Peter T Young

September 13, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 041 – December 2, 1819

December 2, 1819 -Today we have endeavored to observe with our friends in N.E, a Public Thanksgiving for divine mercies. Tho’ our friends who doubtless remember us today, may have a greater exuberance and variety to crown their board, yet they can not have more multiplied and undeserved mercies to expand their hearts.
Tropic of Cancer (Thaddeus Journal)

Dec. 2nd. Precious have been the mercies of our GOD to us this day. Here, upon these wide waters, have we been permitted, with dearly beloved, absent friends, to lift up our hearts and voices in praise to our gracious Preserver and Benefactor. We felt, that in common with them, we had abundant cause for observing a day of thanks-giving, we also felt, that morning, special, mercies demanded our particular notice. Providentially, we had with us the Gov. proclamation, published the week we left Boston. Mr. B—read this, taking it on the ground for remarks, besides bringing into view our particular mercies as a Mission family, and as individuals. The sea was boisterous, and not allowing us to be on deck, we assembled in the cabin. We had a comfortable dinner provided, at which, tho but little was said, yet the subjects were tender and calculated to touch our better feelings, Lord, forgive our sins and accept our poor attempts to praise thee. Find, upon a review of past years, this to be the eighth anniversary thanks-giving which has found me in a situation new, and foreign from any calculations I could have made from one to the other. So literally have I been a stranger, a sojourner; 0, that I knew I was spiritually I Lord, I thank thee I have any evidence I am such. My soul would seek of thee daily communications of thy Grace, that so thin evidence may be encreased. I would fain hope the various and, in many instances, mysterious providences of GOD towards me, the past years, have been preparing me for what he seems calling me to. 0, to give myself wholly to my Divine Master’s service, in heart and in life! (Sybil Bingham)

2nd. Religions exercises in the cabin in consequence of the roughness of the sea, which rendered it inexpedient to be on deck. At 3 o’clock surrounded the table and partook of a frugal repast, consisting of fresh pork, sea pye, crackers and cheese. Various circumstances combined to render the season interesting. Brother T. remarked “Thanks for the gospel enjoyed by our countrymen, and promised to the heathen”. A sister observed, while our friends rejoice on the present occasion, they also weep in secret on account of the vacancies occasioned by our absence. May we not comfort ourselves with the reflection that as we are frequently on the minds of. our friends, many fervent prayers are offered up in our behalf. We now sail at the rate of 6 knots an hour, crossed the tropical line about 4 this afternoon, bidding the northern temperate zone adieu; probably for the last time. (Samuel & Nancy Ruggles)

Dec. 2. This day we celebrate a joyful anniversary. Though separated from you, and our dear American friends; I trust we cherish a fond remembrance of each other. While sitting around the festive board and partaking of the bounties of providence, you doubtless have frequently thought of me, and I hope as often lifted up your hearts to God in my behalf. My thoughts have this day dwelt much upon my beloved Country and friends, but not with any desire to return. As much as I love, think of, and desire to see you, I am unwilling to leave the great work in which I have engaged, to visit you. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

2. This day we celebrate as the anniversary thanksgiving. Many Christians rejoice & keep it with a merry heart; the joy of others is mingled with sorrow. That fraternal board where I have been wont to sit, has now an empty seat. Me thinks I see the trickling tear at the mention of Samuel’s name. Yet thanks are given that a friend, a brother, a child has gone to teach benighted heathen to joining in praise & thanksgiving. This date too we have left the northern temperate zone never again to visit its friendly clime. (Samuel Whitney Journal)

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September 12, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

A Parting Address

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), based in Boston, was founded in 1810, the first organized missionary society in the US … “and was incorporated, by the Legislature of Massachusetts, June 20, 1812. Its beginnings, as is well known, were small, and the anticipations of its supporters not remarkably sanguine:”

“but its resources and operations have regularly increased, till, in respect to the number of its patron – the amount of its funds – and the extent of its influence, it is entitled to a place among the principal benevolent institutions of the earth.”

They decided to send a Company of missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands. “Messrs. Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston, from the Andover Theological Seminary, were ordained as missionaries at Goshen, Conn., on the 29th of September, 1819. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Heman Humphrey, afterwards President of Amherst College, from Joshua xiii. 1: ‘There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.’”

