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August 1, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Slate

“Not long after the passing of Kamehameha I in 1819, the first Christian missionaries arrived at (Kawaihae), Hawaiʻi on March 30, 1820. (They finally anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.)”

“Their arrival here became the topic of much discussion as Liholiho, known as Kamehameha II, deliberated with his aliʻi council for 13 days on a plan allowing the missionaries to stay.”

“A key point in Liholiho’s plan required the missionaries to first teach the aliʻi to read and write. The missionaries agreed to the King’s terms and instruction began soon after.” (KSBE)

“There was a frankness and earnestness on the part of some, in commencing and prosecuting study, which agreeably surprised us, and greatly encouraged our first efforts.”

“On the Sabbath, very soon after our arrival, Pulunu came to attend our public worship, and brought two shy, but bright looking little daughters, and after the service, she desired us to take them under our instruction.”

“We readily consented; and both mother and daughters became interesting members of the school. In a few weeks the mother conquered the main difficulty in acquiring an ability to read and write, and the others before many months.” (Bingham)

“On the 1st of August (1820), the slate was introduced, and by the 4th, Pulunu wrote on her slate, from a Sabbath School card, the following sentence in English; ‘I cannot see God, but God can see me.’”

“She was delighted with the exercise, and with her success in writing and comprehending it. The rest of the pupils listened with admiration as she read it, and gave the sense in Hawaiian. Here was a demonstration that a slate could speak in a foreign tongue, and convey a grand thought in their own.” (Bingham)

Demand for slates skyrocketed … “Our house has been thronged with natives applying for books & slates – Our yard has sometime presented the appearance of a market stocked with goats, pigs, poultry, melons & bananas brought to be exchanged for the means of instruction.” (Levi Chamberlain, July 18, 1826)

“Sabbath Augt 27 (1826). At the close of the native service in the morning notice was given that some of the mission would meet in the afternoon those persons who might desire to write down the text.”

“After dinner from 50 to 75 persons assembled with their slates and wrote the text which was given out sentence by sentence. A few remarks were made and the exercise concluded by prayer.” (Levi Chamberlain, August 27, 1826)

Writing material (slates) were a medium of exchange … “A very busy week this has been to me. On Wendnesday the ship began to discharge our supplies – and more or less have been landed every day since. Most of the packages and barrels have been delivered and a little more than half the lumber.”

“I have employed from 8 to 12 natives a day and have paid them at the rate of about 50 cts. per day in books or slates.” (Levi Chamberlain, May 1, 1830)

Saturday May 29th 1830. Since the last date I have been very much engaged. Our yard and the premises have been a scene of labor. Mr. Clark has been superintending the erection of houses in the enclosure in which my house stands.”

“The frames of three native houses are now put up, one of which is designed for a dwelling for himself, another for a study and the last for the accommodation of the natives belonging to his family.”

“The two former buildings are separated from the other houses in the yard by a ti fence. A cook house is soon to be built for the accommodation of his family and ours and it will stand about mid way between our two dwelling houses.”

“A front gate has been put up which will serve for us both, without the necessity of passing out by the printing house.”

“I have also come to the conclusion of building a new store house to be connected with a dwelling for myself to be built of stones & carried up two stories.”

“The stones I am now collecting. I purchase them for Gospels & Slates, to be cut & left on the beach -1 to draw them up. For a Gospel 6 stones 2 feet sq. – for the smallest size slates 10 stones & for the next large -12 stones. More than 1000 have been cut. I shall need at least 3000.” (Levi Chamberlain, May 29, 1830)

“Monday (June) 21st (1830). To day a company of men with whom I have made a bargain to dig the cellar of the new Store & dwelling house for myself commenced their work. I am to pay them 2 ps. unbld. factory cotton & 10 middling size slates.”

But, it was not always positive … “(Lyman) says, ‘We have no calls for books not enough to get the common work done of mahi ai. We cannot even hire common work for slates.’”

