Peter T Young

September 25, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kōloa Landing

Hawaiians along the Kōloa shore were the first to see the white man in Hawaiʻi. It was in 1778, along Kauai’s South Shore, that Captain James Cook first traveled, landed and made “contact”, introducing Hawaiʻi to the rest of the world.

Cook named the archipelago the Sandwich Islands in honor of his patron, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Earl of Sandwich. Cook’s crew first sighted the Hawaiian Islands in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778.

His two ships, the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, were kept at bay by the weather until the next day when they approached Kauai’s southeast coast.

On the afternoon of January 19, native Hawaiians in canoes paddled out to meet Cook’s ships, and so began Hawai‘i’s contact with Westerners. The first Hawaiians to greet Cook were from the Kōloa shore.

The Hawaiians traded fish and sweet potatoes for pieces of iron and brass that were lowered down from Cook’s ships to the Hawaiians’ canoes. Cook continued to sail along the coast searching for a suitable anchorage.

His two ships remained offshore, but a few Hawaiians were allowed to come on board on the morning of January 20, before Cook continued on in search of a safe harbor.

As they stepped ashore for the first time, Cook and his men were greeted by hundreds of Hawaiians who offered gifts of pua‘a (pigs), and mai‘a (bananas) and kapa (tapa) barkcloth.

Cook went ashore at Waimea three times the next day, walking inland to where he saw Hawaiian hale (houses), heiau (sacred places of worship), and agricultural sites.

At the time, the region was thriving with many thatched homes as well as lo‘i kalo (taro patches) and various other food crops such as niu (coconuts) and ‘ulu (breadfruit).

After trading for provisions, gathering water and reading for sail, Cook left the island and continued his search of the “Northwest Passage,” an elusive (because it was non‐existent) route from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

From the time of contact, until the end of the century, ships called at Waimea nearly every year for water and provisions. For a time, it was the favored port of call on the island.

However, captains learned that the exposed anchorage at Waimea was dangerous with ‘kona’ winds came up ((south‐westerly, versus the typical north‐easterly tradewinds,) threatening to ground the moored ships.

Ultimately, it was this occasional weather pattern that caused the decline of Waimea as the favored port on the Island of Kauai and the rise of Kōloa Landing to take its place.

Goods and people were transferred by hand and small boat to ships in Hanakaʻape Bay. The cove is at the mouth of the Waikomo (entering water) Stream on Hanakaʻape (headstrong) Bay.

Between about 1810 and 1820, the major item of Hawaiian trade was sandalwood. King Kaumualiʻi held the sandalwood monopoly on Kauai and Niʻihau, Kōloa Landing served as a prominent port of export. Kamehameha I held the monopoly for the rest of the island chain.

Ships calling to Kōloa Landing steadily increased and by 1830 it became widely recognized as the major port on the island. Ships had the ability to maneuver in and out of the anchorage, whatever the wind direction.

Whalers, seeking water and food supplies, called at Kōloa Landing, the Island’s foremost port. Kōloa was a center for agriculture and, as such, became the center of activity for Kauai. The whaling industry was the mainstay of the islands’ economy for about 40 years.

Likewise, Kōloa Landing was situated near a source of good water, near crops grown in the Kōloa field system, close to salt beds and had an abundance of firewood and beef from mauka regions.

In the mid-1800s, Kōloa Landing was the third largest whaling port in all of Hawai‘i (behind Honolulu and Lāhainā) and the only port of entry for foreign goods.

The first commercially‐viable sugar plantation, Ladd and Co., was started at Kōloa on Kauai. On July 29, 1835, Ladd & Company obtained a 50‐year lease on nearly 1,000‐acres of land and established a plantation and mill site in Kōloa.

It was to change the face of Kauai (and Hawai‘i) forever, launching an entire economy, lifestyle and practice of mono-cropping that lasted for over a century. A tribute to this venture is found at the Kōloa Sugar Memorial in Old Kōloa Town,

Traveling salesmen, also known as drummers (‘drumming up business,’) who worked for large mercantile agencies on O‘ahu would arrive at Kōloa Landing after an often rugged ocean trip by steamer and rowboat.

The would take their samples to each plantation camp store and sometimes even fan out from house to house in outlying communities.

