Peter T Young

July 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kawaiahaʻo Steeple

“On this spot … Ka‘ahumanu started her prayer meeting for women. Here the elder Hiram Bingham preached the first sermon ever delivered in this city from the text, “Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people’ …”

“… and here, in 1838, Mr. Bingham with the chiefs and the people of the land broke ground for the foundations of the church.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

The Reverend Hiram Bingham prepared plans for a stone building of two stories with cellar, galleries, pillars in front, and a bell tower. The final dimensions were 144 feet long by 78 feet wide, large enough to accommodate thousands.

“March 12th, 1839. Work on meeting house commenced. June 5th. Cornerstone of church laid.” (Judd Journal; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“They went down six or seven feet and laid their foundations upon the coral rock. From this time on the place of building was the theater of constant activity.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“The cornerstone of the church was laid in the presence of a vast concourse of people. In a hole under the stone now deposited is a brass plate with some writing upon it. Dr. Judd’s book on anatomy, Brother Andrew’s on surveying, geometry navigation, etc., and an entire Bible. Also a map of the islands and one of Honolulu.” (Cooke Diary, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“The high chief Abner Paki furnished the corner stone which was laid in 1839. It was hewn out of the reef at Waianae and floated to Honolulu on a raft, some say on canoes.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“We then assembled in the meeting house (the grass one) and Brother Bingham preached from Hagai 1:11: ‘Go ye up to the mountains and bring timber, etc., etc.’ After the sermon Auhea (w.) said a few words, then Kekuanaoa and also the King Kamehameha III.” (Cooke Diary, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“July 8th, 1840. Having received the promise of a ‘mano’ (a mano is 10 x 40 equal to 400) or two of mamaki and 200 cattle from the King, I started on the 8th for Waialua to hire 100,000 shingles made.” (Judd Journal; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“The ground was covered with great piles of stone. Lime kilns were burning day after day. Nearly seventy thousand cubic feet of stone were used in the building.”

“It was not an uncommon thing to see from five hundred to a thousand men at work. The stone for this vast edifice was hewn out of the reef between Honolulu and Waikiki. It was then drawn on trucks and sleds to its proper place. Men, horses and oxen were used in hauling the material.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“Most of the timber used in the roof and for the floor beams was cut in the mountains at Helemano, back of Waialua. It was dragged to the sea at Honouliuli and thence floated to Honolulu. Much of the lumber came from California and the northwest coast; boards, nails, sashes and glass from Boston.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“The whole basement story is excavated down to the coral rock, and the foundation walls are laid on that rock. The basement walls are 44 inches thick and about 12 feet high. … Above the basement, the walls were carried up 36 inches thick to the sills of the gallery windows, and thence 27 inches to the plates.”

“Rev. R. Armstrong succeeded (Hiram Bingham) as Pastor of the church, and under him it was completed and dedicated July 21, 1842 (before the steeple and gallery had been completed.)” The Friend, November 1885)

Rev. Mr. Bingham, designer of the church, returned to the US in 1840, while the building was yet incomplete. He had left for the continent on August 3, 1840, due to his wife, Sybil’s illness, hoping to recover and return; he never came back to see the finished church. (The Friend, November 1885)

In 1850 the town’s first clock, presented by the King, was installed in the Kawaiaha‘o tower, having come around the Horn from Boston. It cost $1,000.00 and commenced running January 10, 1851. The tower chock has continued in operation to this date, with only an occasional interruption.

The structure of 1842 resembled his original drawings except for the bell tower, which was topped by ‘an absurd wooden spire,’ blunt and without much visual attraction, looking for all the world like a lamp extinguisher. (HABS & NPS)

Kawaiaha‘o Church ordered an organ in 1867 to replace the melodion then in use. To prepare for its installation, the pulpit was moved forward some twenty or thirty feet to nearly the center of the auditorium, and a new choir loft built behind the pulpit. Music was under the leadership of Mrs Lydia Dominis (later Queen Lili‘uokalani) and Mrs Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Pauahi died on October 16, 1884. Her will (Clause 13) states her desire that her trustees “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”. Kamehameha Schools was later formed.

But Pauahi’s will also provided funds to Kawaiaha‘o Church. “Eleventh. I give and bequeath the sum of Five thousand Dollars ($5000.) to be expended by my executors in repairs upon Kawaiaha‘o Church building in Honolulu, or in improvements upon the same.” (Bernice Pauahi Bishop Will)

The Bishop funds were used at Kawaiaha‘o to build up the tower with coral stone to give it the square tower (at its present height) and remove the pointed spire.

