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July 25, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keawemauhili

At the time 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,) Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

At that time, Kalaniʻōpuʻu was on the island of Maui. Kalaniʻōpuʻu returned to Hawaiʻi and met with Cook on January 26, 1779, exchanging gifts, including an ʻahuʻula (feathered cloak) and mahiole (ceremonial feather helmet.) Cook also received pieces of kapa, feathers, hogs and vegetables.

In about 1781, through a well-planned campaign, Kahekili was able to regain possession of the Hāna district and this marked the beginning of the disintegration of Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s kingdom. (Kuykendall)

Kalaniʻōpuʻu died shortly thereafter (1782.) Before his death, Kalaniʻōpuʻu gave an injunction to Kiwalaʻo and Kamehameha, and to all the chiefs, thus: “Boys, listen, both of you. The heir to the kingdom of Hawaii nei, comprising the three divisions of land, Kaʻū, Kona and Kohala, shall be the chief Kiwalaʻo. He is the heir to the lands.” (Fornander)

“As regarding you, Kamehameha, there is no land or property for you; but your land and your endowment shall be the god Kaili (Kūkaʻilimoku.) If, during life, your lord should molest you, take possession of the kingdom; but if the molestation be on your part, you will be deprived of the god.” These words of Kalaniʻōpuʻu were fulfilled in the days of their youth, and his injunction was realized. (Fornander)

Following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death, and following his wishes, the kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō’s cousin) was given guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

Dissatisfied with subsequent redistricting of the lands by district chiefs, civil war ensued between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of Kamehameha.

In the first major skirmish, in the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi,) Kiwalaʻo was killed.

With the death of Kiwalaʻo, the victory made Kamehameha chief of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hāmākua, while Keōua, the brother of Kiwalaʻo, controlled Kaʻū and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo. (Kalākaua)

Supporters of Kiwalaʻo, including his half-brother Keōua and his uncle Keawemauhili (grandson of Keawe,) escaped the battle of Mokuʻōhai with their lives and laid claim to the Hilo, Puna and Kaʻū Districts.

Later, a dispute had grown between Kahekili and Kahahana, the aliʻi of O‘ahu, and Kahekili wished to make war on Kahahana. However, he did not have enough war canoes and through Keʻeaumoku, who had married his sister, he asked for Kamehameha’s support for canoes. He refused.

Because of this refusal, Kahekili asked Keawemauhili; he consented, Kahekili should send some canoe-making experts and some warriors to guard them at their work. He sent Kahahawai and about 1,200-men.

In the meantime, Kamehameha’s counselors were encouraging him to attack Keawemauhili and expand his domain into Hilo. He sent a declaration of war message – two stones, one white and one black. If Keawemauhili chose war, he would send the black stone back – if he chose peace, the white would be returned. (Keawemauhili returned the white and also satisfied Kamehameha’s request for fresh fish from Hilo’s ponds.)

However, following the advice of his counselors, Kamehameha decided to make war against Keawemauhili. He planned the attack from land and sea. (They understood Keōua may come to the aid of Keawemauhili, so they timed their attack before Keōua could do so.)

(When Keōua learned that Kamehameha had moved to fight Keawemauhili, he quickly organized his army to fight Kamehameha; Keōua did not go with his warriors.)

On land, under the leadership of Kamehameha himself, were twelve thousand warriors. The size of Kamehameha’s canoe fleet amounted to eight hundred canoes with eight thousand warriors, making a total army or twenty thousand men.

The Hilo warriors outnumbered Kamehameha’s forces by more than twice. Because Kahekili’s army entered the battle on Keawemauhili’s side, Kamehameha’s warriors fell back as those Maui warriors had not been wearied by recent combat.

Kamehameha sought guidance from Keawemauhili’s kahu, Kauanoano, who told him, “This is not the war which will gain you the island. There will be a future battle which will show your bravery.” (Desha)

The blows to Keawemauhili’s forces began to show, and victory began to lean toward Kamehameha’s forces. Keawemauhili’s warriors began to leap over the sea cliffs; some ran on the mountain paths seeking to escape (fulfilling that ancient saying: “Teach the warrior and also teach him to run.”) Rain shielded the retreating Keōua forces.

