Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Dreamwood

Lyman Herbert Bigelow came to Hawaii as a civil engineer and construction superintendent in the United States army quartermaster corps in 1911.

Shortly after arrival, he started work in the private sector, then was appointed as Superintendent of Public Works by Gov. Charles McCarthy for a four-year term. He was reappointed by Governors Wallace Farrington and Lawrence Judd.

He was charged with the task of supervising the expenditure of millions of dollars for improvements throughout the Territory.  He held the dual position of superintendent of public works and chairman of the board of harbor commissioners for more than a decade.

“‘Mr. Bigelow had the difficult and important task of beading the City’s Building Department during and following World War II.’”

“‘In directing the City’s tremendous construction program to catch up with the backlog of building needs and to provide the many new facilities needed after the war, he contributed much to the building of present day Honolulu.’”

“‘The City was indeed fortunate to have had a man like Mr. Bigelow in its service during such a critical period. He gave generously of himself to his work and won not only the high respect but warm regard of his associates.’” (Blaisdell, Star Bulletin, June 20, 1966)

He also built his home, Dreamwood, along Kaneohe Bay.  “‘Dreamwood,’ which grew out of a haole koa wilderness, is a ready-made park. There are graceful wrought iron gates guarding the entrance. A private driveway, bordered by palms, crotons and bougainvillea, leads to the three-story Bigelow home.”

“There are six tropical fish ponds, lily pools and fountains on the grounds. Walkways are bordered by orchids. There are secluded

picnic areas.  Three large greenhouses are used to cultivate orchids and rare ferns.  A long pier extends into Kaneohe Bay. It has a boat shed on it.”

“Bigelows’ life-long interest in horticulture has brought rare and unusual plants to ‘Dreamwood.’ His professional skill as an engineer is seen in the intricate pools, walkways, patios and terraces.” (Advertiser, August 11, 1966)

“Dreamwood,. his 2½ acre estate at the end of Waikalua Road on Kaneohe Bay, was a gardener’s showplace which, Mayor Blaisdell said, ‘he shared generously with the community.’”

“In recent months the Bigelows, Kaneohe community leaders and City Councilmen have discussed the possibility of acquiring Dreamwood for public park purposes.”

“The bayfront estate apparently becoming too much to keep up, and Mr Bigelow wanted the tropical property to be enjoyed rather than subdivided.  He and his wife said they would build a smaller home a portion of the Dreamwood estate.”

“An orchid hobbyist for more than 40 years, Mr. Bigelow won his share of prizes. He spent three decades designing, planting and

improving his gardens.”  (Star Bulletin, June 20, 1966)

“Kaneohe Community leaders are proposing that the acre and a half estate with its home and marine peir be purchased and added to an existing City park at the end of Waikalua Road which borders the Bigelow property.”

“The Bigelows are planning to build a small home on the portion of ‘Dreamwood’ property which they have reserved for their own use.” (HnlAdv, Jan 13, 1966)

Other thoughts on future use suggested that the “home could house a restaurant with its operation and menu tailored to a botanical garden setting. The home’s many rooms could be set up to provide breakfast, luncheon or dinner meeting places for groups of under 100 persons.”

“Other portions of the house could be used for music club gatherings, monthly club meetings and art exhibits.  The grounds would be maintained as a park where the public and tourists could enjoy the tropical plantings, orchid and fern houses.” (HnlAdv, Jan 22, 1966)

The City acquisition and park plans did not move forward. “It really is a shame the City can’t acquire more of these.  But in the end it all boils down to the finances of the matter.” (City Council Chairman, Herman Lemke, HnlAdv, Jan 22, 1966)

Following Bigelow’s death, repeated advertisements noted that the 1.47-acre waterfront ‘Dreamwood’ estate was listed for sale for $275,000.

Then, the Dreamwood School was initiated on the site; it was “an experiment in therapeutic learning” offering “a therapeutic educational experience to the drug user who wants to stop and to the school drop-out”.  Star Bulletin, Sep 22, 1970)

“The name is incidental, kept at the request of the owner of Bigelow mansion, which is part of Dreamwood Acres. The name fits.”

“Dr Fred Weaver and the 25 people inside the mansion have a dream they believe can come true. They are creating a school for disenchanted and alienated young to help teach them how to live happily, creatively, constructively, in today’s society while fulfilling their own dreams.”

