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March 27, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Four Horsemen

“Kuhio was not an heir-born but a created prince by royal proclamation at the coronation ceremonies of King Kalākaua and Queen Kapiʻolani in February, 1883, as was also his brother, the late David Kawananakoa. They were nephews of Kapiʻolani, the queen consort; sons of David Kahalepouli Piʻikoi, a high chief of Kauai, and Kinoiki Kekaulike.”

“Kuhio Kalanianaʻole was born at Kapaʻa, Kauai, March 26th, 1871, a lineal descendant of the last king of the islands of Kauai and Niʻihau. He married Elizabeth Kahanu K Kaauwai, a chiefess of the old regime, October 9th, 1896”. (Thrum)

“The last great work of Prince Kalanianaʻole was for his people. He labored ceaselessly for more than a year on a scheme of rehabilitation through which it is hoped the Hawaiian may be returned to the land of his ancestors, to live as fisherman and farmer.”

“Against formidable and aggressively active opposition the Prince managed to consummate his plans, and the ‘Rehabilitation Bill’ is now a law.”

“Through its operation large tracts of land … will be allotted to those of Hawaiian blood who desire to return to husbandry. Each will receive a sizeable farm and a sum in cash sufficient to put it under cultivation and sustain a family until the crops begin to yield…” (Mellen; Hitt)

A few years before the passage of the Rehabilitation Law, and a few days after the return of the Delegate Prince Kuhio from Washington, four Hawaiians, assembled at Pualeilani at Waikiki to discuss the subject “Rehabilitation of the Hawaiians.”

Dubbed the Four Horsemen, Kuhio, Rev Stephen Langhern Desha, Sr, John Carey Lane and Henry Lincoln Holstein had their pictures taken so Kuhio could show to his fellow congressmen at Washington his backers that brought up this important matter for rehabilitating its people.

Later other friends joined, and they were John H Wise, Noa Aluli, Akaiko Akana, Emil Muller, Attorney CK Breckons, and several others, and they planned to first pass the measure in the local legislature.

It was introduced by John Wise in the senate and backed by Senator Desha and John Lane, and it was introduced in the House by Speaker Holstein. It was through their efforts that it became a law and it was approved by congress at Washington. (Star-Bulletin)

Rev Stephen Langhern Desha, Sr had an unusual combination of ministry of the gospel, service in legislative bodies and publisher of a newspaper. He was behind the ‘Desha Bathing Suit Law,’ requiring all over 14 to cover up ‘at least to the knees,’ or be fined.

Desha began his career as pastor of the Napoʻopoʻo church, Kona and served Haili Church in Hilo for 45-years; he was a supervisor of the County of Hawaii and later elected to the senate of the Territory; and he was editor and business manager of the Hawaiian newspaper, ‘Ka Hoku o Hawaii.’

“Rev SL Desha is in a class by himself. One may listen to this man and watch him with much enjoyment without understanding a single word of what he says. … In eloquence of gesture, no speaker of any race I have seen can equal the Rev Desha when talking in Hawaiian.” (Hawaiian Star, October 10, 1908)

John Carey Lane was a member of the territorial senate from 1905 to 1907 and introduced the bill establishing the City and County of Honolulu. He was elected by an overwhelming majority to serve as Mayor of Honolulu from 1915 to 1917.

He was an avowed Royalist supporting Queen Liliʻuokalani, and Lane “was at her side when they usurped control and dethroned her in 1893, and he was among those who took part in the counterrevolution in 1895 with the hope of restoring her throne and native Hawaiian rule”. (Mellen; Advertiser, 1954)

Henry Lincoln Holstein served in the Senate of the Republic of Hawaiʻi from 1896 to 1898 and later as Speaker of the House in the House of Representatives of the Territorial legislature. Holstein served as the executor of Queen Liliʻuokalani’s estate.

The provisions of the Hawaiian Rehabilitation Act (Hawaiian Homes Act (HHCA)) are embodied the desires to (1) build up in Hawaiʻi a class of independent citizen farmers, and (2) place the Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian people back upon the land. (Rehabilitation in Hawaiʻi, 1922)

Passed by Congress and signed into law by President Warren Harding on July 9, 1921, the HHCA provides for the rehabilitation of the native Hawaiian people through a government-sponsored homesteading program. Native Hawaiians are defined as individuals having at least 50 percent Hawaiian blood.

DHHL provides direct benefits to native Hawaiians in the form of 99-year homestead leases at an annual rental of $1. In 1990, the Legislature authorized the Department to extend leases for an aggregate term not to exceed 199 years.

