Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kawaiahaʻo Steeple

The Reverend Hiram Bingham prepared plans for a stone building of two stories with cellar, galleries, pillars in front, and a bell tower. The final dimensions were 144 feet long by 78 feet wide, large enough to accommodate thousands. “March 12th, 1839. Work on meeting house commenced. June 5th. Cornerstone of church laid.” “The high chief Abner Paki furnished the corner stone which was laid in 1839. It was hewn out of the reef at Waianae and floated to Honolulu on a raft, some say on canoes.” “Rev. R. Armstrong succeeded (Hiram Bingham) as Pastor of the church, and under him it was completed and dedicated July 21, 1842 (before the steeple and gallery had been completed.)”

In 1850, the town’s first clock, presented by the King, was installed in the Kawaiaha‘o tower, having come around the Horn from Boston. It cost $1,000.00 and commenced running January 10, 1851. The tower chock has continued in operation to this date. Kawaiaha‘o Church ordered an organ in 1867 to replace the melodion then in use. Music was under the leadership of Mrs Lydia Dominis (later Queen Lili‘uokalani) and Mrs Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Pauahi died on October 16, 1884. Her will (Clause 13) “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches”. But Pauahi’s will also provided funds to Kawaiaha‘o Church – $5000 for repairs to Kawaiaha‘o Church. With those funds, they built up the tower with coral stone to give it the square tower (at its present height) and removed the pointed spire.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Entourage

On November 27, 1823, L’Aigle, an English whaling ship, took Kamehameha II (Liholiho), Kamāmalu and their entourage to England to gain firsthand experience in European ways. The king and his chiefs agreed that Liholiho needed a competent interpreter to travel with him and Frenchman John Rives went as interpreter.

Liholiho’s chosen party were Governor Boki and his wife, Liliha, Kapihe, Chief Kekuanaoa, steward Manuia, Naukana (Noukana), Kauluhaimalama, servant Na‘aiweuweu, and James Kanehoa Young. In London, Liholiho and Kamāmalu became ill; Kamāmalu (aged 22) died on July 8, 1824, Kamehameha II (age 27) died six days later, on July 14, 1824. The British Government dispatched HMS Blonde to return them back to Honolulu; they arrived on May 6, 1825.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Founder’s Day

Pauahi Pākī was born on December 19, 1831; she was the great-granddaughter of Kamehameha I. Pauahi was hānai (adopted) to her aunt, Kīnaʻu (the eldest daughter of Kamehameha.) Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha (later Queen Lili‘uokalani) was hānai (adopted) to the Pākīs, who reared her with their birth daughter, Pauahi. The two girls developed a close, loving relationship.

In 1850, at the age of 19, Pauahi married Charles Reed Bishop, a young American businessman. When her cousin, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, died, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated gave all of her land to Pauahi – about 353,000 acres. Bernice Pauahi died childless on October 16, 1884. Through her will she founded Kamehameha Schools. Today, December 19, is Pauahi’s birthday; it is also known as Founder’s Day at Kamehameha Schools.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kekūanāoʻa

His name (literally, the standing projections) is said to refer to ships’ masts seen in the harbor when Kekūanāoʻa was born. “As a young man he was a favorite and attendant of the declining years of Kamehameha I. With Liholiho he was a punahele, or intimate attendant and friend”. He married Pauahi, formerly a wife of Liholiho. They had a daughter, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. (Keʻelikōlani later passed her great land holdings to Bernice Pauahi Bishop; it was the land base that formed Kamehameha Schools / Bishop Estate.)

In 1827, Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha, became Kekūanāoʻa’s wife. They both publicly professed the Christian faith in 1830. Kīnaʻu and Kekūanāoʻa had five children: Prince David Kamehameha (who died as a child;) Prince Moses Kekūāiwa (who died in 1848;) Prince Lot Kapuāiwa (later Kamehameha V;) Prince Alexander Liholiho (later Kamehameha IV) and Princess Victoria Kamāmalu. As the last Kuhina Nui, Kekūanāoʻa essentially presided over the demise of the office. Kekūanāoʻa died November 24, 1868.