“Weaver, psychiatrist and adolescent unit chief at Hawaii State Hospital, is acting as consultant to Dreamwood School. … The school’s primary aim is to reintegrate adult and young relationships and satisfy learning needs which the staff feels are often not supplied within the system.”

“‘We have a philosophy that sometimes the system kills initiative,’ Weaver explained. ‘You have to be turned on to learning and we want to make the turn-on natural.’”

“‘’We feel that human values are the most important – feeling good, doing what uou do, being responsible for yourself in your relationships and in what you do.’ Weaver believes that alienation occurs often because adults ‘manipulate or push the young into things.”

“‘The crisis today is too severe to allow us the luxury of treating symptoms, It is time to work on the cause.’” (Star Bulletin, Sep 22, 1970)

Then in 1971, Habilitat “signed a five-year lease with Mrs Lyman Bigelow for her Kaneohe property”.  Habilitat bought the property in 1976 and continues to be the fee owner and operates its programs there.

Vinny Marino founded Habilitat on January 27, 1971 as a long term addiction treatment programs.  “My idea of survival is strength found in the family. Family life is the most important experience in our lives; a good family life does shape character, and is reflected in a person’s attitude about survival. Good family life is hard to find these days; you either have it or you don’t.”

“That’s why Habilitat exists today. Habilitat believes in the family as the basis of survival. Habilitat believes the family unit must be preserved. Habilitat offers positive survival to those who want to learn. Through the family structure at Habilitat, our residents form their values, morals, conscience, and a way of life that will help them survive in this mad, mad, mad, mad world.”

“Very simply, Habilitat is an extended family of individuals who realize they need help to change, and survive without sick dependencies.” (Vinny Marino)

© 2023 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oldest Wood Frame Structure in Hawaii

The wood-framed Mission House, built in 1821, was one of the first wood-framed buildings built in Hawai‘i; it is now the oldest in Hawai‘i.  It recently celebrated its 200th birthday.

The frame house stands on the grounds of the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, near Kawaiahaʻo Church on the makai side of King Street.

The timbers of Maine white pine were cut and fitted in Boston in 1819 and came around the Horn on the brig Thaddeus with the first mission company in April 1820, arriving first in Kona.  The frame of the house arrived in Honolulu on Christmas morning of that year on board the ship Tartar.

Since the lumber for this New England plan type was actually pre-cut prior to shipment, it could also be considered in a broad sense a very early example of prefabrication.

Architecturally, it has a simple and straight-forward design; the relatively low ceilings, and basement are strong evidence of its New England concept, foreign to the temperate climate of Honolulu.

It has two stories plus a basement and measures about 40-feet in length and 24-feet in width, excluding the kitchen wing (which extends the basic rectangular plan on the right rear (Ewa-makai) by about 20-feet.)  The overall height is just over 23½ feet.

The first floor (which has been altered by both additions and demolition) consists of two rooms across the front.  A smaller room and hall are located behind the front room on the left.  The second floor consists essentially of two large rooms separated by a stair-hall.

The foundation wall is about a foot thick, except on the Waikīkī side where it becomes an average of almost 2-feet (where a now-demolished wing once stood.)

The basement walls are adobe brick set in a mud mortar.  The basement consists of one room on the left (Waikīkī) and a larger space on the right.

Basement access is by an exterior coral stair on both the front and rear and an interior concrete stair leading down from the kitchen.  All walls are plastered, the floors are brick and the ceiling exposed wood.

The Frame House was used as a communal home by many missionary families who shared it with island visitors and boarders.

It served as a residence for various missionaries, including Hiram Bingham, Gerrit Parmele Judd and Elisha Loomis.

In 1904, several contractors were called in to examine the building which was found to be so badly eaten by insects it was considered beyond repair.  After considerable study extensive repairs were undertaken to restore the house to its original appearance.

In 1925, the premises were again inspected and again extensive insect damage was found.  By 1935, the house was completely renovated and restored.

Since 1935, various minor repairs such as repainting and some plastering have been undertaken.

Today the frame house is maintained by the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society as a memorial to the early missionary effort in the Hawaiian Islands.

Furniture and other articles of the first mission families are displayed in the house, together with photographs of the men and women who lived and worked there.

Guided tours of the house and other parts of the historic site are offered Tuesday through Saturday, starting on the hour every hour from 11 am with the last tour beginning at 3 pm.

