Peter T Young

August 22, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalonakikeke

“There has never been any agreement, as to the origin of this isolated island people, or the reasons why this type is only found scattered over all the solitary islands in the eastern part of the Pacific.” (Thor Heyerdahl)

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila Peleioholani (also called Peleioholani the 4th or Lehuanui, or simply, Peleioholani) (1843-1916) was the son of Peleioholani (uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) and Piikeakaluaonalani (mother.)

His great grandfather was the high chief Keʻeaumoku (father of Kaʻahumanu,) one of the ablest supporters of Kamehameha I.

As a boy, Peleioholani was the protégé of Kamehameha IV and his Queen Emma and the companion of their son Prince Albert (“Ka Haku O Hawaiʻi, “The Lord of Hawaiʻi.”)

During the short life of the little Prince, Peleioholani was his playmate, and both were treated with utmost respect by all they met. During this time, Peleioholani lived at the residence of Kekūanāo’a (hānai father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop.) (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

In 1874, he returned to Hawaiʻi and was a well-respected genealogist. For many, Peleioholani was considered an important Hawaiian antiquarian and the final word in Hawaiian genealogy, especially of the chiefs and royal families.

Peleioholani was a High Chief, and in many ways both the pinnacle and terminus of the old royal blood lines from Maui, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and Kauai.

His grandparents were among those who sided with Kamehameha I to achieve unity of the islands. His father was an uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V and he was himself one of the highest ranking chiefs in the Hawaiian Islands. (kekoolani-org)

He also wrote of the Hawaiian history. One work, ‘The Ancient History of Hookumu-ka-lani Hookumu-ka-honua,’ was a commentary of the ancient Hawaiian cosmogonies (creation theories.)

One of Peleioholani’s theories in that book notes, “The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there – but from the northern direction (welau lani,) that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.”

“According to this tradition, a great flood that occurred during the reign of Kahiko-Luamea on the continent of Ka-Houpo-o-Kane, (“The Bosom of Kane”) and carried away a floating log of wood named Konikonihia.”

“On this log was a precious human cargo and it came to rest on the land of Kalonakikeke (“Alaska”).”

“On this log were the first man and woman who came to Kalonakikeke from the continent of Ka-Houpo-o-Kane, they were Kalonakiko-ke (“Mr Alaska”) and his wife Hoomoe-a-pule (“Woman of my dreams”).”

“They were said to both be high chiefs of the countries of Kanaka-Hikina (“Person of the east”) and Kanaka-Komohana (“Person of the west”) and were descended from the great great ancestor Huka-ohialaka.”

“Many generations later, Chief Nuu, travelled with his wife, Lilinoe, their three sons and their three wives in a canoe called Ka-Waa-Halau-Alii-O-Ka-Moku (“The royal canoe of the continent”), and it rested upon Mauna Kea (“White Mountain”), on the island of Hawaii. They were the first Hawaiians.”

“According to Hawaiian genealogies, Chief Nuu lived around 200 BCE. (This agrees closely with the genetic evidence showing the time of arrival of Polynesians in the Pacific)” (Peleioholani; Poepoe translation; UC Riverside)

August 21, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Salem Poor

“The Subscribers begg leave to Report to your Honble. House, (which wee do in Justice to the Character of So Brave a Man) that under Our Own observation, Wee declare …”

“… that A Negro Man Called Salem Poor of Col. Fryes Regiment Capt. Ames. Company in the late Battle at Charlestown behaved like an Experienced officer, as Well as an Excellent Soldier, to Set forth Particulars of his Conduct Would be Tedious, Wee Would Only begg leave to Say in the Person of this Sd. Negro Centers a Brave & gallant Soldier.”

“The Reward due to so great and Distinguisht a Caracter, Wee Submit to the Congress” (Petition, signed by thirteen Continental Army officers and a brigade surgeon, to the Massachusetts General Court, December 5, 1775)

Let’s look back …

To prevent British soldiers from conducting further attacks on the countryside after the march to Lexington and Concord, 20,000 provincial militiamen encircled Boston in the spring of 1775. The Charlestown peninsula and Dorchester Heights, commanding both the city of Boston and Boston harbor, lie abandoned. This has been referred to as the Siege of Boston.

