Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Taking Hawaiʻi and Oʻahu

Kamehameha was especially fortunate in securing the services of John Young and Isaac Davis, who took an active part in the campaigns of the final conquest. (Kalākaua)

They arrived in Hawai‘i at the same time (on different boats) and they served Kamehameha I as co-advisors. John Young, a boatswain on the British fur trading vessel, Eleanora, was stranded on the Island of Hawai‘i in 1790.

Isaac Davis (Welch) arrived in Hawaii in 1790 as the sole survivor of the massacre of the crew of The Fair American. He became one of the closest advisors to Kamehameha I.

When Captain George Vancouver visited Hawai‘i Island in 1793, he observed that both Young and Davis “are in his (Kamehameha’s) most perfect confidence, attend him in all his excursions of business or pleasure, or expeditions of war or enterprise; and are in the habit of daily experiencing from him the greatest respect, and the highest degree of esteem and regard.”

Because of their knowledge of European warfare, Young and Davis are said to have trained Kamehameha and his men in the use of muskets and cannons. In addition, both Young and Davis fought alongside Kamehameha in his many battles.

In 1824, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II), his wife, Kamāmalu, and a group of retainers and foreign advisors, traveled from Hawai‘i to England. Liholiho and his wife died there, and in May of 1825, their bodies were returned to Hawai‘i by Lord Byron.

One of the crew members, James Macrae, a botanist, wrote narratives of the journey and what he learned while there – the following are two accounts of battles, told by Macrae – first, the taking of Hawaiʻi and then the conquest of Oʻahu:

“Mr. Goodrich (a missionary there) informed us that it was at this ravine that Mr. Young and Mr. Davis had fought their first battle in the service of Tamahamaah (Kamehameha) and defeated upwards of 10,000 of the enemy with only 300 on their own side, before their leader came up to their assistance with the main body of the army.”

“The description related to us of this engagement was that when King Tamahamaah had conquered the south side of Owhyee (Hawaiʻi,) he soon after, with his army, marched round to the opposite side of the island by the east, taking with him Young and Davis for the first time, to whom he gave command of the chief part of his army.”

“The chief of the Heddo part of the island was prepared to meet Tamahamaah in order to defend his proportion of the island from being subjected to the other’s power, but on seeing the superior force of Tamahamaah, this chief kept retreating to the west till overtaken by Young and Davis, who were nearly a day’s journey in advance of the main body of the army.”

“The attack took place early in the afternoon from the opposite sides of the ravine in the wood, when after several hours engagement, it was decided in favor of Young and Davis, who alone had firearms.”

“These two killed the enemy in vast numbers from the crowded manner in which they stood to oppose them, being unacquainted with the destructive effects of firearms.”

“This battle gave Tamahamaah the conquest of Owhyee.”

Next, was the conquest of Oʻahu and the Battle of Nuʻuanu:

“When Tamahamaah with Young and Davis and the rest of his army had landed from their small fleet in the harbour, without opposition from Tereaboo (Kalanikupule,) they found that the latter had collected his forces above the town in Hanarura valley.”

“Tamahamaah could not have wished for a better situation or one more favourable to his purpose, the valley being overhung by ridges on each side, which were left unoccupied by the enemy.”

“Tamahamaah, without any opposition from the enemy, placed a number of his men on the side ridges, and then he himself, accompanied by Young, Davis and the greater part of his army, took up their position in the center of the valley.”

“They had with them only one small swivel and a few firearms, the rest being armed with spears and clubs. Yr. Davis, who had the swivel, somewhat singular to relate, killed Tereaboo’s general on his firing the first shot, before the engagement had scarcely begun.”

“When this happened, as is usual with these natives, they instantly got into confusion and retreated. Tamahamaah pursued them up the valley, and on coming to the precipice they threw themselves over and were found in the thousands, lifeless at the bottom of the cliff.”

“Thus did Tamahamaah, with the help of Young and Davis, and with hardly any firearms, easily conquer this important island, which may now be considered the first of the Sandwich Islands on account of its good harbour.”

“The king of Woahoo fled to the mountains, being convinced that the custom of putting the vanquished to death would be practiced upon him. ‘I must die,’ he said to one of his friend’s, ‘for I will not let Tamahamaah enjoy this triumph. I will sacrifice myself to the gods.’ His corpse was afterwards found in a cave in the mountains.”

The image shows an Herb Kane depiction of the Battle of Nuʻuanu.