Nominal fees include: $20 General; $15 Kama‘aina, Senior Citizens (55+) & Military; $10 and Students (age 6 to College w/ID). Kama‘aina Saturday (last Saturday of the Month) 50% off admission for residents.  (Reservations for groups of 10 or more are required.)

© 2023 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sea Bathing

Even the most rudimentary plumbing was unknown before Captain Cook’s arrival. The ancient Hawaiians depended on streams and springs for their water supply, sometimes carrying calabashes of water great distances over rugged terrain. They bathed in streams, mountain pools, ʻauwai (irrigation ditches,) shore pools and the sea.  (Schmitt)

In the late-19th Century, Waikīkī’s shoreline was mostly a day-use beach; overnight accommodations were scarce.  Visitors, usually residents of Honolulu, would arrive via horse-drawn carriage, on horseback or in a canoe.  (White)

“The most popular resort of the people of Oʻahu is the famous Waikīkī … Waikīkī is the seaside and pleasure-resort of the island. … There are a number of private residences, picturesque-looking bungalows and cottages, but all airy, comfortable, and close to the murmuring sea. A beautiful grove of towering coconut-trees adds to the tropical charm of the place.”  (Musick, 1898)

“The sea bathing is simply perfection. The water is never chilly; and yet it is most healthful and invigorating. The bottom is of nice smooth sand, always warm and pleasant to the feet. There is no fear of undertow or of any finny monsters. Not only is it pleasant to bathe here during the day, but moonlight bathing is indulged in. … It is a novelty, worth seeing, if not worth trying.  (Whitney, 1895)

Just as “sea bathing” were gaining popularity on the American and European continents, private bathhouses, like the Long Branch Baths, Ilaniwai Baths and Wright’s Villa, began to appear in Waikīkī.  (White)

“Bath-houses that equal those in Long Branch (New Jersey) are found here, and sea-bathing in January is as pleasant as in July. There is no clearer water, no finer beach, no smoother bottom in any of the many famous watering-places than are found at Waikīkī.”  (Musick, 1898)

Bathhouses served customers with bathing suits and towel rentals, dressing rooms and each access to the beach. Initially, bathhouses served only day-use recreation of visitors, but eventually some of them began to offer overnight rooms.

One of the first of these bathhouses was the “Long Branch Baths,” named after a popular New Jersey resort. This long wooden shed was built near the edge of ‘Āpuakēhau Stream by James Dodd in 1881 at the former residence of Kākuhihewa.  (CulturalSurveys)

“There are now forty two dressing rooms for gentlemen and eighteen boudoirs for ladies. To these accommodations will be added a bathing platform 100-feet along the beach by 80-feet wide and a trapeze and spring board attached. There will also be a restaurant and when the whole is finished we may expect to have occasionally to report aquatic feats of considerable magnitude.”    (Hawaiian Gazette, May 28, 1889)

At that time, the Waikīkī beach area in Ulukou and Kahaloa was dotted with small cottages and some bathing houses. These “bathing houses,” placed strategically near the beach, were places where people could change into their bathing suits, rent towels, and walk directly into the ocean.  (CulturalSurveys)

“At “Long Branch Baths” the bather may find deep water and at a temperature which will surprise him, permitting a two or more, hours enjoyment in plunging and bathing in the pure waters. Here sun and sand baths may be indulged in.”  (Godfrey, 1898)

Dodd, who also ran a livery station, also offered round trip ‘omnibus’ mule-drawn bus service from Honolulu to Waikīkī, which included the use of the Long Branch.

Another attraction was a 200-foot long marine toboggan, where “for a nickel, riders could climb a ladder to the top of the run, mount a ‘star oval board’, zip down the chute and ricochet across the water …, skipping along like a flat pebble.” This toboggan was built on the west side of the bathhouse in 1889 by Jim Sherwood, a later owner of the Long Branch Bathhouse.

“The toboggan itself is a wooden frame with a turn up end upon which the bather reclines and the pleasure is in the swiftness of motion over the chute.  When the bather reaches the water his toboggan skips on the surface for some distance from fifty to one hundred feet in proportion to the momentum acquired in the descent and then he has to swim ashore and propel his toboggan to a landing.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, May 28, 1889)

During the 1870s and 1880s, Honolulu residents in growing numbers went out to enjoy the sea bathing at Waikīkī.  Local writers spoke of it as the Long Branch, Newport, Brighton or Trouville of Hawaiʻi.  (Kuykendall)

In 1875 or earlier, Allen Herbert proprietor of the Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, “provided a cottage at the sea-shore at Waikīkī … where guests can go and spend the day, or merely enjoy a morning or evening bath in the ocean.”