Hoping to make the British “masters of these heights,” General Gage, in conference with Major Generals William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne, planned to seize the neglected positions before the colonists do so.

News of Gage’s intent filtered across from Boston and down from New Hampshire on June 15. Acting quickly on this intelligence, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety ordered General Artemas Ward, commander of the colonial militia surrounding Boston, to race the British to the Charlestown peninsula, capture Bunker Hill, and then seize the Dorchester hills.

Construction began sometime around midnight as hundreds of colonial men with pickaxes and shovels constructed a fort atop the lower hill overlooking the settlement of Charlestown and the beaches along the Harbor. (NPS)

Astonished British generals woke on the morning of June 17 to discover the newly erected defenses. As the day continued, British ships bombarded the untrained militia as they worked, and Colonel Prescott walked the fortifications to raise morale. Thirsty and tired, the soldiers received “no refreshment.”

At three o’clock in the afternoon, over 2,000 British soldiers, commanded by General Howe, landed on the Charlestown shore. Continental snipers fired at the British as they marched, and General Howe ordered a combustible shell launched on Charlestown. Amid smoke and flames, local inhabitants fled their homes in order to escape “Charlestown’s dismal fate.”

Then, British troops headed uphill, where they were frustrated by fences, pits, and tall grass. In dust and heat, the continental militia waited behind their walls. They hold fire until the British are in within 150 feet of the fortifications.

(Contrary to urban legend, there’s no evidence anyone ordered the men to hold their fire until they saw “the whites” of the enemies’ eyes. The writer Parson Weems seems to have invented this decades later.)

The Americans opened fired at about 50 yards, much too distant to see anyone’s eyes. However, one commander did tell his men to wait until they could see the splash guards – called half-gaiters – that British soldiers wore around their calves.) (Smithsonian)

The British charged three times. Prescott’s men again waited until the last minute to fire. On the final charge the Americans were running out of ammunition and were soon overrun by the British; then they fought with rocks and the butts of their muskets.

No longer able to withstand the British attack, Prescott’s men retreated north over the road to Cambridge, as General Stark’s New Hampshire troops covered them in the rear.

In total, 140 colonists were dead and 271 wounded. Before dark, the British again command the Charleston peninsula, though 226 British lie dead and 828 are wounded. Popularly known as ‘The Battle of Bunker Hill,’ as noted, the battle actually occurred on Breed’s Hill.

Despite renewed British control of the peninsula, colonial forces still trapped the British in Boston. As supply issues and shortages plague them, the British prepared for further military commitment to defeat the “poor and ignorant” colonists. Meanwhile, the colonies scrambled to assemble more soldiers.

About Salem Poor

Born enslaved in Andover, Massachusetts, Salem Poor (~1747-~1802) worked on the farm of John and Rebecca Poor. In 1769, at 22 years old, he bought his freedom for 27 pounds, which equaled a working man’s annual earnings.

In May of 1775, Poor enlisted in the interim Massachusetts Army. This last-minute army consisted of colonial forces primarily from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Thus, the troops that fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 were under the command of Massachusetts and New Hampshire officers.

During the battle, Salem Poor served in an Andover unit commanded by Capt. Thomas Drury, whose company included several other African American minute men. Poor’s unit arrived as a secondary force, in order to “assist in the building of fortifications.”

Instead, due to the dire circumstances, they covered the retreating units that had constructed the barriers on Breed’s Hill and had run out of ammunition. His unit received heavy fire; the British Regular Army killed five Andover men near him on the spot and left another six seriously wounded.

As he helped the wounded, Poor slowly retreated and fired one last shot that killed British Army Lt. Col. James Abercrombie. The British Regular army successfully drove the New England forces off the Charlestown Peninsula, but not without paying a heavy price in losses themselves. (NPS)

Salem Poor fought on with the Continental Army to the end of the American Revolution. He re-enlisted for a three-year term with Colonel Edward Wigglesworth’s 13th Massachusetts Regiment, starting in mid-1777.

