Peter T Young

September 18, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘A Swarm of B’s Has Come’

“A family meeting of seven brothers was held at our late Thanksgiving, and the occurrence was so peculiar and uncommon in the history of the town, that some of the citizens have expressed desire that it should be made public”.

“The ancestors of these men, both on the father and the mother’s side, immigrated from England. Joseph Bingham, their grand-sire, was born at Norwich, Connecticut where he lived to raise a family of sons and daughters: and he remained there until his children arrived to years of maturity.”

“He was a Capt. Lieutenant in a company of Provincials, as they were then called, during the French War, about the year 1756. He was a firm friend of liberty, and a determined opposer to all tyranny and oppression.”

“Soon after the close of the French from Norwich, Conn. to Charlemont, Jeremiah and Calvin came with him. Here they resided until a short time before the commencement of the Revolution.”

“About this time a few families had located themselves in this town and Jeremiah and Calvin Bingham came across the mountain and selected a farm. They soon removed with their agent father and mother, and settled upon their farm in North Bennington, and the frame of their dwelling house is the same which is now occupied by Dea. Graves.”

“When the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought, they and many of their neighbors, and others in this town, heard the roar of cannon from that battlefield.”

“When Gen. Burgoyne in August, 1777 sent Col. Baum to Bennington with a strong force of Hessians and Indians to procur provisions etc., Jeremiah and Calvin Bingham united with their fellow townsmen and others to oppose the progress of Col. Baum.”

“This officer was effectively routed and overwhelmed with the Green Mountain Boys met him ‘upon the high places of the field’, August 16, 1777.”

He went, with many others, who were aged and infirm, to Bennington Center, and while they were collected there, he proposed that while the Battle was raging they should lift up their voices and their hearts in fervent prayer to the God of Battle …”

“… that He would bless their sons, brothers and friends, who were in the Battle, fighting for their homes and for liberty; and that He would permit them to return again, and peacefully enjoy their homes.”

“After the close of the War, Jeremiah, the elder of the two brothers, removed to Cornwall, Addison County, Vermont where he trained a family of sons and daughters; and was loved and honored by his fellow citizens, to the end of his days, for his piety and every manly virtue. He lived to be almost 100 years old.”

“Calvin, the younger, remained on the farm at North Bennington, and nourished and comforted his aged father and mother while they lived. There, on that farm, was born to him 7 sons and 5 daughters, who lived to arrive to years of maturity.”

“Asa, the first born son and child, was born in Sept. 1778. He is consequently 77 yrs. old. He lived with his father until he was of lawful age, and worked on the farm as he was able. He was married, and after a few months removed to Camillua, Onondaga County, New York.”

“In process of time, his farm was subdued, and he has been greatly prospered in pecuniary things. He has been honored many years also as an officer in a Christian Church.”

“Amos, the second son, lived and worked with his father on the farm several years. His health was not very good, and he thought he would make an effort to fit himself with some other calling. He taught school some, and fitted for college.”

“He entered Middlebury College and passed through the course of studies … He studied divinity with Rev. Dr. Burton of Thetford, Vt. and was licensed and ordained as Minister of the Gospel.”

“The oppresive system of slavery in Virginia he could no longer endure. He retired to the city of Philadelphia, where he has been employed to preach to prisoners, to alms houses, by the city authorities and by benevolent societies and individuals.”

“Calvin, the third son, lived and labored chiefly on the farm with his father until he was by law permitted to act for himself. He then left his native place, and took up a piece of wild land adjoining the farm of his eldest brother, about 9 miles from Syracuse.”

“While living on and subduing this land, he had some marvelous escapes from sudden death. Several of his children are living in Michigan, one of whom is now Governor of that State.”

“Luther, the fourth son, when he had lived nearly to mature years, commenced the study of medicine. He studied a part of the time, and practiced some with Dr. N. Swift of this town. He commenced medical practice for himself near Burlington , Otsego County, N.Y.”