Kamehameha boarded a canoe and the fleet sailed to Laupāhoehoe. While Kamehameha was staying at Laupāhoehoe, Kahekili sent some warriors from Maui to get Kahahawai – he wanted Kahahawai to return and assist him in making war with Kahahana on Oʻahu.

When Kahahawai was ready to return, Keawemauhili presented some war canoes to Kahekili. Keōua also gave some large war canoes, as some of his people had sailed in the great canoes from Kaʻū.

As Kahahawai was leaving, he stopped at Laupāhoehoe to meet with Kamehameha. Kamehameha said to Kahahawai: “I have no death for this aliʻi. Return to Maui, and perhaps there we shall meet again and see each other, and sharpen each other’s spears with our strength.” (Desha)

Kamehameha stayed in Laupāhoehoe, farming, preparing his warriors to be ready for battle. They were joined by some new warriors from the people of that place, who trusted in Kamehameha. Kamehameha later left Laupāhoehoe and headed north up the coast.

Later, suspicion grew in Keōua because he felt that the time was coming when Keawemauhili would turn and oppose him and give his assistance to Kamehameha. Because of this suspicion, he raised a large army to make war on Keawemauhili. Keōua understood that Keawemauhili lacked support for his side for his strong warriors had left with Kamehameha.

The two sides met in battle between Paukaʻa and Wainaku. A terrible battle was begun between Keawemauhili’s and Keōua’s people. Two versions of the remainder of that battle suggest one of Keawemauhili’s warriors, Moʻo, killed Keawemauhili; others suggest Keōua killed Keawemauhili (1790.)

Keawemauhili had a daughter, Kapiʻolani. In 1822, she was among the first chiefs to welcome instruction and accept Christianity. In 1823, Kapiʻolani stood up to Pele, stating “Jehovah is my God … I fear not Pele.”

“She told the missionaries she had come to strengthen their hearts and help them in their work. They rejoiced in the salutary influence which she exerted in favor of education and reform, an influence felt at once and happily continued when she had returned home.” (Bingham)

The image shows Keōua over the defeated Keawemauhili by Brook Kapukuniahi Parker. (Lots of information here from Fornander and Desha.)

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Keoua over Keawemauhili-Brook Parker

July 23, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mission Stations

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) based in Boston, was founded in 1810, the first organized missionary society in the US.

One hundred years later, the Board was responsible for 102-mission stations and a missionary staff of 600 in India, Ceylon, West Central Africa (Angola,) South Africa and Rhodesia, Turkey, China, Japan, Micronesia, Hawaiʻi, the Philippines, North American native American tribes, and the “Papal lands” of Mexico, Spain and Austria.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of ABCFM missionaries set sail 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 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

As an example, in June 1823, William Ellis joined American Missionaries Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop and Joseph Goodrich on a tour of the island of Hawaiʻi to investigate suitable sites for mission stations.

On O‘ahu, locations at Honolulu (Kawaiahaʻo,) Kāne’ohe, Waialua, Waiʻanae and ‘Ewa served as the bases for outreach work on the island.

By 1850, eighteen mission stations had been established; six on Hawaiʻi, four on Maui, four on Oʻahu, three on Kauai and one on Molokai.

Meeting houses were constructed at the stations, as well as throughout the district. Initially constructed as the traditional Hawaiian thatched structures; they were later made of wood or stone.

One of the first things the first missionaries did was begin to learn the Hawaiian language and create an alphabet for a written format of the language.

Their emphasis was on preaching and teaching.

Interestingly, as the early missionaries learned the Hawaiian language, they then taught their lessons in the mission schools in Hawaiian, rather than English. In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English‐speaking Hawaiians.

The missionaries established schools associated with their mission stations across the Islands. This marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of Chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

The instruction of students in schools (initially, most of whom were adults,) in reading, writing and other skills initially fell to the missionaries.