This brought him to Monmouth, New Jersey and Saratoga, New York. He also served at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and White Plains, New York. He returned home in 1780, free and with veteran status.

On the home front in Andover, he married four times: in 1771 to freed woman Nancy Parker, with whom he had a son in 1774; in 1780 to Mary Twing, no longer enslaved; 1787 to Sarah Stevens, White and therefore free; 1801 to Hannah Ayliffe, a Black woman of unknown status.

In 1802, at age fifty-five, Salem Poor died and was buried anonymously at Boston’s Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. What he went through after his years of enlistment and battles, we can only imagine.

Here are some solid facts: he was a hero of Bunker Hill, recognized by all regimental leaders, and was one of at least 5,000 African Americans who served on the side of the Colonists throughout the Revolutionary War. (NPS)

Click the clinks below for a general summary that helps explain it – the file ending with ‘SAR–RT’ is a formatting used by the Sons of the American Revolution for presentations by its members under its Revolutionary Times program:

Click to access Salem-Poor.pdf

Click to access Salem-Poor-a-brave-and-gallant-soldier-SAR-RT.pdf

August 20, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hale Pili

Traditional dwellings (hale pili) were constructed of native woods lashed together with cordage most often made from olonā. Pili grass was a preferred thatching that added a pleasant odor to a new hale. Lauhala (pandanus leaves) or ti leaf bundles called pe‘a, were other covering materials used.

There were many loina (rules) associated with the construction of hale. The kahuna ku‘iku‘i puʻuone, priest who chose the location for a hale, had the final word on the important decision of site selection. The building of a new house was marked with ritual and a feast of dedication. (Bishop Museum)

The “birthing” ceremony of a new dwelling centered around the doorway of the house with the cutting of the piko (center, symbolizing the umbilical cord) of the house and offerings of fish. The kahuna o Lono recited a Pule Ho‘ola‘a Hale (House Dedication Prayer). (Bishop Museum)

During a tour of the Island of Hawaiʻi in 1823, missionary William Ellis noted the following, “The houses of the natives whom he had visited today, like most in this part of the island [Hilo district], where the pandanus is abundant, were covered with the leaves of this plant, which, though it requires more labour in thatching, makes the most durable dwellings.”

There is also less variety in the form of the Sandwich Island dwellings, which are chiefly of two kinds, viz., the kale noho (dwelling house), or halau (a long building) nearly open at one end, and, though thatched with different materials, they are all framed in nearly the same way.” (Ellis)

“The size and quality of a dwelling varies according to the rank and means of its possessor, those of the poor people being mere huts, eight or ten feet square, others twenty feet long, and ten or twelve feet wide, while the houses of the chiefs are from forty to seventy feet long. (Ellis)

Unlike our housing today, the single ‘hale’ was not necessarily the ‘home.’ The traditional Hawaiian home was the kauhale (Lit., plural house;) this was a group of houses forming the homestead – spatially separated – each serving a specific purpose, but paired male and female activity areas.

“Their houses are generally separate from each other: even in their most populous villages, however near the houses may be, they are always distinct buildings.” (Ellis)

A kauhale could consist of a cluster of dwellings in the mid-elevations for cultivating food, another cluster of dwellings on the shoreline for fishing, and perhaps even more higher up on the volcanic slopes for hunting and harvesting wood products.

For the fairly well-to-do family, these consisted of hale noa (house free from kapu) where all slept together, hale mua (men’s meeting/eating house, hale aina (women’s eating house,) hale pe‘a (menstruation house) and other needed dwellings (those for canoe makers and others used to house fishing gear.)

The two basic functional units were the common house or hale noa and the mua. Apparently, only a few households ever exhibited the full complement of structures, although sleeping and cook houses were present within most household complexes. (Handy & Pukui)

The main structure within the kauhale household complex was the common house, or hale noa, in which all the family members slept at night. It was the largest building within a family compound and the most weatherproof. (Loubser)

The house in which the men ate was called the mua; the sanctuary where they worshipped was called heiau, and it was a very tabu place. The house in which the women ate was called the hale aina.