“He afterwards located in Oaondaga County, near his older brothers; and followed his profession in connection with farming. He spent a few years there, and sold out and removed to Genesee County.”

“He purchased a farm near Batavia, where he still resides. He has for many years been distinguished for his opposition to the
system of American slavery.”

“Hiram, the fifth son, before he arrived to manhood was selected by his parents to remain with them to be their protector and
comforter during their reclining years.”

“About this time, however, he experienced a great change in his feelings, and notwithstanding his parents were depending on him, yet he felt it to be his duty to prepare for the work of the Gospel Ministry.”

“He soon commenced to fit himself for college. He entered and passed through a course of college studies at Middlebury where he graduated with honor to himself and to his instructors.”

“He soon entered the Theological Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts. He passed through a three-year course of study. He offered himself to the Board of Missions at Boston as a Missionary to the Sandwich Islands.”

“H. Bingham lived and preached on these Islands about 20 years when he found it necessary to return to his native land in consequence in illness of his wife. His wife and faithful helper did not remain very long in her native land, but wasted away by disease and soon rested from all her labors, cares and sorrows.”

“Her husband still lives, and at the present time is connected with a second wife and with her is engaged in teaching a boarding school for young ladies in New Haven, Connecticut. He also preaches occasionally as he has opportunity.”

“Stephen, the sixth son, lived and labored on the farm with his father until he was 21. He was requested by his parents to stay with them and take charge of the farm during their declining years. “

“This service he endeavored to perform; and probably he was instrumental in relieving them from many anxious cares, and in making them more happy and comfortable while they lived, though perhaps in their pecuniary point of view, at the expense of a rising family.”

“He has always lived and labored among his fellow citizens of this goodly town. At present he is entrusted with the superintendence of the common schools as he has been for several years past.”

“David, the seventh son, remained with his parents until by the statutes he was permitted to act for himself. Soon after this he went to Camillus, and commenced clearing a piece of land adjoining the farms of his older brothers.”

“He thought his health was not sufficient for that business, and he sold his land to his oldest brother, and commenced the study of medicine. He completed his medical studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York and soon after entered into practice at Norway, in the same county.”

“(The) history of these seven brothers has it has been extended over a period of more than 50 years. During this long period they had not been permitted to meet all together at one time. Their lives had been mercifully and wonderfully preserved, by sea and land, through dangers and death on every side, until their united ages amounted to 484 years and 9 months. Average age, 69 years one month and 13 days.”

“And here, perhaps, the inquiry may be made, ‘can any reason be given why the lives of these men have been protracted through this long period? … They are all men of temporate and industrious habits, and no one of them ever contracted the habit of using tobacco in any of its forms, or indulged in the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage.”

“Some of the older sons felt very anxious that a meeting should be held; and by correspondence, it was finally arranged that each one would make strenuous exertions to be in his native town on the 6th of December – Thanksgiving Day.”

“On that day, those who lived out of town, enjoyed the privilege of meeting with some of their old fellow townsmen, and others, in the Center Church, and with them were permitted to render Thanksgiving and praise to Him who rules upon the sea and land; who watches the fall of the sparrows, and who had sustained them through all their wonderings.”

“In the afternoon the seven were all at the house of their sister … and with her and another sister and some young friends, they sat down to a bountiful supper, prepared for the occasion while many of the transactions of their youthful days were vividly brought to their recollection.”

“The next day they rambled over the old farm where their youthful days had been spent. They tranversed the fields, the pastures, the meadows. They observed the trees, the rocks, the fence, the orchard, the locus and other trees around the house and then they came around the old well, which is 60 ft. deep.”

“The proprietor (Dea. Graves) observing them, came out, when one of them observed to him ‘a swarm of B’s has come.’”

“They were invited and welcomed into the old house where they first saw the light. This they had opportunity critically to examine and here, for a short time … the scenes of their youth were lived over afresh.”

“What feelings crowded in rapid succession upon the mind! The father and mother who taught their infant feet to walk and who guided their wayward youth! That aged grandfather and grandmother, who sat in the ‘the old arm chairs.’” (Vermont State Banner, Bennington, December 28, 1855)

September 17, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … US Constitution

The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777.

