Lucy Thurston | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 23, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Going to “the land of our fathers”

“The Flora, is a barque of about two hundred and ninety-three tons burden, nearly a hundred tons smaller than the ‘North America’, and in many other respects is her inferior. She is a merchant vessel, and arrived at Honolulu a short time since, with stores for the Exploring Expedition (Wilkes Expedition).”

“The Flora, is chartered by one of the mercantile houses at Honolulu, and is principally freighted with sugar and molasses, novel exports from the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, a distance of eighteen thousand miles. …”

“There are twenty passengers in all, who, with the exception of two or three that are to be left at the Society Islands, are to constitute a community by ourselves for many a month, while roving the ocean, in the long voyage to our native land. …” (Olmstead)

Among the passengers were Hiram and Sybil Bingham (and family); Mrs Lucy Thurston and children; and Caroline Armstrong, 9-year-old daughter of missionaries Richard and Clarissa Armstrong).

“Mr. and Mrs. (Asa) Thurston, who thought it their duty to convey their children to the United States, myself, and Mrs. B(ingham), with health much impaired had permission to visit our native land. Mrs. B. was too much worn out to go without her husband.”

“Mr. T(hurston) chose to stand at his post at Kailua, and send his family with mine, and trusted the arrangement for their children with Mrs. T., the Board, and private friends. Mr. Armstrong took my post at Honolulu.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Time passes rapidly on, and brings near the day of our departure from the land of our childhood. Our family, which has so long lived together, is soon to be separated.”

“Probably we shall not all meet again on earth; but it will be but a short time before we shall meet in a better, brighter world, if prepared. Our passage is engaged in the Flora, Captain Spring, bound to New York. The Captain is a pious man, and we are much pleased with him.”

“I hope you will write us whenever you can. We shall desire very much to hear from the Sandwich Islands. We shall always think of you with interest; and shall long remember the many pleasant visits we have made at your house, and the many kindnesses we have received at your hands. The Lord reward you for them all.”

“We shall often think of the many friends we leave behind, when far away. Pray for us. I hope you will often visit Kailua, and comfort our father in his lonely home at Laniakea.” (Lucy G Thurston to Mrs Forbes, July 29, 1840)

“Mrs. Thurston, with her family, arrived in New York on the 4th of February, 1841. She delayed going immediately on to the home of her kindred, in the eastern part of Massachusetts, in order to have the company and protection of a friend who was expecting to make the same journey.”

Upon arrival, young Lucy writes, “Brooklyn, Feb. 16th, 1841. “My Dear Father, We learn that a vessel is to sail for the Sandwich Islands in about a week, and I take my pen to inform you of our safe arrival in the land of our fathers.”

“We were six months and one day from the S. Islands to this place. Stopped a fortnight at the Society Islands, and three days at Pernambuco. We have been remarkably favored in our passage, and all enjoyed good health.”

“The captain has been as a father to us, and by his kind attentions we have felt your loss much less than we otherwise should have done.”

“Mr. B(ingham) has very kindly invited our whole family to remain at his house till we leave the place. We feel under great obligations to him for his kindness. ….”

“We have been thronged with visiters, who call to see us from morning till night. Mother has a trunk of curiosities, which she shows them, and thus excites a good deal of interest in the mission.”

“P(ersis) has several times dressed herself in native style, and marched about the room, much to the amusement of the company. We have received more kindness than we expected – far more than we deserved. …”

The Thurston children reached the continent, a new and different place – as written by young Lucy Thurston, ‘the land of our fathers’ – having left ‘the land of our childhood’.

Shortly after arriving, young Lucy Thurston ‘was taken sick.’ She noted in a letter she was drafting “… We visited the City Hall – a splendid building, where in the Governor’s room, we saw the full length portraits of all the Governors of the State of New York. They were elegant paintings; In the evening –”

Her sister Persis wrote to their father thereafter, explaining the abrupt ending of the letter “… Company calling, she was interrupted in the middle of a sentence, and never again resumed her pen.”

