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February 14, 2022 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Winslows and Whites

There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower including 37 members of the separatist Leiden congregation who would go on to be known as the Pilgrims, together with the non-separatist passengers. Almost half the people on-board the ship were fare paying passengers seeking a new life and not driven by religious convictions.

There were 74 men and 28 women – 18 were listed as servants, 13 of which were attached to separatist families. There are thought to have been 31 children (20 boys and 11 girls) on the Mayflower. The crew were led by Captain Christopher Jones, but it is unknown just how many crew there were.

In addition to the initial 102 passengers, one was born at sea on the way (Oceanus Hopkins) and another was born while they were at anchor (Peregrine White). One of the passengers (William Butten) died on the way to America.

While at anchor off Cape Cod between November 9 and December 8, 1620, four more died, Edward Thompson; Jasper More; Dorothy Bradford and James Chilton. In addition to the above, there were other crew members of the Mayflower (some estimate that there were 30-50 total crew members).

Two of the families on the Mayflower were the Winslows and the Whites.

Edward Winslow was born in Worcestershire, in the town of Droitwich Spa in 1595. His family were involved in the salt production trade and owned a salt. Between 1606 and April 1611 he studied at the King’s School at nearby Worcester Cathedral.

He was one of ten students championed for a scholarship by the Dean of the Cathedral. His admission is listed in the Cathedral Library. He would have studied Grammar, Latin and Greek. This education would mark Winslow out in the Pilgrims and be a factor in becoming a leader in their ranks.

He became an apprentice to a stationer but after a dispute, decided against fulfilling his contract and began to travel in Europe, meeting the exiled English Separatist church in Leiden, Holland, in 1617. These Separatists had fled persecution for their religious beliefs and had settled in Leiden, a kind of refuge at the time, and would go on to plan the Mayflower’s historic sailing in search of the New World and a new life.

Winslow helped the Separatists in their underground printing activities and soon became one of the leading members of the group. He married Elizabeth Barker in 1618, and is listed as a printer in the marriage records.

He became instrumental in organizing the journey to America, helping decide how they would finance the operation with John Carver and Robert Cushman, who we negotiating with merchants in London.

In the summer of 1620, Winslow was among the Pilgrims who sailed from Leiden on the Speedwell, arriving in Southampton to meet the Mayflower, with the intention of both ships sailing to America. It didn’t work out that way and after a stop in Dartmouth the passengers on the Speedwell transferred to the Mayflower at their last stop, Plymouth. It meant that with 102 passengers on board, the Atlantic crossing was extremely arduous and overcrowded.

Winslow travelled with his wife Elizabeth, his brother Gilbert plus a servant called George Soule and a youth named Elias Story. Also in their care was a girl called Elinor More – one of four children from the More family of Shipton in Shropshire who travelled with the Pilgrims.

William White was born in Wisbech and was the son of Edward and Thomasine (Cross)(May) White. He was the uncle of William Bradford’s first wife Dorothy May. Susanna White was the daughter of Richard and Mary (Pettinger) Jackson. Her father leased part of the Scrooby Manor and fled with Bradford to Amsterdam in 1608 to avoid arrest for their beliefs.

In the spring of 1608, William, identified as a shoemaker, was cited for nonconformity and excommunicated from Wisbech St Peters, along with his half siblings Henry May and Jacomine May. William left for Amsterdam in May 1608; his half-siblings joined him the following August.

The May and the White families, both from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, arrived in the Netherlands around 1608. The marriage of Gov. William Bradford to Dorothy May in 1613 states that she was 16 years old and that she had been living there for about 5 years.

Henry May the Elder stated in 1627 that he had been living in Amsterdam for about 15 years. In June 1608, “Willem Wit” was granted permission to reside within the city, and in August 1608 “Hendrick May” also received permission. In 1611, William White purchased a house in the “new city” of Amsterdam.

William White was a member of Henry Ainsworth’s congregation of Separatists in Amsterdam. His half-brother, Henry May was a leading elder of this congregation.

Susanna was likely born and raised in Scrooby, and her father held a lease for a portion of Scrooby Manor. She may have fled with her father to Amsterdam in 1608, and there married William White.

William and Susanna met in Amsterdam and married there. They were members of Henry Ainsworth’s congregation and were the only members to join the Mayflower group from Leiden. William and Susanna had their son Resolved about 1615.

Bradford notes about the household on the trip across the Atlantic, “Mr. William White and Susanna his wife and one son called Resolved, and one born a-shipboard called Peregrine, and two servants named William Holbeck and Edward Thompson” (Bradford, 442).