“It is evident for this that the business of learning is becoming to the natives an irksome business. Piopio the head woman is thought to be an opposer to that which is good.”

“The course which she has taken with a teacher whom the brethren have favored, & whom she had been seeking an occasion against and unfortunately for him had found, evinced a great deal of hatred.”

“This young man she has sent to Lahaina and Mr. Lyman adds. ‘We do not expect that she will attempt to remove us, but want of power alone will prevent.’ Her influence is of no doubtful character.” (Levi Chamberlain, September 19, 1833)

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Writing Slate-1800
Writing Slate-1800

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Schools, Economy, General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Missionaries, Education, Literacy, American Protestant Missionaries, Slate

July 31, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Gorham Dummer Gilman

“Somewhere about the year 1848, possibly earlier (actually, 1841,) a young man from Boston landed on the shores of our Islands; he was about eighteen years of age, an entire stranger, coming out to those distant fields of labor to seek his fortune. “

“My adopted father, the chief Pāki, befriended him, gave him the first helping hand which welcomed him to his new country, and rendered him such assistance as was in fact the means of showing to him the opportunity of making his way in the world …” (Lili‘uokalani)

Gorham D Gilman was born in Hallowell, Maine, May 29, 1822. He shipped on a vessel, arriving in Honolulu early in 1841. He found commercial employment, mastered the Hawaiian language, and pursued his career at several locations in the islands. For some years, he was in business at Koloa, Kauai.

Lured by news of the gold strike, by mid-November 1848, he was in San Francisco. There he formed a partnership with Mr Wetmore. But California proved a disappointment; in the spring of 1849 Gilman returned to Hawaii. (Sharpless & Greer)

“(A)s years passed by he established himself in business, and soon became one of the leading merchants of Lāhainā, at that time the port of call in the Islands for the whaleships, ranking second only to Honolulu.”

“It was then the base of supplies to this fleet of vessels, was a thoroughly thrifty place, and a business city of growing commercial importance. But the oil-wells of the land have thrown into neglect the oil-ships of the sea, and since this decline and decay Lahaina is little more than a city of ruins.” (Lili‘uokalani)

This phase of Gilman’s long life lasted until 1861. By then the whaling fleet, on which his prosperity depended, had deserted Lāhainā. (Sharpless & Greer)

“Mr. Gilman probably saw the approaching decline of the industry by which the place was supported; for he broke up his business connections there, sundered certain personal ties, and returned to the East with a very handsome fortune, it is said, the result of the accumulation of years of mercantile life on Hawaiian soil and under Hawaiian laws.” (Lili‘uokalani)

From Honolulu he returned to Boston where he and his brothers, John A and Samuel K Gilman, entered the wholesale drug firm of Gilman Brothers. After making his home at Newton, Massachusetts, in 1865, he became a prominent citizen of that community.

He developed an active interest in politics and served in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature. Gilman retained connections with Hawaii and the West Coast (as late as 1902 he was vice-president of an organization of California pioneers). (Sharpless & Greer)

“Gilman had been earlier in life a conspicuous figure, not only in the drug trade but in civic, Masonic and religious affairs. At various times in his career he was both a representative and a senator in the State legislature, an alderman in his home city of Newton, and Consul-General for New England of the Hawaiian government.” (Bulleting of Pharmacy, 1909)

“In 1887, during my journey with Queen Kapiʻolani, we met Mr. Gilman, who was at that time very kind and attentive to me. To be sure, he had a point to gain; he wanted a decoration from the king, and did not hesitate to say so.”

“On the return of the queen’s party to the Islands, letters were received from Mr. Gilman, directly applying for the honor to my brother. Chiefly by means of my personal influence his petition was granted, and he was made a Knight Companion of the Order of Kalākaua, and the decoration forwarded to him.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“Gorham D. Gilman, Hawai‘i’s good friend at the Hub of the Universe Boston will be honored by the Chamber of Commerce with a testimonial in the form of a laudatory letter, accompanied by some suitable memento of the Islands, in appreciation of his promotion efforts on behalf of Hawaii.”