“Lucy was in most vigorous health; but she was seized with inflammation on the lungs just two weeks after their arrival, and on the morning of her coming to the family with whom she passed the last week of her life – the only week of physical pain and distress she ever experienced.”

“She told her mother, a day or two after the commencement of her illness, that she had no choice about its result. … ‘Mother, dear mother,’ many, many times repeated, still continued, and ‘Father, father,’ were the last that fell upon the ear.” Young Lucy Thurston died February 24, 1841.

“At the age of seventeen, she landed upon our shores, with the expectation of enjoying, for a season, the advantages of the society and institutions of Christian America; but within three weeks after the time of her arrival, she found a place in our sepulchres.” (Thurston) A book was written, her memoir, ‘The Missionary’s Daughter or Memoir of Lucy Goodale Thurston’.

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The Missionary’s Daughter Cover

October 12, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Asa and Lucy Thurston Get Married

“… two of similar aspirations, introduced at sunset as strangers, to separate at midnight as interested friends.”

Let’s look back …

For a while, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) prohibited unmarried persons from entering the mission field. The Board believed that married missionaries could cope better with hardships and resist sexual temptations.

Thus, they required young men to be engaged at least two months before entering the mission field. To help the would-be missionaries find wives, the ABCFM had an ongoing list of “missionary-minded” women who were considered “young, pious, educated, fit and reasonably good-looking.” (Christian History Institute)

“Three weeks have elapsed since the departure of my sister Persis. Yesterday, during my noontide intermission, I received, at my boarding house, an unexpected call from cousin Wm. Goodell.“

“He gave me information that a Mission to the Sandwich Islands was to sail in four or six weeks, dwelt upon it with interest and feeling, and notwithstanding his efforts to assume his usual cheerfulness, now and then I saw the tear start in his eye. His conversation and appearance made me tremble.”

“At length, having prepared my mind, the proposition was made. ‘Well Lucy, by becoming connected with a missionary now an entire stranger, attach herself to this little band of pilgrims, and visit the far distant land of Obookiah?’”

“Now I feel the need of guidance. Oh, that Persis were here! Never did I so much long to see her.”

“The gentleman proposed as the companion of my life is Mr. Thurston, member of the Senior Class, in Andover Theological Institution. He had recently become an accepted missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, soon to sail for the Sandwich Islands.”

“This has all come suddenly upon him. Now that he knows the situation he is called to fill, he has no personal knowledge of one who is both willing and qualified to go with him to a foreign land. Some of his classmates were admitted to his private confidence.”

“One of them, in passing back and forth, had been entertained at Dea. Goodale’s. He spoke of his daughter Lucy, as being fitted for such a position. It proved a hinge to act upon. They knew that Goodell of the Middle Class was a relative of the family. They admitted him into their counsel to speak of the missionary qualifications of Lucy Goodale.”

“Most closely and seriously, during the last year, he has pressed the subject on my consideration, of personally engaging in the missionary enterprise. In his very last letter, recently received, he wrote thus:”

“‘When I say I hope cousin Lucy will be of the next company that go to the heathen, instead of imputing it to any desire of never seeing her again, she will rather think, that I believe her to adopt from the heart the favorite language of Spencer,—‘Where He appoints, I’ll go.’”

“The result of the whole matter was, that Wm. Goodell was appointed to obtain permission for a personal interview. So here he was, delivering his message ; adding, ‘Rebecca said, I will go.’”

“What could I say? We thoroughly discussed the subject, after which I gave permission for a visit.”

“Next week on Thursday is the anticipated, dreaded interview of final decision. Cousin William walked with me, and, as we approached the school house, bade me good-bye. I immediately entered the school, but how I longed to find my chamber, that I might give vent to the feelings of an almost bursting heart. Last night I could neither eat, nor close my eyes in sleep.”

“The subject has been to my mind utterly overwhelming, and I all alone during this season of conflict. Situated six miles from my father’s, I have no confidential friend near me to whom I can unfold my feelings.”

“Wm. Goodell fully informed my family that the waters were troubled. During the week, my two sisters from home, Eliza and Meliscent, called on and comforted me with their sympathy’ and affection. I have received, too, communications from my father.”

