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February 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whippoorwill Expedition

“When the USS Whippoorwill left Honolulu at 5 o’clock on the afternoon of Thursday, July 24 (1924), carrying scientists who were to make a survey of the Line islands for the Bishop Museum, the vessel headed first to Fanning.”

“Halfway between the Hawaiian group and the atolls of the southern Pacific, the Line islands, coral-bound, are strewn on the bosom of an equatorial sea. Stepping-stones, as it were, up from the lazy latitudes.” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

Line Islands, chain of coral islands in the central Pacific Ocean, some of which belong to Kiribati and some of which are claimed as unincorporated territories belonging to the US

“There is Palmyra, the northernmost, where a man may joust with land crabs measuring 14 inches in diameter. There is Washington, the little paradise, which is as beautiful as any island in Polynesia.”

“There is Jarvis, the desolate; where the broken schooner Amaranth, tossed up nearly a dozen years ago, lies bleaching in the sun of endless days.”

“There is Christmas where, in company with native divers, one may wrest the bearing pearl shell from the coral bottom of the lagoon; where the pickled awa float, belly upwards, on the waters of an inland lake, and where the Bay of Wrecks on the reef-set, windward shore, offers convincing evidence, century-old.” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

The Navy Department assigned the minesweeper Whippoorwill, under Captain W. J. Poland, to survey the Line Islands; the first group left Honolulu on July 24, 1924.

The scientific personnel were under the leadership of Charles H. Edmondson, and the members of the group concentrated on zoology, botany, conchology, entomology, and geology.

Edmondson came to Hawaii in 1920 with a joint appointment as professor of zoology and director of the Marine Biology Laboratory of the newly constituted University and as zoologist at the Bishop Museum. (UH)

The second group, with C Montague Cooke, Jr., in charge of the scientific personnel, left Honolulu on September 15, 1924 and visited Baker and Howland Islands.

“‘We had three objectives,’” Dr Edmondson said, in explanation’ and they were Christmas, Jarvis and Washington. The scientific work on Fanning had been well covered by Sr Stanley C Ball and myself in 1922 and Palmyra had been investigated by other parties – Dr CM Cooke Jr, and Professor Joseph E Rock in 1913, and Lorrin A Thurston, ‘Ted’ Dranga and David Thaanum a couple of years ago.”

“Dranga went diving for pearl shell. … ‘I saw a couple of natives diving,’ he said, ‘and I jumped into a skiff and rowed out to them. … ‘Sharks? One must expect that. But we kept close to the boat. … No I didn’t find any pearls.’”

“‘Pearls are scarce and one might get hundreds of shells before finding a single one. Sharks add to the fun of pearl-diving,’ he admitted, ‘but I, for one, would have appreciated the sport a great deal more it there had been none of the beasts around.’” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

A good deal of material in the natural sciences and geology was collected, and the ensuing reports were published by Bishop Museum. Notes on and a location map of some archaeological remains on Howland were made for future study.

“(T)he navy boat docked at Honolulu at 9 o’clock on the evening of the twenty-seventh. Dor Edmondson announced that the expedition had been a conspicuous success.”

“‘The real research work will take a long time, Edmondson concluded, ‘but it is certain that every collection we made will give us a clearer insight into the distribution of plant and marine forms in the Pacific and will aid, ultimately, in the solution of the problem of the origin and migrations of the Polynesians.’” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

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Landing at Washington Island, from the Whippoorwill Expedition-PP-46-2-001

Whippoorwill_(AT-O–169)

Location-of-the-five-US-Line-and-Phoenix-Islands-PRIA

February 11, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Haystack Prayer Meeting

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions had its beginning in the revivals at the end of the eighteenth, and the beginning of the nineteenth century.

During the latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth century several missionary societies were formed in the United States.

Back then, Williamstown was a frontier village, similar in many respects to any western village of the last half century, composed of men with patriotic hopes and daring wills.”

Twelve years after the incorporation of Williams College in 1793, the Second Great Awakening spread from its origins in Connecticut to Williamstown, Massachusetts. Enlightenment ideals from France were gradually being countered by an increase in religious fervor, first in the town, and then in the College. (Williams College)

In the spring of 1806, Samuel J. Mills, the 23-year old son of a Connecticut clergyman, joined the Freshman class. Mills, after a period of religious questioning in his late teens, entered Williams with a passion to spread Christianity around the globe. (Williams College)

He found the town and college under the influence of a great revival. Though felt but slightly in the college in 1805, in the summer of 1806 it was profoundly stirring men’s souls. Prayer-meetings by groups of students were being maintained zealously.

