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Day 115 – February 14, 1820

February 14, 1820 – no entry. (Thaddeus Journal)

Feb 14. I arose this morning at an early hour and went on deck. The sea was calm and wrap unruffled; the weather similar to that of may, though the immediate rays of the sun were much more intense. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

14. – This day I have spent in humiliation fasting & prayer. Have had some ardent breathings after entire devotedness to God. I long to be more dead to the world & alive in Christ. What are the vanities of earth that they should thus engross my affections? If I possess the wealth of India I would spend it & my life too in spreading the Gospel of Jesus. (Samuel Whitney Journal)

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Kamehameha V Cottage

Prince Lot Kapuāiwa, who later became Kamehameha V, owned a cottage in an area now known as Moanalua Gardens next to a kalo patch, a fishpond and Chinese Hall.  Moanalua Gardens is a 24-acre privately-owned public park in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The cottage, built during the 1850s, is a single-story wooden structure laid out in Hawaiian style with a Victorian motif.

The building is comprised of three separate units: a cooking and eating unit; a living and sleeping unit; and an entertaining pavilion (this third unit is a post-Kamehameha V addition). The units are all attached to each other by a series of roofed lanai.

The exterior wall of the center building is made of clapboard whereas that of the dining and kitchen hall is made of board and batten.

The exterior trim is of Victorian Gingerbread (the cresting), accenting each of the different roof styles of the units (gable, simple shed, hip, and domelike roofs). The single unifying factor of the roof in the overall building is the consistent use of wooden shingles.

The original cottage (the center unit) was very simple with minimal ornamentation. The revival of hula performances may have had some influence on the construction as the original cottage had a lanai that completely surrounded the building where hula could have been performed for invited guests.

In 1856, Prince Lot built the kitchen and dining unit as a separate building using tongue-and-groove material with vertical molded battens over the joints.

Lot Kapuāiwa, four years older than his brother Kamehameha IV, ascended to the throne at his brother’s death in 1863.  Like his brother, he ruled for nine years (1863 to 1872.)

In 1864, when it appeared that a new constitution could not be agreed upon, he declared that the Constitution of 1852 be replaced by one he had written himself.

Kamehameha V (Lot) founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha I on April 11, 1865, in commemoration of his grandfather Kamehameha the Great.

The stated purpose of the order was “to cultivate and develop, among our subjects, the feelings of honor and loyalty to our dynasty and its institutions and … to confer honorary distinctions upon such of our subjects and foreigners as have rendered,  or may hereafter render to our dynasty and people, important services.”

Known as “the bachelor king,” Lot Kamehameha did not name a successor, which led to the invoking of the constitutional provision for electing kings of Hawai`i.

Under the Kingdom’s 1864 constitution, if the king did not appoint a successor, a new king would be elected by the legislature from the eligible Hawaiian royals still alive. William Charles Lunalilo and David Kalākaua were the candidates; Lunalilo was the more popular of the two.

The property was transferred to Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last of the Kamehameha line.  She willed (in 1884) the ahupua‘a (land division) of Moanalua to Samuel Mills Damon.

In the 1900s, Damon renovated the cottage and used it as a residence.  In 1961, lattice work around the building was added, and around 1972-1973, a new shingled roof was installed.

The building has been situated at three different Moanalua sites since its original construction. It was moved to its present location in 1960.

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Hawaiʻi Theatre

The Hawaii Theatre is celebrating its 90th anniversary.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its excellent architectural and interior design, craftsmanship, and detailing.

The theater is a rare example of eclectic architecture that was relatively common to this area of Honolulu prior to World War II.

The theater, historically, had two primary functions. During its early years it was both a live center for the performing arts and a motion picture theater, its dual uses gradually shifted, and in later years it functioned solely as a motion picture theater.

In March, 1920, the Honolulu architectural firm of Emory and Webb was commissioned to do the design plans. On June 9, 1921, a construction contract was awarded to Pacific Engineering Company, another Hawaiian company.

Official opening of the theater was held on September 6, 1922, and was attended by Governor Wallace R. Farrington and members of the Territorial government, and members of social circles.

It is the oldest theater still remaining in Honolulu and the State of Hawaiʻi that was originally planned, built and used as a legitimate theater and concert hall.

Great pride was expressed that “the finest theater in Honolulu…is a home product.”

“Honolulu is to be congratulated on what is being done for the entertainment of its residents and visitors. It has now a most attractive and well conducted amusement place in Aloha Park and its new Hawaii Theater is as if one of the best and most attractive from the white light district of New York had been carried bodily across the continent and out into the Pacific to the Paradise of the Pacific.”  (Maui News, October 3, 1922)

The theater was built at a cost of a half million dollars and was ranked with the most modern theaters in America for that period.

It was equipped with air conditioning, indirect lighting, a fire/emergency exit system, wicker chairs in the balcony and a seating capacity for 1,726 persons, and was the largest and the first modern theater in the Territory of Hawaiʻi.

The Hawaii Theatre is situated at the southwest corner of the intersection of South Pauahi and Bethel Streets in Downtown Honolulu and abuts the Chinatown Historical District.

The Hawaii Theatre opened as a showplace for vaudeville, silent films, plays, musicals, and Hawaiian entertainments. It slowly evolved into a plush movie palace until it fell on hard times in the 1970s, when Waikīkī became the entertainment destination for locals and tourists alike.