“But they all leave me to myself, to act agreeably to my own judgment and inclination.”

“Dear to my heart are my friends and country. Yet, all this side the grave, how transient! The poor heathen possess immortal natures, and are perishing. Who will give them the Bible, and tell them of a Savior? Great as must be the sacrifices, trials, hardships, and dangers of such an undertaking …”

“… I said, ‘If God will grant His grace, and afford an acceptable opportunity, Lucy and all that is hers, shall be given to the noble enterprise of carrying light to the poor benighted countrymen of Obookiah.’ After this decision, I could contemplate the subject with a tranquil mind and unmoved feelings.”

“The close of this day brought our expected Andover friends, Wm. Goodell and Mr. Thurston to our door, and established them in our parlor. That was a strictly private family interview. I returned home, and alone entered the house the night before. Our dwellings was completely isolated from neighbors, and not a word had been dropped of expected company.”

“We were alone in our little world. There were my father and my two brothers and their wives, all belonging to the house. There, too, was uncle Wm. Goodell, cousin William’s own father, who had lived with my father for several years, and who was in sympathy and confidences as one of us.”

“Wm. Goodell had now accomplished his mission.”

“Under the most favorable circumstances, he had opened the way and brought Mr. Thurston to Dea. Goodale’s, brought Lucy to her father’s house to interview the stranger in the bosom of her own family, amid a band of six close confidential friends, where no prying eyes or ready tongues were admitted to give intelligence to the outside world.”

“The early hours of the evening were devoted to refreshments, to free family sociality, to singing, and to evening worship. Then one by one the family dispersed, leaving two of similar aspirations, introduced at sunset as strangers, to separate at midnight as interested friends.”

“In the forenoon, the sun had risen high in the heavens, when it looked down upon two of the children of earth giving themselves wholly to their heavenly Father, receiving each other from his hand as his good gift, pledging themselves to each other as close companions in the race of life, consecrating themselves and their all to a life work among the heathen.”

“And it came to pass after that decision, that there met together a committee of Ways and Means. The first thing to be fixed upon was a programme. That was Friday, Sept. 24th.”

“Sept. 26th, Oct. 3d and 10th, would furnish three Sabbaths for publication. Then the 11th was Monday, not a convenient day, but the 12th, Tuesday, was fixed upon as the day of the wedding, and after the ceremony, the party was to proceed directly to Boston.” The image shows the Thurstons in their later years. (All from Life and Times of Mrs Lucy Thurston; Lucy Goodale Thurston)

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Asa Thurston and Lucy Goodale Thurston

February 25, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Winne Units

“These halls, this learning environment, launched the academic careers of tens of thousands of Punahou students.” (Punahou President Jim Scott – speaking at an event at the Mary Persis Winne Elementary Units)

The Mary Persis Winne Elementary Units, built between 1950 and 1955, were designed by the renowned architect Vladimir Ossipoff.

Ossipoff was a prominent architect in the Islands, working between the 1930s and 1990s. He was recognized locally, nationally and internationally for his designs. He is best known for his contribution to the development of the Hawaiian Modern movement.

This style is characterized by the work of architects who “subscribed to the general modernity of the International Style while attempting to integrate the cultural and topographical character of the (Hawaiian) region.” (Sakamoto)

This very frequently included an attempt to integrate the interior of buildings with the outdoors, and minimizing the dividing line between the building and the site.

In 1954, Ossipoff told the Star Bulletin, “Modern facilities comparable to contemporary Mainland school construction can be built for considerably less in Hawai‘i.” He was referring to the construction of the Winne Units.

Back then cost of construction averaged $15 per square foot nationally, the first phase of the Winne Units was built for $8.27 per square foot. In the article, Ossipoff credited the lack of heating and insulation as factors in the lower costs. (Leong, Punahou)

But, there were other cost savings.

According to Shaver F. “Jack” Stubbart who was a teacher of Mechanical Drawing, Industrial Arts (1948-1965) and the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds (1965-1982.) The Navy offered, and Punahou accepted, surplus heart redwood water tanks that were milled for use in the construction. (Gartley, Punahou74)

The first of three building phases originally contained Damon Library, with its own working fireplace that children could gather around for storytelling, replicating the fireside tales of centuries past. Then-Junior School Principal Donald Reber called it the “living room of the school.”