On Wednesdays, the men met south of West College beneath the willow trees. On Saturdays, the meetings were held north of the college buildings, beneath the maple trees in Sloan’s meadow. (The Haystack Centennial)

On a Saturday afternoon in August, 1806, five Williams College students, Congregationalists in background, gathered in a field to discuss the spiritual needs of those living in Asian countries. The five who attended were Samuel J. Mills, James Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byram Green.

The meeting was interrupted by the approaching storm. It began to rain; the thunder rolled with deafening sound familiar to those who dwell among the hills; the sharp quick flashes of lightning seemed like snapping whips driving the men to shelter.

They crouched beside a large haystack which stood on the spot now marked by the Missionary Monument. Here, partially protected at least from the storm, they conversed on large themes.

The topic that engaged their interest was Asia. The work of the East India Company, with which they were all somewhat acquainted, naturally turned their thoughts to the people with which this company sought trade.

Mills especially waxed eloquent on the moral and religious needs of these people, and afire with a great enthusiasm he proposed that the gospel of light be sent to those dwelling in such benighted lands

All but Loomis responded to this inspiration of Mills. Loomis contended that the East must first be civilized before the work of the missionary could begin.

The others contended that God would cooperate with all who did their part, for He would that all men should be partakers of the salvation of Christ.

Finally at Mills’ word, ‘Come, let us make it a subject of prayer under the haystack, while the dark clouds are going and the clear sky is coming,’ they all knelt in prayer. (The Haystack Centennial)

‘The brevity of the shower, the strangeness of the place of refuge, and the peculiarity of their topic of prayer and conference all took hold of their imaginations and their memories.’ (Global Ministries)

The students were also influenced by a pamphlet titled ‘An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use means for the Conversion of the Heathen,’ written by British Baptist missionary William Carey.

After praying, these five young men sang a hymn together. It was then that Mills said loudly over the rain and the wind, ‘We can do this, if we will!’ (Williams College)

That moment changed those men forever. Many historians would tell you that all mission organizations in the US trace their history back to the Haystack Prayer Meeting in some way. Yes, these men turned the world upside down. And it all began in a prayer meeting under a haystack. (Southern Baptist Convention)

Though only two of the five Williams students at the Haystack Prayer meeting ever left the United States, the impact of their passion for missions is widespread.

Samuel Mills became the Haystack person with the greatest influence on the modern mission movement. He played a role in the founding of the American Bible Society and the United Foreign Missionary Society.

In 1808, Mills and other Williams students formed ‘The Brethren,’ a society organized to ‘effect, in the persons of its members, a mission to the heathen.’

Upon the enrollment of Mills and Richards at Andover Seminary in 1810, Adoniram Judson from Brown, Samuel Newall from Harvard, and Samuel Nott from Union College joined the Brethren.

Led by the enthusiasm of Judson, the young seminarians convinced the General Association of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts to form The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. (Williams College)

In June 1810, Mills and James Richards petitioned the General Association of the Congregational Church to establish the foreign missions. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formed with a Board of members from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

“The general purpose of these devoted young men was fixed. Sometimes they talked of ‘cutting a path through the moral wilderness of the West to the Pacific.’ Sometimes they thought of South America; then of Africa. Their object was the salvation of the heathen; but no specific shape was given to their plans, till the formation of the American Board of Foreign Missions.” (Worcester)

“The Board has established missions, in the order of time in which they are now named at Bombay, and Ceylon; among the Cherokees, Choctaws, and the Cherokees of the Arkansaw …” (Missionary Herald)

At this same time, in the Islands, a Hawaiian, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, made a life-changing decision – not only which affected his life, but had a profound effect on the future of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

‘Ōpūkaha’ia swam out to and boarded Brintnall’s ‘Triumph’ in Kealakekua Bay. After travelling to the American North West, then to China, they landed in New York in 1809. They continued to New Haven, Connecticut. ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn – seeking to be a student at Yale.

The Mills family invited ʻŌpūkahaʻia into their home. Later Mills brought ʻŌpūkahaʻia to Andover Theological Seminary, the center of foreign mission training in New England.

In October, 1816, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) decided to establish the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, for the instruction of youth like ʻŌpūkahaʻia.