“The builders of the new section of the stone church tower have nearly completed its first square, and evidently in a substantial manner.” (Daily Honolulu Press, October 20, 1885) The November 11, 1885 issue or the Daily Honolulu Press noted, “The steeple of the Kawaiaha‘o church is finished.”

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July 20, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Bishop Bank – Waimea

Charles Reed Bishop was born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York; his father was a toll collector who worked on a toll booth in the middle of the Hudson River. Glens Falls was later known as “Hometown USA,” a title given to it by Look Magazine in 1944.

Shortly after his brother was born (1824,) his mother became ill and died a few weeks later. Her older sister, Lucy, takes the two-year old to Fort Ann, New York to live with her awhile.

He then went to live with his paternal grandfather, Jesse. He didn’t have much schooling, attending Glens Falls Academy for 7th and 8th grades, his only years of formal schooling.

After leaving school, he was a clerk for Nelson J Warren, the largest business in Warrensburgh, New York. He learns bartering, bookkeeping, taking inventory, maintenance and janitorial duties.

At about the age of 20 (in 1842,) the younger worked as a bookkeeper and head clerk for Charles Dewey in the Old Stone Store in Sandy Hill.

He then sailed (February 23, 1846) for the continent’s west coast aboard the ‘Henry,’ however the ship needed extensive repairs and landed at Honolulu Harbor on October 12, 1846.

He became ‘Hawaiʻi’s First Banker’ and formed Bishop & Co Bank in 1858. The Bishop Bank Building at 63 Merchant Street was the earliest of the Italianate (or Renaissance Revival) structures on the street, built in 1878 and designed by Thomas J. Baker (one of the architects of ʻIolani Palace.)

In 1895, Samuel M Damon bought Bishop & Co. from founder Charles Bishop. After the turn of the century the bank started opening neighbor island branches, including the Waimea branch on Kauai in 1911.

The Waimea branch at one time served the entire island of Kauai. As the economy of the island developed, however, additional branches on that and other islands were opened. The Bank incorporated as Bank of Bishop & Co. Ltd in 1919.

(After some mergers, in 1956 it was renamed Bishop National Bank of Hawai‘i; in 1960, First National Bank of Hawai‘i; then, in 1969, First Hawaiian Bank.) (FHB)

“One of the oldest and most reliable banking institutions in the Territory is Bishop’s Bank. With head offices in Honolulu, it has branch banks in Waimea, Kauai, and Hilo, Hawaii, both of which are conducted in the same prompt and highly satisfactory manner.”

“The bank issues Commercial and travelers’ Letters of credit, available to all parts of the world. All business entrusted to this institution or to either of its branch houses, receives prompt attention.” (The Garden Island, April 29, 1913)

On December 29, 1929, construction was completed on the Bishop National Bank of Hawaii’s Waimea Branch. It replaced an earlier structure on the same site which had been built in 1911.

Its eclectic style and solid, imposing appearance is typical of post-World War I banking architecture. It is designed to give an aura of permanence and stability a visual assurance to Waimea’s inhabitants that the bank was ‘here to stay.’ (NPS)

Like many buildings in Waimea, the first floor was constructed three feet off the ground to protect against flooding. This presented an opportunity for the architect to create an important entry porch.

Stairs lead up to the main entry, which is flanked on each side by two classic columns of simple Ionic order supporting an entablature above which a dental cornice with crown mould surrounds the building, topped by a partially balustraded parapet.

Although a small structure, it contributes a sense of permanence and solidity. The exterior has retained most of its original appearance; however, extensive remodeling to the bank interior has altered the appearance from the typical 1920s era banking structure.

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July 19, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Gilbert Conwall Wiltse

“In view of the existing critical circumstances in Honolulu, including an inadequate legal force, I request you to land marines and sailors from the ship under your command for the protection of the United States legation and United States consulate, and to secure the safety of American life and property.” (Stevens to Wiltse, January 16, 1893)

“You will take command of the battalion, and land in Honolulu for the purpose of protecting our legation and the lives and property of American citizens, and to assist in the preservation of public order.”

“Great prudence must be exercised by both officers and men, and no action taken that is not fully warranted by the condition of affairs and by the conduct of those who may be inimical to the treaty right of American citizens. You will inform me at the earliest practicable moment of any change in the situation.” (Wiltse to Lt-Commander Swinburne, January 16, 1893)

“Promptly the men from the Boston were landed. Detachments were placed around the legation and the consulate, the principal members having marched to a central hall for shelter and headquarters …”

“… the night being at hand, the public anxiety being especially strong as to what might be done by irresponsible persons in the night, the landing of the men of the Boston so promptly gave immediate relief to the public anxiety.”