Kōloa Landing was the trans‐shipment point from which ships were off‐loaded with mercantile goods and livestock for Kauai, and where trade‐goods, fresh produce and livestock were loaded on ships from Kauai. It was also linked to Kōloa Town, two miles inland, by the purveyor’s cart path (Hapa Road.)

Shipping in and out of Koloa Landing increased until 1912 (up to 60 ships a year anchored there to stock provisions and take on passengers.) However, better facilities became available at Nāwiliwili and Port Allen.

The landing left and Hanakaʻape Bay is now a popular dive site, especially for SCUBA instruction. Further out is an offshore reef that provides several surf breaks that are quite popular with local surfers.

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Koloa_Landing_and_Makahuena_Point-USGS-1926-portion

September 24, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Settlement & Agricultural Development

Folks describe different ‘phases’ or ‘periods’ of human settlement and agricultural development in the Islands over time. Different people use different terms for each of these (some use varying timeframes, as well,) but they seem to generally fall into Settlement, Development, Expansion and ultimately Post-Contact.

Settlement – AD 1000-1400

It is believed that initial Polynesian discovery and settlement of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200. (Kirch) This effectively started the ‘Settlement’ phase.

The rich valley bottoms which later they would clear, terrace, and irrigate for wet-taro cultivation, were in their pristine state, dense jungle, probably covered mostly with the hau shrub which, where it runs wild, produces a dense, tight jungle. For this jungle the first settlers had no use.

What taro tops they had, they planted along the banks of the streams, as taro is still planted along the banks of irrigation and drainage ditches. If they had sweet-potato shoots, these were planted in sandy soil near their huts.

It is more likely, however, that the first settlers had little or nothing to plant. The plants and more settlers were probably brought by canoes sent back to the homeland.

For generations, the small, slowly growing population clustered around shore sites near streams that supplied them with water. Such sites are best for inshore fishing.

Fishermen and their families living around the bays and the beaches, or at isolated localities along the coast where fishing was practicable, led a life that was materially simpler than that of planters who dwelt on the plains.

The food plants of Hawaiʻi can be divided into three groups: those known as staple foods (the principal starchy foods – kalo (taro,) ʻuala (sweet potato,) ʻulu (breadfruit,) etc;) those of less importance (to add nutrients and variety to the diet;) and those known as famine foods. (Krauss)

With such a small (but growing) population based on the family unit, society was not so complicated that it needed chiefs to govern or oversee the general population.

Kamakau states that there were no chiefs in the earliest period of settlement but that they came “several hundred years afterward … when men became numerous.”

Development – AD 1400-1650

As the ancient Hawaiian population grew, land use and resource management also evolved. The traditional land use in the Hawaiian Islands evolved from shifting cultivation into a stable form of agriculture.

Stabilization required a new form of land use and eventually the ahupua‘a form of land management was instituted (what we generally refer to as watersheds, today.) Ahupuaʻa served as a means of managing people.

In addition, this centralization of government allowed for development and maintenance of large projects, such as irrigation systems, large taro loʻi, large fish ponds, heiau and trails.

To feed more people, farming became more developed and intensified. Only in Hawaiʻi was there such an intensive effort to utilize practically every body of water, from seashore to upland forests, as a source of food, for either agriculture or aquaculture.

Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters, to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth century.

The ancient Hawaiian fishpond is a sophisticated land and ocean resource management technique. Utilizing raw materials such as rocks, corals, vines and woods, the Hawaiians created great walls (kuapā) and gates (mākāhā) for these fishponds. (Kelly)

Another technological invention by Hawaiian Polynesians was the development of their extended stone-faced, terraced pondfields (lo‘i) and their accompanying irrigation systems (‘auwai) for the intensive cultivation of wetland taro (kalo.)

The terraces were irrigated with water brought in ditches from springs and streams high in the valleys, allowing extensive areas of the valleys to be cultivated. The irrigation ditches and pondfields were engineered to allow the cool water to circulate among the taro plants and from terrace to terrace, avoiding stagnation and overheating by the sun, which would rot the taro tubers.