The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that mostly, but not entirely, prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy.

Congress sent the Articles to the states for ratification at the end of November. Most delegates realized that the Articles were a flawed compromise, but believed that it was better than an absence of formal national government.

On December 16, 1777, Virginia was the first state to ratify. Other states ratified during the early months of 1778. The Maryland legislature was the last to ratify the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.

The weakness of this confederation became increasingly apparent when the War for Independence was over and the staggering debt repayment, which Congress under the Articles could proportionally assess but not directly collect, became a point of conflict between the states and a source of intense domestic strife within several of the states. (Williams)

Congress Tried to Revise the Articles of Confederation

The states’ disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart. Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organize a Constitutional Convention.

The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May of 1787. The delegates shuttered the windows of the State House and swore secrecy so they could speak freely.

Although they had gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation, by mid-June they had decided to completely redesign the government. There was little agreement about what form it would take.

One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation – should it be based on population or divided equally among the states? The framers compromised by giving each state one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate.

On July 26, 1787, after two months of fierce debate over the structure and powers of a new federal government, the Constitutional Convention was ready to commit its resolutions to writing. Appointing a “committee of detail” to draft a written constitution, the Convention adjourned until August 6.

After five weeks of debate over the committee of detail’s draft Constitution, the Constitutional Convention appointed a committee of style to prepare a final version; Gouverneur Morris, later known as the “penman of the Constitution,” did most of the work.

The state delegates approved the draft of the Constitution on September 15, 1787. The signing was set for the very next Monday.

Jacob Shallus, the assistant clerk for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, agreed to engross (copy in a fine, clear hand) the document. Over the course of about 40 hours, he created an accurate transcription of the draft. He was paid $30 for his efforts. On September 17, the document was ready for signing.

Thirty-nine of the 42 men present signed the Constitution. George Washington was first, followed by each state delegation descending from north to south. (George Reed signed for John Dickinson of Delaware, who was absent.)

George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph refused to sign because the Constitution lacked a bill of rights. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not sign because they were on diplomatic missions in Europe during the convention, bringing the total number of signatures to 39.

The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution. They bypassed the state legislatures, reasoning that their members would be reluctant to give up power to a national government. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government. But at the time, only 6 of 13 states reported a pro-Constitution majority.

The Continental Congress Institutes a New Government

By the summer of 1788, enough states had ratified the Constitution, and the Confederation delegates who were preoccupied in their home states came back to New York for the last few months of the government under the first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation.

There was much haggling that summer over whether Congress should admit Kentucky as a state or leave that issue to the new government. They debated incessantly over the seat of the First Congress, a question left for the new federal Congress itself to resolve.

They even debated whether another constitutional convention should be called to address the question of a bill of rights and other amendments, with both New York and Virginia calling for such a convention.

On July 2, 1788, Congress received the momentous news that New Hampshire had just become the ninth state to ratify the new Constitution, making it the law of the land.

Congress responded by appointing a committee to schedule the first federal elections and fix the date when the new government would begin operation in New York City. This was the last major act of the Continental Congress.

James Madison, George Washington, and other Federalists resolved to win the first federal elections to ensure that their vision of the new Constitution would have a fighting chance to succeed.

George Washington hoped the First Congress would find a way to deal with the proposed constitutional amendments “without overturning the whole system.” He concluded: “I earnestly pray that the Omnipotent Being who hath not deserted the cause of America in the hour of its extremest hazard, will never yield so fair a heritage of freedom a prey to anarchy or despotism.”

Only thirteen House members, representing five of the eleven states that had ratified the Constitution by March 4, showed up for the opening session. The Senate, too, failed to achieve a quorum. Both bodies adjourned in less than an hour, and the guns sounded again and the crowds cheered again, but the members themselves were disappointed in the anticlimax of their first day under the new Constitution.