The following is an listing of the White and Winslow households aboard the Mayflower: William White 30; Susanna White 25; Resolved White 5; Peregrine White Born at anchor; William Holbeck (Servant to William White); Edward Thompson <21 (Servant to William White); Edward Winslow 25; Elizabeth Winslow 23; Ellen More 8 (Servant to Edward Winslow); George Soule 21 – 25 (Servant to Edward Winslow); Elias Story <21 (Cared by Edward Winslow) and Gilbert Winslow 20 (Brother of Edward).

General Sickness

Then, after landing, disaster struck.

Within weeks, fifty-two of the 102 passengers who had reached Cape Cod were dead, including fourteen of the twenty-six heads of families. All but four families had lost at least one member. Of the eighteen married couples who had sailed from England, only three had survived intact.

Bradford tells us that “Mr. White and his two servants died soon after their landing.” (William White died February 21, 1621.) Likewise, Winslow’s “wife died the first winter,” (March 24, 1621) Bradford, p. 444 and 445.

On May 12, 1621, Susanna White, left a widow with two small sons, married Edward Winslow, whose wife Elizabeth had likewise died.

Edward Winslow eventually became a prominent member of the Plymouth Colony, being elected governor three times. Winslow served as a member of the governor’s council from 1624 to 1647, except for the three times he was governor of the colony (in 1633–34, 1636–37, and 1644–45).

He and Susanna had five more children together, although only two lived to adulthood.

Some Winslow and White ‘Firsts’:

Peregrine White was the first child born to the Pilgrims in the New World. (Oceanus Hopkins was born on board the Mayflower during the Atlantic crossing.) (The name Peregrine means ‘one from abroad’; a foreigner, traveler or pilgrim.)
Susanna, was the mother of the first English-born child in New England. “Before the End of November Susanna Wife of William White was delivered of a Son, who is called Peregrine being the first Born since their arrival and I conclude the first of the European Extract in New England.” Thomas Prince, New England Chronology, 1736.
The wedding of Edward Winslow and Susanna White was the first in Plymouth Colony. “May 12 [1621]. was ye first mariage in this place, which, according to ye laudable custome of ye Low-Cuntries, in which they had lived, was thought most requisite to be performed by the magistrate, as being a civill thing, upon which many questions aboute inheritances doe depende, with other things most proper to their cognizans, and most consonante to ye scripturs, Ruth 4. and no wher found in ye gospell to be layed on ye ministers as a part of their office. “This decree or law about mariage was published by ye Stats of ye Low-Cuntries Ano: 1590. That those of any religion, after lawfull and open publication, coming before ye magistrats, in ye Town or Stat-house, were to be orderly (by them) maried one to another.” (Bradford)
Susanna Winslow was one of only four adult women to have survived to see the ‘First Thanksgiving’ at Plymouth that autumn.
Susanna Winslow was the First Lady of Plymouth Colony (on three occasions).
Josiah Winslow, son of Edward and Susanna became governor of the Plymouth Colony in 1673 (the first native-born governor of any of the American colonies). In one of his early administrative actions, he established the first public school in the colony. Susanna became the mother of the first native-born governor of any of the American colonies.

Click the following link to a general summary about Winslows and Whites:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Winslows-and-Whites.pdf

February 13, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Happy Valentines Day !!! (Tomorrow)

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness – and call it love – true love.” Robert Fulghum

Heart-in-rock-of-Écrins-mountain-French-Alps

Heart-Shaped-Hole-Near-Hampi-Karnataka-south-India

Heart of mangrove trees in New Caledonia

cats-heart-shape-with-tail-perfect-timing

adventure-journal-hearts-in-nature-rock-2-aislinnv

adventure-journal-hearts-in-nature-leafe-ice-Giannis-Pitarokilis

adventure-journal-hearts-in-nature-lake-Petras-Kudaras

adventure-journal-hearts-in-nature-hole-in-rock-SS

February 12, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kālaiʻāina

Early on, with the family unit being the socio-political structure, there was no need for a hierarchical or complex society. However, as the population increased and wants and needs increased in variety and complexity, the need for chiefly rule became apparent.

Eventually, a highly stratified society evolved consisting of the Ali‘i (ruling class,) Kahuna (priestly and expert class of craftsmen, fishers and professionals) and Makaʻāinana (commoner class.)