An acre of irrigated lo‘I kalo produced as much as five times the amount of taro as an acre of dryland cultivation. Over a period of several years, irrigated pondfields could be as much as 10 or 15 times more productive than unirrigated taro gardens, as dryland gardens need to lie fallow for greater lengths of time thin irrigated gardens. (Kelly)

There was systematic cultivation of dryland crops in their appropriate vegetation zones as exemplified by the Field Systems (notable systems are seen in Kona, Kohala, Kaupō, Kalaupapa and Ka‘ū.) (Kelly)

This was a period of tremendous significance in Hawaiian pre-contact history since, during this time, (1) the population underwent a geometric rate of increase; (2) virtually all habitable and arable lands were occupied and territorially claimed; (3) the territorial pattern of chiefdom (moku) and subchiefdom units (ahupua‘a) appears to have been established …

… and (4) toward the end of this period the Hawaiian sociopolitical system was transformed from a simple, ancestral Polynesian chiefdom to a highly stratified society with virtual class differentiation between chiefs and commoners. (Kirch)

Expansion – AD 1650-Contact (1778)

A population peak (usually estimated at several hundred thousand) was reached around 1650 AD, more than 100 years before contact with Europeans.

It was at this population peak, or shortly before, that Hawaiians began to inhabit less favorable coastline areas and barren zones between the coast and upland agricultural sites and to develop extensive dryland agricultural systems in marginal regions. (Cuddihy)

Large-scale irrigation works and permanent field systems were developed during the expansion period. Settlements were intruding into increasingly marginal environments, including the interiors of leeward valleys and the higher elevation slopes. Population densities in the fertile windward valleys increased, although densities in tablelands and elsewhere were much lower.

Cultivation was characterized by a variety of non-irrigated root and tree crops grown for subsistence, each farmer having gardens in one or more vegetation zones. Each crop was cultivated in the zone in which it grew best.

Reverend William Ellis described the area behind Kailua town in Kona above the breadfruit and mountain apple trees as, “The path now lay through a beautiful part of the country, quite a garden compared with that through which they had passed on first leaving the town.”

“It was generally divided into small fields, about fifteen rods square fenced with low stone walls, built with fragments of lava gathered from the surface of the enclosures. These fields were planted with bananas, sweet potatoes, mountain taro, paper mulberry plants, melons, and sugar-cane, which flourished luxuriantly in every direction.”

There was extensive development of at least the mauka portion of the kula sub-zone, for sweet potatoes, wauke and probably also gourds. This development was accompanied rarely by permanent habitation and more often by temporary and seasonal habitation along the kula gardens.

Animal enclosures, probably for pigs, may date to this phase. The upland zones were under complete development by this time. Suitable caves were modified for refuge during times of warfare or social conflict. Caves located in the midst of garden features were intensively used for temporary shelter and work spaces. (Terry)

Post Contact – After 1778

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four chiefdoms: (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.

Island rulers, Aliʻi or Mōʻī, typically ascended to power through familial succession and warfare. In those wars, Hawaiians were killing Hawaiians; sometimes the rivalries pitted members of the same family against each other.

“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)

In addition to deaths in wars, epidemics of infections added to the decline in Hawaiʻi’s population from approximately 300,000 at the time of Captain Cook’s arrival in 1778 to 135,000 in 1820 and 53,900 in 1876.

Vancouver was appalled by the impoverished circumstances of the people and the barren and uncultivated appearance of their lands. “The deplorable condition to which they had been reduced by an eleven years war” and the advent of “the half famished trading vessels” convinced him that he should pursue his peace negotiations for “the general happiness, of the inhabitants of all the islands.” (Vancouver, Voyage 2)

“By this time nearly a generation of the race had passed away, subsequently to their discovery by Cook. How much of their strength had been exhausted by wars and the support of armies, and how much by new and terrible diseases, it is not easy to estimate. The population was greatly diminished, and the residue unimproved in morals.” (Bingham)

The cultivation of kula lands gradually decreased in extent and intensity, nevertheless remaining important to a decreasing population. Some kula lands were being converted to grazing beginning in the 1840s.

The first commercially-viable sugar plantation, Ladd and Co., was started at Kōloa on Kaua‘i. On July 29, 1835, Ladd & Company obtained a 50-year lease on nearly 1,000-acres of land and established a plantation and mill site in Kōloa.

At the industry’s peak in the 1930s, Hawaii’s sugar plantations employed more than 50,000 workers and produced more than 1-million tons of sugar a year; over 254,500-acres were planted in sugar. That plummeted to 492,000 tons in 1995.