The schools generally served as both native churches and meeting houses, and were established in most populated ahupua‘a around the islands; native teachers and lay-ministers were appointed to oversee their daily activities.

The most difficult problem was that of obtaining enough competent teachers. As far back as 1825 the missionaries had taken steps to establish teacher training classes at the various stations, but the plan of station schools was not very fully carried out until after 1830.

There were never enough missionaries to make the plan uniformly effective. Station schools were intended not only to train teachers but to serve as model schools, and much attention was given to children. In some places there were two station schools, one for teachers and one for children. (Kuykendall)

In eight years from the date of the landing of the Pioneer Company there were 32-missionaries, 4,455-native teachers, 12,000-Sabbath hearers, and 26,000-pupils in schools in the islands.

Many influences were at work, the Bible was circulated, high chiefs were converted and began to work vigorously, the people gathered from great distances in crowds to hear the Word, and in 1828, simultaneously and without communication, a revival unexpectedly commenced in Hawaiʻi, Oʻahu, and Maui.

For weeks and months the missionaries could scarcely get time for rest and refreshment. (Bliss)

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built over 1,100‐schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 53,000‐students. (Laimana)

By 1840, the decline of the Hawaiian population, financial restraints, and a move to separate church and school operations led to the consolidation of the church-school meeting houses.

On October 15, 1840, Kamehameha III enacted a law that required the maintenance and local support of the native schools (the Constitution of 1840).

The Constitution provided a “Statute for the Regulation of Schools,” which required that in a village with 15 or more students, the parents were to organize and secure a teacher. (Maly)

By 1853, nearly three-fourths of the native Hawaiian population over the age of sixteen years was literate in their own language. The short time span within which native Hawaiians achieved literacy is remarkable in light of the overall low literacy rates of the United States at that time. (Lucas)

The image shows Meeting House at Lāhainā, the first stone Church in Hawaiʻi (corner stone laid in 1828.)

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Meeting-House at Lahaina, On Maui. The First Stone Church in Hawaii. Corner Stone laid in 1828-(1845)

July 18, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kahuna

The prayers offered in the hula were, as a rule, uttered by kahuna, specially consecrated or appointed for that office. The consecration of a house or of a waʻa (canoe) was done with the aid of a kahuna; and the common people did resort to kahuna of different classes. (Malo)

According to Lorrin Andrews, author of the first Hawaiian dictionary published in 1865, ‘kahuna’ is a contraction of ‘kahu’ (to cook, especially in an earth oven) and ‘ana’ (a particle that adds ‘ing’ to a word). So the base meaning by this idea is ‘a cooking.’

This doesn’t make much sense until you recognize that ‘kahu’ also means ‘to tend an oven, or to take care of the cooking.’ Ancient Hawaiian thought was very symbolic or figurative and a word for one type of activity or experience could be applied to other symbolically related activities or experiences.

So ‘kahu,’ originally referring to taking care of an oven, became a general word for taking care of anything. Another possible origin for the word ‘kahuna,’ however, is that it is simply a combination of ‘kahu’ (to take care of) and ‘na’ (a particle that makes words into nouns). In that case, a basic translation of “kahuna” would be ‘a caretaker.’ (King)

Kahuna is a general name applied to such persons as have a trade, an art or who practice some profession; some qualifying term is generally added. (Lorrin Andrews, Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language, 1865)

‘Kahuna’ was a title, like MD or PhD, and additional descriptive words were used to designate the field of expertise. Just as the modern use of the word ‘doctor’ by itself is generally taken to mean a medical doctor, so the use of ‘kahuna’ by itself generally designated a priest or healer. (King)

Pukui lists various kahuna: kahuna aʻo – teaching preacher, minister, sorcerer; kahuna haʻi ōlelo – preacher; kahuna hoʻoula ʻai – agricultural expert; kahuna hui – priest for deification of kings; kahuna kālai – carving expert, sculptor; kahuna kālai waʻa – canoe builder; kahuna kiʻi – caretaker of images; kahuna lapaʻau – medical doctor; kahuna nui – high priest, councilor to a high chief; kahuna poʻo – high priest; kahuna pule – preacher, minister, as well as others.