“For years a resident of Honolulu; and for many, many years, a citizen of Boston, Mr. Gilman has not lost sight of the Islands, and his interest has gone so far that he has kept the progress of the group before the reading public and at great gatherings in the East.” (Recognition of Gilman by Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, PCA, July 16, 1897)

“His library of Hawaiiana was one of the most extensive in the northeastern US; it was supplemented by paintings, photos, and curios.”

“As consul, Gilman rendered great service by giving illustrated (stereopticon) lectures on Hawaii—especially during the critical year of 1893. And the student of Hawaiian history owes him much.”

“Besides the several journals he kept at various times, he produced a number of articles for Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual. These reminiscences add greatly to our knowledge of Honolulu in the 1840s and 1850s. ” (Sharpless & Greer)

“He made the acquaintance of King Kamehameha III, and of four kings who succeeded him, including King Kalākaua, also Queen Kapiʻolani and the present dethroned Queen Liliuokalani.”

“Mr. Gilman received from these various royal personages many decorations and gifts. His mastery of the native language was so easily accomplished that he became very proficient, and his translation of an important United States Government treaty was accepted officially, in preference to that of a man of far greater experience.”

“Mr. Gilman lived widely, tried to do his whole duty, achieved a splendid record, kept at work under a full head of steam until he reached the fine age of 87 years, and has gone to the larger life, a noble alumnus of Mother Earth, well fitted for the career upon which he is now entering.” (The Friend, November 1909) Gilman died at Newton on October 3, 1909.

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Gorham D. Gilman-PCA-July 16, 1908
Gorham D. Gilman-PCA-July 16, 1908
Halekamani; residence of Gorham D. Gilman (formerly the home of Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena); Lāhainā, Maui.
Halekamani; residence of Gorham D. Gilman (formerly the home of Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena); Lāhainā, Maui.
Gilman_Store-Custom_House_and_Meeting_House
Gilman_Store-Custom_House_and_Meeting_House

Filed Under: General, Prominent People, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Maui, Lahaina, Gorham Gilman, Halekamani

July 29, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Flying in Rough Air’

The 1930s were the romantic years of flight. At the beginning of the decade, flying across oceans was a life-risking experience. However, beginning in 1936, Pan Am began to fly across the Pacific. (Pacific Aviation Museum)

That year, Patricia Kennedy, in the bow of the plane, christened a plane with coconut water: “I christen thee Hawaii Clipper for the American Territory of Hawaii.” (hawaii-gov)

A couple years later, “Martin flying boat ‘Hawaii Clipper’ (one of three flying boats in regular trans-Pacific service for Pan-American Airways) departed Alameda (on San Francisco Bay) on a flight across the Pacific Ocean to Manila. Intermediate stops were made in Hawai‘i and Guam.”

“A few minutes before 6 a.m. on July 29, 1938, Pan American Airways Captain Leonard Terletzky taxied the Clipper out of Apra Harbor, Hawaii Guam.”

“Terletzky was more than halfway through the six-day, 9,000-mile flight from Alameda, California, to Hong Kong. He’d already made stops in Honolulu, Midway, Wake Island and now Guam. Manila, Macao and Hong Kong were still to come.” (Geoghengan)

The Pan Am crew consisted of Terletzky, First Officer Mark A. Walker, Second Officer George M. Davis, Third Officer Jose M. Sauceda, Fourth Officer John W. Jewett, Engineer Officer Howard l. Cox, Assistant Engineer Officer T.B. Tatum, and Radio Officer William McGarty. The passengers were attended by Flight Steward Ivan Parker. (This Day in Aviation)

“The airliner’s six passengers were: Lieutenant Commander Edward E. Wyman, United States Naval Reserve, of Bronxville, New York. Commander Wyman was the former assistant to Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan American Airways. He was now employed by Curtiss-Wright. Pan American’s traffic manager, Kenneth A. Kennedy, was also on board.”