“The committee of public safety forthwith took possession of the Government buildings, archives, and treasury, and installed the Provisional Government at the heads of the respective departments. This being an accomplished fact, I promptly recognized the Provisional Government as the de facto Government of the Hawaiian Islands.”

“The English minister, the Portuguese charge d’affaires, the French and the Japanese commissioners promptly did the same; these, with myself, being the only members of the diplomatic corps residing here.”

“It is proper that I should add, that the presence of the Boston here has been of the highest importance, and the behavior of officers and men has been admirable.”

“Capt. Wiltse has exercised prudence and great firmness, while he and the undersigned have recognized only accomplished facts and have not allowed the use of the United States force for any but the most conservative reasons, I am, sir, John L. Stevens.” (Blount Report)

Let’s look back …

Gilbert Conwall Wiltse was appointed to the Naval Academy from New York, and graduated on September 20, 1855. He became a midshipman on June 9, 1859, and was ordered to the frigate, Congress, the flagship of Admiral JS Sands, cruising on the Brazilian Station from 1859 to 1861. He was made Lieutenant on Aug. 31, 1861.

The Congress was recalled from the station upon the breaking out of the civil war, and Wiltse was detached from that vessel and ordered to the St. Lawrence of the home squadron, in which ship he was present at the engagement of the Confederate ram, Merimac, with the Congress and the Cumberland, in Hampton Roads, on March 8 and 9, 1862.

He was also in the engagement with the Sewel Point batteries in May, 1862. He served on the steam sloop, Dacotah, of the West India squadron in 1862-63, and in the Atlantic blockading squadron in 1863-64.

He had a taste of hot work in the engagement of monitors with Forts Sumter and Moultrie in Nov. 1863. He was commissioned Lieutenant Commander on March 3rd, 1865. He served with distinction all through the civil war.

He served successfully on the steamer Agawam, Atlantic squadron, 1866-67; apprentice ship. Saline, 1867-68; navy yard, New York, 1868-69; on monitor, Saugus, North Atlantic fleet, 1869-70; navy yard, Pensacola, 1870-72.

On November, 8, 1873, he was made commander and put in charge of the Sawmut, North Atlantic squadron, 1875-76. He was on shore duty at the New York Navy yard, 1878-81, and assigned to the command of the Swatara, North Atlantic squadron, 1884-85.

When in command of the Swartara, he was the conveyor of several millions of dollars in silver coin from New Orleans to New York, and it was when in command of that vessel in the harbor of Aspinwall that he protected the three political refugees.

He was promoted to Captain on Jan. 20, 1887, and placed in command of the receiving ship, Franklin; and then the U. S. steamship, Minnesota. He was assigned to the command of the Boston in 1891. The Boston was under his command with the Baltimore and the Yorktown, in the harbor of’ Valparaiso, when the men of the Baltimore were attacked in the streets of that city.

His last service with the Boston. Captain Wiltse of the US Navy was in command of the USS Boston when the Hawaiian revolution occurred; and, at the request of United States Minister Stevens, landed a detachment of marines.

Following that, Captain Wiltse returned to New York City and died at his home, No. 42 East Fifty-third St., New York City, on April 26, 1893. “He was taken ill on Thursday night of last week with congestion of the brain. His condition was not considered serious until Monday night when he became unconscious. He remained so until his death. He was 54 years old.” (Wiltse)

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July 18, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Remond Grove

BF (Frank) Dillingham’s OR&L company, created in 1889, changed the landscape of west Honolulu. The first section of track extended only as far as Aiea. (Burlingame)

In the beginning, since there were as yet no real destinations along the line, Dillingham created the concept of picnicking along Pearl Harbor, and within days of the line’s opening began marketing excursions.

These excursions had several purposes: they helped train the employees—from the on-board crews of engineers, firemen, conductors and brakemen to those on the ground like ticket agents and mechanics …

… they also built up an excitement among the public that the railroad was a reality; and most importantly perhaps, they brought in at least some income.