In the 1980s, concerned citizens banded together around the mission to preserve and restore the Hawaii Theatre and formed the Hawaii Theatre Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that owns and operates the historic Hawaii Theatre.

The Hawaii Theatre hosts approximately 100,000 patrons annually showcasing the finest in local, national, and international entertainments.

Each year the Hawaii Theatre Educational Programming Project reaches thousands of Hawaii’s children through programming geared specifically for student matinee performances. The Hawaii Theatre Center SHOWTIME! Student matinee series has drawn thousands of students to the historic theatre to experience the wonders of performance.

In 2005 the League of Historic America Theatres named it the “Outstanding Historic Theatre in America”; in 2006 the National Trust for Historic Preservation gave Hawaii Theatre its highest “Honor Award” for national preservation; and in 2006 the Hawaii Better Business Bureau presented its “Torch Award for Business Ethics” to the Hawaii Theatre Center, the first small nonprofit to receive that award.

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Hawaii-Theatre-(HawaiiTheatre-com)-circa-late-30s
HawaiiTheatre-Night-(HawaiiTheatre-com)-1946
HawaiiTheatre-(HawaiiTheatre-com)-1941
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Hawaii-Theatre-(HawaiiTheatre-com)_circa-early-30s
Hawaii-Theatre-(HawaiiTheatre-com)-circa-1960s
Hawaii-Theatre-(HawaiiTheatre-com)-circa-late-20s-early-30s
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HawaiiTheatre-(NPS)-1977
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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 117 – February 16, 1820

February 16, 1820 – The hold has been opened and many articles put up by our friends for the mission examined. ‘Tis pleasant to have such testimonials of love to Christ and the heathen. Other testimonies of his love we desire to acknowledge and record, as comfortable health, a good measure of peace within and without and general properity. – Few changes of special note since doubling the Cape. (Thaddeus Journal)

Feb. 16th. This day our little comforts have been many. It was a pleasant morning. About the rising of the sun, the signal was given, on deck, immediately over our heads, for us to leave our berths, for free air above. The full-spread sails spoke our way prosperous, while the pleasant sun over the smooth waters, seemed to smile upon us. All were in motion. To use a seaman’s phrase, they had “broken out”,—that is, were drawing on deck, from the hold, a part of the various lading put in at the Wharf at Boston. This brought up a variety of things belonging to individuals and the Mission in general which none had seen before. Among them was a cask directed to Mr. B—, containing sundry articles, as a bundle for Sister R—, Dr. H—, etc. packed in Hartford. But what in that most interested me was a large bag of comfortable things from Bennington, put up with maternal feeling, and maternal kindness. Then Mr. B— could tell me of Mother and of home. Sweet names, and precious J There was dried beef, dried fruits of several kinds, something for medicine particularly desired on the voyage, etc. One trunk and box game heaped upon another, when the word was, “for the Mission, from Hopkins’ Academy that sound, I was over the lumber with as much life as i^ to meet a friend. My beloved Sophia presented herself, as it were, before me. The box was soon opened. The first thing taken hold of was a gown which I had seen her wear sufficiently to make her almost appear in it again. The little community all partook in my pleasure while none would lift up an article to be aired, but leave it for my hands; admiring the singular providence which had caused me, upon these distant waters of the Pacific, to be the one who should unpack what the hands of a dear sister and her pupils had, so recently, laid down for the dear Missionaries at Brainard. Their admiration was encreased when I told them of the remark made when they were put up.—After giving them the air we nailed the box up. And now, may the same gracious hand which inclined the hearts of my sister and her scholars, to provide these garments, incline the hearts of the wretched heathen to commit to us their now equally wretched children, to be clad in them; and, 0, may the day be at hand, when, from that distant land, those hearts which have been thus opened, shall be cheered with the glad tidings that the object of their benevolence are employing their tender voices in lisping the praises of Jesus, to whom the heathen are given for an inheritance. (Sybil Bingham)

Feb’y. 16th. We are now opposite the island of Juan Fernandes remarkable for having been the residence Robinson Crusoe. This has been a very busy and interesting day, have been employed in examining our trunks and boxes put up for the Mission. Opening a keg directed to Brother B., I discovered a bundle with a letter directed to me. I put out my hand to receive as it were fresh intelligence from my dear native land, after an absence of more than 16 weeks. On breaking the seal my heart was filled, with a grateful-sense of renewed obligations to friends, and to God as the author of all good, for this expression of kindness from dear sisters in Christ. Nothing short of an assimilation of feelings can make you realize my dear sisters, how closely you are entwined around my heart. Tears involuntarily burst from my eyes, when I saw your dear names, at the thought that I am to see you no more on earth. But if we are indeed the children of God our separation will be short, and our meeting endless and happy. May this consideration cheer our hearts while on the way and make us more watchful, prayerful, and useful in the world. The kindness of friends has already contributed much to my happiness, and I hope it will also promote my future usefulness among the heathen. I am confident after all you have done, you will not cease to present your devout supplications, in behalf of a far distant sister, who is now tossing upon the tumultuous ocean, with the prospect of becoming a stranger in a strange land, where all is moral darkness and desolation,
“But Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun,
Does his successive journies run,
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore
Till moons shall wax and wane no more”.
May this precious promise encourage and animate us, and God be glorified in the salvation of the heathen, which he will accomplish in his own time, and with the use of means of his own appointment. (Nancy Ruggles)

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