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Kakela me Kuke’

In 1837 Samuel Northrup Castle and Amos Starr Cooke landed in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiʻi,) as part of the 8th Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Neither were missionary ministers. Castle was assigned to the ‘depository’ (a combination store, warehouse and bank) to help the missionaries pool and purchase their supplies, to negotiate shipments around the Horn and to distribute and collect for the goods when received. Cooke was a teacher.

Twelve years after Castle and Cooke had landed in the Islands, the American board decided that its purposes had been accomplished. It advised its representatives that their work was done and the board’s financial support would end.

Over the years Castle, who felt Cooke’s accounting abilities would help the depository, kept trying to convince his friend to join him. Cooke firmly declined until 1849, when his schooling of the royal children was complete. He needed to make a living since monetary support from Missions headquarters had been discontinued.

Castle and Cooke, good friends, decided they would become business partners. Many of the missionaries were planning to remain. Their needs must be met. So those of other residents and the crews of the whaling ships which wintered in Honolulu harbor.

So a business was born. On June 2, 1851, Samuel Northrup Castle and Amos Starr Cooke signed their names to partnership papers. A sign reading ‘Kakela me Kuke’ (‘Castle & Cooke’) was installed at the entrance to the Honolulu depository.

Money could be made by trading with the community at large, while mission posts could be supplied at cost. They took up the matter with the Mission Board in Boston, which, after two years, decided to release the partners from the mission and pay each a yearly salary of $500.

In 1853 a branch store was opened downtown, to be closer to the considerable action the California Gold Rush brought. Also in 1853, Castle and Cooke purchased their first ship, the Morning Star to ship produce to California. By 1856, the partners elected to sell the depository, located on the outskirts of Honolulu, to concentrate on their burgeoning downtown business.

In 1858, Castle and Cooke first ventured out of the mercantile business to make an investment in the new sugar industry. In the late 1860s they branched into the shipping business, handling shore-side business for a number of transpacific schooners and several inter-island vessels.

Despite these diversifications, however, the mercantile portion of the business continued to provide the bulk of the profits. One of the most active customers was Kanaʻina, husband of High Chiefess Kekāuluohi and father of the boy who was to become King Lunalilo.

Then, the Civil War started; goods became hard to get and sales slumped. Then, business with the whalers failed; oil found in Titusville, Pennsylvania replaced whale oil. Castle & Cooke almost went out of business. It was sugar that encouraged the partners to continue their business.

They had generally avoided the policy of investing their firm’s funds in other enterprises, but had bought personally into ventures that attracted them. This often led to relationships producing merchandise and shipping business for the firm and occasionally resulted in its appointment as fiscal agent for a company — as in the case of Kohala Sugar Company.

Kohala Sugar was founded in 1863 by the Rev Elias Bond; he organized the venture to create jobs for the Hawaiians living in Kohala. (It was not until 1910 that Castle & Cooke as a firm acquired an interest in the Kohala Sugar Company, though it had served as its agent for nearly 50 years.)

Then, in 1890, BF Dillingham’s railroad (OR&L,) started with the help of $100,000 invested by Castle, ended at Pearl City. To go further the line needed freight revenues. None were in sight – unless the Ewa land could be made to grow sugar by tapping its underlying fresh water sources to irrigate the crop.

From the organization of Kohala in 1863 until the Ewa lands were leased for sugar in 1890, Castle & Cooke at one time or another served as agent for nine plantations.

On December 28, 1894, the Castle & Cooke partnership was incorporated. The company continued to believe in the profitability of the Ewa Plantation and the risk paid off. In 1898, the original merchandise business was sold.

Diversification did not stop, however. In the ensuing years Castle & Cooke involved itself in an automobile company, the Hawaiian Fertilizer Company, and a big but short venture into the sugar refinery business with the Honolulu Sugar Refining Company.

Although Castle & Cooke had been in the shipping business for 50 years, a 1907 agreement with William Matson to be the agent for his Matson Navigation Company greatly increased the business in this area. The agreement endured for 56 years.

To insure a supply of oil for his ships, Captain Matson bought some wells in California and built a pipeline to the coast. In 1910 he founded the Honolulu Oil Corporation. Castle & Cooke, with other island firms, helped him finance his oil venture.