The concept of private ownership of property did not exist in Hawaiʻi. The Kings were the sovereign owners of all of the land which was in turn controlled by the aliʻi nui or high chiefs and tended or farmed by the kanaka or commoners. (RE3)

Laws and rules, called kapu, were created to prohibit abuse of resources, both to the land and ocean. The kapu prohibited certain practices in order to preserve scarce or limited resources. In this system everyone was entitled to a share of what was produced from the soil or taken from the sea. (RE3)

Over the centuries, the Islands weren’t unified under single rule. Leadership sometimes covered portions of an island, sometimes covered a whole island or groups of islands. Island rulers, Aliʻi or Mōʻī, typically ascended to power through warfare and familial succession.

At the period of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

There were family connections of these four to Kamehameha; the death of Kiwalaʻo; the “Four Kona Uncles” (Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa (the last two are twins and are depicted on the Hawaiian Coat of Arms;)) permission from Kalola to marry her granddaughter (after the defeat of Maui) and how Kamehameha secured his “unification” by “sharing the spoils” of the conquests and “braided the bloodlines;” eventually leading to the agreement with Kaumualiʻi. (Yardley)

In Hawaiʻi, as in other parts of the world, control of the ʻāina has long been recognized as the basis for sovereignty. This was especially true in traditional Hawaiian society before Kamehameha united the islands. At that time, the ultimate control of all ʻāina was vested in the mō’ī of each island, as he or she was the paramount Chief. (Kameʻeleihiwa)

Control of ʻāina is not the same as ownership of ʻāina, in the Western capitalist sense. In traditional Hawaiian society, ʻāina was given from one person to another, but was never bought or sold.

If in Hawaiian metaphor, all ʻāina and products of the ʻāina – in fact life itself – proceed from the Akua, then “ownership” of the ʻāina and all wealth emanating from the ʻāina rightfully belong to those Akua from whom they proceed. (Kameʻeleihiwa)

Kālaiʻāina (the carving/distribution of land) by the mōʻī was practiced not only upon conquest, but traditionally at the peaceful ascension of a new mōʻī. (Klieger)

After selecting lands for himself, the King allotted the remaining to the warrior Chiefs who rendered assistance in his conquest. These warrior Chiefs, after retaining a portion for themselves, reallotted the remaining lands to their followers and supporters.

However, no one owned the land and at death a parcel or unit was returned to the overseer for redistribution. Essentially, the king could distribute land to anyone he wanted if he so chose. (RE3)

The distribution of lands was all on a revocable basis. What the superior gave, he was able to take away at his pleasure. This ancient tenure was in nature feudal, although the tenants were not serfs tied to the soil – they were allowed to move freely from the land of one Chief to that of another.

A process for formal individual “ownership” of the land followed a transition over the years. In 1839 the Bill of Rights of the Hawaiian Islands was enacted which guaranteed that people’s lands would not be taken from them.

In 1840, the first Constitution of Hawai`i was enacted. This constitution made it clear that people had an interest in land greater than that of the bounty and produce of the land.

In 1845, the Land Commission was created in Hawaiʻi by Kamehameha III to award land claims. Then, in 1848, the Māhele (land division) occurred with the King and 245 aliʻi and konohiki came together to divide the land.

Each māhele was in effect a quitclaim agreement between the King and a Chief or Konohiki with reference to the lands in which they both claimed interests. For the lands set aside for the Chief or Konohiki, the King signed an agreement: “I hereby agree that this division is good. The lands above written are for (name of Chief or Konohiki); consent is given to take it before the Board of Commissioners to Quiet Land Titles.”

The Māhele itself did not convey title to land. The high Chiefs and the lesser Konohiki were required to present their claims before the Land Commission to receive awards for the lands. With an award, the person was still required to pay commutation to the government, in cash or by surrender of equally valuable lands (set at one third of the value of the unimproved land.)

In the Māhele of 1848, of the approximate 10,000 awards, around 1,000,000-acres were reserved by King Kamehameha III as “Crown” lands, 1,500,000-acres were given by the King (as “Government” lands) to the ‘government and people’, approximately 1,500,000-acres were set aside for the Chiefs (as “Konohiki” lands) and less than 30,000-acres of land were awarded to the native tenants (Kuleana lands.)

February 11, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Train Robbery

The name, “Kekaha,” can be interpreted to mean “dry land” or an area near the shore that is not favorable for planting. The Kekaha region of Kauai has low annual rainfall and no permanent streams. Despite the low rainfall, early visitors to Oahu in the late 1700s indicate that the Kekaha area was well-populated.