Different kinds of kahuna in traditional Hawaiʻi are put into three broad categories, namely: (1) kahuna pule, the kahuna who officiated in the temples of the aliʻi; (2) ‘professional’ kahuna, a large category that includes ‘specialists in different ritualized activities … and medical priests;’ and (3) the kāula, or prophets. (Nimmo)

At the height of ancient Hawaiian civilization there were dozens of classes of kahuna. Each was trained in a specific aspect of ancient culture and they were considered to be among the wisest in society. They also had inherent spiritual gifts and special abilities to communicate with the ancestors. (Winter)

With respect to ritual worship, kahuna is used in Hawaiian to signify one who is an expert; this knowledge may range from approaching the highest gods on the most important ceremonial occasions to knowing the proper chant to ensure the success of fishing. The religious specialists who contacted the gods reflected the hierarchy of the gods as well as that of Hawaiian society. (Nimmo)

Many myths have grown up around kahuna. One is that kahuna were outlawed after the white man came to Hawaiʻi. Craft kahuna were never prohibited; however, during the decline of native Hawaiian culture many died out and did not pass on their wisdom to new students. Liholiho, in abolishing the kapu, effectively eliminated the need for ritual Kahuna.

Under the Monarchy the term ‘kahuna’ began to be used for foreigners who were recognized experts in their fields, especially for ministers and health professionals. In the 1845 laws doctors, surgeons and dentists were called kahuna. (Pukui)

The native Hawaiian concepts of disease were largely magical although quite perceptive in linking melancholy to physical ailments. Illness required the intercession of a kahuna and some of the herbal remedies used were of value.

King Kamehameha IV sought to restrict the practice of native Hawaiian medicine by kahunas. (nih-gov) His Queen (Queen Emma) in her early years held the kahuna and associated beliefs in contempt (not until her later years did she acknowledge some positive values in the native pharmacopoeia.) (Kanahele)

However, the King’s older brother (in about 1861 – he later became Kamehameha V,) “caused to be issued more than 300 printed licenses to as many native medicine-men, with schedules of prices for their services to the sick.” (The Friend, July 1888)

Secret societies formed, such as the Ahahui Lā‘au Lapa‘au of Wailuku (an association of Native healers known as kahuna) who challenged the efforts of King Kamehameha IV to restrict the practice of Native Hawaiian medicine by kahunas. It asserted the benefits of the traditional plants and medicinal practices in treating diseases such as smallpox. (nih-gov)

Later, Kalākaua, as King, formed the Hale Nauā (also known as Ualo Malie (Malo,)) a secret royal society who according to its constitution was “the revival of Ancient Sciences of Hawaii in combination with the promotion and advancement of Modern Sciences, Art, Literature, and Philanthropy.” (Daws)

In Territorial times, when Hawaiʻi became a tourist destination, visitors discovered that the best surfer on the beach was called ‘kahuna nui heʻe nalu,’ the ‘principal master surfer. He was called ‘kahuna nui’ for short, and this soon became the phrase ‘big kahuna.’ (King) (Artwork by Herb Kane.)

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July 17, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Edwin Welles Dwight

Edwin Welles Dwight was born on November 17, 1789 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the second son and child of Henry Williams Dwight and Abigail (daughter of Ashbel and Abigail (Kellogg) Welles, of West Hartford, Connecticut.)

His grandmother was a half-sister of Colonel Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams College, and he spent the first three years of College there. He then attended Yale, and graduated from Yale in 1809.

He remained in New Haven, Connecticut after graduation; it was then that he met ʻŌpūkahaʻia, a Hawaiian who was orphaned by war on Hawaiʻi and “thought to (him)self that if (he) should get away, and go to some other country, probably (he) may find some comfort;” he escaped the Islands on a trading ship.