Pineapple cultivation on a commercial scale began in Hawaii in 1886 when Captain John Kidwell set out a thousand plants in Mānoa valley. By 1909, Castle & Cooke, as agent for Waialua, had negotiated leases of over 3,000 acres of the plantation’s upper lands to James D Dole and other growers for pineapple plantings.

Castle & Cooke had no substantial direct investment in the pineapple industry until 1932 when Hawaiian Pineapple Company (later Dole) encountered financial trouble. In that year Castle & Cooke and Waialua jointly under wrote the reorganization of the pineapple company and for a few years thereafter, Castle & Cooke served as its agent and took over the operations.

Castle & Cooke recognized the need for diversification which led to investment in tuna canning (Hawaiian Tuna Packers, 1946) and macadamia nuts (Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nuts, 1948.)

For a time in the 1960s, Castle & Cooke were the biggest of the Big Five (C Brewer (1826;) Theo H. Davies (1845;) Amfac – starting as Hackfeld & Company (1849;) Castle & Cooke (1851) and Alexander & Baldwin (1870;)) however, Amfac later outpaced it.

Later, the company was the subject of several takeover bids; ultimately, David Murdock took firm control of Castle & Cooke (1985,) reorganized it into a holding company for three separate operations: Flexi-Van, Dole Food and Oceanic Properties, and relocated its headquarters to Los Angeles. (Lots of information is from Castle & Cooke, Greaney and FundingUniverse.)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Aliʻiolani Hale

By 1866, the need for a new courthouse government building in the Hawaiian Kingdom was apparent. The old courthouse, completed in 1852, accommodated not only the judicial needs, but also served as the reception hall for diplomatic ceremonies and official social functions.

The legislature appropriated funds towards a new palace and a new government building. Delays ensued.  Plans for a new palace were postponed, but the new courthouse moved forward.

On February 19, 1872, Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for the new building.

The use of concrete blocks, a fairly new building material, “infinitely superior for both durability and ornament,” was recommended and accepted by Public Works.  (The coral foundation supports concrete block bearing walls varying in thickness from 17″ to 22″.)

To increase the work force, convicts were brought from the prison and made to labor on the project. In 1874, during the reign of King Kalākaua, the building was finally completed.

Lively events characterized Aliʻiolani Hale’s first year. Already designated as the home of the Legislature, in May of 1874, the Judiciary Department also moved into the new government building.

In July, the Law Library took up residence on the second floor with “3,000 law books and 2,000 scientific books.” By September, Aliʻiolani Hale housed the first National Museum in the Hawaiian Kingdom.

An appeal made to the public requested the donation of artifacts: “Old Hawaiian ornaments and utensils, Hawaiian minerals and preserved zoological specimens are particularly desired.”

CJ Lyons made scientific use of the building late that year as an observation site for the transit of Venus. The transits of Venus occur only four times in 243 years, and at that time, this astronomical event was the best known means of determining the dimensions of our planetary system.

Aliʻiolani Hale played a role in the Wilcox insurrection. Unhappy with the changes in the constitution of 1887, the young hapa-Hawaiian, Robert Wilcox, and several hundred armed men marched into the neighborhood on the morning of July 30, 1889.

At 6 am, twelve of the men took over Aliʻiolani Hale, and the rest moved into the ʻIolani Palace yard. By noon, volleys of rifle shots were exchanged between Wilcox’s men and government forces.

Wilcox’s men, stationed in the Palace yard, were surrounded by the government troops whose sharpshooters were placed in nearby buildings, including the tower of Kawaiahaʻo church.

The rebellion came to a halt when government authorities hurled homemade dynamite bombs into the Palace yard scattering the rebellious constituent.

In the small room beneath the clock tower, often used as an artist’s studio at Aliʻiolani Hale, a sculptor was working on a bust of Kalākaua. He reported, on that day, that stray bullets created “a disturbing background” for his artistic endeavor.

Seeking to abolish the Hawaiian Monarchy, the Committee of Public Safety took over Aliʻiolani Hale on January 17, 1893. Here, was the reading of the declaration of the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands during the Revolution of 1893.

The Honolulu Rifles, a volunteer group of men who supported the Committee of Safety, assembled there in opposition to the loyalist guard stationed across King Street at the Palace.  With horse blankets and boxes of hard tack, the Honolulu Rifles camped in the halls of Aliʻiolani Hale.