By 1817, a dozen students, six of them Hawaiians, were training at the Foreign Mission School to become missionaries to teach the Christian faith to people around the world. Initially lacking a principal, Dwight filled that role from May 1817 – May 1818.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was being groomed to be a key figure in a mission to Hawai‘i, to be joined by Samuel Mills Jr. Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died at Cornwall on February 17, 1818, and several months later Mills died at sea off West Africa after surveying lands that became Liberia.

Edwin W Dwight is remembered for putting together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation), as a fundraiser for the Foreign Mission School. It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death, becoming a best-seller of its day.

Ōpūkaha’ia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

The coming of Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia and other young Hawaiians to the US, who awakened a deep Christian sympathy in the churches, moved the ABCFM to establish a mission at the Islands.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of ABCFM missionaries set sail from Boston on the Thaddeus to establish the Sandwich Islands Mission (now known as Hawai‘i). Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

Click HERE for more information on the Haystack Prayer Meeting.

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Haystack Prayer Meeting

Williams_College_-_Haystack_Monument

Thompson Memorial Chapel-Williams_College

February 10, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lighting Strikes Twice

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 when two New England ships became the first whaling ships to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands.

At that time, whale products were in high demand; whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.

In the early 19th century, whaling voyages often took two years or more.

George Pollard was captain of the Essex, a Nantucket whaling vessel that sank in 1821 after being rammed by a sperm whale in the South Pacific.

The Essex’s epic tale inspired Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby-Dick;” however, the author isn’t believed to have used Pollard as the basis for the book’s notorious Captain Ahab.

After the tragedy of the Essex, Captain George Pollard and other survivors endured a 95-day journey in small boats that resulted in sickness, starvation, and, ultimately, cannibalism. However, this dramatic experience was not the final chapter in Pollard’s career as a whaling captain.

Despite the Essex tragedy, Pollard was offered another captaincy soon after, this time of the Two Brothers; before departing, Pollard had said he believed “lightning never strikes in the same place twice.”

Such was not the case.

The Two Brothers set sail for the Pacific, leaving Nantucket on November 26, 1821. By winter 1822, the ship had rounded the tip of South America. The crew was on its way to newly discovered whaling grounds near Japan; she made her way around Cape Horn, then up the west coast of South America.

On the night of February 11, 1823, the Two Brothers hit a shallow reef at French Frigate Shoals (nearly six hundred miles northwest of Honolulu in what is now the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.)

The ship broke apart in the heavy surf. Stunned by the disaster and by his horrible misfortune, Captain Pollard was reluctant to abandon the ship. The crew pleaded with their captain to get into the small boats, to which they clung for survival throughout the night.

The entire crew of Two Brothers was rescued by an accompanying ship, the Martha, and they headed back to Oʻahu.

In 2008, a team of NOAA maritime archaeologists made an exciting discovery at French Frigate Shoals. Following over three weeks of successful survey in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the team began to explore for new shipwreck sites at French Frigate Shoals using tow board surveys in an area near a historic anchorage.

Within minutes of the first tow, the divers spotted a large anchor in approximately 15-feet of water. The age and size of this anchor gave the impression that it was not simply left as a mooring in an anchorage.

After snorkeling around in the area, the team came across the first clue that this site was more than a lone anchor: a blubber pot set into a hole in the reef top. This discovery initiated a larger survey of the area, and soon two more was found.

At the time, researchers did not know the identity of the find. Three whaling ships, all American vessels, have been reported lost at French Frigate Shoals: the South Seaman, wrecked in 1859; the Daniel Wood, wrecked in 1867; and the Two Brothers.

It wasn’t until May of 2010 when a small team was able to return to the site that maritime archaeologists began to believe they were indeed looking at the scattered remains of the Two Brothers.

During the 2010 inspection, the team uncovered more tools of whaling on the seafloor, including four more whaling harpoon tips (for a total of five), four whaling lances, ceramics, glass, and a sounding lead (among dozens of other artifacts) all dating to an 1820s time period.

The preponderance of evidence suggested to the team that they were looking at the Two Brothers, the only American whaler lost at French Frigate Shoals in the 1820s.

Pollard gave up whaling, though he was just in his mid-30s, and returned to Nantucket, Mass., where he became a night watchman – a position of considerably lower status in the whaling town than captain.

This and other American whaling ships lost in Papahānaumokuākea are the material remains of a time when America possessed over 700 whaling vessels and over one fifth of the United States whaling fleet may have been composed of Pacific Islanders.