What Does the Constitution Say?

The Constitution of the United States contains a preamble and seven articles that describe the way the government is structured and how it operates.

The preamble sets the stage for the Constitution. It clearly communicates the intentions of the framers and the purpose of the document. The preamble is an introduction to the highest law of the land; it is not the law. It does not define government powers or individual rights.

Establish Justice is the first of five objectives outlined in the 52-word paragraph that the Framers drafted in six weeks during the hot Philadelphia summer of 1787. They found a way to agree on the following basic principles:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The first three articles establish the three branches of government and their powers: Legislative (Congress), Executive (office of the President,) and Judicial (Federal court system). A system of checks and balances prevents any one of these separate powers from becoming dominant.

Article I assigns the responsibility for making laws to the Legislative Branch (Congress). Congress is divided into two parts, or “Houses,” the House of Representatives and the Senate. The bicameral Congress was a compromise between the large states, which wanted representation based on population, and the small ones, which wanted the states to have equal representation.

Article II details the Executive Branch and the offices of the President and Vice President. It lays down rules for electing the President (through the Electoral College), eligibility (must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old), and term length. The 12th and 25th Amendments modified some of these rules.

Article III establishes the Judicial Branch with the U.S. Supreme Court as the federal court system’s highest court. It specifies that Federal judges be appointed for life unless they commit a serious crime. This article is shorter than Articles I and II. The Federal Convention left much of the work of planning the court system to the First Congress. The 1789 Judiciary Act created the three-tiered court system in place today.

Articles four through seven describe the relationship of the states to the Federal Government, establish the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, and define the amendment and ratification processes.

Article IV outlines states’ powers in relationship to each other. States have the authority to create and enforce their own laws but must respect and help enforce the laws of other states. Congress may pass Federal laws regarding how states honor other states’ laws and records.

Article V explains the amendment process, which is different and more difficult than the process for making laws. When two-thirds of the Senate and two-thirds of the House of Representatives vote to change the Constitution, an amendment goes to the state legislatures for a vote. Alternatively, two-thirds of the state legislatures can submit an application to Congress, and then Congress calls a national convention at which states propose amendments. Three-fourths of the state legislatures or state conventions must vote in favor of an amendment to ratify it.

Article VI states that Federal law is supreme, or higher than, state and local laws. This means that if a state law conflicts with a Federal law, Federal law takes precedence.

Article VII describes the ratification process for the Constitution. It called for special state ratifying conventions. Nine states were required to enact the Constitution. Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the Constitution in 1790.

To date, the Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992.

Click the following link to a general summary about the US Constitution:

Click to access US-Constitution.pdf

September 16, 2026 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Hiram Bingham: I – IV

Hiram Bingham I was born at Bennington, Vermont, October 30, 1789, in a family of thirteen children – seven sons and six daughters – of Calvin and Lydia Bingham. About the age of twenty-one, he united with the Congregational church in his native town in May, 1811.

He strongly felt it to be his duty to prepare for the Gospel ministry. He entered Middlebury College in 1813; was graduated at the same institution in 1816, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1819. (Congregational Quarterly, 1871)

On September 19 1819, Bingham was ordained in Goshen, Connecticut, site of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) school for Sandwich Islanders. That morning, he met Sybil Moseley; she had asked Bingham for directions and he offered to drive her there. Three weeks later, on October 11, 1819, the couple was married in Hartford, Connecticut. (Miller)

On October 23, 1819, Bingham led the Pioneer Company of ABCFM missionaries as they set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) These included two Ordained Preachers, Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

By the time the Pioneer Company arrived (April 1820,) Kamehameha I had died and the centuries-old kapu system had been abolished; through the actions of King Kamehameha II (Liholiho,) with encouragement by former Queens Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani (Liholiho’s mother,) the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau and had rejected their religious beliefs.