Homestead leases are for residential, agricultural or pastoral purposes. Aquacultural leases are also authorized, but none have been awarded to date. The intent of the homesteading program is to provide for economic self-sufficiency of native Hawaiians through the provision of land.

Other benefits provided by the HHCA include financial assistance through direct loans or loan guarantees for home construction, replacement, or repair, and for the development of farms and ranches; technical assistance to farmers and ranchers; and the operation of water systems.

On January 7, 1922, six months after he had succeeded in having the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act passed, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaʻole passed away. (hawaii-edu)

March 26, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi

Born on March 26, 1871, Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi (grandson of Kaua‘i King Kaumuali‘i and the cousin of King Kalākaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani) was prince of the reigning House of Kalākaua.

After the rule of the House of Kamehameha ended with the death of King Kamehameha V in 1872, and King Liholiho died in 1874, the House of Kalākaua ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

He became an orphan after his father died in 1880 and mother in 1884. Prince Kūhiō was adopted by King David Kalākaua’s wife, Queen Kapi‘olani, who was his maternal aunt.

He attended the Royal School and Punahou; studied four years in St. Matthew’s College, California; was a student at the Royal Agricultural College in England and graduated from a business college in England.

Historical accounts say that Kūhiō was tagged with the nickname “Prince Cupid” by a French teacher when he was very young because of his chubby stature and good-natured personality.

He witnessed the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, took the side of the monarchy, was found guilty of treason for plotting a counter-revolutionary attempt and made a political prisoner.

Prince Kūhiō, eligible royal heir to the Hawaiian throne, Delegate to Congress for ten consecutive terms and tireless worker for native Hawaiian rights, was born along the Poʻipū coast at Kukui‘ula and grew up in Kōloa on Kaua‘i.

Kūhiō was often called Ke Ali‘i Maka‘āinana (Prince of the People) and is well known for his efforts to preserve and strengthen the Hawaiian people.

In politics, he was a Republican. He launched a campaign to establish local government at the County level; this led to the County Act in 1905. Under the Act, the islands were divided into five separate Counties.

Prince Kūhiō restored the Royal Order of Kamehameha I and established the Hawaiian Civic Club.

The Order of Kamehameha I was established on April 11, 1865 by King Kamehameha V (Lot Kapuāiwa) to honor the legacy of his grandfather, the unifier of these islands, Kamehameha the Great.

The Order was reorganized by Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaole in 1902. Today, the organization continues to guard, maintain and preserve the rituals and the memory of the ruling Chiefs of Hawai‘i.

Hawaiian Civic Clubs were organized in 1918 and were formed to provide scholarship aid for the education of Hawaiian students; preserve and promote the Hawaiian heritage, traditions, language and culture; improve the conditions of the Hawaiian people and community at large; and perpetuate the values that dignify all human life.

In 1919 he also introduced the first bill asking that Hawai‘i become a state.

While a delegate of Congress, he spearheaded the effort in the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act that provides lands for native Hawaiians.

He was concerned about the diminishing number of Hawaiians and their seeming inability to adapt to urban living. It was his dream to have Hawaiians return to the land and encourage them to be self-sufficient farmers, ranchers and homesteaders.

Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi died on January 7, 1922 of heart disease. He was given the last state funeral for an Ali‘i; he is buried at Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum.

Prince Kūhiō Day is an official holiday in the State of Hawaiʻi. It is celebrated annually on March 26, to mark the birth of Prince Kūhiō.

March 25, 2026 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Tutasi

“No other clubs compared to the Hawaiian Room.” (Tutasi Wilson; Imada)

“Although the Lexington Hotel is located in New York City, it still had the ability to play an integral role in sharing and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture and traditions.”

“The Hawaiian Room was the hub of all things Hawaiian in the Big Apple, and these people were the ambassadors of Hawaiʻi to America.” (English)

‘The girls’ saw their mission as selling Hawaii in a nice way. (Imada)

From 1937-1966, in the heart of what was the largest city in the world at the time, the Hawaiian Room was a pioneering venue where authentic hula and Hawaiian music were shared with millions from around the world.

Its performers represented the finest talent Hawai‘i had to offer, and they were readily embraced and celebrated by the diverse New York community.

The Room itself was the first of its kind and featured a glamorous dining room with island decor, large dance floor and American orchestra, and a Hawaiian music and floor show that was unmatched in its professionalism, elegance, and beauty.