These houses were the ones to which the restrictions and tabu applied, but in the common dwelling house, hale noa, the man and his wife met freely together. (Malo)

In most cases, the hale noa was mauka of the hale mua. Where this is not the case, the hale noa is nonetheless still on higher ground than the hale mua. This mauka-makai or high ground-low ground opposition might be significant in terms of the traditional Hawaiian divisions of space along gender lines. (Loubser)

This arrangement, under the kapu system, was very burdensome on the husband and wife. For instance, the husband was burdened and wearied with the preparation of two ovens of food, one for himself and a separate one for his wife. (Malo)

He would first prepare an oven of food for his wife, and, when that was done, he went to the house mua and started an oven of food for himself. He’s return to the wife’s oven peel the taro, pound it into poi, knead it and put it into the calabash for his wife. Then he’d return to do the same for himself. (Malo)

A huge change that came with the end of the kapu system (in 1819) was the mixing of the previously separate places for eating and sleeping. The book Native Planters describes:

“The simplicity and orderliness of the hale noa, and with them the sound, normal living of families, were destroyed when the kapu requiring men and women to eat separately was abolished. This meant that food was brought into the living quarters.”

“What had been a clean and neat sanctum for man and wife and their offspring became a free-for-all gathering place for all ages of both sexes.” (Handy & Pukui)

“The house was esteemed a possession of great value. It was the place where husband and wife slept, where their children and friends met, where the household goods of all sorts were stored.” (Malo)

“To act justly without trespassing or deceiving, not frequenting another’s house, not gazing wistfully upon your neighbor’s goods nor begging for anything that belongs to him – that is the prudent course.” (Malo)

August 19, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lorenzo Lyons (Makua Laiana – Father Lyons)

The family name was originally Lyon, to which his grandfather, David Lyon, arbitrarily added an ‘s.’

The Lyon or Lyons family traces its descent back to the time of the Norman Conquest and William the Conqueror. The first of the family to immigrate to America was William Lyon, who went from London to Boston in 1635.

General Nathaniel Lyon, who lost his life in the Civil War, was of the same stock, as also was Mary Lyon, the founder of Mt. Holyoke Seminary.

A tradition in the Lyons family says that some of its members took part in the celebrated “Boston Tea Party,” returning home with some of the tea in their shoes. (Williams College)

Lorenzo and Betsy Lyons arrived in the Hawaiian Islands as missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) arriving on the ‘Averick’ on May 17, 1832.

They were part of the large Fifth Company, including the Alexanders, Armstrongs, Emersons, Forbes, Hitchcocks, Lymans and others.

On July 16 1832, Missionary Lorenzo Lyons replaced Reverend Dwight Baldwin as minister at Waimea, South Kohala, Hawai‘i. Lyons’ “Church Field” was centered in Waimea, at what is now the historic church ‘Imiola.

In a May 8, 1835 letter to the ABCFM, Lyons notes: “Mr. Baldwin in consequence of ill health is removed from Waimea, and never expects to return. Hence 15,000 souls are thrown upon me, a burden greater than I can bear. Waimea is the most central station. A man located there can do something – not much – for Kohala and Hāmākua.”

“It is my conviction and the conviction of many others that Waimea, including its outposts, is the most difficult and uninviting of all stations now occupied. No one who is acquainted with it wishes to be located there. Perhaps I am mistaken. But I shall sink unless I am speedily aided. “

“To be alone in this wide, desolate and lone region, 40 or 50 miles from any missionary brother, and no physician nearer than Oahu, is unpleasant. But to have the care of so many thousands weighing upon me is unsupportable. Pray for me”.

He stayed, stuck to it, succeeded and spent the rest of his life in Waimea.

Father Lyons was eminently popular with Hawaiians and with all men. His nature was guileless, cordial, enthusiastic, cheering. He was remarkable for hospitality to Hawaiians always seeing that his visitors passing through Waimea had something to eat. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1886)

His base was at ʻImiola Church in Waimea. The first ʻImiola Church was a grass hut built and dedicated sometime before 1832 by King Kamehameha III. Lyons wrote in his journal that at least one hundred little grass schoolhouses were scattered around the immediate Waimea area at that time.

