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September 5, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 049 – December 10, 1819

December 10, 1819 – Heavy showers of rain have filled our empty water casks. Much thunder and lightening. It is thought by the officers that the lightning has once passed down the conductor. Happy for us the Brig is furnished with a lightning rod, tho’ too small, and too short to reach from top gallant mast to a sufficient depth in the water. (Thaddeus Journal)

10th. N. Lat. between 2 and 3 degrees. The equinoctial storms, which have prevailed for two or three days past, have rendered out situation very uncomfortable, though the water we catch is very useful. Furing these storms we have had much thunder and lightning; a flash has run down the lightning rod, but no essential injury has been done.
Good is Jehovah, in bestowing sunshine
Nor less his goodness in the storm and thunder,
Mercies and judgments, both proceed from kindness,
Infinite kindness. (Samuel & Nancy Ruggles)

Dec 10. Four two days past it has been extremely hot. Today we have had much rain, with heavy thunder and lightning. One flash struck the main-top-mast but without any essential injury. It is a little cooler, but remains uncomfortably warm, which much depresses my spirits. Probably my dear friends are gathering around a large fire and shivering with the cold, while I am experiencing the reverse. The weather is similar to the warmest and most sultry days in August. We are now about three or four degrees north Latitude. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

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September 4, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 050 – December 11, 1819

December 11, 1819 – no entry. (Thaddeus Journal)

Sabbath – 11th.
A calm and pleasant morning; had religious exercises in the cabin, and in the evening public services on deck. Brother T’s text, Be not conformed to this world. Alas^ what are the honors and pleasures- of the world, which soon pass away. Daily experience teaches me more & more that this earth cannot afford any solid peace of rest to the immortal mind. Since called from my maternal abode I have felt myself in a peculiar sense a wanderer; no where at home.-
Oh when shall I see Jesus
And dwell with him above
And from that flowing fountain,
Drink everlasting love! (Samuel & Nancy Ruggles)

Dec. 11. We have caught some fresh water, and I have attempted to wash a little. I find it very difficult to do much on board a vessel. I have reason to be thankful, that so much of my work was accomplished previous to sailing, and that necessity obliges me to do no more while here. This is likewise rather in unfavourable situation, to make much progress in study. But I hope we may improve our time and such a manner that at the end of our voyage we may have no occasion to say, it has been misspent. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

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September 4, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Carl Smith

On December 2, 1897, Carl Smith and Nelle Wood married in Atlantic, Iowa; later that month they left aboard the ‘Martha Davis’ from San Francisco and arrived in the Islands on December 27, 1897; Carl was 27 and his new bride was 26.

Carl was born September 4, 1870 in Cambridge, Vermont, son of Edward Charles and Marilla (Derby) Smith, and studied at the public schools of San Jose, California.

He attended the University of California and Stanford University and gained a law degree from Northwestern University in 1896.

He arrived in Honolulu in 1897, where he was associated with the law firm of Kinney & Ballou until June, 1898, when he moved to Hilo.

In Hilo he was associated in the practice of law with various partners, including D. H. Hitchcock and Charles F . Parsons. He had been in the private practice of law for many years, his two sons Wendell and Merrill joining him in 1920, and his grandson, Donn, joined the staff in 1953.

Along the way, Hawaii law allowed and defined a process for people to change their name.

Section 2350 of the Revised Laws of Hawaii was amended to read: “It shall not be lawful to change any name adopted or conferred under this Chapter, except upon a decree of the Governor …”

“… which decree shall be founded upon the petition of the person desirous of changing his or her name and shall be published for at least four consecutive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in the Territory of Hawaii in such decree mentioned.” (Approved April 17, 1907, Governor GR Carter)

Carl sought to change his.

Notices for “the Matter of the Petition of Carl Schurz Smith for Change of Name” were published in the newspaper Dec. 12, 19, 26 (1911), Jan. 2, 12 (1912).

Those notices stated that Governor Walter F Frear “ordered and decreed that the name of Carl Schurz Smith hereby is changed to Carl Schurz Carlsmith”. (Hawaiian Star, December 19, 1911)

Implementation of the name change had its challenges …

“When Governor Frear left behind him the palmless shores of Makapuu point and proceeded towards the Golden Gate it was in full possession of the fact that when a man changes his name all public documents of which he might be a signer must have attached to them a certified copy of the change.”

“But it was with an equally profound ignorance of the fact that this important change had been effected in the landscape of Hilo that Secretary Mott-Smith assumed the duties of the acting Governor.”