Reber and his faculty worked closely with Ossipoff to create a complex of elementary school buildings that departed sharply from the idea of the traditional school building (with its self-contained, enclosed environment where seats and desks were often fixed to the floor.)

Two design principles, “unity with the outdoors” and “adaptability to progress,” shaped what the elementary school became: a place that felt safe, where it was hard to say where the classroom stopped and the rest of the world began.

The first phase of this new elementary school inspired a new term: it wasn’t a building or a hall, but a “unit” – the Mary Persis Winne Elementary Units, a name that eventually extended to include the entire complex.

Phases two and three followed, incorporating improvements suggested by the faculty who had taught in the first wings (such as bug-proof lunchbox storage.)

The Winne Units housed 25-classrooms in 9-single story wings that radiate from the main entrance that accommodated 625 students (K through 5.) The units are structure by steel-pipe columns and steel I-beams. (Support facilities/offices were included.) (Sakamoto)

The office became a daily gathering place for teachers in the days before there were phones and computers in every classroom, and the intercom system meant that not only could every classroom hear a speaker in the office, but the office could hear what was going on in the classrooms.

Each class had reversible blackboards, its own lanai with a wall of sliding doors and its own garden. (Lanais were used as classroom extensions for messy or outdoor work, where students practiced art on easels.)

Born in 1876 in Carson City, Nevada, Miss Mary Persis Winne had ties Punahou as the granddaughter of Reverend Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston.

The Thurstons were in the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820.

Winne came to Punahou as a second grade teacher in 1898, and rose to become the principal of the then newly formed Punahou Elementary School in 1918.

The Winnes lived in the old Mcintosh house on Nuʻuanu near Judd Street. Miss Jane Winne has charge of the chorus singing at Punahou, and Mr. James Winne is with Alexander & Baldwin. (HMCS, 1917)

Miss Winne was the first Punahou faculty member to serve 25 years. By the time she retired in 1941 she had served generations of Punahou students for 42 years.

“At no time did I ever see her overlook the emotional, spiritual or academic needs of individual children. She embraced the best in modern philosophies and practices, giving freely of herself ….”

“Hours meant nothing to her when dealing with both parents and children. In return she received the greatest loyalty from people of all ages or races that I have ever witnessed.”

During her tenure Miss Winne was instrumental in introducing the best of new educational methods. Of particular interest was the implementation of new practices for teaching children to read and write.

Miss Anna Gillingham and Miss Bessie Stillman, recognized experts from New York, were brought to the school to train teachers and provide remedial tutoring to students. It was from these efforts that pioneering contributions were made in the treatment of dyslexia.

Punahou is replacing the Winne Units with new facilities for grades 2-5. Re-use Hawai‘i has been contracted to lead the deconstruction of the Mary Persis Winne Elementary Units where the buildings will be taken apart using hand-tools so that over 70% of the interior and exterior materials can be recovered. Lots of information here is from Punahou, Leong and Gartley.)

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Mary Persis Winne-Punahou

Winne Units-Punahou74

Opening ceremony for the Winne Units, held in April of 1950 with then-Junior School Principal Donald Reber-Punahou

Mary_Persis_Winne-Punahou74

Winne_Units-Punahou

Winne Units-sign-Punahou74

Winne Deconstruction-2014-Punahou

Mary Persis Winne-grave stone Oahu Cemetery

October 16, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Laniākea Cave

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

“After an accurate investigation of the places adjacent, in which they thought it might be found, they chose a valley, about half a mile from the residence of the governor, and near the entrance of Raniakea, as the spot where they were most likely to meet with success.” (Ellis)

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 Laniākea, 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.” (Bishop)

“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.” (Lucy Thurston)

“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.” (Lucy Thurston)

In 1823, English protestant missionary William Ellis joined forces with American protestant missionary Asa Thurston and a party of explorers to circumnavigate the island of Hawaii.