It was New York after all – the land of Broadway shows, fast- paced lifestyles, ethnic diversity, and celebrities. (hula preservation society)

Some of the important names in Hawaiian entertainment performed at the Lex. They include Alfred Apaka, Ed Kenney, Kui Lee, Manu Kanemura Bentley, Lei Becker Furtado, TeMoana Makolo, Mona Joy, Ray Kinney, ‘Uncle’ Keola Beamer, Olan Peltier Carpenter, Leialoha Kaleikini, Jennie Woodd and Lani McIntire. (Wood)

Tutasi was one of the performers at the Lexington Hotel’s Hawaiian Room.

Helen Tutasiilemauosamoa Wilson was born in Leone, Pago Pago American Samoa on March 7, 1914; she was the daughter of Helen Ripley of Leone, and Frederick Roy Wilson of Hope, Michigan.

In 1925, when Tutasi was 10 years old, she was sent to Honolulu where she attended Lincoln School and later Kamehameha School for Girls; thus, in 1933, becoming the first non-Hawaiian girl to graduate from the school.

Between trips back to Samoa, she studied at the University of Hawaiʻi, worked in social services, and later returned to Samoa to work in this field.

Eventually, Tutasi left Samoa for California to further her studies, but the offer of a role in ‘Mutiny On the Bounty’ was too tempting, and thus her career in movies began. (PPSEAW)

During her time in Hollywood, she was a roommate with actress Jane Wyman. She also met Jane’s boyfriend Ronnie, another actor, and quickly they all became good friends. (Ronnie was Ronald Reagan, the 40th US President.)

Movie life soon paled and she then accepted an offer to join the Honolulu Maids at the Hotel Lexington’s Hawaiian Room in New York where she started a new career that included Polynesian dancing, costume design and catering services.

Tutasi became a valued addition to Arthur Godfrey’s weekly CBS-TV program in New York with her dancing and acting. Also featured on the show was her lifelong friend Duke Kahanamoku. They were a big hit with the Hawaiʻi-conscious audience.

Later, Tutasi launched her own business called Polynesian Services and Entertainment, and became involved in the lucrative New York tourist business by featuring travel packages for a ‘Hawaiian South Seas Weekend in Atlantic City,’ where she supervised everything from the luau dinners to the Polynesian dancing and fashion shows. (SamoaNews)

Her first husband was Charles Simmons; they married in 1936, when she was 21 years old. Simmons, a Navy pilot, died less than two years later, killed during a test flight.

In 1960, Tutasi married Dr Lewis Steinhilber, the head surgeon at the American Samoa Hospital. Dr Steinhilber passed away in 1982; following his death, Tutasi relocated to Hawai’i.

“An advocate for education, Tutasi mentored many young Samoans, encouraging them to pursue professional goals not merely for personal advancement, but to help the aiga (family) and others. So many people have benefited from her kind generosity.” (SamoaNews)

‘Aunty Tutasi’ died April 5, 2013 in Hawaiʻi at the age of 99. She was buried in the Ripley Family Cemetery in Sogi, Saita’a. In her last will and testament she gave this tender farewell:

“My heartfelt wishes and aloha shall go to all my dear relatives and friends in Samoa and Hawaiʻi for their friendship and kindness extended to me throughout my lifetime. Aloha nui loa – Tutasi”. (SamoaNews)

Tutasi_Wilson-Tutasi Rebecca Ainu’u Wesley

March 24, 2026 by Peter T Young 6 Comments

Lurline

Lorelei (Loreley) means lauern, “to lurk,” “be on the watch for,” and lai, “a rock” – also “murmuring rock.” The Lorelei is a rock in the Rhine River – it marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea.

Stories say that Lorelei was a maiden who threw herself into the Rhine in despair over a faithless lover, and became a siren whose voice lured boats to destruction.

A variant of Lorelei is Lurline – some ships carry her name.

William Matson had first come to appreciate the name in the 1870s while serving as skipper aboard the Claus Spreckels family yacht ‘Lurline’ out of San Francisco Bay.

Born in Sweden, Captain Matson (1849–1917) arrived in San Francisco in 1867, at the age of 16. There, he began sailing in San Francisco Bay and northern California rivers.

Captain Matson became acquainted with the Spreckels family and was asked to serve as skipper on the Spreckels’ yacht, Lurline. The Spreckels family later assisted Captain Matson in obtaining his first ship, the Emma Claudina.

In 1882, Matson sailed his three-masted schooner Emma Claudina from San Francisco to Hilo, carrying 300 tons of food, plantation supplies and general merchandise.