“Upon taking his seat in the executive chamber and calling for the memo book he was first accosted by his gentlemanly and unobtrusive secretary who, pushing a broad sheet of parchment before him, designated a certain spot upon it and remarked.”

Name changing has consequences … “‘Sign here,’ please, The First National Bank of Squedunkport, in which Mr. Carl S. Carlsmith of Hilo has a small deposit, requires a certified copy of the change in his name. Thank you.’”

And gazing upon the extra fanciful chirographic specimen which designated Mr. Mott-Smith’s first official act, he passed out. But, alas, about this time the first national banks, and the second national banks and the other banks throughout the country as well as other Institutions who do business with Mr. Carlsmith began to clamor for official explanations.”

“Within a week Mr. Mott-Smith’s hair was standing straighter up and his signature was slanting further over and his profanity gradually rose from plain mush to the expressive buckwheats of yesterday.”

“This was occasioned by no less a fact that following the acting-Governor jubilation Monday over the completion of the deal for the land for the Hilo wharf in which Mr. Carlsmith was the other party …”

“… the private secretary yesterday presented to him a parchment which was to assure all future generations that the name which Mr. Carlsmith appended to the wharf agreement was a true and certified copy of the proclamation on file in the Governor’s office.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 31, 1912)

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Carl Smith birth notation 1870

September 3, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Sailing to Waialua

French sea captain Auguste Dehaut-Cilly made round-the world travels between 1826 and 1829; all of the following is from his account of the Islands following his trip from California to Hawai‘i, in 1828.

“In Honolulu I traded what remained of the cargo in exchange for sandalwood. Stowing this wood on board is a long and careful task if one is to make full use of the space.”

“After ballasting the ship to a sixth of its tonnage, one begins stowing at both ends, stacking together the pieces of equal length, even under the deck, and then forcing into each stack as many other pieces as possible, driving them in with a mallet.”

“While this work was proceeding on board the Heros, I accepted the invitation of the English consul to make a short trip to the north of the island in a small schooner that belonged to him and was going to obtain sandalwood in a place called Waialua.”

“We left at three in the afternoon, and in order to double Koko Head and the eastern part of the island, we tacked until noon the next day when, finding ourselves sufficiently to windward, we let the ship falloff northwest toward our destination.”

“For some while the chain of mountains that appears to traverse the island from east to west and falls away on the side of Honolulu to form a number of fine valleys appeared from the north as a steep wall hemming in a plain of two or three leagues in width and stretching from this barrier to the edge of the sea.”

“But soon the mountains turning abruptly to the north, advanced to the water, leaving only a very small space between themselves and the shore, where a great number of huts stood everywhere.”

“We were less than a mile at sea, ranging along the coast in somber and rainy weather. The setting sun, about to go down on the opposite side of the mountain, left in the shade all that we could see. It is hardly possible to imagine anything more imposing than the spectacle before us that moment.”

“Three massive shapes, suspended over our heads, were composed of fearsome precipices, one towering over the other, of impenetrable forests rising in great steps above other forests, dark chasms of frightful depth, steep and slippery slopes, bare wet rocks mingling their dark color with the somber green of the old trees.”

“High and gleaming cascades, after descending for hundreds of yards, threw themselves onto the tree tops, where they burst into foam only to reunite and fall again until some fissure in the rocks provided a channel for a gentler descent to the sea”

“ If I add that the progress of the ship was continuously changing and varying the scene for us, the reader may form an idea of this spectacle”

“But one must see it with one’s own eyes, see the heavy clouds, now motionless over the forests that they drench with their showers, now eddying swiftly, rising and falling at the will of the wind that was whirling around behind the mountains.”

“One must see this turbulent chaos of clouds, moving, dissipating, and reappearing in different form as the ship advances if one is to sense how magical and mysterious was this scene to us.”

“In the far distance the mountains opened up as if some great hand had torn them apart; narrow valleys, well peopled, wound among the openings.”

“A large number of fishing canoes could be seen close to us. And we called to one of these light craft for a pilot to show us the port of Waialua (place of two streams).”

“The pilot pointed it out, several miles ahead, and we lost no time in entering through the wide opening in the reef, where we found no less than four fathoms of water.”

“It was almost dark when we went ashore and were received by the village chief, who invited us to sup with him ad sleep in his house.”

“We had some provisions brought from on board along with some bottles of wine, and these we added to the excellent fish that he served.”

“Although the house was very large it barely sufficed to hold the numerous guests who were gathered there, for we were no fewer than forty men and women under this hospitable roof.”

“I and my companion, the English consul, stretched ourselves out on mats as did the others, but the night was far advanced before we could sleep.”