“In the course of the forenoon, two of our number visited the ruins of an old military fortification, formerly belonging to the makaʻāinana, (common people.)”

“All that at present remains, is a part of the wall, about twelve feet high, and fourteen feet thick at the bottom, built of lava, and apparently entire.”

“In the upper part of the wall are apertures resembling embrasures; but they could not have been designed for cannon, that being an engine of war, with which the natives have but recently become acquainted.”

“The part of the wall now standing, is near the mouth of Raniakea (Laniākea,) the spacious cavern … which formed a valuable appendage to the fort.” Ellis)

“The whole face of the country marked decisively its volcanic origin; and in the course of their excursion they entered several hollows in the lava, formed by its having cooled and hardened on the surface, while, in a liquid state underneath, it had continued to flow towards the sea, leaving a crust in the shape of a tunnel, or arched vault, of varied thickness and extent.

“After entering it by a small aperture, they passed on in a direction nearly parallel with the surface; sometimes along a spacious arched way, not less than twenty-five feet high and twenty wide…”

“… At other times, by a passage so narrow, that they could with difficulty press through, till they had proceeded about 1,200 feet; here their progress was arrested by a pool of water, wide, deep, and as salt as that found in the hollows of the lava within a few yards of the sea.” (Ellis)

“One may walk along it for about fifteen minutes, through a passage which often reaches a considerable height. … The cave runs into a deep subterranean pool of very cold water, and further progress can be made only by swimming through an aperture in the makai end, when one may enter an inner cave, which is said to lead to the sea.” (Kinney, 1913)

“More than thirty natives, most of them carrying torches, accompanied (Ellis’ group) in their descent; and on arriving at the water, simultaneously plunged in, extending their torches with one hand, and swimming about with the other.”

“The partially illuminated heads of the natives, splashing about in this subterranean lake; the reflection of the torch-light on its agitated surface; the frowning sides and lofty arch of the black vault, hung with lava, that had cooled in every imaginable shape …”

“… the deep gloom of the cavern beyond the water; the hollow sound of their footsteps; and the varied reverberations of their voices, produced a singular effect; and it would have required but little aid from the fancy, to have imagined a resemblance between this scene and the fabled Stygian lake of the poets.”

“The mouth of the cave is about half a mile from the sea, and the perpendicular depth to the water probably Not less than fifty or sixty feet.”

“The pool is occasionally visited by the natives, for the purpose of bathing, as its water is cool and refreshing. From its ebbing and flowing with the tide, it has probably a direct communication with the sea.” (Ellis)

When war threatened the early inhabitants of Kona, and it was not uncommon, those who could not fight took refuge in the cave, and while the battles raged overhead, the refugees sent forays up the mountain and to the sea, via the cave, to gather food and water. (laniakea)

“In this cavern, children and aged persons were placed for security during an assault or sally from the fort, and sometimes the wives of the warriors also, when they did not accompany their husbands to the battle.”

“The fortification was probably extensive, as traces of the ancient walls are discoverable in several places; but what were its original dimensions, the natives who were with us could not tell. They asserted, however, that the cavern, if not the fort also, was formerly surrounded by a strong palisade.” (Ellis)

When the Thurstons retired to Honolulu, the house and land became the property of Mokuʻaikaua Church.

In 1980, sections of the cave had collapsed and the entrance was choked with debris and the entrance near the Thurston House was disturbed by squatters.

Waste products and debris have been dumped into the cave, causing an accumulation of sediment and muck within the cave. The western entrance to the cave near Hale Halawai is blocked. Large concrete pillars within the cave apparently were place to support improvements above. (Rasmussen)

The Laniākea house fell into disrepair, and in the 1990s the Laniākea Foundation was formed to save the ruins of the cave and home site from development. (laniakea)

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

February 7, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sereno Edwards Bishop

Sereno Edwards Bishop was born at Kaʻawaloa on February 7, 1827; he was son of Rev. Artemas and Elizabeth (Edwards) Bishop (part of the Second Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi (arriving April 27, 1823) and first stationed at Kailua, on the Big Island.)