Queen Liliʻuokalani, in order to avoid violence, abrogated the monarchy and the troops did not engage in armed conflict. After the establishment of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, most likely to disassociate the new government with the monarchy, the new officials renamed Aliʻiolani Hale, “The Judiciary Building.” The legislature then moved to ʻIolani Palace which was renamed the “Executive Building.”

Hawaiʻi almost lost Aliʻiolani Hale in 1937 when the territorial planning board drafted plans to demolish the structure and build a new Judiciary Building. Former Chief Justice and Governor Walter Frear strongly opposed the idea, and the Honolulu Advertiser picked up the torch in support of Frear announcing that “The Old Judiciary Building is threatened by the march of progress.”

Instead of demolition, repairs and plans for a new wing were approved. Construction began in March of 1941, but was considerably hampered by the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December. The new wing was finally completed in 1944, the same year that Martial law was lifted. In 1949, a second story was added to the new wing to complete the structure that stands today as Aliʻiolani Hale.

By 1951, the building, even with the new wing, was overcrowded and not providing adequate space for the needs of a growing Judiciary. In 1960, it was recommended that a new court building be constructed and that Aliʻiolani Hale retain the Supreme Court, the Land Court, the Administrative Offices, and the Law Library.

In 1965, the interior of the building was refurbished at a cost exceeding the total expenditures for the building in 1874.

Today, Aliʻiolani Hale houses the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, the court administration offices, a law library and the Judiciary History Center.

While decisions are made affecting the present and future of Hawaiʻi by the Supreme Court, the Judiciary History Center interprets over 200 years of law and judicial history in the Hawaiian Islands.

From Monarchy to statehood, Aliʻiolani Hale has faithfully served the people of Hawaiʻi. Kings and queens have walked its halls. Revolutions have been lost and won around it. Sensational cases have been tried in its courtrooms. Since 1874, Supreme Court rulings affecting the future of Hawaiʻi and its people have been decided within its walls.

Open to the general public, the History Center reflects the unique legal and judicial history of our islands from the days of kapu to the present.

The inspiration and information here is from the Judiciary History Center (as well as the National Register.)  The image shows Aliʻiolani Hale in 1875 (before the Kamehameha Statue.)  In addition, I have included other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hotel Del Coronado

Hotel founders, Elisha Babcock, Jr., and Hampton L. Story, along with San Diego developer Alonzo Horton walked along the Coronado beach in 1886.

Although neither Babcock nor Story had experience in the hotel business, they were so inspired by the natural beauty of Coronado that they decided to buy the island and build a magnificent hotel, one that would be “the talk of the western world,” an iconic California destination where “people will continue to come long after we are gone.”

They subsequently purchased about 4,000 acres of land around the Coronado Peninsula and the neighboring North Island in order to create a resort community that would service the new hotel. (Historic Hotels)

They first created the Coronado Beach Company, after which they established a number of additional enterprises to support the development of the Coronado community (a ferry company, water company, railroad company and an electrical power plant).

As soon as a site was chosen for the historic Hotel Del Coronado, the men laid out Coronado’s parks, civic areas, commercial zones and streets (Isabella and Adella avenues were named for the founders’ wives).

Once the town of Coronado was established, it was time to attract residents, so Babcock and Story held a very well-publicized land auction, which attracted a reported 6,000 people. 350 lots were sold during the auction, raising about $100,000. By June 10, 1887, Coronado lot sales had reached the $1.5 million mark. The grand total would eventually reach $2.25 million. (Hotel Del Coronado)

“Orange avenue is the name of one of the wide and elegant thoroughfares at Coronado Beach, the ferry to which locality is now in operation. The sea beach is over there is very fine, in which surf bathers can dip for many miles … Lots, which are large, can be bought at reasonable rates now, and more houses will soon be under way.” (Daily San Diegan, Feb 22, 1886)

The Coronado Beach Company are about to erect a mammoth hotel of five hundred rooms, and on the mesa a palace hotel of some three hundred rooms is projected.” (Daily San Diegan, Jan 4, 1887)

“The first shovelful of earth for the excavation for the foundation of the Coronado hotel was cast by Mrs ES Babcock, yesterday. The work will now proceed as rapidly as possible.” (Daily San Diegan, Jan 13, 1887)

By May 1887, approximately 250 men were employed in the construction of the exciting new destination beach resort, and The San Diego Union reported: “A million feet of lumber is scattered about the yard, and more is coming all the time.”