“In addition to the insects, flying, jumping and crawling, that tormented us, the chief, after reciting a Christian prayer in the language of the country, kept up a conversation with several others.”

“Although I did not understand a word, this eternal colloquy held me awake for a long time.”

“Even the sleep was not peaceful; with my imagination overwhelmed by the grandiose and sublime spectacle of the mountains, I dreamed that I was pursued by a torrent and took refuge under an overhanging rock that then broke loose and collapsed on me.”

“Awakening with a start, I found on my chest the two heels of a fat Sandwich Islander, my neighbor on the bed, who sept profoundly in that position and who had been the cause of my nightmare.”

”Day was breaking. Taking my gun I went for a walk, intending to shoot some birds, but could not reach the base of the mountains; the entire landscape was cut into a labyrinth of taro fields separated by slippery dikes covered with high, wet grass and difficult to walk on without tumbling into the muddy ponds.Z”

“After killing only a few plover and a duck, I returned to the port. Our little schooner was loaded early, and in the evening we set
sail for Honolulu.”

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Waialua-moku-ahupuaa-GoogleEarth

September 3, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 051 – December 12, 1819

December 12, 1819 – Enjoyed public worship. Br. T. preached. Rom. 12:2. “Be not conformed to this world.”
Lat. 2. 25. Lon. (Thaddeus Journal)

Dec. 12th. A calm and peaceful sabbath—hope GOD has caused it to be a good one to my soul. Went upon deck as the sun was coming up from the water, all was tranquil and serene. My soul Icaaged to shake off its slumbers with the shades of the night, and hail the beams of the Sun of Righteousness as mine eyes rejoice in the beams of the natural sun gilding the surface of the great deep. But I did not seem to awake. The spirit sympathised with the languid form, and I went to our social conference, at ten, in the cabin, feeling that, so low were my attainments, so languid my best affections.
“Earth was a tiresome place.” Then was read from Heb. what the inspired writer says of the “Rest” which remaineth for the children of GOD—was sung, the hymns, “Lord, what a wretched land is this,”—”There is a land of pure delight.” Brother T— concluded with prayer, blessing God that in our pilgrimage we were allowed to be comforted with truths such as we had been contemplating. The season was to me a melting one—thought I did feel through the hymn and prayers, that the language I could make my own.
At twelve assembled on deck for public worship. I felt that I had a favored hour, while before us was set the base ingratitude of the heart. Mr. B— addressed us from these words, “What could I have done more for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes.” 0, may it not prove to be seed snatched away out of my heart, or others that heart I Lord, revive thy vineyard here. Thou mightest say, cut it down, destroy the hedges and let it lie waste. But, 0, thou covenant keeping GOD, spare we beseech thee—give not thy heritage to reproach.
Tho thou hast done much for us, yet breathe again upon us, and we shall live. Where else shall we look for help? Thou hast given us a high commission—art sending us forth with it to make proclamation to the heathen? but, O, we langninh, we faint;—give strength Divine Master, or we die. We look for help in ourselves, but ’tis not there—we cast our eyes around, hut find it not: blessed be thy name thou tellest us where to look—thou sayest, “Look unto me.” Lord, incline our hearts to and we shall. 0, that as in earnest that thou wilt indeed show us favor in our great work, not withstanding our ingratitude, let us, I beseech thee, have thy Spirit here, to quicken our own souls, and to bring these thoughtless souls, of this ship’s company, to bow at the footstool of the cross, and, deeply humbled under a sense of guilt, to rejoice in redeeming love. Thou hast said, all things are possible to him that believeth. Faith is thy gift. For the Redeemer’s sake may it be bestowed upon us all. Make the hearts of thy children in our dear native land to rejoice in the intelligence that GOD is indeed with us for good, granting their requests in giving us those that sail with us. (Sybil Bingham)

Dec. 12. We have enjoyed in a special blessing, a calm and pleasant Sabbath. Had a social prayer meeting in the cabin, and public worship on deck. Brother Thurston preached from Rom. 12, 2, “Be not conformed to this world.” I long to be crucified to the world and alive to God. O that I could feel more active in his service. Conformity to the world in the professed followers of Christ is what I greatly disapprove, and yet it is a sin of which I frequently feel guilty. O that I could feel more sensibly the right of responsibility that devolves upon me, and be enabled to live more devoted to Him whose cause I have expoused, and in whose service I expect to spend my days. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

12 – The Sabbath reminds me of the privileges I have enjoyed at college. Thought I should like to have heard Mr. Fitch today; but we have had a good sermon from Brother T. on the words, ‘be not conformed to this world.’ (Samuel Whitney Journal)

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