Although sugar dominated the Hawaiian economy, there was also great demand at the time for fresh Hawaiian pineapples, and later canned pineapple. By 1931, pineapple production exceeded 12 million cases as a result of both expansion and improvements in productivity; production of canned pineapple peaked in 1957.

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c. 1826 lithograph, William Ellis C., Big Island. Waipio Valley, Ahupua’a.

Fish_Ponds_at_Honoruru,_Oahu,_by_John_Murray,_after_Robert_Dampier-(WC)-1836

P-03-View of Country back of Kailua

Native_Hawaiian_man_pounding_taro_into_poi_with_two_children_by_his_sides-(WC)-c._1890s

Oahu-Kahaluu-kalo-terrace-wall-(WC)

Water from the ‘auwai going back to the kahawai-(KSBE)

Wailau-terraces_walls (Windy K McElroy)

Ruins of Ancient Loi Kalo (Taro Pond Fields in Lanai)-(lanaichc-org)-1912

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Kohala Field System-photo-Vitousek

Interior fish pond Waikiki Oahu-1905

Honolulu_Harbor_to_Diamond_Head-Wall-Reg1690 (1893)

Hawaii_Island_Fishpond_Gate-(WC)

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September 22, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hula ‘Auana

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco in 1915 to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, as well as support San Francisco’s recovery from the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire.

The Exposition looked to the future for innovation. Things we take for granted today – cars, airplanes, telephones, and movies – were in their infancy and were shown off at the fair, and some well-known technological luminaries were involved in the fair.

The San Francisco Exposition was also the launching site for broader awareness of hula ‘auana, contemporary hula – it was featured in the Hawaii exhibits.

There, ‘Princess Lei Lokelani’ performed traditional foot movements – ku‘i and ‘uwehe – to modern ‘ukulele and steel guitar songs – this also launched the hapa-haole (half “foreign”) hula phenomenon into broader markets. (Wianecki)

Traditional Hawaiian music was based upon mele oli and mele hula as performed in the pre-Western-contact era. Mele oli means plain chanting, while mele hula signifies chanting accompanied by hula.

There are many different types of hula. Today, hula has been divided into two main categories; hula ‘auana and hula kahiko, also known as modern hula and ancient hula.

Within the ancient hula, or hula kahiko, there are several different type; to begin with, the three basic ancient dances hula pahu, hula ku‘i and hula ‘āla‘apapa provide the starting point for the kahiko dances we see today.

The hula pahu dances were, originally a part of heiau, or temple, rituals and were danced in honor of “the akua – Kāne, Kanaloa, Kū and Lono – the ‘state gods’, who had been recognized by all Hawaiians and were intimately involved in Polynesian cosmology and the ordering of Hawaiian society”. (Kaepple)

After the overthrow of the Hawaiian religious system in 1819, by the Hawaiians themselves, the rituals were transferred to honor ‘aumākua (deified ancestors) who had not been overthrown, such as Pele, Laka and Kapo.

The hula pahu dances are defined by a certain rhythmic pattern and by certain chants. They are danced to the beats of the pahu drum.

The movements of the hula pahu originally objectified or embodied the work of kahuna (priests or spiritual mentors) and was according to legend, brought to Hawai‘i, along with the pahu drum, from Tahiti by La‘amaikahiki.

The hula ku‘i originated in the Kalākaua era, and had its first public appearance during the coronation ceremonies of King Kalākaua in 1883. The hula ku‘i is accompanied by mele, and usually instruments like the guitar or the ‘ukulele. The dance style is softer than the hula pahu, yet not as soft as the modern ‘auana

The hula ‘āla‘apapa is an ancient hula that is accompanied by chant, and danced to the rhythm of the double gourd ipu, ipu heke, with “vigorous and bombastic” movements. The dance is performed in a standing position, and the ho‘opa‘a is responsible for both the rhythm and the chanting.

The ‘ōlapa/ku‘i dances and the ‘āla‘apapa dances are very much alike to the untrained eye, but differences lie in the movement and rhythmic patterns and the flow of the chants.