That voyage launched a company that has been involved in such diversified interests as oil exploration, hotels and tourism, military service during two world wars and even briefly, the airline business. Matson’s primary interest throughout, however, has been carrying freight between the Pacific Coast and Hawai‘i.

In 1887, Captain Matson sold the Emma Claudina and acquired the 150-foot brigantine Lurline from Spreckels – this was the first of several famous Matson vessels to bear the Lurline name.

Matson met his future wife, Lillie Low, on a yacht voyage he captained to Hawai‘i; the couple named their daughter Lurline Berenice Matson, she was their only child.

After Lurline was born, Captain Matson did not command a ship again, but the family often traveled on the Matson ships to Hawaiʻi, staying there for a month or more at a time.

During one of these trips, Lillie and Lurline created the Matson Navigation Company flag from old signal flag pieces; the design is a circle with a large “M” surrounded by seven stars depicting the seven ships then in the fleet.

Matson built a steamship named Lurline in 1908; one which carried mainly freight yet could hold 51 passengers, along with 65-crew. That steamer served Matson for twenty years, including a stint with United States Shipping Board during World War I.

The family bought a house near Mills College where they spent summers, and they would rent a house in San Francisco for the winter months. Lurline remembers her father as “strict and straight-laced.” Lurline commuted to the city with her father to attend Miss Hamlin’s, a private girl’s school, studying music and art.

In 1913, Lurline met Bill Roth, a young stockbroker in Honolulu; she and Roth were married in 1914. Roth sold his brokerage business and went to work for Matson Navigation Company in San Francisco.

In October 1916, Captain William Matson died at age 67. After his death, Bill Roth was named general manager and vice president of Matson Navigation Company.

The Roths lived in San Francisco. Their son, William Matson Roth, was born in September 1916. Identical twins, Lurline and Berenice, named for their mother’s first and middle names, were born in 1921. (Filoli)

By 1918, Hawaiʻi had 8,000 visitors annually and by the 1920s Matson Navigation Company ships were bringing an increasing number of wealthy visitors.

With growing passenger traffic to Hawai‘i, Matson built a world-class luxury liner, the SS Malolo (later christened the Matsonia,) in 1927. At the time, the Malolo was the fastest ship in the Pacific, cruising at 22 knots. Its success led to the construction of the luxury liners Mariposa, Monterey and Lurline between 1930 and 1932.

On December 27, 1932, the Lurline sailed on her maiden voyage from San Francisco to Australia via Los Angeles, Honolulu, Auckland, Pago Pago, Suva, Sydney and Melbourne.

This was the heyday of the great Matson Liners; passenger trains were adopted as “Boat Trains,” carrying passengers from New York and Chicago to connect in San Francisco with the liner sailings. (cruiselinehistory)

Matson’s famed “white ships” were instrumental in the development of tourism in Hawai‘i. Matson’s luxury ocean liner and its 650-wealthy passengers would be arriving in Honolulu every two weeks.

In 1927, Matson built the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and, in 1932, Matson bought the Moana. Matson’s Waikiki hotels provided tourists with luxury accommodations both ashore and afloat.

Immediately after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the passenger liners Lurline, Matsonia, Mariposa and Monterey, and 33 Matson freighters, were called to military service.

The post-war period for Matson was somewhat difficult. The expense of restoration work proved to be very costly and necessitated the sale of the Mariposa and Monterey, still in wartime gray. In 1948, the Lurline returned to service after a $20-million reconversion.

Later, Laurance Rockefeller encouraged his San Francisco friend, owner of shipping company, Lurline Matson Roth, to build a house next to the Mauna Kea property. (The Roth family also lived in Filoli, the property in Woodside, CA, now open to the public.)

The Lurline continued to provide first class-only service between Hawaiʻi and the American mainland from June 1957 to September 1962, mixed with the occasional Pacific cruise. In 1963, the Lurline was sold and resold (renamed Ellinis,) and later laid up in 1981 and scrapped in Taiwan in 1987. Matson was sold to Alexander & Baldwin in 1969.

March 23, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … ‘Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death’

The Second Virginia Convention met March 20, 1775 inland at Richmond — in what is now called St. John’s Church. Delegate Patrick Henry presented resolutions to raise and establish a militia, and to put Virginia in a posture of defense. Henry’s opponents urged caution and patience until the crown replied to Congress’ latest petition for reconciliation.