“Besides these, the mission contained a physician. Dr. Holman; two schoolmasters, Messrs. Whitney and Ruggles; a printer, Mr. Loomis; and a farmer, Mr. Chamberlain. All these were married men, and the farmer took with him his five children.” (Anderson, 1872)

“Within two weeks after the ordination in Goshen, the missionary company assembled in Boston, to receive their instructions and embark. There, in the vestry of Park Street Church, under the counsels of the officers of the Board, Dr. S Worcester, Dr. J Morse, J Evarts, Esq., and others, the little pioneer band was, on the 15th of Oct., 1819, organized into a Church for transplantation.” (Hiram Bingham)

“The members of the mission, at the time of receiving their public instructions from the Board in Park-Street Church, were organized into a mission church, including the three islanders. There existed then no doubt as to the expediency of such a step.” (Anderson, 1872)

“The next morning, Saturday, October 16, at 10 o’clock, Mr. Thurston delivered a farewell address in the same church to a large congregation of friends of missions from various parts of New England. A portion of his words were as follows:

“Permit me, my dear friends, to express the sentiments and feelings of this missionary company on the present occasion. We would express our gratitude to the Great Head of the Church, for the provision He has made for the souls of men, and for the evidence which He graciously gives us, that we are severally interested in this great salvation.”

“We bless God that we live in this interesting period of the world-that so much has been done, and that so much is still doing to extend the blessings of the Redeemer’s kingdom to the ends of the earth.”

“The present is emphatically styled a day of action. The Church is opening her eyes on the miseries of a world lying in wickedness. Her compassion is moved, and her benevolence excited to alleviate human sufferings, and to save the soul from death. We have felt that the Savior was speaking to us, and our bosoms· have panted for the privilege of engaging in the blessed work of evangelizing the heathen.”

“We have voluntarily devoted ourselves to this great object, and have been set apart to go forth and labor for its accomplishment. In a few days we expect to leave this loved land of our nativity, for the far distant isles of the sea, there to plant this little vine, and nourish it, till it shall extend through all the islands, till it shall shoot its branches across to the American coast, and its precious fruit shall be gathered at the foot of her mountains.” (Asa Thurston, as noted by Lucy Thurston)

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail from Boston on the Thaddeus for Hawai‘i.

After 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Hawai‘i’s “Plymouth Rock” is about where the Kailua pier is today.

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September 12, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Anthony Allen

The history of the Black presence in Hawaiʻi goes back to the early sailors; Blacks were crewmembers of Cook’s second and third Pacific voyages.

There is a “high likelihood” for the presence of Blacks on many of the ships that crossed the Pacific. Free and unfree Blacks had been serving onboard these ships in a variety of capacities.

Between about 1820 and 1880, hundreds of whaling ships annually pulled into (primarily) Honolulu and Lāhainā, and a significant number of Blacks stayed behind in the islands and became permanent residents where they worked as cooks, barbers, tailors, sailors on interisland vessels and members of musical groups.

Discussion of early African-American presence in Hawaiʻi usually starts with Anthony D. Allen. He was born a slave on the German Flats, in New York, in 1774. At about the age of 24, fearing his old master’s widow (Dougal) might sell him and he would have to leave his mother, he arranged for a new slave master and he was bought for $300.

Shortly thereafter, in 1800, he made a flight for freedom from Schenectady, NY, and made his way to Boston. He went to work at sea, sailing with the same sea captain for eight years, seven as steward and one as cook.

Many other African Americans worked in the maritime industry during this period as crew members, pilots, cooks, stewards, stevedores, builders and captains. In the coming decades, Americans with African lineage would account for up to 50 percent of the maritime forces. (Scruggs, HJH)

In 1806, he ran into his former slave master and was almost forced back into slavery. Mr. Coolege, the ship owner on which he worked, agreed to pay the former owner $300; the former owner agreed.

In return, Allen gave Coolege a promissory note to pay him back. In April 1807, Allen paid the note back. He spent the next few years sailing across the globe – Boston, France, Haiti, Havana China, Northwest US and eventually, in 1811, Hawaiʻi.

Called Alani by the Native Hawaiians, Allen served as steward to Kamehameha the Great and he acquired a parcel of about six acres. He married a Hawaiian woman and had three children who survived into adulthood. (HHS)

He “resided at Waikiki, lived as comfortably, and treated us as courteously, as any who had adopted that country before our arrival.” (Hiram Bingham)

John Papa ʻĪʻī, a neighbor of Allen, in his testimony confirming rights to the land, told how Allen acquired his land: “The Allens got this land from an old high Priest – Hewa hewa. … this land was given him in the time of ‘’Kamehameha I’.” (HJH)

By 1820, Allen owned a dozen houses, “within the enclosure were his dwelling, eating and cooking houses, with many more for a numerous train of dependents. There was also a well, a garden containing principally squashes, and in one part, a sheepfold in which was one cow, several sheep, and three hundred goats.” (Sybil Bingham Journal)

Allen’s land held a variety of business enterprises, including animal husbandry, farming, a boarding house, a hospital, a bowling alley and a grog shop. Besides keeping his own animals, Allen boarded cattle for others. Allen may have operated the first commercial dairy in Hawaiʻi.