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

Bingham had seven children, including Sophia Moseley Bingham born 1820 (the first Caucasian girl born on Oʻahu;) Levi Parsons Bingham; Jeremiah Everts Bingham; Lucy Whiting Bingham; Elizabeth Kaʻahumanu Bingham, born 1829; Hiram Bingham II, born on August 16th, 1831; and Lydia Bingham, born 1834 (who later became principal of Kawaiahaʻo Seminary, forerunner to Mid-Pacific Institute.)

Hiram I’s position as trusted advisor to the King and the chiefs resulted in the gift of the land of Ka Punahou from Boki and Liliha (Kaʻahumanu is considered responsible for this gift.) While the land was given to the Binghams and they resided there, the land was held by the Sandwich Island Mission.

On account of the failing health of his wife, Sybil, Bingham was compelled to return to the US on August 3, 1840, after a period of about twenty-one years in the Islands. He continued in the service of the Board during the five following years, and did not until the end of that time wholly abandon the hope of returning to the mission. Sybil died at Easthampton, Massachusetts, February 27, 1848.

Bingham’s second marriage was in 1852, to Miss Naomi C Morse. Hiram I died at New Haven, Connecticut, November 11, 1869, at the age of eighty-one.

Hiram Bingham II was born in the Islands on August 16, 1831. At the age of ten, he and sisters Elizabeth Kaahumanu and Lydia were sent to the continent to attend school. Hiram II was enrolled at Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts and graduated from Yale University in 1853 and Andover Seminary (1856.)

Hiram II was ordained a Congregationalist minister in New Haven, Connecticut on November 9, 1856 and married Clara Brewster only nine days later. Like his father, he set sail less than two weeks later to begin his missionary career. He left Boston on December 2, 1856 on the brig Morning Star, arrived in Honolulu on April 24, 1857, then in the Gilbert Islands in November 1857.

The Gilbert Islands (named in 1820 after the British Captain Thomas Gilbert) are a group of 16-coral atolls and islands, that are part of Kiribati (‘Kiribati’” is the Kiribatese rendition of “Gilberts.”) Hiram II settled at Abaiang, just north of Tarawa.

Hiram II spent seven years in the Gilbert Islands, struggling against disease, hunger and hostile merchants. During that time he made few converts, about fifty in all, but learned the language and began translating the Bible into Gilbertese.

Due to ill health, he was forced to return to Honolulu in 1864. Except for occasional visits to the US and another short stay in the Gilberts (1873-75,) Hiram II spent the remainder of his life in Hawaiʻi where he translated of the entire Bible into Gilbertese.

Hiram II also wrote a Gilbertese hymn book, commentaries on the gospels and a Gilbertese-English dictionary. His wife published a book of Bible stories in Gilbertese. (Youngs)

From 1877 to 1880, Hiram II served as Secretary of the Hawaiian Board of Missions and in 1895, Yale University awarded him the Doctorate of Divinity. He died October 25, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Hiram Bingham III was born in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, to Hiram Bingham II; He was the grandson of Hiram Bingham I. He attended Punahou School and continued his studies at the Phillips Academy of Massachusetts, and then at Yale University, where he graduated in 1898; got a masters In History and Political Sciences from Berkeley and a PhD from Harvard in 1905.

In 1900 at the age of 25, Hiram III married Alfreda Mitchell, heiress of the Tiffany and Co fortune through her maternal grandfather Charles L. Tiffany. With this financial stability he was able to focus on his future explorations.

He taught history and politics at Harvard and then was a lecturer and subsequently professor in South American history at Yale University. In 1908, he served as delegate to the First Pan American Scientific Congress at Santiago, Chile. On his way home via Peru, a local prefect convinced him to visit the pre-Columbian city of Choquequirao.

Hiram III was not a trained archaeologist, but was thrilled by the prospect of unexplored cities. He returned to the Andes with the Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911.

On July 24, 1911, Hiram III rediscovered the “Lost City” of Machu Picchu (which had been largely forgotten by everybody except the small number of people living in the immediate valley.)

His book “Lost City of the Incas” became a bestseller upon its publication in 1948; he also wrote “Across South America” (an account of his journey from Buenos Aires to Lima, with notes on Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.)