The all-wooden Hotel del Coronado used a variety of lumber: Douglas fir for framing and California redwood for exterior siding; hemlock, cedar, white oak, and Oregon sugar pine were also used. (Hotel Del Coronado)

Although guests began arriving as early as late January 1888, Hotel del Coronado’s birthday has generally been celebrated on February 19 – the day the historic Southern California hotel served its first meal in the main dining room (today’s Crown Room).

Room rates – which included three meals a day – started at about $2.50 per day. The hotel was built at a cost of $600,000 and furnished for $400,000. (Hotel Del Coronado)

Known affectionately as “The Del” by its many countless guests, the legendary Hotel del Coronado harkens back to the height of America’s Gilded Age.

Hawai‘i Connection to the Hotel Del Coronado

In 1876, son of wealthy “Sugar King” Claus Spreckels, John Dietrich Spreckels (sometimes called the Sugar Prince) went to the Hawaiian Islands, where he worked in his father’s sugar business.  

He loved sailing, and owned both personal shipliners and boats. Apart from being the Sugar Prince, Spreckels also became known as “Seadog.” In 1880, the Sugar Prince’s legacy grew to incorporate more than just the sugar industry.

Given his passion for sailing, Spreckels then established his own shipping enterprise in 1880, the Oceanic Steamship Company, operating a mail and passenger line to Hawaii and Australia.

In 1887, Spreckels visited San Diego on his yacht Lurline to stock up on supplies.  (Nearly forty years earlier (1850,) Honolulu-born William Heath “Kanaka” Davis, Jr. (1822 – 1909) had arrived in this part of California.

Davis purchased 160-acres of land and, with four partners, laid out a new city (near what is now the foot of Market Street.)  He built the first wharf there in 1850.) (Part of the interest in and growth of San Diego may also be attributed to when a terminus of a transcontinental line was made in 1885.)

When the Hotel Del Coronado was under construction; Spreckels, fell in love with it and provided generous loans and other assistance to the resort’s founders, Babcock and Story, in order to keep the dream alive.

“You have often heard the remark that San Diego is a one-man town. Personally, I feel proud to live in San Diego when it is referred to as a one-man town … this afternoon you can’t give our great leader enough glory.” (Mayor Wilde remarks of Spreckels, November 15, 1919; San Diego History))

Spreckels became an investor in the Coronado Beach Company in 1889, buying out Hampton L.Story’s one-third interest and over the next three years bought controlling interest in the company and became the sole proprietor of the Hotel del Coronado. (Coronado History)

He established Tent City, a large vacation campground that sprung up near Hotel del Coronado.  Tent City grew quickly – from 300 tents in the first year to more than 1,000 three years later, and attracted visitors from across the nation as an affordable vacation alternative.

“To be candid, I did not entirely fancy the idea at first, and then for a time I was doubtful of the success of the place. I was somewhat of the opinion that it might detract from the popularity of the resort proper and the hotel,” Spreckels said in a 1903 interview. “But Tent City has … established itself as firmly in my favor as in that of the public.”  (San Diego Union Tribune)

An early getaway brochure described the accommodations: “A furnished tent comprises electric lights, matting on boarded floor, comfortable beds and cots, bedding, wash-stand, mirror, tables, chairs, rockers, camp-chairs and stools, necessary cooking utensils, clean linen, daily care of tent, and laundry service of tent linen.”

Tent City also featured restaurants, a soda fountain, library, grocery store, shops, a small hotel (the Arcade), theatre, bandstand, dance pavilion, merry-go-round, shooting gallery, swimming floats (one with a high-diving board), its own police department, and daily newspaper. (Hotel Del Coronado)

In 1904, The Del – already considered a technological marvel – made history when it unveiled the world’s first electrically lit, outdoor, living Christmas tree. Holiday lights were strung from the hotel to a nearby Norfolk Island Pine. Although indoor trees were popular in America by this time, electric Christmas lights were a rarity (candles were still commonplace).

Spreckels died in San Diego on June 7, 1926. His biographer, Austin Adams, called him “one of America’s few great Empire Builders who invested millions to turn a struggling, bankrupt village into the beautiful and cosmopolitan city San Diego is today.”  (San Diego History Center)

Coronado is also home to Naval Air Station North Island, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, and Silver Strand Training Complex, supported by nearly 20,000 military and civilian personnel.