Apparently this was only a beach house and not a hotel for overnight accommodation of guests; it is uncertain how long the arrangement continued.  (Kuykendall)

The first hotels in Waikīkī were bathhouses, such as the Long Branch Baths, began to offer rooms for overnight stays in the 1880s.  The first beachside hotel, the Park Beach, was a converted home which offered 10 rooms, each equipped with a bath and telephone.

As time passed, more found their way into the district, at first as visitors to enjoy the beach and the sea bathing, and then as residents, especially when access was made easier by the construction of a road (sometime in the 1860s.)

Toward the end of that decade an omnibus began running to Waikīkī, providing the only public transportation to that resort until the tramcar line reached there at the beginning of 1889. (Kuykendall)

© 2023 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

James Melville Monsarrat

James Melville Monsarrat was born June 13, 1854, in Honolulu.  On his paternal side Monsarrat is descended from Nicholas Monsarrat, who went to Dublin, Ireland, in 1755 from France. MC Monsarrat, his father, resided in Canada before coming to Hawaii.

The elder Mr. Monsarrat was a figure in the public life of Hawaii in the 1850s, being at one time deputy collector of customs and later entering the lumber firm of Dowsett & Co., which was eventually absorbed by S. G. Wilder &  Co. He died on October 18, 1871.

Through his mother Monsarrat is a descendant of Captain Samuel James Dowsett, a native of Rochester, Kent, England, and a commander in His Majesty’s Colonial Service, who, as owner and master of the brig “Wellington,” came to Hawaii from Sydney July 27, 1828, and established his family in Honolulu.

James Monsarrat was educated at Episcopal Grammar School (Honolulu), Oahu College (Punahou).  Returning to his father’s native land in 1871, he studied at Kilkenny College, Ireland.

For two years, and, traveling extensively, he was privately tutored in the French language at Brussels, Belgium, in 1873. He later attended Harvard University Law School, receiving  his LL.B. degree, class of 1878.

Before returning to Hawaii, he was with the law firm of Ely & Smith, New York City, for a short time. He was then admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the Hawaiian Islands, Aug. 22, 1879.

He became active in public life, holding the office of deputy attorney general under W Claude Jones, Attorney General, and was secretary of the legislative assembly in 1880.

During his practice Judge Monsarrat drew the will of Queen Emma and of Princess Likelike. The will of Queen Emma was later contested without success by Prince Albert Kunuiakea.

“There are many legacies mentioned in the will. Some are to native Hawaiians, one is to a Chinaman, and to the St. Andrew’s School for Girls, and the Queen’s Hospital, a chartered institution, a large share of the property is left.” (Hawai‘i Supreme Court)

Queen Emma left the bulk of her estate, some 13,000 acres of land on the Big Island and in Waikiki on Oahu, in trust for the hospital that honors her.

The Queen’s Medical Center mission is to fulfill the intent of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide in perpetuity quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawaii.

Princess Likelike was the sister of a King and Queen – and the daughter of High Chief Kapaʻakea and Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole – her sister became Queen Liliʻuokalani and her brothers were King Kalākaua and William Pitt Leleiōhoku.

On September 22, 1870, Princess Likelike was married to Honolulu businessman Archibald Scott Cleghorn.  The Cleghorns had one child Kaʻiulani (born on October 16, 1875) – “the only member of the Royal Family having issue.” (Daily Herald, February 3, 1887)

In 1887 when Master of Hawaiian Masonic Lodge, Monsarrat assisted in conferring the Mark Master’s degree on King Kalakaua at Iolani Palace.

Monsarrat married Carrie Capitola Tuttle in Honolulu, February 11, 1907. He was appointed District Magistrate of Honolulu, May 8, 1911 to May 31, 1917.  He was later an examiner of titles for the Land Court.  

Judge Monsarrat consolidated his professional interests in 1926, when he organized the Monsarrat Abstract and Title Co., his nephew, Marcus R Monsarrat, became associated with him at that time.