Hiram III was elected governor of Connecticut in 1924; he was also a US Senator. Hiram III has been noted as a source of inspiration for the ‘Indiana Jones’ character.

Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV, born July 17, 1903, was one of seven sons of former Governor of Connecticut and US Senator Hiram Bingham III and his first wife, Alfreda Mitchell. He married Rose, they had eleven children: Rose Tiffany, Hiram Anthony, Thomas, John, David, Robert Kim, Maria Cecilia, Abigail, Margaret, Benjamin and William.

He was a US diplomat stationed in Marseilles, France during World War II when Germany was invading France. At great personal risk and against State Department orders, he (a Protestant Christian) used his government status to help over 2,500-Jewish people escape the Holocaust as they escaped Hitler’s occupied Europe from 1939-1941.

He organized clandestine rescue efforts and escapes, harbored many refugees at his diplomatic residence and issued “visas for life” and affidavits of eligibility for passage.

Hiram IV helped some of the most notable intellectuals and artists to escape, including Marc Chagall, (artist;) Leon Feuchtwanger, (author;) Golo Mann, (historian, son of Thomas Mann;) Hannah Arendt, (philosopher;) Max Ernst, (artist and poet;) and Dr. and Mrs. Otto Meyerhof, (Nobel Prize winning physicist.)

In 1998, Hiram IV was recognized as one of eleven diplomats who saved 200,000-lives from the Holocaust, which amounts to one-million descendants of survivors today.

He is the only US Diplomat who has been officially honored by the State of Israel as a “righteous diplomat.” He was the only American diplomat recognized during Israel’s 50th Anniversary at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.

Sixty years after leaving the Foreign Service (in 2002,) the State Department posthumously recognized Bingham with the department’s American Foreign Service Association “Constructive Dissent” award.

In 2005, Bingham was posthumously given a letter of commendation from Israel’s Holocaust Museum. In 2006, a US commemorative postage stamp was issued in his honor. Hiram I is my great-great-great-grandfather.

September 15, 2026 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Haui ka Lani

Lots of folks criticize the US for take-overs, wars and expansion.

Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent. Journalist John L O’Sullivan wrote an article in 1839 and predicted a “divine destiny” for the United States …

“This is our high destiny, and in nature’s eternal, inevitable decree of cause and effect we must accomplish it. All this will be our future history, to establish on earth the moral dignity and salvation of man.”

After wars and negotiation, the US ran east to west across the continent.

Over the centuries, the Hawaiian Islands weren’t under single rule. Leadership sometimes covered portions of an island, sometimes covered a whole island or groups of islands. Island rulers, Aliʻi or Mōʻī, typically ascended to power through warfare and familial succession.

While criticizing the US and their mission to extend the “boundaries of freedom” to others by imparting their idealism and belief in democratic institutions to those who were capable of self-government (pbs,) some seem to romanticize and idealize the conquest of Hawaiian warrior chiefs over others.

Of particular note was the conquest, and killing of Hawaiians, by Hawaiians …

“Before the conquest of Kamehameha, the several islands were ruled by independent kings, who were frequently at war with each other, but more often with their own subjects. As one chief acquired sufficient strength, he disputed the title of the reigning prince.”

“If successful, his chance of permanent power was quite as precarious as that of his predecessor. In some instances the title established by force of arms remained in the same family for several generations, disturbed, however, by frequent rebellions … war being a chief occupation …” (Jarves)

Then, the prophecy chant “Haui ka Lani: Fallen is the Chief?,” composed by the prophet Keʻāulumoku, tells of the death of the Ka‘ū chief, Keōua, and the taking of the entire island of Hawai‘i by Kamehameha. (Pukui)

“After describing the horrors of the civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.” (Kalākaua)

Many lines in the chant refer to events that had recently happened. These included the blow on Kamehameha’s head, which, years later, inspired the “Law of the Splintered Paddle;” Keōua’s killing some of Kamehameha’s men at Keʻei; the 1782 quarrel between Keōua and Keawemauhili the earlier meetings with the chief, Kīwala‘ō, and Kīwala‘ō’s death.