His first wife, Betsy, died in 1837. From that time on Lyons continued the tireless and devoted worker wholly thoughtless of self, joyous, enthusiastic, ardent and kindly to others.

His constant tours extended from near Laupāhoehoe to Waimanu in Hāmākua and to Kawaihae and Puako in Kohala South. He always went on foot, unsparing of his slight and wiry frame. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1886)

On July 14, 1838, he married Lucia G. Smith of Truxton, New York.

By February of 1843, the first ʻImiola Church had been torn down and was replaced by a stone structure with thatched roof and windows. Hundreds of Hawaiians helped in the collection of stones, often carrying them miles to the construction site. However, it ran into disrepair.

On August 29, 1855, the cornerstone of a new church was laid. “Under the cornerstone (SW corner) was deposited a tin box wrapped in mamaki kapa – Hawaiian Bible, hymn books, newspapers, laws, etc.” (Lyons) By 1857, the church was completed and dedicated. The ceiling rafters, floor and exterior clapboard are made of koa.

As was the practice, the early missionaries learned the Hawaiian language and taught their lessons 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. In later years, the instruction, ultimately, was in English.

Lyons was an avid supporter of the Hawaiian language. He wrote a letter to the editor in The Friend newspaper (September 2, 1878) that, in part noted: “An interminable language…”

“[I]t is one of the oldest living languages of the earth, as some conjecture, and may well be classed among the best…the thought to displace it, or to doom it to oblivion by substituting the English language, ought not for a moment to be indulged. … Long live the grand old, sonorous, poetical Hawaiian language.”

He was lovingly known to Hawaiians as Ka Makua Laiana, Haku Mele o ka Aina Mauna – Father Lyons, Lyric Poet of the Mountain County.

Lyons was fluent in the Hawaiian language and composed many poems and hymns; his best known and beloved work is the hymn “Hawaiʻi Aloha” sung to the tune of “I Left It All With Jesus” (circa 1852.) The song was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Widely regarded as Hawaiʻi’s second anthem, this hymn is sung in both churches and public gatherings. It is performed at important government and social functions to bring people together in unity, and at the closing of Hawaiʻi Legislative sessions.”

“The first appearance of “Hawaiʻi Aloha” in a Protestant hymnal was in 1953, nearly 100 years after it was written. Today, people automatically stand when this song is played extolling the virtues of ‘beloved Hawaiʻi.’” (Hawaiian Music Museum).

Hawaiʻi Aloha – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_17vGYa81s

“In 1872, he published Buke Himeni Hawaii containing over 600 hymns two thirds his own composition. Some years later he prepared the Sabbath School Hymn and Tune Book Lei Aliʻi … The Hawaiians owe entirely to his exertions their introduction to modern enlivening styles of popular sacred music.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1886)

After leaving the mission, he stayed in Waimea.

He was known in the town as the man who carried out many functions. In October, 1854 Father Lyons became the first official Postmaster of Waimea, a post he held until he was very old. The Honolulu Directory of 1884 listed him as pastor of ʻImiola Church, postmaster, school agent and government physician.

His love for his native country was all that might be expected in such a deeply affectionate and idealistic nature. … But it was to another flag that Laiana affectionately and unreservedly dedicated his allegiance and his life. (Doyle)

It was the desire of Laiana’s heart that when laid in his last resting place he be wrapped in his dearest flag, the flag of Hawaiʻi Nei. Kalākaua himself sent the flag and the frail little body was encased in its soft silken folds. (Doyle)

Lorenzo Lyons died October 6, 1886. He was buried some distance from the church on the grounds of his old homestead. In April, 1939, his remains were moved to the grounds of ʻImiola Church, Waimea, South Kohala, Hawaiʻi.