Mele hula kuʻi – chant and dance style with western influences – developed in the late-19th and early 20th centuries from mele hula. These three forms served as the foundations of authentic Hawaiian music. (Torgersen)

At the corner of what is now Baker Street and Marina Boulevard in San Francisco’s Marina District was where the Hawaiian Pavilion stood during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

These Hawaiian shows had the highest attendance at the entire fair and launched a Hawaiian cultural craze that influenced everything from American music, to movies, to fashion. (Mushet)

“The hugely popular Hawaii pavilion … showcased Hawaiian music and hula dancing, and was the unofficial launching pad for ukulele-mania.” Hapa-haole songs were featured in the Hawaii exhibits.

The ‘Princess’ was 15-year old Elizabeth Jonia Leilokelani Shaw; she and her family were a hit at the Exposition – Shaw had moved from the Islands to Portland with her family. Her first professional performance was at the exposition; she later danced contemporary hula in vaudeville.

Hula ‘auana are always accompanied by mele, and have soft and floating movements. The ‘auana is also inspired by the hula of the 20th century up until the late 1960s, including the hapa haole styled hula. (Torgersen)

The costumes of the hula ‘auana are different from the kahiko costumes, which usually involve a pā‘ū (hula skirt) and a top to match the pā‘ū for female dancers, and a malo (loincloth) for the male dancers, as well as anklets, wristlets and a headpiece made from traditional hula plants and flowers.

The ‘auana costumes often involve mu‘umu‘u (long dress or gown) for women and black pants, a shirt and sash for the men. The women often have large headpieces made from flowers and greens and may wear shoes as part of the costume.

The kahiko dances must always be danced barefoot, and the dancer is not allowed any jewelry or excessive makeup. (Torgersen)

By 1916, there were hundreds of Hapa Haole tunes written. That same year, reportedly more Hawaiian records were sold on the mainland than any other type of music. And they came in all the popular styles of the day: in ragtime, blues, jazz, foxtrot and waltz tempos, as “shimmy” dances and–even–in traditional hula tempos, but jazzed up a bit.

In 1935, a radio program began, broadcasting live from the Banyan Court of the Moana Hotel on the beach at Waikīkī, and radios nationwide tuned in to hear “Hawaii Calls.” Not only did nearly every island entertainer cut his or her teeth on the program, many went on to become well known.

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Princess Lei Lokelani Promotional

‘Jonia and Her Hawaiians’

Hawaii Band and Dancers-(Shaw)-1916

Elizabeth L. Jonia Leilokelani Shaw-

Elizabeth L. Jonia Leilokelani Shaw

September 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pendulum Peak

Early pendulum experiments helped calculate the force of gravity. By taking different readings at different locations across the planet, it is possible to calculate the contours of the earth, as well as the density of the interior. (A later Foucault pendulum was used to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.)

Lt Charles Wilkes, as part of the US Exploring Expedition, came to Hawai‘i in 1840 with a 68-inch long pendulum and a pendulum clock. After suspending the pendulum from a tripod, he set up the pendulum clock nearby.

Both the clock and pendulum were swung – since they had different lengths, they swung at different rates. Every so often, they would coincide. Observing the pendulums through a telescope, he would record the time of the coincidence.

Over time, enough data was accumulated to determine the duration of a single swing of the pendulum. With the time and the length of the pendulum, he was able to calculate the force of gravity. (Philbrick)

Just after new year’s in 1841, Wilkes conducted pendulum observations on the top of Mauna Loa, at a site they named Pendulum Peak.

In the days before Christmas, with temperatures in the teens, and “water in the bags, under my pillow, froze,) “it blew a perfect hurricane for several hours, causing an incessant slamming, banging, and flapping of the tents, as though hundreds of persons were beating them with clubs”.

At other times, “at sunset, we had a beautiful appearance of the shadow of the mountain, dome-shaped, projected on the eastern sky: the colour of a light amethyst at the edges, increasing in intensity to a dark purple in the centre; it was as distinct as possible, and the vast dome seemed to rest on the distant horizon.”

“The night was clear, with moonlight, the effect of which on the scene was beautiful: the clouds floating below us, with the horizon above them, reminded us of the ice bergs and ice-fields of the Antarctic: the temperature lent its aid to the deception.”

“The 3d proved fine, and the pendulum-clock and apparatus being arranged and adjusted, the clock was put in motion, and a comparison made with the three chronometers every two hours.”