Inhabitants manufactured cloth from wauke (Mulberry), and grew taro and sugarcane in the swampy ground. The perpetual swamplands of the plain apparently were greatly enlarged during periods of heavy winter rains.

A Chinese immigrant, Leong Pah On, began growing rice commercially in the 1860s in the drained swamplands of the area, eventually cultivating 600 acres throughout Mānā, Kekaha, and Waimea for rice production.

Pah On imported laborers from China to work the rice fields, presumably creating a significant Chinese population in the area. Rice cultivation continued until 1922 when the Kekaha Sugar Co. assumed ownership of the lands. (Cultural Surveys)

A railroad was constructed for the Kekaha Sugar Company in 1884, which ran from Waimea to the sugar mill at Kekaha. A visitor in described the main track:

“… They have engineers only – no firemen – no brakemen. No brakes on cars. Roads are dead level. We passed cane fields and grazing pastures all in sight of ocean – as our course was parallel to beach and one mile from it.” (Cultural Surveys)

The Kekaha Sugar Co. saw expansion after 1907 when the construction of the plantation’s major irrigation ditch was completed. Most of the cane was initially transported by flume.

By 1910 the plantation had 15 miles of permanent railroad track transporting cane from collection points to the mill and then transporting bags of sugar to the steamship landing at Waimea. In this timeframe the plantation employed approximately 1,000 people.

This railroad generated a deal of excitement in 1920, when it became site of the first and only train robbery to take place in the Hawaiian Islands.

“At the western most section of the Kekaha Sugar Co. were the fields in the Mānā area, which extended to the current location of the airfield at Barking Sands. The families working on these fields lived at Mānā Camp. Due to the distance of this camp from the main office at Kekaha, a paymaster, Mr. Asser, was sent to the camp each month.

On February 11, 1920, the pay for all of the workers, $11,000, was carried in individual envelopes by the paymaster, who rode on the plantation train. The tale of “The Great Train Robbery” was told by Philip Rice in the February 28, 1968 issue of the Garden Island:

“The locomotive proceeded towards the camp, passing through the high cane. At a place where a sharp curve or poor condition of the track necessitated a reduction in speed to about that at which a man could walk, a person completely clothed in the garb of a cane loader stepped forth from the tall cane. Over his face was a part of an old towel with eye holes cut in it. …”

“He pointed a revolver at Mr. Asser and the locomotive engineer, ordered the locomotive stopped and that they dismount. The two complied, and the holdup man boarded the locomotive, started it, and proceeded toward Mānā Camp, quite a distance beyond and out of sight of the holdup point…”

“When the robbery was discovered, a search was made where the locomotive had been abandoned. A trail of tabi (footwear of heavy blue denim) prints extended makai toward the swamp near the coast at Kekaha.”

“A helpful local fisherman named Kaimiola Hali, who sold his fish to the workers at Mānā camp on their paydays, helped in the search. When the tabi prints led into the peninsula swamp near Hali’s house, he cautioned the men not to go into the swamp since it was too deep.”

“The sheriff became suspicious of the man when he saw him try to obliterate one of the prints. The sheriff returned to the area and entered the swamp. A few feet from the end of the peninsula, he found a large lard can with several pay envelopes, containing all but $250 of the stolen money.”

“The sheriff then went to Hali’s house and collected evidence and testimony pointing to Hali as the robber, including wet tabis hanging up to dry that exactly matched the tabi prints in the swamp. An exhausting trial was then conducted, and Hali was found guilty…”

“In the trial, it came out that Hali often went to the theater at Mānā, which showed westerns, especially those that depicted outlaws and train robberies. It has been suggested that these films inspired Mr. Hali to commit the crime.” (Rice, TGI)

Judge W.C. Achi Jr. sentenced Kaimiola Hali, on May 20, 1920 to not less than three years, nor more than 20 years, in prison. (Soboleski)

In 1938 a Honolulu Advertiser article stated that Kekaha Sugar Co. was the most valuable single piece of property in the Territory. The railroad system was eliminated in 1947 when trucks were utilized for hauling sugarcane to the mill. (Cultural Surveys)

In 1983 Kekaha Sugar employed about 400 people and produced 54,819 tons of sugar. In 1994 Amfac/JMB consolidated many functions of Kekaha Sugar and Lihue Plantation as a cost-cutting measure. Kekaha Sugar mill closed in 2000. (Lots of information here is from Cultural Surveys.)

February 10, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamakahelei

Captain James Cook’s crew first sighted the Hawaiian Islands in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778. His two ships, the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, were kept at bay by the weather until the next day when they approached Kauai’s southeast coast.