“Colonel Earl E. McKinley, M.D., United States Army Reserve, Dean of Medicine at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., a bacteriologist, and Fred C. Meier, Ph.D., were collecting airborne bacteriological samples to research transocean bacterial transfer.”

“Major Howard C. French, Air Corps, United States Army (Reserve), the commanding officer of the 321st Observer Squadron based at Vancouver, Washington.”

“Finally, there was Choy Wah Sun (also known as “Watson Choy”), of New Jersey. Mr. Choy was believed to be transporting $3,000,000 in U.S. Gold Certificates for the Kuomintang, the Nationalist Party of China, which was headed by Chiang Kai-shek.” (This Day in Aviation)

“The airplane departed Guam at 11:39 (18:30 CST). The last radio contact was at 22:03 CST saying that it was 565 miles from the Philippine coast, flying through ‘layers of clouds’” and ‘Flying in rough air’. (Aviation Safety)

Her Captain, “Capt. Terletzky was described by Pan-American officials as one of their best flyers. He started flying for the company about 10 years ago and formerly was attached to the South American and Carribean lines. He was a 43-year-old naturalized Russian.”

“In addition to her crew and passengers, the plane carried several hundred pounds of mail and express. Pan-American officials said the three ships flying the Alameda-Manila route had logged a total of nearly 2,000,000 miles of flying over the Pacific.”

“The Clipper’s strong hull was designed to keep the big flying boat afloat indefinitely unless it were demolished by impact with the ocean. It was constructed with bulkheads, like those of surface ships, that could shut off various parts of the plane by closing doors.”

“The ship, equipped with four 800-horsepower wasp motors, could fly if one motor cut out. Moderately-loaded as the ship was, it could keep aloft even if two engines stopped if the pilot ‘tacked’ it to keep it on an even keel.” (Evening Star, July 29, 1938)

“In her noon report the clipper said she was flying through cloud banks and the wind was ‘a bit rough.’ The Weather Bureau here said its maps indicated the weather was good at sea in that vicinity and no storms were in sight.” (Evening Star, July 29, 1938)

“On July 29, 1938, at 0411, Greenwich Civil Time, the Captain of the Hawaii Clipper, an aircraft of Pan American Airways, Incorporated, flying westbound between Guam and Manila, P. I., in regular scheduled foreign air commerce, sent a routine radio position report giving their 0400 O.C.T. position as being Latitude 12 degree 27′ North, Longitude 130 degree 40′ East.”

“This position is approximately 582 nautical miles east-southeast of Manila. The position report was received by the radio operator at Panay, P. I., who was at that time standing radio guard over the operation.”

“The ground station acknowledged this report and requested the Clipper to stand by for a routine weather sequence report. The radio operator at Panay was unable to obtain acknowledgement of messages sent the clipper”. (CAA Investigation; Lost Clipper)

“For several hours after the Clipper’s usual landing time – between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. (1:30 and 2:30 a.m. Eastern standard time) Pan-American officials insisted they were not worried.”

“At 6:30 p.m. one official, although unable to explain the Clipper’s failure to report by radio at the regularly scheduled intervals, said: …”

“‘She had to go around the storm and buck headwinds, therefore we did not expect her until around 6 o’clock tonight (5 a.m. Eastern standard time) even now we consider her only a half hour late. But that is not unusual.’” (Evening Star, July 29, 1938)

Hawaii Clipper never arrived at its destination. What happened to it and the fifteen persons on board remains one of the enduring mysteries of aviation history. (This Day in Aviation)

“Flying conditions and visibility had been generally good, but the plane had flown through scattered showers. No reason was advanced as to why she might have been forced down, but it was pointed out that if she made a safe landing she could float on the Pacific Ocean as well as any boat.”