The whaling shipwreck sites in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands help tell this part of Hawaiian and Pacific history, and remind us about the way that this remote part of the United States is connected with small communities in New England half way around the world.

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A sketch by Thomas Nickerson depicting the attack and sinking of the ship Essex-(NOAA)

Two-Brothers-Ginger-Jar-(NationalGeographic)

Two-Brothers-Cooking-Pot-(NationalGeographic)

Two-Brothers-Blubber-Hook-(NationalGeographic)

Two-Brothers-Anchor-(NationalGeographic)

The sinking of the Essex was the inspiration for Melville’s Moby-Dick

Two_Brothers-(sott-net)

French_Frigate_Shoals-(NOAA)

Site plan of the southern section of the Two Brothers shipwreck site completed 2010-(NOAA)

February 9, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Grace Family

“Grace Brothers has come to be a strong entity in the building and development of Hawaii, but their early years were on a much more modest scale when John and Walter Grace started the business”.

“They were local boys whose father managed the Ben F Dillingham ranch in Nuʻuanu. When he was killed in a ranch accident, his widow, left with thirteen children and a small dairy, managed to carry on and educate all thirteen, two of whom were John and Walter Grace.”

In 1920, these two opened their doors primarily as suppliers of construction equipment and materials. They operated as factors of commission merchants.”

“That is, they represented factories as sales agents, made the sales as brokers, and manufacturers billed direct to the customer, paying a commission to the partnership.”

“The incorporated in 1931, and were located at 770 Ala Moana Blvd. The older brother, John, became president and motivating force for the new firm.”

“Everything from moving porpoises – to moving mountains, providing construction equipment and materials as well as paving and repairing the roads to get there – is the business of Grace Brothers, Ltd and its associate company Nanakuli Paving & Rock.”

“If a contractor requires cranes, bulldozers, backhoes, loaders, pumps, compressors, trac-drills, rollers, compactors and/or air tools – they have them for sale or rent, and operators are provided on the large equipment.”

“Unusual facet of the hauling business is the transportation of porpoises for Sea Life Park, when these sea-going mammals must go back to the sea for further schooling, or when they are newly caught and must be taken to their new home. The ‘taxi’ is a large flatbed Grace Brothers truck with hydraulic crane.”

“The stretcher-borne ‘passenger’, tranquilized if necessary, is hoisted into a container, packed with wet cloths for his protection and comfort and is taken to his destination”. (Advertiser, September 26, 1967)

The company continued to grow and eventually represented more than 50 agricultural, construction and industrial equipment manufacturers, distributing its products throughout the Pacific.

Prompted by statehood in 1959, the ensuing construction boom of the 1960s and the record number of tourists in the 1970s resulted in major airport and freeway construction in the islands.

Grace Brothers entered the paving industry at an opportune time in 1973, purchasing the paving operations and hot mix asphalt plants at Halawa and on Molokai from Nanakuli Paving and Rock Company.

In 1984, Grace Brothers acquired Pacific Concrete & Rock, a quarry and ready-mix operator on Oahu, and renamed the combined operations Grace Pacific Corporation.

The company expanded its product line to include the manufacturing of hot mix asphalt and the production of crushed basalt, limestone and sand aggregate. Operations grew with the establishment of hot mix asphalt plants and paving operations on Maui and the Big Island in 1988 and again with the purchase of the quarry on Molokai in 1994.

Recent acquisitions that have solidified Grace Pacific’s reputation as a leader in the paving industry include its purchase of Hawaiian Bitumuls Paving & Precast, a highly respected islandwide paver since the 1930s; …

… Niu Construction, a paving contractor on Kauai for the more than 25 years; and SUN Industries, a provider of roadway safety products and services. Grace Pacific continues to diversify its lines of business, featuring more construction services than ever before.

During its rise to the top of the paving industry, Grace Pacific has worked on virtually all of the streets and highways throughout the state of Hawaii.

Recent projects on Oahu include preventive maintenance work on Kamehameha and Nimitz Highways and innovative improvements on the Moanalua Freeway. On Maui, they resurfaced the Haleakala Crater Road and completed guardrail and shoulder improvements along Hana Highway.

On the Big Island, Grace Pacific has worked on Saddle Road and been involved with numerous large projects on Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Mamalahoa Highway.