Some excursions included boat rides, others picnics and dancing, where people could be entertained with piano, banjo, trumpet, and saxophone performances. Community groups were encouraged to plan picnics and parties there, the larger the better. (Next Stop)

“A few years ago, when a party of a dozen or more gentlemen made a circuit of Oahu, and inspected the lands proposed to be bonded and made available for the purposes of settlement and public use, they were facetiously called the ‘colonization party’ by the wags of Honolulu, who stood upon the street corners and wished the party a sarcastic good-bye.” (Daily Bulletin, November 27, 1890)

He held a contest that gave to Mānana the new name ‘Pearl City,’ and on its main thoroughfare, Lehua Road, he promoted a dance pavilion named Remond Grove. (de Silva, ksbe)

“The then manager of the development scheme took all jokes good-naturedly. He had faith in the scheme which the public had not. His faith proves now to have been founded in reason; if faith, followed by good works, as exemplified at Pearl City and along the line of the Oahu Railway, are to count for anything.”

“The development of this scheme, the largest individual enterprise ever set afloat in Hawaii, barring Col. Spreckel’s steamship lines and mammoth plantation, has grown so gradually but steadily amongst us that many people as yet hardly realize the sacrifices which have been made …”

“… and the work that has been done by the management of the Oahu Railway and Land enterprises to develop the resources of Oahu, by bringing the large Pearl City tract into quick communication with the Honolulu market …”

“… and making it available to the better classes of Honolulu’s business and professional people, who desire to live in the country within reach of town.” (Daily Bulletin, November 27, 1890)

“The new town lies just beyond Remond Grove. It marks the beginning of a suburban city within twelve and a half miles, or thirty
minutes’ run of Honolulu. The new town is laid out to the best advantage and covers a series of splendid building terraces which arise from the depot to the branch reservoir 100 feet above the sea level and within half a mile of the station.”

“The lots offered for sale are mostly situated upon graded streets and are ready for building upon. The soil is a rich, red loam in which will flourish cither trees, or vegetables, or flowers.”

“The main avenues of Pearl City are Lehua, Maile and Woodlawn, laid not in the order named. The cross streets are numbered from First to Tenth. The avenues are each eighty feet wide and the cross streets are sixty feet each. (Daily Bulletin, November 27, 1890)

The pavilion at Remond Grove has for some time been one of the attractions. It was built for the use of picnickers and dancing parties by the railroad company.

It is seventy feet square, open on all sides, and is lighted by electricity. Surrounding it is a well-kept lawn, with a playing fountain in front, and provided with swings, croquet games, etc.

During an evening fete at the pavilion it is brilliantly lighted, and gorgeously decorated, presenting an animated spectacle. (Next Stop)

To further expand the number of passengers on his train, in 1890, Dillingham carved up the Mānana peninsula to create O‘ahu’s first major housing development.

His railroad ran regular tours to Remond Grove, and according to his advertising, it was “always at the disposal of Pleasure Parties.” (de Silva, ksbe)

The Remond Grove grounds are beautifully laid out with flowers and shrubbery. The large dancing pavilion had a capacity for 1,000 people; it was located in the center of the Grove, both grounds and pavilion being lighted throughout with electricity.

During the Spanish-American War, Army Engineers established Camp Langfitt at Pearl City and was occupied from September 27 to October 19, 1898. It was named after Major William Campbell Langfitt, commanding officer of the battalion of the 2nd Engineers.

The troops camped inside the large dance pavilion. Remond Grove was south of Kamehameha Highway, east of Lehua Avenue and primarily north of the H-1 freeway (at the present Hale Mohalu Site.) (Greguras)

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July 17, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hale Pili o Nā Mikanele

The Second Company of American Protestant missionaries to Hawai‘i left on the Thames from New Haven Connecticut and arrived at Honolulu on April 27, 1823. (The Hawaiians called the missionaries mikanele.)

The members of the first reinforcement were critical in the expansion of the Mission, important relationships with the royal family and, through the efforts of missionary William Richards, the development of a Hawaiian constitutional government.

William & Clarissa Richards and Charles & Harriet Stewart (and their dear friend Betsey Stockton) were assigned a hale pili (thatched homes) on Missionary Row.

“While in America my imagination had often portrayed scenes of the future – the humble cot on missionary ground, and all its appurtenances fancy had dressed in fairy colours …”

“… She had twined around her happy dwelling many romantic sweets, and scattered with a lavish hand the beauties of natural scenery. You will ask if the picture exists in real life. I answer no. I find nothing (of) this kind; but I do find what is infinitely more valuable.” (Charissa Richards Journal, May 1, 1823; Leineweber, Mission Houses)

Despite her initial disillusionment, Clarissa looked with pleasure on her new accommodations. “If our cottage has not all that elegant simplicity about it that I had fancied, it is far more comfortable within.”