“The Army transport Meigs, only 87 miles away from the Clipper’s last reported position, was immediately ordered to search the area. The Navy tender Penguin was sent from Guam at 8:20 p.m., Guam time (6:50 a m., E. S. T.), carrying a Pan-American radioman and an airways mechanic. She was expected to reach the scene Monday.” (Evening Star, July 29, 1938)

“The giant Hawaii Clipper, with 15 occupants, missing approximately 12 hours on a flight from Guam to Manila, was made the object of an intensive search by air, sea and underwater craft tonight.”

“The only possible clue to the fate of the Pan-American Airways trans-Pacific plane, which vanished Friday en route here from Guam and California, was a huge oil slick ominously spreading across the ocean some 500 miles east of here and near the spot where the clipper last reported herself.” (Evening Star, August 1, 1938)

“A ‘thick oil area,’ marking the spot where the Trans-Pacific Hawaii Clipper presumably hit the ocean, was discovered by the army transport Meigs today 500 miles from Manila.”

“For nearly six days, warships and fighting planes combed the Pacific stretches in all directions from a point more than 500 miles east of here where the flying boat radioed her last position a week ago today.”

“Army and Navy authorities said they stood ready to answer any call if a clue to the plane’s whereabouts was found, but naval officials said they had abandoned the search for the present because every probability and possibility of finding the clipper was exhausted.” (Evening Star, August 5, 1938)

“There was no indication of how disaster overtook the Hawaii Clipper, whose last radio report at 8:09 pm. Thursday indicated that all was well. She had mentioned rain and moderately rough winds. But her log showed no indication of a storm, which might have brought lightning and sudden death to her veteran crew of nine and six prominent passengers.” (Lowell Sun, July 30, 1938)

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Patricia Kennedy christens the Pan American Hawaii Clipper with coconut water, Pearl Harbor-PP-1-9-004-May 1935
Patricia Kennedy christens the Pan American Hawaii Clipper with coconut water, Pearl Harbor-PP-1-9-004-May 1935
Ceremony christening the Pan American Hawaii Clipper, Pearl Harbor-PP-1-9-006-1936
Ceremony christening the Pan American Hawaii Clipper, Pearl Harbor-PP-1-9-006-1936
hawaii_clipper
hawaii_clipper
Hawaiian musicians who performed at the christening of the Pan American Hawaii Clipper, Pearl Harbor-PP-1-9-003-1936
Hawaiian musicians who performed at the christening of the Pan American Hawaii Clipper, Pearl Harbor-PP-1-9-003-1936
Cutaway drawing of the Boeing 314 reveals the clipper's various cabins and compartments-Smithsonian
Cutaway drawing of the Boeing 314 reveals the clipper’s various cabins and compartments-Smithsonian
First trans-Pacific passengers boarding the Pan American Hawaii Clipper continuing their flight across the Pacific-PP-1-9-005-1936
First trans-Pacific passengers boarding the Pan American Hawaii Clipper continuing their flight across the Pacific-PP-1-9-005-1936
Pan Am's Boeing 314 had a lower set of seawings to provide balance and buoyancy on the water-Smithsonian
Pan Am’s Boeing 314 had a lower set of seawings to provide balance and buoyancy on the water-Smithsonian
A Martin M-130 clipper could seat 16 passengers confortably with plenty of room to walk around-Smithsonain
A Martin M-130 clipper could seat 16 passengers confortably with plenty of room to walk around-Smithsonain
The Martin M-130 clipper's main cabin also served as a dining room-Smithsonian
The Martin M-130 clipper’s main cabin also served as a dining room-Smithsonian
Lounge on Pan Am's Boeing 314 transformed into a dining room at mealtime-Smithsonian
Lounge on Pan Am’s Boeing 314 transformed into a dining room at mealtime-Smithsonian
A Martin M-130 clipper provided comfortable sleeping berths for the long overnight flight to Hawaii-Smithsonian
A Martin M-130 clipper provided comfortable sleeping berths for the long overnight flight to Hawaii-Smithsonian
First paying passengers of the Pan American Hawaii Clipper-PP-1-9-002-1936
First paying passengers of the Pan American Hawaii Clipper-PP-1-9-002-1936
First paying passengers of the Pan American Hawaii Clipper-PP-1-9-001-1936
First paying passengers of the Pan American Hawaii Clipper-PP-1-9-001-1936
Pan Am brochure captures the romance of flying on a Boeing 314 clipper to Hawaii Smithsonian
Pan Am brochure captures the romance of flying on a Boeing 314 clipper to Hawaii Smithsonian
Pan Am brochure captures the romance of flying on a Boeing 314 clipper to Hawaii-Smithsonian
Pan Am brochure captures the romance of flying on a Boeing 314 clipper to Hawaii-Smithsonian
Cutaway drawing of a Martin M-130 clipper reveals the multiple cabins in the plane-Smithsonian
Cutaway drawing of a Martin M-130 clipper reveals the multiple cabins in the plane-Smithsonian
Cutaway drawing of the Boeing 314 reveals the clipper's various cabins and compartments-Smithsonian
Cutaway drawing of the Boeing 314 reveals the clipper’s various cabins and compartments-Smithsonian

