many generations to come.

The Kuhina Nui was a unique position in the administration of Hawaiian government and had no specific equivalent in western governments of the day. It has been described in general terms as “Prime Minister,” “Premier” and “Regent.”

The Kuhina Nui held equal authority to the king in all matters of government, including the distribution of land, negotiating treaties and other agreements, and dispensing justice.

Kamehameha III established Hawai‘i’s first constitution in 1840, where the office of Kuhina Nui was first codified. The Kuhina Nui’s primary judicial responsibility over “life and death, condemnation and acquittal” became institutionalized in that constitution (1840.) The Kuhina Nui was also given the duty of presiding, with the King, over the Supreme Court.

Article 45 of the 1852 Constitution of Hawaiian Kingdom stated: “Art. 45. All important business of the kingdom which the King chooses to transact in person, he may do, but not without the approbation of the Kuhina Nui. The King and Kuhina Nui shall have a negative on each other’s public acts.”

The Constitution of 1852 further clarified some of the office’s responsibilities, including its authority in the event of the King’s death or minority of the heir to the throne. The office of Kuhina Nui functioned from 1819 to 1864, through the reigns of Kamehameha II, III, IV and V.

Kaʻahumanu was such a powerful person and Kuhina Nui that subsequent female Kuhina Nui adopted her name, Kīna‘u (Kaʻahumanu II) (1832-1839,) Kekāuluohi (Kaʻahumanu III) (1839-1845) and Victoria Kamāmalu (Kaʻahumanu IV) (1855-1863.) (Keoni Ana (1845-1855) and Mataio Kekūanāo‘a (1863-1864) were the male Kuhina Nui.)

The Constitution (1852 – Article 47) further stated that the Kuhina Nui (Premier), in absence of a Monarch, would fill the vacant office. “Whenever the throne shall become vacant by reason of the King’s death, or otherwise, and during the minority of any heir to the throne, the Kuhina Nui, for the time being, shall, during such vacancy or minority, perform all the duties incumbent on the King, and shall have and exercise all the powers, which by this Constitution are vested in the King.”

This situation occurred once, when Kuhina Nui Victoria Kamāmalu (Kaʻahumanu IV) assumed the powers of the monarchy – and, was conceptually “Queen” for a day – the first sole-ruling female of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Here’s how it happened.

On April 6, 1853, Alexander Liholiho was named successor to the office of the Constitutional Monarch by King Kamehameha III, in accordance with Article 25 of the Constitution of 1852. Article 25 provided that the “…successor (of the Throne) shall be the person whom the King and the House of Nobles shall appoint and publicly proclaim as such, during the King’s life…”

Alexander Liholiho succeeded Kamehameha III on December 15, 1854 (at the death of Kamehameha III) and served as Kamehameha IV.

Victoria Kamāmalu became Kuhina Nui in 1855 by appointment by her brother, Alexander Liholiho (Kamehameha IV.) Kamehameha IV ruled for nine years; he died unexpectedly on November 30, 1863, without naming a successor.

Following the provisions of the Constitution, on November 30, 1863, Kuhina Nui Victoria Kamāmalu became the first female Head of State in Hawaiʻi (149-years ago, today.)

After consulting with the Privy Councilors, Kuhina Nui Victoria Kamāmalu proclaimed in front the Legislature:

“It having pleased Almighty God to close the earthly career of King Kamehameha IV, at a quarter past 9 o’clock this morning, I, as Kuhina Nui, by and with the advice of the Privy Council of State hereby proclaim Prince Lot Kamehameha, King of the Hawaiian Islands, under the style and title of Kamehameha V. God preserve the King!”

Kamehameha V had not named a successor to the throne before he died on December 11, 1872. Lunalilo, heir apparent to the throne, wanted his people to choose their next ruler in a democratic manner and requested a vote be held on New Year’s Day following the death of Kamehameha V.