They made other observations, as well, “During our stay on the summit, we took much pleasure and interest in watching the various movements of the clouds; this day in particular they attracted our attention; the whole island beneath us was covered with a dense white mass, in the centre of which was the cloud of the volcano rising like an immense dome.”

“All was motionless, until the hour arrived when the sea-breeze set in from the different sides of the island: a motion was then seen in the clouds at the opposite extremities, both of which seemed apparently moving towards the same centre, in undulations …”

“… until they became quite compact, and so contracted in space as to enable us to see a well-defined horizon; at the same time, there was a wind from the mountain, at right angles, that was affecting the mass, and driving it asunder in the opposite direction.”

“The play of these masses was at times in circular orbits, as they became influenced alternately by the different forces, until the whole was passing to and from the centre in every direction, assuming every variety of form, shape, and motion.”

“(T)he outward variation (in temperature) still continued from 17° to 50° during the twenty-four hours.”

“On the 8th, we had a change to cold, raw, and disagreeable weather; snow began to fall, and a kona or southwest gale set in; the temperature fell soon to 20°.”

“At 10 pm, I was unable to proceed with the pendulum observations; for such was the fury of the storm, that the journeyman-clock, with a loud beat, although within three feet of my ear, could not be heard. I was indeed apprehensive that the whole tent, house, and apparatus would be blown over and destroyed.”

“This storm continued until sunrise of the 9th, when it moderated. I have seldom experienced so strong a wind; it blew over and broke one of the barometers, although its legs had been guarded carefully by large stones; and the wind was so violent at times, that it was with difficulty we could keep our footing.”

“On the 10th of January, we had snow again. The temperature rose to 32°: the snow melted fast, causing excessive dampness within and without, while other discomforts that may be imagined prevailed.”

“On the 11th, having the eprouvette mortar (a small cannon) with me, I tried some experiments on the velocity of sound, comparing it with our measured bases and the sides of the triangles: these gave results as satisfactory … The great difference was in the sound itself: the report of the gun producing a kind of hissing noise.”

“The eprouvette was of iron, and was fired with a plug driven into it very tightly after it was loaded. When fired near the level of the sea, it was necessary to close the ears when standing within twenty feet of it. The sound could be heard six miles, and the report was equal to that of a large gun.”

“But on the summit we stood close to it without any precaution whatever, and the noise it there made was more like that of a squib (a small firework that burns with a hissing sound before exploding.) … This night we finished the pendulum, and all the dip and intensity observations”.

“When day broke, on the 13th January, all was bustle on the summit of Mauna Loa. Every one was engaged in taking down and packing up the instruments and equipage, loaded with which the native labourers scampered off.”

“Previous to our departure, I had the words ‘Pendulum Peak, January 1841,’ cut in the lava within our village. JG Clarke, one of the seamen belonging to the Vincennes, who made these marks came to me and desired, on the part of the men, that I would allow them to add to it US Ex Ex, in order that there might be no mistake as to who had been there; to this I readily gave my consent.”

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Lt. Charles Wilkes campsite-Mauna Loa

Crater of Moku-A-Weo-Weo, Mauna Loa-Wilkes

Wilkes-Pendulum_Peak-(davidrumsey)

Pendulum_Peak-Layout-(Wilkes, NPS)

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September 20, 2017 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Lewers & Cooke

What started as a lumber company of Christopher H Lewers evolved into Lewers & Dickson, and eventually Lewers & Cooke. The primary parties in this process included Lewers, Robert Lewers (his cousin,) Joshua Gill Dickson and Charles Montague Cooke.

Christopher Hamilton Lewers, a cabinet maker hailing from Dublin, Ireland, landed in Honolulu in about 1850. In 1852, he started into the business in the Islands with the purchase at auction of a cargo of eastern white pine shipped from the States via Cape Horn.

The Honolulu carpenters at that time kept on hand small lots of white pine to make sash, doors, blinds, etc, which were made entirely by hand. Lewers’ purchase cornered the market on white pine, and he found it a profitable transaction and made it the basis for a regular lumber business.

At that time lumber, mostly Douglas fir, was sent to the Hawaiian Islands from the American West Coast by the Hudson Bay Co. This trade began about 1840, and in 1860 small vessels carrying approximately 300,000-feet of lumber came regularly to the islands to supply the trade. (American Lumberman)

In early 1854, the newspaper ‘The Polynesian’ first carried an advertisement for ‘S Johnson and Christopher H Lewers, House Carpenters and Joiners.’ Their projects would include the Fort Street Church, the Royal School, Queen’s Hospital and the Royal Hotel.

CH Lewers leased a ‘spacious old beer shop’ opposite the French Hotel from Mr Piʻikoi, announcing that he intended to import a steam saw mill and planing machine. (Walker-Moody)

Among other interests, Christopher H Lewers founded Waiheʻe sugar plantation on Maui. It the mid-1860s it was managed by Samuel Thomas Alexander. Henry Perrin Baldwin hoped to earn enough money to go to medical school, and took a ‘Luna’ (foreman) job.

Baldwin never got into medicine; in 1869, Baldwin and Alexander became business partners and bought 12 acres in Hāmākuapoko (an eastern Maui ahupuaʻa (land division.) (They later formed Alexander & Baldwin, one of Hawai‘i’s ‘Big Five’ companies.)

About 1855, CH Lewers sold out his lumber business and went to the eastern US for a visit, but returned to the islands the next year, accompanied by his two sisters and Robert Lewers, his cousin. CH Lewers bought the business back.

Robert Lewers was born in New York City, NY, on March 15, 1836; he was the son of William and Mary (Lowe) Lewers. Robert Lewers came to Honolulu on February 21, 1856 and started in Honolulu as a carpenter. (Siddall)

“He was (o)ne of the last survivors of those merchants who came to Honolulu in the days of her commercial infancy and aided in the upbuilding of the Islands, industrially and socially, Robert Lewers was a link for years between that glamorous early Hawaii with its monarchial pomp and court ceremony, and the thriving business community Hawaii became under American jurisdiction.” (Orr)

“There were not many occupations then open for a young man in Honolulu and Mr Lewers got employment as a carpenter. He helped to build many of the old frame houses in Honolulu, and one or two on Kauai.”

“It was his practical knowledge of building and of frame construction that made his services valuable, when, in 1860, he was offered a position by his cousin, Christopher H Lewers. The firm was later known as Lewers & Dickson.” (Orr)

“There was but little business done in those years; but shortly the sugar plantations were started on most of the islands, and these created a better market.”

“At that time our 1-inch boards of all widths were piled together, all mixed up, and those who have charge of lumber yards can easily realize how difficult and slow it was to get out an order.”

“The cartage of lumber in those days was done mostly with handcarts. Sometimes when we had a large quantity to deliver to a schooner we would hire a 2-wheeled dray, as there were no lumber wagons in town. We shoved the lumber up over the driver’s head, or he had to sit on top of it. Delivery was made more difficult by the very bad conditions of the roads.” (Lewers, American Lumberman)

Joshua Gill Dickson was born on August 2, 1830 in Charleston, Massachusetts, the son of Captain Joshua and Sarah Dickson. His father was “for many years well known as a very popular commander of several of the Boston and Liverpool packets, and later held the honorable office of warden of the port of Boston.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 27, 1888)

Charles Montague Cooke was born in Honolulu May 16, 1849, second of four sons of missionaries Amos Starr and Juliette Montague Cooke. The family home for more than a generation was at the Mission at Kawaiahaʻo. (The Friend)

His schooling as completed by a year or two at the Massachusetts Agricultural College; he returned to the Islands in 1871 and worked for Castle & Cooke, the company started by his father and Samuel Northrup Castle (another of Hawai‘i’s Big Five companies.)

Cooke later accepted an offer from Lewers & Dickson. In 1877, following the death of Christopher H Lewers, Robert Lewers and Cooke became partners of Dickson and continued the operation as Lewers and Dickson.

Dickson died July 11, 1880. Within a few months the surviving partners (Robert Lewers and Charles M Cooke) bought the interest of the Dickson Estate and launched the new firm of Lewers and Cooke, ‘the largest dealers in the Territory of Hawai‘i in Lumber and Building Materials.’

On January 1, 1901, Lewers & Cooke Ltd succeeded Lewers & Cooke. “A noteworthy fact in the establishment of the firm of Lewers & Cooke, Ltd., was the inclusion of a clause in the articles of incorporation empowering the directors to contribute a portion of the earnings for social, benevolent and religious purposes. It was the first time this had been done in Hawai‘i.” (Orr)

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