Judge Monsarrat was a member of the Outrigger Canoe, Harvard and British Clubs, and the Harvard Law School Association.  He died September 20, 1943 in Honolulu.

© 2023 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mōʻiliʻili Skeletons

This story raised more questions than answers.  It related to a Honolulu Advertiser story published on April 24, 1926.  It asks, “What mysteries will the skeletons of Mōʻiliʻili reveal …?”

In part, it notes theories by historian WD Alexander, who suggests, “it is nearly certain that there were two distinct periods of emigration to these Islands.”

“The first settler must have arrived in the very ancient times, as the discovery of human bones under ancient coral beds and lava flows.  Judge Fornander estimates that these Islands were inhabited as early as 500 BC.”

At Mōʻiliʻili, the paper notes that, “Skeletons that may be thirty centuries old, have just been uncovered from the encompassing layers of brown sand, still in a remarkable sate of preservation, the skulls intact, not a tooth missing.”

“And some of the skeletons are reported by the discoverers to have been found in a standing position. Above the sand is a top soil from a score to 50 feet in depth. Below, in the sand strata, 15 feet below the top soil, the skeletons were found a few days ago.”

We know that during the island’s formative stage, the sea level was more than 25 feet higher than its present level.  This is estimated to have happened during the Sangamon Interglacial Stage (the Pleistocene Epoch). In Hawai‘i, folks refer to this as the Waimanalo High Sea Stand around the island about 120,000 years ago.

This period of sea level elevation is responsible for the deposit of fossil reef limestone (and, thus, some sand) in southern coastal Oʻahu, including up to the region we now know as Mōʻiliʻili.

The weathering and erosion of Oahu’s dormant volcanoes, the Waianae and Koʻolau, paired with the rise and retrieval of the sea level resulted in the formation of “interbedded marine and terrestrial deposits”.

So, sand in Mōʻiliʻili is not unexpected.  But the news report adds a peculiarity … “How does it happen that this sand is different from any other sand found on Oahu, unlike the Waianae sand or the sands from the beaches?”

“How does it happen that this sand  is similar to the standard Ottawa sand, and one of the best known to builders? From this sand bank ton upon ton is being excavated and transported to the city of Honolulu and is being incorporated in some of the great new structures rising all over under the impetus of the new building activity”?

Back to the skeletons … “Those who have seen these skulls are intrigued by the belief that they do not resemble the usual type of Hawaiian skull, in that their contour is practically perfect, suggesting a pure Aryan origin. No marble figure of the Greek has a more perfect head that that found in the Mōʻiliʻili sand strata.”

“Some. Hawaiians, threading back into the ancient and misty past, and clinging to the thought that the Hawaiians came out of the ‘place of the dawn,’ or the rising sun, believe in the possibility of a migration from the western continental hemispheres, possibly Aztec, possibly Inca Origin …”

“… and with this trend of thought presented it is easy to build up an ethnological mosaic that would hark back to the area of the continent of Atlantis, [peopled] by those of the farther east, and after all, clinging still to that trend, the origin could be traced to the shadow of the pyramids.”

“The startling fact was revealed that one has was found whose sightless eye orifices faced, apparently, to the east, toward the rising sun, the ‘Kahiki’ of the Hawaiians, their ‘place of dawn’ …”

“… for even the Hawaiians, in their legends and their ancient chants handed down, generation to generation by the bards, ‘word-of-mouth-narratives’ expressed a theory of having come from ‘out of the dawn – the east.’”

Having said that, the Star Bulletin came out with a following statement from the Bishop museum where they reported, that while “Members of the staff have not examined the skeletons …”

“In the absence of definitive proofs of extreme age, scientists of the Bishop Museum are not inclined to ascribe special importance to the finding of several skeletons at the Mōʻiliʻili quarry”.

“‘As far as the location of the burials is concerned,’ says Dr Herbert E Gregory, director of the Bishop Museum, ‘they do not indicate any great lapse of time.  They are not found at any great depth.’” (SB, April 27, 1926)

No further reporting was found in the old newspapers about the Mōʻiliʻili skeletons; however, it seems questions remain (a burning one for relates to why the burials were in ‘a standing position’).

(A prior post on the Mōʻiliʻili Karst noted the eroded limestone caves under Mōʻiliʻili: https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/moiliili-karst-moiliili-water-cave/)

© 2023 Ho‘okuleana LLC