He therefore noted, “Whereas, it is desirable that the wishes of the Hawaiian people be consulted as to a successor to the Throne, therefore, notwithstanding that according to the law of inheritance, I am the rightful heir to the Throne, in order to preserve peace, harmony and good order, I desire to submit the decision of my claim to the voice of the people.” (Lunalilo, December 16, 1872)

Prince David Kalākaua and others not in the Kamehameha lineage, chose to run against Prince Lunalilo. The people on every island unanimously chose William Charles Lunalilo as King. (lunalilo-org)

At noon on January 8, 1873, the Legislature met, as required by law, in the Courthouse to cast their ballots of election of the next King. Lunalilo won – the first elected King of Hawaiʻi (officially elected by the Legislative Assembly.)

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Victoria Kamāmalu (Kaʻahumanu IV) (1855-1863)

Victoria_Kamamalu_the_year_she_was_appointed_Kuhina_Nui-1855

November 21, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

ʻIolani Palace Trees

ʻIolani Palace Grounds make up eleven acres of land in the core of downtown Honolulu.

After the arrival of American Protestant missionaries in 1820, high-ranking chiefs began to occupy the area. In 1825, a small mausoleum was built on the grounds to house the remains of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu.

In 1845, King Kamehameha III moved his court from Lāhainā and a large home on the site with as many as twenty smaller structures served as Hawai’i’s royal palace.

During the reign of King Kalākaua the grounds were expanded to their present size.

In 1882, the new ʻIolani Palace was built and this served as the state residence of Hawaiʻi’s last ruling monarchs. Wide carriage ways were added to create an oval drive entirely around the Palace.

Previously, an 8-foot tall coral block wall with wooden gates divided the palace grounds from the outside world. The lowering of the perimeter walls to 42-inches in 1889 and the installation of iron fencing and gates in 1891, represented the final alterations to the grounds during the Monarchy era.

There are several notable trees on the grounds. The Indian Banyan tree is the most prominent and evident tree on the mauka side of the Palace grounds. The tree was a gift from Indian Royalty to King Kalākaua. Reportedly, Queen Kapiʻolani planted the tree there.

Cuttings from the tree were planted at each end of Kailua Bay in Kona. Queen Kapiʻolani was said to have planted the tree at Huliheʻe Palace in the late 1800s.

The King Kamehameha Hotel tree was transplanted a few years later after not thriving at the Maguire home on Huʻehuʻe Ranch.

Noticeable throughout the property are Royal Palms. In 1850, the first Royal Palm seeds were brought to Hawaiʻi from the West Indies by Dr. GP Judd.

On the ʻEwa-makai portion of the grounds, there is a Rainbow Shower tree; since 1959 the Rainbow Shower has been the official tree of the City of Honolulu.

On July 24, 1934, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first sitting president to visit Hawaiʻi. On his visit to ʻIolani Palace, initial plans were for the president to plant a memorial Kamani tree.

A Kamani sapling was ordered from the nursery; however, mistakenly, the sapling delivered just before the ceremony began turned out to be a Kukui. (The Kukui tree is the Hawaiʻi state tree.)

Roosevelt’s tree is identified by a plaque, placed in 1959, which reads: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt planted this kukui tree July 28, 1934.” It was later considered the “lucky kukui tree” and was credited by some with Roosevelt’s good fortunes in the 1936, 1940 and 1944 elections.

A handful of Monkeypod trees are found on the Palace grounds. In 1847, businessman Peter Brinsmade brought two Monkeypod seeds with him from his passage through Panama on the way here.

One seedling was planted in downtown Honolulu (presumably not on the Palace grounds,) and the other in Kōloa on Kauaʻi. These two trees are thought to be the progenitors of all the Monkeypod trees in the state.

The Huliheʻe Palace has a wardrobe furniture piece commissioned by King Kalākaua on display in one of its bedrooms. It is constructed of koa and trimmed with darker kou.

It is suggested that it may have served as the Kingdom’s entry in the Paris International Exhibition of 1889. The Exhibition catalog described the entry as “1 Koa Wardrobe, made for His Majesty the King from Koa trees grown in ʻIolani Palace Grounds.” (However, some argue that koa is not acclimated to grow in the conditions at the Palace grounds.)

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