Cook sailed along the coast searching for a suitable anchorage. His two ships remained offshore, but a few Hawaiians were allowed to come on board on the morning of January 20, before Cook continued on in search of a safe harbor. On the afternoon of January 20, 1778, Cook anchored his ships near the mouth of the Waimea River on Kauai’s southwestern shore.

At the time of Cook’s arrival, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Of the four, Kamakahelei was the only woman.

Kamakahelei was the “queen of Kauai and Niʻihau, and her husband was a younger brother to Kahekili, while she was related to the royal family of Hawaiʻi. Thus, it will be seen, the reigning families of the several islands of the group were all related to each other, as well by marriage as by blood. So had it been for many generations. But their wars with each other were none the less vindictive because of their kinship, or attended with less of barbarity in their hours of triumph.” (Kalākaua)

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.” (Kalākaua)”

The occupation of the Hana district of Maui by the kings of Hawaii had been the cause of many stubborn conflicts between the chivalry of the two islands, and when Captain Cook first landed on Hawaii he found the king of that island absent on another warlike expedition to Maui, intent upon avenging his defeat of two years before, when his famous brigade of eight hundred nobles was hewn in pieces.” (Kalākaua)

“The native historians all say that on the night that Cook’s ships anchored at Waimea, a grand council was held at the house of Kamakahelei, the highest chiefess on the island, and the actual hereditary sovereign of that part of Kauai, when some proposed to seize the ships by force and run them ashore for the sake of the plunder that would be obtained …”

“… while others of a more pacific or more timid mind proposed to propitiate the newcomers – whom, or rather whose captain, they in some confused manner connected with the old and distorted legend of Lono – with presents and with the charms of their women.” (Fornander)

“The latter advice was acted on, and hogs, vegetables, kapa, and women were sent on board, and among the latter was Kamakahelei’s own daughter, Lelemahaalani; and during the last generation of Hawaiians it was openly said, and never contradicted, that that night Lelemahoalani slept with Lono (Cook.)” (Fornander)

Surgeon Ellis, who was part of Cook’s crew, stated in 1779 that Kamakahelei “was short and lusty, about 40 years of age, and very plain with respect to person.” That would make Kamakahelei’s birth around 1739.

Kamakahelei was the only daughter of High Chief Kaumeheiwa (the son of High Chief Lonoikahaupu and High Chiefess Kamuokaumeheiwa) and his wife, High Chief Kaʻapuwai (possibly the daughter of Peleioholani, 22nd Alii ʻAimoku of Oahu and 21st Alii ʻAimoku of Kauai.)

Kamakahelei succeeded Peleioholani as the Aliʻi of Kauai.

Kamakahelei was believed to possess a secret, most powerful and sacred prayer, greatly feared throughout Hawai‘i, called the “Aneekapuahi,” which could cause an enemy’s immediate incineration – it was feared throughout the Islands.

Kamakahelei’s first husband was Kaneoneo (Peleʻioholani’s grandson.) With Kaneoneo, Kamakahelei had two daughters, one of whom, Kapuaʻamohu, became one of the wives of Kaumualiʻi and grandmother of Queen Kapiʻolani.

Her husband’s father, Kūmahana, was desposed by the ʻEwa chiefs who replaced him with Kahahana, who would become the last king of Oʻahu. Kaneoneo died during the rebellion on Oʻahu against Kahekili about 1785-6.

At the time of Cook’s visit, Kamakahelei had another husband, the celebrated Kāʻeokūlani ((Kāʻeo) younger brother of Kahekili, Mōʻi of Maui.)

With Kāʻeokūlani, Kamakahelei had a son Kaumualiʻi. Kaumualiʻi was born at Holoholokū Heiau in Wailua. (Like its counterpart Kūkaniloko heiau in Wahiawa, Oʻahu, these royal birthing sites maintained the antiquity and purity of the chiefly lineages on O‘ahu and Kauai. It is said that chiefs from Hawai‘i Island and Maui often sought greater prestige by marrying those with these strong ancestral lineages.)

Her second husband, Kāʻeokūlani, died on Oʻahu in 1794, but the time of her own death has not been remembered, but it probably occurred shortly after that of Kāʻeo. (Fornander)

At his mother’s death, Kaumualiʻi became the sovereign of Kauai, and, though young in years, appears from all descriptions to have been a prince of remarkable talents and a most amiable temper. (Fornander)

In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, at Pākākā on Oʻahu, negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha I took place and Kaumualiʻi yielded to Kamehameha. The agreement marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the islands.