Filed Under: Economy, General

July 28, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

He keiki aloha nā mea kanu

Beloved children are the plants (Pukui 1983:76, verse 684)

The forests, as the home of the akua, were seen as awesome and profoundly spiritual places. One did not enter them, or take from them, without first asking permission, and respectful behavior was always shown to all of the beings that lived there. (Anderson-Fung & Maly)

The gathering of plants served many important cultural purposes. Plants were consumed for food and medicine (e.g., the bark of the root of the ʻuhaloa was used for sore throat), used as tools and building materials, art, and adornments. (Kumupaʻa)

Participants in a recent Puna-based ethno-historical analysis noted that the Puna uplands have been traditionally accessed to gather lāʻau (plants, wood) for a variety of uses, and these practices must continue to be exercised today.

1. Native Out-planting: Because many of the native plants gathered by practitioners are rapidly dying off, it was recommended that action be taken to replace and reestablish these valuable forest plants.

2. Cultural Access: Community participants recommended that the forest be kept open and accessible to cultural practitioners such as hālau hula, artists, and lāʻau lapaʻau healers for native plant gathering. (Kumupaʻa)

Papa Henry Auwae, a prominent Kahuna Lā‘au Lapa‘au (Hawaiian herbalist), spoke of some of the different medicinal plants and herbs in the forest (and concern for the plants that had been impacted by the prior contemplated geothermal use):

“Plenty lā‘aus out here. Kōpiko. Oh boy. Oh my, the lama and the ‘ōpikos are all down. You see this tree here? Oh, my goodness. This is ‘ōpiko, this tree here. And the bark, all this bark here is all wasted already, you see. Poho, all this, all wasted.”

“And this is, we can use this for — you know, a woman when they miscarriage, all the time miscarriage. And this is the kind of bark we use for tea, make it into a tea form. But this is all waste. How many years this thing old? Oh, my goodness, cannot get anything. Poho.”

“You cannot get a tree like this to grow overnight. It takes years. And this kind of tree, they don’t grow too fast, they grow real slow, very slow. That one here took about 300 years, 300, 400 years. This is all waste, waste, wasted forever.

“And this is the kind of thing, we should stop people like this desecrating the forest. Why don’t they see people like us Hawaiians and we can help them, you know …”

“… go into a place like this and then try and save our herbs, our trees, you know, our lifestyle, instead of just waste it for themselves, through greediness. They like all the money. But how much life can they save? I can save life. Can they save life?”

“And this tree is gone forever. We cannot get this tree back in life again. And how many more trees like this that they had damaged and wasted? Cannot tell. We have use of the forest, we have the use of all the herbs in the forest to save people, to save human life.”

