Curtis Perry Ward was born in Kentucky and arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1853, when whaling in the Pacific was at its peak. Curtis worked at the Royal Custom House, which monitored commercial activity at Honolulu Harbor for the kingdom.
Victoria Robinson was born in Nuʻuanu in 1846, the daughter of English shipbuilder, James Robinson and his wife Rebecca, a woman of Hawaiian ancestry whose chiefly lineage had roots in Kaʻū, Hilo and Honokōwai, Maui.
Curtis and Victoria married in 1865. They lived in several houses, each named with a southern reference, ‘Dixie,’ Sunny South’ and ‘Old Plantation.’
‘Dixie’
Ward started a livery with headquarters on Queen Street and expanded into the business of transporting cargo on horse-pulled wagons. The size of Ward’s work force became just as big as the harbor’s other major player, James Robinson & Co. (Victoria’s father.)
Curtis and Victoria married in 1865 and for many years they made their home near Honolulu Harbor on property presently occupied by the Davies Pacific Center.
When tensions began to rise between the American North and South in the late-1850s, Ward would defend his Southern heritage. As a result, Ward’s home, named “Dixie,” was often stoned by Northern sailors. (Hustace)
“Lili‘uokalani liked young Ward and felt sympathy for him as a passionate upholder of Confederate rights.” (Taylor) “(A)ccording to a family story, some members of the court privately expressed sympathy for Ward’s Southern allegiance during the War Between the States.”
“Lydia Lili‘u Pākī is said to have worked quietly at night, in the privacy of her chambers, sewing a Confederate flag for Ward.”
“He accepted her gift with pleasure and promptly attached it to the canopy of his four-poster bed, declaring it was his wish to die under the flag.” (Hustace)
‘Sunny South’
In 1869, he purchased a 7-acre parcel in Pawa‘a. (Hustace) Ward then moved to the country on Waikiki Road (Kalākaua Avenue,) and built a home designed in Southern Colonial style. (Krauss)
(It was between Washington Intermediate and Makiki Stream – across from what was later the Cinerama Theater.) (Hustace)
Ward “built a huge beach house on Waikiki” with a “great gate over which he carved the home’s name – ‘Sunny South.’” (Courier-Journal, August 6, 1963)
“‘Sunny South’ on the Waikiki road testified to his love of his former home in the States, was an unreconstructed Confederate.…”
“For political reasons mostly he used to have trouble with the boys of Punahou College. They went down Waikiki way now and then and pulled off his ‘Sunny South’ sign, leaving it in the road.”
“Finally they concluded to take it away bodily, carry it to their rooms in the college dormitory and whittle it into inch bits, making a street bonfire afterward of the shavings.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 3, 1903)
‘Old Plantation’
“In 1880 Ward built a mansion with stately verandas, chandeliers, high ceilings and a ball room. He fashioned it directly after his home in Lexington (Kentucky) and called it ‘Old Plantation.’”
“The site of ‘Old Plantation’ once was known as ‘Little Kentucky.’” (Courier-Journal, August 6, 1963) Old Plantation became one of the showplaces of Honolulu and remained substantially unchanged for nearly 80 years.
Members of the Ward Family worked hard to preserve Hawaiian cultural traditions and also supported many social service activities in the community. (Ward Centers)
The Wards were early supporters of child welfare and animal rights, and they devoted considerable energy toward the establishment of the Hawaiian Humane Society. They also contributed financial support to Kapiʻolani Maternity Hospital, St. Clement’s Church and to the Academy of the Sacred Hearts. (Ward Centers)
Victoria Ward established Victoria Ward Ltd. in 1930 to manage the family’s property, primarily the remaining 65-acres of Old Plantation, now part of the core of Kakaʻako real estate adjoining downtown Honolulu. Victoria Ward died April 11, 1935.
In 1958, the city bought the mauka portion of the Old Plantation Estate and tore it down to build the Honolulu International Center (later re-named Neal S. Blaisdell Center (after Honolulu’s former Mayor.))
Victoria Ward established Victoria Ward Ltd. in 1930 to manage the family’s property, primarily the remaining 65-acres of Old Plantation, now part of the core of Kakaʻako real estate adjoining downtown Honolulu. Victoria Ward died April 11, 1935.
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