But when it comes to the death of Keōua, Keʻāulumoku unmistakably speaks of the future. Exactly what he said may have been altered in the handed-down spoken recitations, by changes in the Hawaiian language, and, certainly, by later translations.

The chant begins:
“Haui ka Lani, ka mauli au honua.”
“Fallen is the chief, overthrown is the whole kingdom.”

“Hina wale i ke ala kapapa, ke one.”
“Falling in the smooth road, on the sand.”

With Keōua dead, and his supporters captured or slain, Kamehameha became King of Hawaiʻi island, an event that according to the prophesy eventually led to the conquest and consolidation of the islands under the rule of Kamehameha I.

By the time of Cook’s arrival (1778,) Kamehameha had become a superb warrior who already carried the scars of a number of political and physical encounters. The young warrior Kamehameha was described as a tall, strong and physically fearless man who “moved in an aura of violence.” (NPS)

The impress of his mind remains with his crude and vigorous laws, and wherever he stepped is seen an imperishable track. He was so strong of limb that ordinary men were but children in his grasp, and in council the wisest yielded to his judgment. He seems to have been born a man and to have had no boyhood. (Kalākaua)

He was always sedate and thoughtful, and from his earliest years cared for no sport or pastime that was not manly. He had a harsh and rugged face, less given to smiles than frowns, but strongly marked with lines indicative of self-reliance and changeless purpose. (Kalākaua)

He was barbarous, unforgiving and merciless to his enemies, but just, sagacious and considerate in dealing with his subjects. He was more feared and admired than loved and respected; but his strength of arm and force of character well fitted him for the supreme chieftaincy of the group, and he accomplished what no one else could have done in his day. (Kalākaua)

“It is supposed that some six thousand of the followers of this chieftain (Kamehameha,) and twice that number of his opposers, fell in battle during his career, and by famine and distress occasioned by his wars and devastations from 1780 to 1796.” (Bingham)

“However the greatest loss of life according to early writers was not from the battles, but from the starvation of the vanquished and consequential sickness due to destruction of food sources and supplies – a recognized part of Hawaiian warfare.” (Bingham)

“Whether we contemplate the horrors or the glories of the rude warfare which wasted the nation, we are not to confine our views to the struggles of armed combatants, the wounds, the reproaches, and various evils inflicted on one another …”

“… but the burden of sustaining such armies deserves attention, and the indescribable misery of the unarmed and unresisting of the vanquished party or tribe, pursued and crushed, till all danger of further resistance disappeared, must not be forgotten.” (Bingham)

According to Manifest Destiny, the people of the US felt it was their mission to extend the “boundaries of freedom” to others by imparting their idealism and belief in democratic institutions to those who were capable of self-government. (pbs) After wars and negotiation, the US ran east to west across the continent.

According to a prophecy prior to his birth, Kamehameha would win wars and overthrow the whole kingdom; another prophecy suggested he would succeed in battle after constructing a special heiau. After wars and negotiation, Kamehameha gained power from east to west across the Island chain.

Again, while criticizing the US for expansion, some seem to romanticize and idealize the conquest of Hawaiian chiefs (killing Hawaiians) for their conquest and expansion across the Islands.

Kauhi’s_last_Stand_at_Kaanapali-(HerbKane)

September 14, 2026 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Niuhelewai

The ahupua‘a of Kapālama has two streams, the Kapālama and the Niuhelewai (“coconut going (in) water”). They merge and extend through the central fertile area also called Niuhelewai. This area drained into a pond called Kūwili II.