On board, he started to learn English from Russell Hubbard of New Haven. 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.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia “was sitting on the steps of a Yale building, weeping. A solicitous student stopped to inquire what was wrong, and Obookiah (the spelling of his name, based on its sound) said, ‘No one will give me learning.’”

The student was Dwight, distant cousin of the college president. “(W)hen the question was put him, ‘Do you wish to learn?’ his countenance began to brighten and … he served it with eagerness.” (Haley) Dwight helped him.

Dwight began to study theology over the following years and on October 17, 1815 was licensed to preach by the South Association of Litchfield County ministers, and then made Schenectady his headquarters for further study.

In 1816 he did some missionary service in Western New York, and later was preaching in Woodbury, Connecticut, where the North Church was organized in December.

In October, 1816, it was decided to establish the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, for the instruction of youth like ʻŌpūkahaʻia; initially lacking a principal. Dwight filled that role from May 1817 to May 1818.

Later in 1818 Dwight was called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church in Richmond, Massachusetts, in the immediate vicinity of his birthplace and he was ordained and installed there on January 13, 1819.

He married Mary, daughter of Henry and Lois (Chidsey) Sherrill, of Richmond, on April 24, 1821. They had four daughters and three sons. The eldest son died in infancy, and the eldest daughter in early womanhood.

In April, 1837, on account of poor health, he had to resign his pastoral charge, and they moved to Stockbridge (where his wife died of a malarial fever on October 11, 1838, at the age of 37.)

In these last years he preached with some regularity at Housatonic village, in the northern part of Great Barrington, where a Congregational church was organized shortly after his death.

Dwight died in Stockbridge, on February 25, 1841, in his 52nd year. Mr. Dwight was a man of tender and refined feelings, and a solemn and earnest preacher. (Yale)

Dwight is remembered for putting together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation.)

Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died in 1818; the book was put together after ʻŌpūkahaʻia died. It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries.

It inspired the New England missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiʻi.) In giving instructions to the first missionaries, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) noted:

“You will never forget ʻŌpūkahaʻia. You will never forget his fervent love, his affectionate counsels, his many prayers and tears for you, and for his and your nation.”

“You saw him die; saw how the Christian could triumph over death and the grave; saw the radient glory in which he left this world for heaven. You will remember it always, and you will tell it to your kindred and countrymen who are dying without hope.”

On October 23, 1819, a group of northeast missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i.)

When the Pioneer Company of missionaries arrived, the kapu system had been abolished; the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau and had rejected their religious beliefs – and effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

Christianity and the western law brought order and were the only answers to keeping order with a growing foreign population and dying race.

Kamehameha III incorporated traditional customary practices within the western laws – by maintaining the “land division of his father with his uncles” – which secured the heirship of lands and succession of the throne, as best he could outside of “politics, trade and commerce.” (Yardley)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863) (the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

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July 11, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

School for the Children of the Missionaries

One of the first things the first missionaries did was begin to learn the Hawaiian language and create an alphabet for a written format of the language. Their emphasis was on preaching and teaching.

The missionaries established schools associated with their missions across the Islands. This marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of Chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

However, the education of their children was a concern of missionaries.

There were two major dilemmas, (1) there were a limited number of missionary children and (2) existing schools (which the missionaries taught) served adult Hawaiians (who were taught from a limited curriculum in the Hawaiian language.)

“During the period from infancy to the age of ten or twelve years, children in the almost isolated family of a missionary could be well provided for and instructed in the rudiments of education without a regular school … But after that period, difficulties in most cases multiplied.” (Hiram Bingham)

Missionaries were torn between preaching the gospel and teaching their kids. “(M)ission parents were busy translating, preaching and teaching. Usually parents only had a couple of hours each day to spare with their children.” (Schultz)

“(I)t was the general opinion of the missionaries there that their children over eight or ten years of age, notwithstanding the trial that might be involved, ought to be sent or carried to the United States, if there were friends who would assume a proper guardianship over them”. (Bingham)

“This was the darkest day in the life history of the mission child. Peculiarly dependent upon the family life, at the age of eight to twelve years, they were suddenly torn from the only intimates they had ever known, and banished, lonely and homesick, to a mythical country on the other side of the world …”

“… where they could receive letters but once or twice a year; where they must remain isolated from friends and relatives for years and from which they might never return.” (Bishop)

During the first 21-years of the missionary period (1820-1863,) no fewer than 33 children were either taken back to the continent by their parents. (Seven-year-old Sophia Bingham, the first Caucasian girl born on Oʻahu, daughter of Hiram and Sybil, was sent to the continent in 1828. She is my great-great-grandmother.)