Mrs Bishop had been a girlhood friend of Mrs Lucy G Thurston, who had preceded her to Hawaii as a missionary, some four years earlier. Mrs Bishop died February 28, 1828 at Kailua, the first death in the mission.

Mr. Bishop, Sr subsequently married Delia Stone, who was a member of the Third Company of missionaries (December 1, 1828.)

The missionaries’ house was usually in a thickly inhabited village, so the missionary and his wife could be close to their work among the people; the missionary children were typically cooped up in their home.

With hundreds of children all about them, missionary children had no playmates except the children of other missionaries, most of whom were scattered over the Islands, meeting only a few times a year. (Thurston)

“In the early-(1830s,) Kailua was a large native village, of about 4,000 inhabitants rather closely packed along one hundred rods of shore (about 1,650-feet,) and averaging twenty rods inland (about 330-feet.)”

“Near by stood a better stone house occupied by the doughty Governor Kuakiui. 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 Laniākea, a quarter of a mile inland.”

“The people had ample cultivable land in the moist upland from two to four miles inland at altitudes of one thousand to twenty-five hundred feet. It is a peculiarity of that Kona coast that while the shore may be absolutely rainless for months gentle showers fall daily upon the mountain slope.” (Bishop)

Sereno Bishop was sent back to the continent at age 12 for education (he graduated from Amherst College in 1846 and Auburn Theological Seminary in 1851,) he married Cornelia A Session on May 31, 1852 and returned to Hawaiʻi on January 16, 1853.

His observation of Honolulu at the time noted, “The settled portion of the city was then substantially limited by the present
Alapaʻi and River streets and mauka at School street. There was hardly anything outside of those limits and the remainder was practically an open plain.”

“Above Beretania street, on the slopes and beyond Alapaʻi street, there was hardly a building of any nature whatever.”

“At that time there was a small boarding school for the children of the missions at Punahou, under direction of Father Dole. This little structure alone intervened between the city and Mōʻiliʻili, where about the church there were a few houses.” (Bishop)

Bishop assumed the position of Seaman’s Chaplain in Lāhainā. The Bishops remained nine years at Lahaina, where five children were born to them (two of the boys died at a young age.)

After 10-years in Lāhainā, he moved to Hāna and later returned to Lāhainā and served from 1865 to 1877 as principal of Lahainaluna. Mr. Bishop considered the work which he did among the native students at Lahainaluna was among the most fruitful of his life.

He left his mark at Lahainaluna, physically, in the shape of the grand avenue of monkey pods on the road to Lahaina, which he personally planted. (Thurston)

Bishop had a reputation as an amateur scientist with interests particularly in geology. Bishop’s contributions as an atmospheric scientist were sufficiently prominent to be mentioned in the Monthly Weather Review. (SOEST)

Rev. Sereno Bishop, a missionary in Hawaiʻi, was the first to provide detailed observations of a phenomenon not previously reported – he noted his observation on September 5, 1883. It was later named for him – Bishop’s Ring (a halo around the sun, typically observed after large volcanic eruptions.)

Bishop’s observations followed the eruption at Krakatoa (August 23, 1883.) His findings suggested the existence of the ‘Jet Stream’ (this used to be referred to as the ‘Krakatoa Easterlies.’)

“It now seems probable that the enormous projections of gaseous and other matter from Krakatoa (Krakatau) have been borne by the upper currents and diffused throughout a belt of half the earth’s circumference, and not improbably, as careful observation may yet establish, even entirely around the globe.” (Sereno Bishop)

Bishop made other volcanic observations; a hundred years ago, he noted Diamond Head was made in less than a hour’s time and is “composed not of lava, like the main mountain mass inland, but of this soft brown rock called tuff.” (Bishop, Commercial Advertiser, July 15, 1901)

In 1887, he moved to Honolulu and became editor of “The Friend,” a monthly journal, founded in Honolulu in 1843, “the oldest publication west of the Rocky Mountains.”

Bishop was identified as “the well-known mouthpiece of the annexation party” and criticized by royalists for his comments. He remained in Honolulu and died there March 23, 1909.

The image shows Sereno Bishop. (1902) In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.