“Waikīkī” was once a vast marshland whose boundaries encompassed more than 2,000-acres (as compared to its present 500-acres below the Ala Wai Canal we call Waikīkī, today).

Allen’s six-acres and home were about two miles from downtown at Pawaʻa, between what we now call Waikīkī and Mānoa at what is now the corner of Punahou and King Streets. This is where Washington Intermediate School is now situated. (Washington was the first intermediate school built on Oʻahu; it opened in 1926.)

In addition to his farming, Allen provided overnight accommodations – one of the earliest known hotel uses in Waikīkī. Several references note his property as a “resort.” (Hawaiʻi’s first “hotel” may be attributed to Don Francisco de Paula Marin, sometime after 1810 on Marin’s property at Honolulu Harbor.)

Reverend Charles Stewart notes of Allen’s place in his journal, “… it is a favourite resort of the more respectable of the seamen who visit Honoruru. …” With it, he had a popular bowling alley.

He entertained often and made his property available for special occasions. “King (Kauikeaouli – Kamehameha III) had a Grand Dinner at A. D. Allen’s. The company came up at sunset. Music played very late.” (Reynolds – Scruggs, HJH)

He even operated a hospital where ill or injured seamen and sea captains were taken ashore to recuperate; however, it is not clear if he had medical training or who else there did.

It appears that Allen helped oversee the construction and maintenance of one of the first improved roads in Honolulu, probably what today is known as Punahou Street, which becomes Mānoa Road.

In the “… valley of Manoa … this afternoon Mr. Bingham drove me in a wagon to it. There is now a good carriage road … as far as the country house of Kaahumanu … five miles from Honolulu.” (Reynolds, Scruggs, HJH)

Allen, the former slave, died of a stroke on December 31, 1835, leaving behind a considerable fortune to his children.

In tribute to Allen, Reverend John Diell noted, “The last sun of the departed year went down upon the dying bed of another man who has long resided upon the island. He was a colored man, but shared, to a large extent, in the respect of this whole community. …”

“He has been a pattern of industry and perseverance, and of care for the education of his children. … In justice to his memory, and to my own feelings, I must take this opportunity to acknowledge the many expressions of kindness which we received from him from the moment of our arrival.”

The image shows an 1874 map (Waikiki DAGS Reg-797-(portion)) that notes the property owned by Anthony D Allen.

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September 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 042 – December 3, 1819

December 3, 1819 – no entry. (Thaddeus Journal)

3rd. Continue to sail rapidly in the latitude of the Sandwich Isles. The weather is not so warm as I supposed it would be in this region, though I am to remember that it is now the coldest season in the year. Some of the family complain of sickness today, others of extreme stupidity. For my own part I feel unusually dull. I suppose it is in part owing to the continual motion of the vessel. Why is it, that, when every thing about seems to demand the most lively exercise of all the Christian graces, the soul should become in a great measure insensible to divine things.
“Rise, rise my soul and leave the ground,
Stretch all thy thoughts abroad,
And rouse up every tuneful sound,
To praise the eternal God.” (Samuel & Nancy Ruggles)

Dec. 3. Yesterday we left the northern temperate zone, expecting never to enter it again. The weather is yet very cool and comfortable. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

3. – The lord is giving us favorable winds & wafting us at the rate of 7 or 8 miles an hour towards the land of our destination. Bless the lord O my soul & let all that is within me bless his holy name. (Samuel Whitney Journal)

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September 11, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 043 – December 4, 1819

December 4, 1819 – no entry. (Thaddeus Journal)

4th. Our dear mother may now look at the Atlas and find the I. of cape verd, and imagine she sees her children sailing along by it about three degrees to the westward, in the enjoyment of comfortable health, and good spirits. Your N. (Samuel & Nancy Ruggles)

Dec. 4. We have been at sea six weeks and for most of the time have been driven about by contrary winds. At length we have entered the trades, which are rapidly wasting us on our passage to the heathen world. In the last 24 hours, we sailed about 180 miles. We are now within 2 or 3 deg. of Cape Verd Islands. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

4. – Six weeks to day since I embarked for the heathen. My desire to be engaged in bringing souls to Christ is increasing. My thoughts lately have dwelt much on Yale. How pleasant once more to meet in that praying circle, to walk with my classmates, & converse on subjects which relate to the rising glories of the church! Perhaps before this the Lord has poured out his spirit, & many of those thought youth have become the subjects of renewing grace. Perhaps my friend E. is among the sons of the Prophets. (Samuel Whitney Journal)

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