Resolution 14 of the 1841 General Meeting of the Sandwich Islands Mission changed that; it established a school for the children of the missionaries (May 12, 1841.) Meeting minutes note, “This subject occupied much time in discussion, and excited much interest.”

The following report was adopted: “Whereas it has long been the desire of many members of this mission to have a school established for the instruction of their children, and this object received the deliberate sanction of our last General Meeting; and”

“(W)hereas the Providence of God seems to have opened the way for this undertaking, by providing a good location for the school, suitable teachers to take charge of it, and a sufficiency of other means for making a commencement. Therefore,”

“Resolved 1, That the foundation of this institution be laid with faith in God, relying upon his great and precious promises to believing parents, in behalf of their children, commending it to his care and love from its commencement, and looking unto him to build it up, cherish it, and make it a blessing to the church and the world.”

“Resolved 2, That the location of the school be at Punahou, in the vicinity of Honolulu.”

“Resolved 3, That $2,000 be appropriated from the funds of the mission, to aid in erecting the necessary buildings, and preparing the premises for the accommodation of the school, as soon as possible; but as this sum is inadequate to the wants of the school, even in its commencement, that it be commended to the private patronage of the brethren of the mission.”

“Resolved 4, That a Board of five Trustees be chosen, of whom the teacher shall be one, ex officio, whose duty it shall be to devise a plan for the school, carry it into operation, as soon as possible, watch over its interests, and regulate its affairs generally.” (Resolution of the General Meeting of the Sandwich Islands Mission, 1841)

A subsequent Resolution noted “That Mr (Daniel) Dole be located at Punahou, as teacher for the Children of the Mission.”

On July 11, 1842, fifteen children met for the first time in Punahou’s original E-shaped building. The first Board of Trustees (1841) included Rev. Daniel Dole, Rev. Richard Armstrong, Levi Chamberlain, Rev. John S Emerson and Gerrit P Judd. (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1916)

By the end of that first year, 34-children from Sandwich Islands and Oregon missions were enrolled, only one over 12-years old. Tuition was $12 per term, and the school year covered three terms. (Punahou)

By 1851, Punahou officially opened its doors to all races and religions. (Students from Oregon, California and Tahiti were welcomed from 1841 – 1849.)

December 15 of that year, Old School Hall, “the new spacious school house,” opened officially to receive its first students. The building is still there and in use by the school.

“The founding of Punahou as a school for missionary children not only provided means of instruction for the children, of the Mission, but also gave a trend to the education and history of the Islands.”

“In 1841, at Punahou the Mission established this school and built for it simple halls of adobe. From this unpretentious beginning, the school has grown to its present prosperous condition.” (Report of the Superintendent of Public Education, 1900)

The curriculum at Punahou under Dole combined the elements of a classical education with a strong emphasis on manual labor in the school’s fields for the boys, and in domestic matters for the girls. The school raised much of its own food. (Burlin)

Some of Punahou’s early buildings include, Old School Hall (1852,) music studios; Bingham Hall (1882,) Bishop Hall of Science (1884,) Pauahi Hall (1894,) Charles R. Bishop Hall (1902,) recitation halls; Dole Hall and Rice Hall (1906,) dormitories; Cooke Library (1908) and Castle Hall (1913,) dormitory.

Dole Street, laid out in 1880 and part of the development of the lower Punahou pasture was named after Daniel Dole (other nearby streets were named after other Punahou presidents.)

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