Relations between the colonists and the government back in Great Britain had steadily deteriorated over the decade since the Stamp Act was passed in 1765. Violence related to the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party in 1773 led to the imposition of the Coercive or Intolerable Acts a year later.

On September 5, 1774, the first Congress in the United States met in Philadelphia to consider its reaction to the British government’s restraints on trade and representative government after the Boston Tea Party raid. In all, 56 delegates from 12 colonies came to Philadelphia including John Adams, his cousin Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Roger Sherman, John Jay, John Dickinson, Richard Henry Lee, and George Washington.

During their session in Philadelphia, which ended after about seven weeks of debates, the group agreed to a boycott of British goods within the colonies as a sign of protest, spelled out in the Continental Association. The Association also called for an end of exports to Great Britain in the following year if the Intolerable Acts weren’t repealed.

Henry spoke to the second Virginia convention in March 1775, to discuss the events in Philadelphia and the need to form armed militias in Virginia in case British troops attempted to control the area.

Patrick Henry, (born May 29 [May 18, Old Style], 1736, Studley [Virginia]—died June 6, 1799, Red Hill, near Brookneal, Virginia, U.S.), brilliant orator and a major figure of the American Revolution.

Patrick Henry was the son of John Henry, a well-educated Scotsman who served in the colony as a surveyor, colonel, and justice of the Hanover County Court.

Before he was 10, Patrick received some rudimentary education in a local school, later reinforced by tutoring from his father, who was trained in the classics.

As a youth, he failed twice in seven years as a storekeeper and once as a farmer; and during this period he increased his responsibilities by marriage, in 1754, to Sarah Shelton.

The demands of a growing family spurred him to study for the practice of law, and in this profession he soon displayed remarkable ability.

Within a few years after his admission to the bar in 1760 he had a large and profitable clientele. He was especially successful in criminal cases, where he made good use of his quick wit, his knowledge of human nature, and his forensic gifts.

In 1765, at the capitol in Williamsburg, where he had just been seated as a member of the House of Burgesses (the lower house of the colonial legislature), he delivered a speech opposing the British Stamp Act.

During the next decade Henry was an influential leader in the radical opposition to the British government. He was a member of the first Virginia Committee of Correspondence, which aided intercolonial cooperation, and a delegate to the Continental Congresses of 1774 and 1775. (Britannica)

On the 23rd, Henry presented a proposal to organize a volunteer company of cavalry or infantry in every Virginia county. By custom, Henry addressed himself to the Convention’s president, Peyton Randolph of Williamsburg. (Colonial Williamsburg)

Henry’s speech on that day served to finalize support in Virginia to oppose any British military intervention in that colony; but what remains unknown is what Henry actually said in his speech.

Years later, biographer William Wirt in 1817 reconstructed the speech based on the recollections of Thomas Jefferson and others. Wirt’s account ends with the famous lines, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (Constitution Center)

The convention passed the resolution offered by Henry to form militias to defend Virginia, and in the following month, fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord between British troops and the colonists, marking the official start of the Revolutionary War. (Constitution Center)

Henry was appointed commander of the Virginia forces, but his actions were curbed by the Committee of Safety; in reaction, he resigned on February 28, 1776. Henry served on the committee in the Virginia Convention of 1776 that drafted the first constitution for the state.

He was elected governor the same year and was reelected in 1777 and 1778 for one-year terms, thereby serving continuously as long as the new constitution permitted. As wartime governor, he gave Gen. George Washington able support, and during his second term he authorized the expedition to invade the Illinois country under the leadership of George Rogers Clark.

After the death of his first wife, Henry married Dorothea Dandridge and retired to life on his estate in Henry county. He was recalled to public service as a leading member of the state legislature from 1780 to 1784 and again from 1787 to 1790. From 1784 to 1786 he served as governor.

He declined to attend the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787 and in 1788 was the leading opponent of ratification of the US Constitution at the Virginia Convention. Henry was reconciled, however, to the new federal government, especially after the passage of the Bill of Rights, for which he was in great measure responsible.

Because of family responsibilities and ill health, he declined a series of offers of high posts in the new federal government. In 1799, however, he consented to run again for the state legislature, where he wished to oppose the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, which claimed that the states could determine the constitutionality of federal laws; he won. He died on June 6, 1799 at his home, Red Hill, before he was to have taken the seat. (Britannica)

Click the following links to a general summaries about Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death:

Click to access Give-Me-Liberty-Or-Give-Me-Death-SAR-RT.pdf

Click to access Give-Me-Liberty-Or-Give-Me-Death.pdf