John Papa ‘Ī‘ī described the appearance of the trail (around the year 1810) from Nuʻuanu to Moanalua through Kapālama: “When the trail reached a certain bridge, it began going along the banks of taro patches, up to the other side of Kapālama, to the plain of Kaiwiʻula …”

While somewhat general, the ‘Ī‘ī account supports that of von Kotzebue in relating an abundance of lo‘i where the main trail crossed Nuʻuanu Stream, a relatively uncultivated plain as the trail traversed Kapālama and Kaiwi‘ula, and then more lo‘i on Kalihi Stream (Cultural Surveys)

“(O)n the south and west, spread the plain of Honolulu, having its fish-ponds and salt making pools along the sea-shore, the village and fort between u and the harbor, and the valley stretching a few miles north into the interior, which presented its scattered habitation and numerous beds of kalo in its various stages of growth …”

“Through this valley, several streams descending from the mountains in the interior, wind their way, some six or seven miles watering and overflowing by means of numerous artificial canal the bottom of kalo patches, and then, by one mouth, fall into the peaceful harbor.” (Hiram Bingham)

Haumea, the goddess of childbirth, had a home at Niuhelewai in Kapālama; Haumea, sometimes identified with Papa, or the Earth mother, was a female akua that with ‘great source of female fertility.’ She married Wākea and later married Hāloa, her husband’s son by his own daughter Hoʻohokukalani. She is considered the mother of Pele and of Pele’s siblings

In chants she is called Haumea ‘of mysterious forms, of eightfold forms, of four hundred thousand forms.’ One of her commonly known forms, however, is the breadfruit tree. There is no single word haumea in Hawaiian, but hau can mean “a ruler” and mea can mean “reddish (like red earth). (King)

Niuhelewai was the location for a famous battle between Kahekili’s forces and the O‘ahu ruling chief Kahahana.

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778,) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Kahahana was high-born and royally-connected. His father was Elani, one of the highest nobles in the ʻEwa district on Oʻahu, a descendant of the ancient chiefs of Līhuʻe. While still a child, Kahahana was sent to Maui to live with Kahekili. (Fornander)

Then, Oʻahu chiefs selected Kahahana to be their leader (this was the second island chief to be elected to rule Oʻahu; the first was Māʻilikūkahi, who was his ancestor.)

Kahahana left Maui and ruled Oʻahu. When war broke out between Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaiʻi Island and Kahekili in 1779, Kahahana had come to the aid of Kahekili. Later, things soured.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, and the queen of Kauaʻi was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.” (Kalākaua)

In the beginning of 1783, Kahekili sought to add Oʻahu under his control. Kahekili invaded Oʻahu and Kahahana, landing at Waikīkī and dividing his forces in three columns (Kahekili’s forces marched from Waikīkī by Pūowaina (Punchbowl,) Pauoa and Kapena to battle Kahahana and his warriors.)

Kahahana’s army was routed, and he and his wife fled to the mountains. For nearly two years or more they wandered over the mountains, secretly aided, fed and clothed by his supporters, who commiserated the misfortunes of their former king. Kahahana was later killed.

Some of the remaining Oʻahu chiefs sought revenge and devised a wide-spread conspiracy against Kahekili and the Maui chiefs. The plan was to kill the Maui chiefs on the same night in the different districts.

However, before they could carry out their plan, Kalanikūpule found out their intentions and informed his father, Kahekili. Messengers were sent to warn the other chiefs, who overcame the conspirators and killed them. (Apparently the messenger to warn the chiefs in Waialua was too late and the Maui chiefs there were killed.)

Gathering his forces together, Kahekili overran the districts of Kona and ʻEwa, and a war of extermination ensued. This event was called Kapoluku – “the night of slaughter.” (Newell)

Men, women, and children were massacred; all the Oahu chiefs were killed and the chiefesses tortured. (Kamakau) The waters of the Niuhelewai stream were turned back, the stream being dammed by the corpses. (Fornander)

Kalaikoa, one of the Maui chiefs, scraped and cleaned the bones of the slain and built a house for himself entirely from the skeletons of the slaughtered situated at Lapakea in Moanalua. The skulls of slain Oʻahu chiefs adorned the doorways of the house. The house was called “Kauwalua.” (Lots of information here is from Fornander, Kamakau and Cultural Surveys.)