Grace Pacific, the largest general contractor in Hawaii, was acquired by A&B in 2013; on August 19, 2013, Grace Pacific Corporation changed its name to Grace Pacific LLC. (Grace Pacific)

Hawai‘i born Dick Grace continues a different family tradition. He is son of Guy Grace and grandson of Grace Brothers’ co-founder John Grace. Dick Grace is credited with creating California’s first cult Cabernet.

In 1976, the former Marine and then stockbroker, bought some Napa Valley land and planted 1,100-grape vines on the front acre. By 2000, they had 3.5 acres of vines, which yields roughly 500 cases of wine annually.

Caymus bottled the first Grace vintage (1978) with a Caymus label, noting the Grace Family Vineyards (some suggest that was the beginning of the Caymus Special Selection). In the mid-1980s, they doubled the size of the vineyard and started their own production in 1987.

Hawaiian Bitumuls-1950

Grace_Pacific

In this 2010 file photo, Grace Pacific Corp. workers repave Wilder Avenue near Punahou Street. (Star-Advertiser archive)

Grace_Pacific

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Grace Family Vineyards

Grace Family label

Grace Family

February 8, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

French Colonial Exposition (1931)

“The first French empire died on the field of Waterloo in 1815. The Prussian troops and Parisian rebels ended the Second Empire in 1871.”

“But through these and other violent fluctuations in French political life, the real French Empire – the empire of her colonial possessions around the world – grew steadily throughout the nineteenth century.”

“After the first World War, France found herself in command of the most extensive colonial empire in the world: some 47 nations whose official language was French and whose governments were under some degree of obligation to France.”

“To bring these peoples together in the capital city in order to educate the French nation as to the importance of their colonies – this was the primary goal of the Exposition Coloniale et Internationale de Paris.” (Chandler) (It was held May 6 to November 15, 1931.)

“Hawaii’s exhibit at the French Colonial Exposition in Paris … proved to be a most popular feature of the exposition. It was visited by nearly 2,000,000 people who crowded the Hawaii Building so heavily at times that the doors had to be closed.”

“Local residents returning from Paris confirmed other reports that it was a most satisfactory and worth-while effort. In conjunction with this exhibit the Hawaii Tourist Bureau printed 25,000 inexpensive folders in French and English for distribution in Paris.” (Report of the Governor, August 25, 1932)

“Genesis for the idea of a colonial exhibition began in 1912 with a suggestion by the French Minister of Colonies. France was the second largest colonial power at the time behind only Great Britain.”

“Original date of the fair was 1916, but World War I intervened, and before Paris could host a colonial exhibition, the other provinces picked their preferred site, Marsailles, which hosted an exhibition in 1922.”

“But Paris persisted, choosing their location in the Bois de Vincennes. The site also included two islands at Lake Daumesnil and a zoological garden.”

“England did not participate in any significant manner, perhaps due to their recent colonial exhibition in London 1924-5, and neither did Germany.”

“The United States did participate, first time at a European colonial expo, spending $300,000 for its exhibit and six other buildings”. (JPD Econ) “It was the most money the US government ever invested in a world’s fair”. (NY Times)

“The centerpiece of the 1931 fairgrounds on the eastern edge of Paris was an approximate reproduction of Angkor Wat, an enormous Khmer temple in French Indochina.”

“The red-walled palace showcasing Afrique-Occidentale française (French West Africa) had a central 150-foot tower, all loosely based on regional styles and construction methods.”

“Sandwiched between the colonial empires of Portugal and Holland was the house the New York Times dubbed ‘Mount Vernon on the Seine.’” (It was built by Sears.)

“The Times reported that it would ‘occupy a sloping plot on Lake Daumesnil, in the wooded park at Vincennes with the River Seine in the distance. With the outlook over these waters the setting will be not unlike that of Mount Vernon overlooking the Potomac.”

“One wing of Mount Vernon housed an exhibition on the Panama Canal and another on “the Klondike” (Alaska). Outbuildings featured Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Samoa”

“A postcard sent from the exposition depicts a Hawaiian-themed restaurant, with thatched table umbrellas and kiosks, the smaller of the two selling waffles.” (Lapham’s)

“But the American and other, non-French pavilions were mere side shows compared to the splendor of the exhibits of the French colonies.”

“A circular train, mounted on a narrow-gauge railway, would carry visitors around the Lac Dausmenil, stopping at the foreign pavilions, and finally depositing voyagers at the head of the Grande Avenue des Colonies Françaises.” (Depp)

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