In 1969, the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge was completed and made Coronado Island and Hotel del Coronado much more accessible. (Lots of information here is from Hotel Del Coronado, San Diego History Center, Coronado CA, and Coronado History)

© 2026 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“This does not look like me”

“In the year of our Lord, 1809, some Hawaiian youths went to America. The captain of their ship took them to New Haven, Conn., to be educated; and afterwards, in 1816, a school was established in Cornwall, Conn., for the education of youths from heathen lands.”

“There, among Indians, Tahitians, and scholars from other places, were some Hawaiian boys (Obookaiah (ʻOpukahaʻia,) Hopu, Honolii) – nine of them in all.”

“These all embraced the Christian faith, and Obookaiah was very anxious that messengers be sent to take to Hawaii the word of God. He intended himself to come back, but he was cut down by the angel of death before he had completed his education.”

“But the voice of God came to Messrs. Bingham, Thurston, and Whitney and others, and in the year 1819 they and their wives sailed from Boston on the small two-masted vessel named the Thaddeus.”

“On this vessel came Thomas Hopu, John Honoliʻi, and George Kaumualiʻi, the son of Kaumualiʻi, the king of Kauai. They reached Hawaii on the 30th of March, 1820.”

“When the boat which they had sent to a landing on the Kohala coast, returned to the vessel, these were the tidings given to the missionaries: ‘Kamehameha is dead; his son Liholiho is king. The tabus are at an end; the idols are burned; the temples are destroyed.’”

“In this the hand of God was seen preparing for the introduction of his word among the people. The vessel sailed to Kailua, and the chiefs went on board to see the missionaries and their wives – the ‘long necks’ as they were called.”

“This was the dress of Liholiho when he went to see white women for the first time: A malo, a green silk handkerchief over his shoulders, a gold watch-chain about his neck, and a feather wreath on his head – no clothing.”

“After much discussion, and with a good deal of hesitation, Liholiho consented that the teachers should remain one year.”

“Mr Bingham was stationed at Honolulu, Mr Whitney at Waimea, Kauai, and Mr Thurston at Kailua, Hawaii, where the king and chiefs resided; and the king placed John Ii and Kahuhu with Mr. Thurston to be taught reading, and said that if it did them no harm, he also would learn the ‘palapala’ (writing.)”

“There was no writing in Hawaiian in those days – no books or newspapers.”

“Liholiho asked that his name be written. The missionary wrote it, ‘Li-ho-li-ho.’”

“Liholiho looked at it long and steady, and then said: ‘This does not look like me, nor any other man.’” (AF Judd, Bible Society Record, October 17, 1889)

In 1820, missionary Lucy Thurston noted in her Journal, Liholiho’s desire to learn, “The king (Liholiho, Kamehameha II) brought two young men to Mr. Thurston, and said: ‘Teach these, my favorites, (John Papa) Ii and (James) Kahuhu. It will be the same as teaching me. Through them I shall find out what learning is.’”

“Immediately upon their arrival the missionaries began to converse with the people in the Hawaiian language, and upon them fell the honor of first writing the mother-tongue of Hawaiʻi with pen and ink upon paper.”

“To reduce the language to writing was their first work, in order that the word of God might thus reach the hearts of the Hawaiian people to the saving of their souls.”

“Within three years from the time when Messrs. Bingham, Thurston, and Whitney touched their feet on Hawaiian shores, Liholiho and Kauikeaouli (Liholiho’s younger brother) had learned to read and write, and also twelve other chiefs and twelve chiefesses.”

“This was quick work. That year (1823) the king ordered the observance of the Christian Sabbath, and the missionaries began to preach in the Hawaiian tongue. Before this their addresses had been interpreted by Hopu, Honolii, and others.” (AF Judd, Bible Society Record, October 17, 1889)

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.

“By 1850, even though the Missionary Schools wanted to continue Hawaiian as the language of instruction in order to preserve the Hawaiian nation, the non-religious educators, both foreign and Hawaiian, wanted to and did discard Hawaiian as the language of instruction in the schools.” (Ashdown)

The missionaries’ emphasis was on preaching and teaching – in many of the mission schools the focus was educating the head, heart and hand. In addition to the rigorous academic drills (Head,) the schools provided religious/moral (Heart) and manual/vocational (Hand) training.

This broad-based, inclusive form of educational training can also be seen back in the Foreign Mission School, where ʻŌpūkahaʻia and others were taught.

The image shows the later signature of Liholiho (Kamehameha II – ‘Tamehameha.’)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC