Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Lili‘uokalani Educational Society

“‘Lili‘uokalani Educational Society’ is the name of an association of Hawaiian ladies. Its founder and president is Princess Liliuokalani, the Crown Princess of Hawaiʻi nei. Its other officers are a secretary, a treasurer, and five directresses.”

“None but native Hawaiians, with aboriginal blood in their veins, are admitted to active membership. Others may become honorary members.”

“An entrance fee of fifty cents and a monthly subscription of twenty-five cents are the conditions of membership. Honorary members are admitted on the same terms.” (Daily Bulletin, August 4, 1886)

“(T)he intention of which was to interest the Hawaiian ladies in the proper training of young girls of their own race whose parents would be unable to give them advantages by which they would be prepared for the duties of life.”

“As no such association had ever existed, although there had been frequent cases of private benevolence, it seemed a good time to interest those who had the means in this important work.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“It is the intention to gather up destitute orphans, place them in boarding schools, and furnish them with a plain English education. In the case of girls, they are also to be instructed in needle work and household duties.” (Daily Bulletin, August 4, 1886)

“Therefore I called a meeting, notifying all whom I thought would be likely to attend. The response was very gratifying, and on the appointed afternoon a goodly number of our best ladies assembled in the Kawaiahaʻo church.”

“The meeting was opened with prayer; after which I arose, made a short address, and explained to the audience my purpose in requesting attention to the moral and intellectual needs of those of our sex who were just beginning life.”

“These remarks seemed to meet the approval of all present; but yet, in looking around, it was evident to me that the society would be more prosperous in two divisions, as there were those in attendance who could not work well together.”

“My sister, the Princess Likelike, was of our number; so I suggested that she should be the head or president of one division, and I would take the other. … Both branches then began their work, which went on with results that at one time appeared to be most encouraging.” (Liliuokalani)

Through the Lili‘uokalani Education Society, Liliʻuokalani sponsored many girls in the community in their attendance at the Kawaiahaʻo Seminary.

Queen Lili‘uokalani was not just a benefactor, but was active in school leadership, working collaboratively on many issues, including discipline.

Particularly when the Lili‘uokalani Education Society was paying the tuition, the queen took an active interest in the girls’ progress. (Bonura)

“But my sister did not live a year after this movement had begun, and on her death circumstances operated to impair the efficiency of the society.”

“However, her branch of it came under my personal direction; and the object for which I had called the meeting was never forgotten, nor was the education of the young girls of Hawaiian birth neglected either by myself or by those I had interested in its importance, until the changed conditions of January, 1893, obliged me to live in retirement. (Liliʻuokalani)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahekili

Born at Haliʻimaile, Maui, Kahekilinui‘ahumanu (Kahekili) was the son of the high chief Kekaulike-kalani-ku‘i-hono-i-ka-moku (Kekaulike) and high chiefess Keku‘iapoiwanui-a-kalaninui-kaulele-ia-iwi.

Kalola (Kahekili’s sister and daughter of chief Kekaulike’s second wife) played an integral part in Kahekili’s reign over Maui Nui and O’ahu. Kalola, too, was a very high born ali’i.

In 1765, Kahekili inherited all of Maui Nui and O‘ahu and was appointed successor to his brother Kamehamehanui’s kingdom (not to be confused with Hawai‘i Island’s Kamehameha I.)

The power, however, that he received through this inheritance did not satisfy his desire to gain political influence through his own accomplishments. Therefore, Kahekili chose to prove himself through warfare.

He was a formidable competitor and demanded his warriors follow his lead, which they did.  And, with each success, Kahekili’s power increased.

Kahekili first proved himself a formidable adversary by defeating the Hawaiʻi army led by Kalani‘ōpu‘u in 1775. Kalani‘ōpu‘u promised revenge and, in 1776, he again went to battle against Kahekili. Unfortunately, Kalaniʻōpuʻu was not aware of the alliance between Kahekili and Kahahana, an ali‘i of O‘ahu.

This alliance greatly outnumbered Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s army. Therefore, Kahekili and Kahahana’s army defeated Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s army as they entered the sand hills of Wailuku. This battle became known as Ahulau-ka-piʻipiʻi-i-kakanilua.

In a desperate act to save what was left, Kalani‘ōpu‘u requested that his wife, Kalola, plead for peace from her brother Kahekili.

However, knowing that Kahekili would not look upon her with favor, Kalola suggested their son, Kiwalaʻō be sent instead.  Kahekili’s welcomed Kiwalaʻō and sealed his acceptance of peace.

For a time, after the great sand hills battle in Wailuku, peace and tranquility returned. Kahekili took his leadership seriously; he was faithful to his people, made changes, established rules and took active interest in the welfare of his people and lands.

During times of peace and celebration, when tournaments that required great strength, stamina and ability were held, Kahekili continued to amass great respect with his victories. Such victories assisted in further cementing his position as the son of the divine ruling family of Maui.

Later, Kahekili and his eldest son and heir-apparent, Kalanikūpule, were carrying on war and conquered Kahahana, adding Oʻahu under his control.

Through subsequent inter-island conquest, the marriage of his brother to the Queen of Kauaʻi, and appointment of his son to alternately govern Maui, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe and Oʻahu during his periodic absences, by 1783, Kahekili dominated all the Hawaiian Islands, except for Hawaiʻi.

In the late-1780s into 1790, Kamehameha conquered the Island of Hawai‘i and was pursuing conquest of Maui and eventually sought to conquer the rest of the archipelago.

In 1790, Kamehameha travelled to Maui.  Hearing this, Kahekili sent Kalanikūpule back to Maui with a number of chiefs (Kahekili remained on O‘ahu to maintain order there.)

Kahekili’s rule stretched for almost thirty years. He became known for his extreme measures whether it was making sure his people were obeying the kapu and the gods, or by destroying his enemies.

He ruled on Maui before he fell ill and returned to Waikīkī, until his death in 1793 at the age of eighty-seven.  As with all ali‘i, Kahekili’s bones were carried away and hidden – thought to be in North Kohala.

Kahekili’s son, Kalanikūpule, inherited his kingdom.  Kamehameha faced Kalanikūpule in the famous battle “Kepaniwai” (the damming of the waters) in ‘Iao Valley (which Kamehameha decisively won.)

Maui Island was conquered by Kamehameha and Maui’s fighting force was destroyed – Kalanikūpule and other chiefs escaped and made their way to O‘ahu (Kalanikūpule was later defeated by Kamehameha at the Battle of Nuʻuanu in 1795.)

(Lots of good information here is from “Kahekilinuiʻahumanu – Kahekili Study Guide” (Kauahea Inc and Maui Arts & Cultural Center.)) Image of Kahekili is by Brook Parker.

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Halekoa

Halekoa was a part of the ambitious building program undertaken by the Hawaiian monarchy in the 1860s and ‘70s. The buildings which remain today, besides Halekoa, are Aliiolani Hale (the judiciary building), the Royal Mausoleum, the old post office at the corner of Merchant and Bethel Streets, and Iolani Palace.

The site occupied by the barracks is doubly interesting, for it first accommodated the Chiefs’ Children’s School, which was begun in 1839 by Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Cooke, and which was moved in 1851 to the lower slopes of Punchbowl.

Theodore C. Heuck, a Honolulu merchant and gifted amateur architect from Germany, submitted his original plans on March 14, 1866, to John O. Dominis, then Governor of Oahu. The sketches provided for a structure with a frontage of 70 feet and a depth of 80 feet, built around a 30×40-foot open central court.

This was early in the reign of Kamehameha V. Years passed. Finally, early in 1870, the project began to move, although slowly. The post office was being built at the same time, and a shortage of proper workmen delayed both jobs.

Halekoa did not appear in the appropriations bills passed by the various legislatures. It was financed by the War Department as a part of military expenses, an cash as needed was deposited with the banking firm of Bishop and Company.

Foundations were being laid in May, 1870. J. G. Osborne was the builder. Participating suppliers included, among others, such well-known Honolulu houses as E. O. Hall and Son, Dowsett and Co., AS Cleghorn, Lewers and Dickson (predecessors of Lewers and Cooke, the Honolulu Iron Works, JT Waterhouse, H. Hackfeld and Co. (American Factors, AmFac) and Oahu Prison.

Halekoa was made of the ever-useful coral blocks hewn from the Honolulu reef. As often happened, many blocks were cannibalized from other structures, rather than chopped from the reef.

Most of the second-hand building blocks came from the wall fronting the old post office, and from the old printing office. But the reef had to yield up its treasures, too, and Marshal WC Parke received credit for 204 man-days of prison labor, at fifty cents a day, for the hauling of blocks therefrom.

By mid-February, 1871, both the barracks and the post office were nearing completion. Finishing touches on the former, however, required several more months.

An exotic example of this, among the accounts to be found today in the Archives of Hawaii, is a bill dated May 20, levying a charge of $12.50 for painting spittoons.

Even before it was completed, Halekoa was rushed into service. At the end of February a considerable number of soldiers were sick, and the new barracks was requisitioned as an infirmary.

Originally it was some 48 feet long. The size of the inner court was increased to approximately 34×54 feet, also. The side galleries were built longer than Heuck at first specified, because of the lengthening of the court, and about two feet narrower, because of the widening of the court, making them 18 feet rather than 20 feet in width.

Iolani Barracks displays a service record almost as complicated as its building alterations. The barracks was made originally to house the regular standing army of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the small force known in the early 1870s and before as the Household Troops.

Their function was to guard the palace, the prison, and the treasury, and to appear at various parades and ceremonies.

In September, 1873, the Household Troops mutinied. They barricaded themselves in Halekoa. After the mutiny the troops were disbanded, then later reorganized, and under one title or another they continued to occupy Halekoa throughout the remaining period of the monarchy.

Liliuokalani’s Household Guards, Captain Samuel Nowlein commanding, surrendered to the revolutionary Provisional Government about five o’clock on the afternoon of January 18, 1893.

The Guards were paid off and disbanded; the Provisional Government took over munitions stored in the barracks and at once occupied the building with a strong force. This government and the succeeding Republic of Hawaii used Halekoa to house their military.

After Hawaii was annexed to the US, President McKinley issued an executive order (December 19, 1899) transferring the barracks and the barracks lot to the control of the US War Department.

Thereupon, Halekoa was occupied by the Quartermaster Corps of the US Army and used for office and warehouse space. Quartermaster use continued until late in 1917, when the Corps moved out.

At that time the War Department planned to preserve Halekoa as a historic structure. For the first time in its long and colorful history, the old barracks ceased to be a station for soldiers.

In the summer of 1920 an elaborate remodeling job was in progress and it then served as a service club, with a dormitory added on the Waikiki side for visiting service personnel. The service club phase lasted about a decade.

November, 1929, found Governor Lawrence Judd trying to get President Hoover to issue an executive order returning the barracks to the Territory. The Hawaii National Guard wanted Halekoa for its headquarters.

Judd was successful, and the transfer took place officially on March 16, 1931. But the Hawaii National Guard did not benefit from it. Instead the barracks became the offices of the supervising school principals for Honolulu and Rural Oahu.

World War II came, and the Guard continued to use the aging barracks. Midway in that war (October, 1943) an imaginative postwar plan for Halekoa was announced. It was to become a military museum. Interested civic groups and individuals pledged to participate in planning and financing the project.

But the plans never materialized. The pressure for office space doomed Halekoa to a series of repairs, renovations, and remodelings as various government agencies succeeded one another in their occupancy of the barracks.

In November, 1960, Halekoa was embarrassed to find itself encumbering the site of a proposed multi-million-dollar state capitol. Although regarded in some quarters as an antiquarian nuisance, the barracks managed to cling to existence as officials delayed their decision regarding its disposition.

The above is taken from Richard Greer’s article on Halekoa in the October 1962 Hawaii Historical Review. It was written before Halekoa was relocated to make way for the State Capitol.

Click the link for Greer full article in the Hawaii Historical Review:
https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Halekoa-HHR-Revival-Greer.pdf

Here is the rest of the story …

Following Statehood, there were plans for the State’s new capitol building being considered. Architect John Carl Warnecke, son of a German-born father, was influential in the design and construction of the new capitol. (Warnecke also designed John F Kennedy’s grave site at Arlington National Cemetery, and lots of other things.)

Halekoa was in the way; the Barracks was condemned and, in 1962, abandoned. In 1964-65, to make room for the new capitol building, the coral shell of the old building was removed to a corner of the ʻIolani Palace grounds for eventual reconstruction.

This was accomplished by breaking out large sections of the walls. Then stone masons chipped out the original coral blocks and re-set them. Many were so badly deteriorated that they were unstable.

However, the stone in the ʻEwa wing (an addition to the original Barracks) was salvageable (they left that part out of the reconstruction, but used the material from it.) Today’s reconstruction bears only a general resemblance to the original structure. (NPS)

Several other older buildings in the area, including the large vaulted-roofed Armory and the remnant of the older Central Union Church on Beretania Street, facing the Queen’s former residence at Washington Place, were also demolished to make way for the capitol building.

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Kalola

Kalola, the highest tabu chiefess of the Maui court, was a daughter of Queen Kekuʻiapoiwa I (a daughter of Keawe of Hawaiʻi) and King Kekaulike of Maui.

She was thus a granddaughter of Kalanikauleleiaiwi, Queen of Hawaiʻi and sister of the King Kahekili II. She was an aunt of the King Kalanikūpule.

When Kekaulike died, Kalola’s brothers Kamehamehanui (an uncle of Kamehameha I) and Kauhi fought each other for rule of Maui in 1738. Battles were fought across West Maui; the war ended with the battle Koko O Nā Moku (“Bloodshed of the Islands;” Kamehamehanui won.

Kalola lived with two brothers, Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Keōua, both Hawai’i island niʻaupiʻo (very high rank) chiefs. From Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the older brother, she had a son, Kalanikauikeaouli Kiwalaʻo (Kiwalaʻo.) From Keōua, the younger brother, she had a daughter, Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha.

The children, Kiwalaʻo and Kekuʻiapoiwa, had the same mother, different fathers, offspring of a naha union (brother-sister mating of niʻaupiʻo chiefs.) These two lived together, and Keōpūolani was born to them, also the offspring of a naha union. (Mookini)

Keōpūolani (granddaughter of Kalola,) who was raised in Wailuku, Olowalu and Hāmākua on Maui, was later queen of Kamehameha I (we’ll get more into that a little bit later.)

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), 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,) Molokai, Lānai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

In 1782, following the death of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kiwalaʻo was briefly ruler of the island of Hawaiʻi. That year, his cousin, Kamehameha I, challenged his authority at the battle of Mokuʻōhai. Kīwalaʻō was killed in combat by Keʻeaumoku, one of Kamehameha’s officers. The victory at the battle of Mokuʻōhai was the start of Kamehameha’s rise to power

After the deaths of Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kiwalaʻo, Kalola left for Maui, taking with her Keōpūolani. Kahekili, brother of Kalola, provided for the family and gave them his protection. After the conquest of Oahu by Kahekili he removed his court to that island, taking with him his sister and her family.

In 1785, they returned to Maui with Kalanikūpule, the son of Kahekili, who had been appointed chief of the island, and there remained, principally at Olowalu, until 1790. (Kalākaua)

At about that time, Simon Metcalf (captaining the Eleanora) and his son Thomas Metcalf (captaining the Fair American) were traders; their plan was to meet and spend winter in the Hawaiian Islands.

The Eleanora arrived in the islands first at Kohala on the island of Hawaiʻi. After a confrontation with a local chief, Simon Metcalf then sailed to the neighboring island of Maui to trade along the coast.

Kalola ruled the puʻuhonua of Olowalu and presided over Kaʻiwaloa Heiau. Kahekili, ruler of Maui, lived at Halekiʻi Heiau in Wailuku. This indicates the important spiritual, political and economic connection between ʻIao and Olowalu. Kalola was still ruling at Olowalu in 1790 when Simon Metcalf fired cannons on Honua’ula and Olowalu during the Olowalu Massacre.

Several months after the massacre at Olowalu, Kalola watched the great Battle of Kepaniwai from a panoramic flat area in the back of ʻIao Valley. Kamehameha stormed Maui with over twenty thousand men, and after several battles Maui troops retreated to ʻIao Valley.

Maui Island was conquered and its fighting force was destroyed – Kalanikūpule (Kahekili’s eldest son and heir-apparent) and some others (including Kalola and her family) escaped over the mountain at the back of the valley and made their way to Molokai and Oʻahu.

“The fugitives fled across the sharp ridges of the mountains, the mother carrying the child on her back and the kahu carrying mother and child, until they were able to escape to Molokai.” (Kamakau)

On the island of Molokai at Kalamaʻula, Kalola became ill and they could not carry out their original intention of going to Oʻahu to join Kahekili. Kamehameha followed Kalola to Molokai and asked Kalola for Keōpūolani (Kalola’s granddaughter) to be his queen.

Kalola, who was dying, agreed to give Kamehameha Keōpūolani and her mother Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha, if he would allow the girls to stay at her death bed until she passed. Kamehameha camped on Molokai until Kalola died, and returned to Kona with his high queen Keōpūolani.

At Kalola’s death, “They wailed and chanted dirges, and some were put to sleep with the dead, and the chiefs tattooed themselves and knocked out their teeth. Kamehameha was also tattooed and had his eyeteeth knocked out, and the chiefs and commoners acted like madmen.” (Kamakau)

Kamehameha then formally took charge of and returned to Hawaiʻi with her daughter and granddaughter, not only as a sacred legacy from Kalola, but as a token of reconciliation and alliance between himself and the elder branch of the Keawe dynasty. (Kalākaua)

Later, Liholiho (Kamehameha II,) Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) and Princess Nahiʻenaʻena were born to Kamehameha and Keōpūolani.

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Mutiny At ʻIolani Barracks

In the 1860s, the Hawaiian military was made up by the Royal Guard, a unit assigned to guard the sovereign.  They were also known as the Household Guard, Household Troops, Queen’s Guard, King’s Own and Queen’s Own – they guarded the king and queen and the treasury, and participated in state occasions.

Later, the Guard was quartered in ʻIolani Barracks (Halekoa.) (Built in 1871 (before ‘Iolani Palace,) the Barracks was located on a site now occupied by the State Capitol behind ʻIolani Palace across Hotel Street, formerly Palace Walk.  In 1965, the coral block building was dismantled piece-by-piece and reassembled on the Palace grounds.)

The Guard was an elite group of 60-men from which the King’s body guards were drawn, with a heritage which extended far back into Hawaiʻi’s history.

In 1873, King Lunalilo became ill. The Guard mutinied – not against the King, but rather, unanimously against their drill master Captain Joseph Jajczay, a Hungarian.

While Lunalilo was convalescing and regaining temporarily part of his lost strength, he stayed at his marine residence at Waikiki. To that seaside resort went his ministers to consult with him on matters of public business; his physicians to watch the state of his health; friends, real and pretended, on simple visits of courtesy or personal advantage.

The mutiny started on Sunday, September 7. The simple origin of it is to be found in the bitter dislike of the Household Troops for their martinet drill-master, Captain Joseph Jajczay, a Hungarian, and resentment over some acts of the adjutant general, Charles H. Judd.

An attempt by the captain to enforce some disciplinary measure was resisted; he was knocked down and otherwise mishandled. The governor of O‘ahu, John O Dominis, and the adjutant general having been called, the latter was attacked and the governor was defied or was simply disregarded.

The other soldiers joined the mutineers and they united in demanding the removal of Jajczay and Judd.  (Kuykendall)

While some reports suggest the mutiny was triggered because the drill-master was very strict and planned to punish some of the men for a breach of duty, other reports suggest otherwise.

No particular action was taken until Tuesday, when a court of inquiry was held, without much result, and a message from the king was read to the mutineers ordering them to return to duty at once; otherwise, to be dismissed from the service, lay down their arms, and vacate the barracks.

Some of them obeyed the order, but thirty-four remained insubordinate, saying the message was only a trick of the officers. Two companies of volunteers, the Honolulu Rifles and the Hawaiian Cavalry, some forty men in all, were called out but were given nothing to do beyond serving as a rather ineffectual guard for parts of two days.

A warrant for the arrest of the mutineers was read to them by Marshal Parke; their response was to slam the door of the barracks in his face.

Shortly after, at the request of the king, a delegation of three of the mutineers went out to see him at Waikīkī; he told them they must submit to orders and trust to his clemency.

The mutineers obeyed his order to stack arms, but they stayed in the barracks, instead of going to their homes as they were expected to do.

Major William Luther Moehonua was placed temporarily in charge of the barracks; late in the day a second delegation visited the king, who said he would put his message to them in writing.

Accordingly, on Friday morning, the King’s letter, addressed “to my subjects now assembled at the Barracks in Honolulu,” was read to the mutineers, who were referred to in the body of the letter as “my loving people”; they were ordered to relinquish possession of all government property and to depart, each by himself, to their homes.

“If you shall implicitly obey this my command, then I will be on your side, as a Father to his children, and I will protect you from injury.” After a little further dickering, the mutineers obeyed the king’s order.  (Kuykendall)

One report noted, “During the reign of Lunalilo a mutiny occurred among the Household Guard which was then occupying the old stone barracks now used by the United States Army Quarter Masters Department.”

“The men mutinied over the kind of poi being issued to them as rations and defied the authority of the king to make them obey orders until new poi was given them.”   (The Independent, March 13, 1902)

“Two companies of volunteers, the Honolulu Rifles and the Hawaiian Calvary, some forty men in all, were called out but were given nothing to do beyond serving as a rather ineffectual guard for parts of two days.”  (Kuykendall)

Lunalilo then issued a decree disbanding the Household Troops, except the band, and the kingdom was thus left without any regular organized military force. (Kuykendall)

But Lunalilo died a year later, and the newly-elected king, Kalākaua, restored the army, and named it the Household Guard.  (It was reported Kalākaua sympathized and sided with the mutineers and advised and instigated them.)

In 1893, the Provisional government disbanded the guards and used the Barracks for munitions storage.  It is unclear how many soldiers made up the Hawaiian army.  Some suggest the 60 Household Guards was the total strength.

Kuykendall put the Hawaiian army at 272; this is consistent with the Blount report that noted an affidavit by Nowlein, commander of the palace troops that put its strength at 272 (with an additional local police force of 224.)

The memory and legacy of the Royal Guard lives on through two venues.  In 1916, the US Army’s 32nd Regiment was first organized on Oʻahu.  At its activation, it was known as “The Queen’s Own” Regiment, a title bestowed by the last queen of Hawaiʻi, Liliʻuokalani.

In addition, the Royal Guard of the Hawaiʻi National Guard is an Air National Guard ceremonial unit which re-enacts the royal bodyguards of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

The unit is structured in the same way as the original organization. The governing body, or “Na Koa Hoomalu Kini O Ka Moi” (King’s Body Guards), is composed of five men elected by the general membership. The five men, in turn, select the “Kapena Moku” (Commander of Troops).

The impact of the re-creation of the Royal Guard on the community was best described by Hawaiʻi’s Governor, John A. Burns when he said, “The traditions of the past are, to me, means by which we gain strength to meet the trials of the present and the future.”  (ngef-org)

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