August 18, 2023 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Schofield Barracks

In 1872, Major General John M Schofield visited the Hawaiian Islands to determine the defense capabilities of the various ports. In his report to the Secretary of War, Schofield advocated securing the exclusive use of Pearl Harbor through a reciprocity treaty with the then Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

In 1893, after the overthrow of the monarchy, it was Schofield who encouraged annexation of Hawaiʻi. He said, “if we do not hold these islands ourselves we cannot expect the neutrals in war to prevent other belligerents from occupying them; nor can the inhabitants themselves prevent such occupation.”

The site that would become Schofield Barracks was ceded to the US Government on July 26, 1899, less than a year after Hawaiʻi was annexed to the United States. The Waianae-Uka military reservation was part of the former Hawaiian Crown Lands and consisted of 14,400 acres. (Army)

In 1905, in an address to Congress, President Theodore Roosevelt declared Hawaiʻi to be, “the most important point in the Pacific to fortify in order to conserve the interests of this country.” (LOC)

Situated between the two major mountain ranges on Oʻahu, with central access to both the North Shore, Pearl Harbor and the City of Honolulu made it an excellent strategic location.

Schofield Barracks was established on December 4, 1908, with the arrival of Captain Joseph C Castner and his construction of a temporary cantonment (headquarters and quarters) on the Waianae-Uka military reservation – first, tents for officers and soldiers; then, temporary wooden barracks.

The temporary facility was informally referred to as Castner Village; some called it the Leilehua Barracks (after the Leilehua Plain on which it is located.)

In April, 1909, the War Department chose to name the post after the late General John M Schofield, former Commanding General of the US Army, who had originally called attention to Hawaiʻi’s strategic value.

In 1910, the United States Army District of Hawaiʻi was formed under the command of Colonel Walter Schuyler at Schofield Barracks. It originally fell under the jurisdiction of the Department of California and then became a department in the newly organized Western Division.

In late-1911, the Secretary of War approved recommendations for a seven-regiment post. This would rival the Army’s largest existing post at the time (Fort Russell in Cheyenne, Wyoming.) The number of troops continued to increase, and in 1913 the Hawaiian Department was formed as an independent command under the War Department.

Permanent facilities were urgently needed.

The configuration of three barracks and one administration building surrounding a central courtyard became known as a “quad” (quadrangle.)

The quads at first took their names from the troops residing in them, i.e. the 35th Infantry Barracks or the 4th Cavalry Barracks. The alphabetical designations currently used were assigned at a later date. Quarters for the officers and their families were constructed at the same time as the barracks.

In 1921, Schofield housed the only complete division in the US Army (the Hawaiian Division) and the Army’s largest single garrison. Population rose to 14,000 in 1938, making it the second largest “city” in Hawaiʻi.

The Hawaiian Department accounted for more than 10% of the Army’s forces during the ‘30s and ‘40s. (By 1948, the base had eight sets of quad barracks.)

On October 1, 1941, the transition by the War Department in operations restructured the Hawaiian Division to form two divisions at Schofield: 24th Infantry Division and the 25th Infantry Division. (Over the following decades, the 24th ID was inactivated, reactivated and subsequently deactivated in October 2006. Schofield remains the home of the 25th ID.)

The need for soldiers trained to fight under tropical conditions arose and the Jungle Training Center, later called the Ranger Combat Training School was formed in late-1942.

The Hawaiʻi Infantry Training Center (HITC) was opened on March 14, 1951. Almost one-million soldiers went through the training center at Schofield before being sent overseas.

With the construction of housing on the old training fields and in light of the greater range and fire power of the new weaponry, larger training areas were needed. Pōhakuloa on the island of Hawaii, Makua Valley, Helemano, Kahuku and Kawailoa were used. Most of these training areas are still actively used by the 25th Infantry Division today.

Today, the Schofield Barracks Area includes Wheeler Army Airfield and Helemano Military Reservation and consists of 16,600-acres. Two brigades of the 25th Infantry Division and other units that support them are housed there.

There are approximately 14,000 military personnel as well as 2,000-civilian employees who work and train at Schofield. 21,100-soldiers and their dependents live on the premises. (Lots of information here is from NPS and Army-mil.)