“And every time I walk and I see in a forest like this, I feel, I feel for the ‘āina. I feel what my grandmother taught me about the lā‘aus, how long it takes for the lā‘au to grow.”

“And people just come over here with a bulldozer and just knock it down. They don’t think, they don’t have any feelings.”

“You see that small leaves there? ‘Olu‘olu. That’s another medicine that we use. And it’s very scarce and very rare. This root here is important. This root here I would take this for medicine now. And I’m going to take this home for medicine right now. ‘Ohu nui.”

“For a person, I have a person coming up and he has been losing his voice; he cannot talk. So this is what we’re going to use to try and bring his voice back again. In a forest like this, there are a lot of lā‘au that can cure people. People all over the world you can cure.” (Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina; Kumupa‘a)

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Forest-WKOP-Portrait
Forest-WKOP-Portrait

Filed Under: General, Hawaiian Traditions, Place Names, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Forest, Plants

July 25, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Raising Cane

“The Hawaiian race is, to all appearance, dying out; and the resources of the land are in large part idle and untouched—a promise and a temptation. At this juncture the Hawaiian people and the Hawaiian government could appropriately ask, What must we do to be saved?”

“Judging from the steps that were taken and the discussions that were indulged in, we may conclude that the things which the missionaries and other resident foreigners believed to be necessary were:
1. to develop the latent industry of the people and the natural resources of the land;
2. to get Hawaii formally recognized as an independent nation;
3. to establish a government along modern constitutional lines which would be understood and respected by foreigners as well as by natives.” (Kuykendall)

“About 1836 the missionaries were led to take a general survey of conditions in Hawaii and the progress which had been made toward Christian civilization.”

“They were compelled to admit that while a great change had been effected in the religious views and religious institutions of the country, little or no improvement had been made in the economic and political condition of the nation.”

“So impressed were they with this fact that they prepared a memorial on the importance of increased effort to cultivate the useful arts among the Hawaiian people.” (Kuykendall)

“The missionaries, intent on providing a needy nation of 125,000 souls, with ample means of instruction in every useful department, and unwilling to have the ordinary useful arts of life neglected, applied to their Directors specifically for forty-six additional missionary laborers, to be sent at once, pointing out the location and the work for each …”

“… and before the close of this year they, moreover, sent to the ABCFM and other philanthropists, a memorial on the importance of increased efforts to cultivate the useful arts among the Hawaiian people.” (Bingham)

The memorial stated, in part, “The introduction and cultivation of the arts of civilization must, it is believed, have an important bearing on the success of the preaching of the Gospel, and the permanence of evangelical institutions in the Sandwich Islands.”

“But if there were no immediate connexion, and the influence of the latter could be permanent without the former, still the arts and institutions of civilized life are of vast importance to the happiness, improvement, and usefulness of any nation where they are, or may be, properly fostered. “

“Of the importance of both, our Directors were aware, when they instructed us to aim at raising up the entire population of these islands to an elevated state of Christian civilization, and to get into extended operation and influence the arts, institutions, and usages of civilized life and society.”

“The people need competent instruction in agriculture, manufactures, and the various methods of production, in order to develop the resources of the country (which are considerable), for though there is a great proportion of waste and barren territory in the group, yet either of the principal islands is doubtless capable of sustaining quadruple the whole population, were its resources properly and fully called forth. “

“They need competent instruction immediately in the science of government, in order to promote industry, to secure ample means of support, and to protect the just rights of all.”

“They need much instruction and aid in getting into operation and extended influence those arts and usages which are adapted to the country, calculated to meet the wants, call forth and direct the energies of the people in general, and to raise up among them intelligent and enterprising agents, qualified to carry on the great work of reform here and elsewhere.”

“There are various obstacles to be met at the outset. … They have not the capital nor the encouragement to enter on any great plan of improvement in bringing forward the resources of the country.”

“Though the people, as a body, perform considerable labor for themselves and drudgery for superiors, yet there is a great deficiency in the amount of profitable industry.”