“Her husband, William Richards was a little more direct, ‘We are living in houses built by the heathen and presented to us.” Within a grouping of six grass houses were “two … put up for our accommodation before our arrival.” (Leineweber, Mission Houses)

Levi Chamberlain (another member of the 2nd Company, noted, “Monday July 28 (1823.) The wind has been excessively strong today, rendering it very uncomfortable to go abroad, and indeed uncomfortable to be at home from the necessity of having the windows & doors of our houses shut to keep out the dust.”

“Mrs. Loomis, & Mrs. Bishop, & Mr. & Mrs. Ely were obliged to leave their thatched houses & come into the wood house to avoid the dust. which came into their houses in such abundance thay they could not remain with comfort.” (Levi Chamberlain Journal)

“The Hawaiian mode of building habitations was, in a measure, ingenious, and when their work was carefully executed, it was adapted to the taste of a dark, rude tribe, subsisting on roots, fish, and fruits, but by no means sufficient to meet their necessities, even in their mild climate.” (Hiram Bingham)

“(The frame of) the building assumes the appearance of a huge, rude bird cage. It is then covered with the leaf of the ki, pandanus, sugarcane, or more commonly (as in the case of the habitations for us) with grass bound on in small bundles, side by side, one tier overlapping another, like shingles.”

“A house thus thatched assumes the appearance of a long hay stack without, and a cage in a hay mow within. The area or ground within, is raised a little with earth, to prevent the influx of water, and spread with grass and mats, answering usually instead of floors, tables, chairs, sofas, and beds.”

“Such was the habitation of the Hawaiian, – the monarch, chief, and landlord, the farmer, fisherman, and cloth-beating widow, – a tent of poles and thatch-a rude attic, of one apartment on the ground-a shelter for the father, mother, larger and smaller children, friends and servants.” (Hiram Bingham)

Most Hawaiian family hale compounds had several special-purpose hale. This collection was called a kauhale. The household complex was the center of the Native Hawaiian family and household production of the necessities of life. Men and women’s activities took place in different areas. (Leineweber)

Missionary Row was Diamond Head side of the present wood frame building at Mission Houses – it fronted along what is now King Street.

The proposed Richard’s hale pili will be reproduction of a hale that Boki ordered built for the new missionaries arriving as the Second Company in 1823. The hale represents a bridge between cultures and represents support given to the missionaries by the host culture, and the cooperative relationship that existed between the chiefs and the missionaries.

Clarissa Richards dimensioned her house with “one room – 22 feet long and 12 feet wide” with a height of “12 feet from the ground to the ridge pole. … (It) had three windows, or rather holes cut through the thatching with close wooden shutters.” The door was “too small to admit a person walking in without stooping.” (Betsey Stockton)

The interior of each of the houses was one large room with no floors, but the “ground spread with mats.” Most of the furniture in each of the houses had arrived with the individual family in the reinforcement.

Clarissa Richards described the sleeping accommodation in her house, “Mats are fastened over and at the sides of our bed, except the front, which has a tappa curtain.” The rest of the furniture in the Richards’ House consisted of “a bed, two chairs, (one without a back,) a dozen trunks and boxes, and a couple of barrels.” Four large square trunks made a table. (Leineweber)

“Mr. R’s writing desk and the beautiful workbox presented by my beloved Cordelia. Over this table hangs a small looking glass – and on the other table (at) the other side of the window are arranged a few choice books, most of them testimonials of affection from absent friends.” (Clarissa Richards; Leineweber)

When William Richards and Charles Stewart left for Lahaina with Keōpūolani, Maria Loomis moved into one of the vacated houses. “Employed today in assisting Mrs Loomis to remove the furniture of her room into the thatched house recently occupied by Mr. Richards.”

In 1831 with Lorrin Andrews, Richards helped to build the high school at Lahainaluna on the slopes above Lahaina. In 1838 the king asked him to become a political adviser; he resigned his position with the mission and spent his time urging the improvement of the political system.

Richards was instrumental in helping to transform Hawai‘i into a modern constitutional state with a bill of rights (1839) and a constitution (1840). In 1842, he went abroad with Timoteo Haʻalilio as a diplomat seeking British, French and US acknowledgment of Hawaiian independence.

William Richards later became the Minister of Public Instruction in 1846 and worked with the legislature to make education a legal mandate.

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives is in the process of reconstructing the Richards hale pili. The Hale Pili o na Mikanele is a non-traditional hale, as many activities took place here and missionaries did not separate gender activities into different buildings.

The reconstructed hale pili will not use pili grass for the covering; instead a fire-retardant thatch panel will be used (it is situated next to the oldest wood frame house in the Islands.)

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