The missionaries suggested that “a company be formed on Christian and benevolent principles, for the express purpose of promoting the interests of this country by encouraging the cultivation of …”

“… sugar-cane, cotton, silk, indigo, and various useful productions adapted to the soil and climate; and the manufacture of sugar-cane, cotton, silk, clothing, hats, shoes, implements of husbandry, etc.”

“Should the agriculturists have the control and profits of land, they would pay a rent to the government which would be better than is now received, as they would probably occupy chiefly ground that is not now tilled at all.”

“Thus the government would be an immediate gainer, besides the ultimate and immediate advantage to the people. A school, either under the direction of the mission or of the company, should be maintained in connexion with every establishment.”

“The Society, or company, on entering on this plan, would need a ship freighted with materials, implements of husbandry, and other articles, and to be always at their service. A considerable amount of funds would be requisite to get under weigh …”

“… but it is believed the enterprise would pay for itself, in a pecuniary point of view, in a few years, and the persons engaged in it obtain an economical support for themselves and families.”

“The profits of the whole establishment at these islands, above the original and current cost, must be devoted to the support of schools, or churches, charitable institutions, or internal improvements in the nation, according to the judgment of the company, for the benefit and elevation of the people, conformably with regulations to be approved by the ABCFM, or the SI Mission.” (Mission Memorial, 1836; Bingham)

In part, the suggestion was put into practice by some of the missionaries on O‘ahu and Kauai. A writer in the Sandwich Island Mirror, in 1840, stated that missionaries on Kauai, at a distance from Koloa, had set up sugar mills as early as 1838, grinding cane for the natives on shares.”

“The same writer gave an interesting survey of the situation on O‘ahu and Maui in 1840. He reported that Rev. John Emerson at Waialua had a mill run by horse power and made sugar and molasses for the natives on shares …”

“… Rev. Artemas Bishop at Ewa had a mill run by water power, where he had made for himself and the natives during the past season several tons of sugar, besides molasses …”

“… Rev. Hiram Bingham had raised sugar cane on his field, having it manufactured at a Chinese mill in the back part of Honolulu; Dr TCB Rooke had a mill in Nu‘uanu valley; three or four native young men had begun to develop a small plantation in the Ko‘olau district …”

“… Governor Kekūanāoʻa, Dr. Judd, and others had organized a company to establish a plantation and mill near Honolulu; on Maui, several Chinamen had mills in operation, where they made sugar upon shares.”

Rev Richard Armstrong wrote from his station at Wailuku, Maui, July 7, 1840: “I have assisted the natives to break in some twelve yoke of oxen, which have done a great deal towards relieving the people of their burdens.”

“Three years ago every thing, food, timber, potatoes, pigs, stoves, lime, sand, etc., were carried on the backs of natives, or dragged on the ground by their hands.”

“Their taxes were carried sometimes thirty or forty miles in this way; but almost all this drudgery is now done by carts and oxen, and the head men say they cannot get the men on their lands to submit to such work as they once could. This is clear gain.”

“By a request of the king I have taken some part in inducing the people about me to plant sugar-cane. A fine crop of sixty or seventy acres is now on the ground ripe, and a noble water-mill, set up by a China-man, is about going into operation to grind it. I hope some good from this quarter. I keep one plough a going constantly with a view to the support of schools.” (Armstrong, Missionary Herald)

“In the years from 1835 to 1840 a great many sugar mills were set up in various parts of the kingdom, being especially numerous on Maui, O‘ahu, and Kauai. In the early part of 1838 there were reported to be ‘in operation, or soon to be erected, twenty mills for crushing cane, propelled by animal power, and two by water power.’ (Jarves)”

“An interesting point is the large part taken by Chinese in the setting up and operation of these mills. The mills of this period were mere toys in comparison with those of a later time and together produced a very small amount of sugar with a disproportionate quantity of molasses.” (Kuykendall)

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Filed Under: Economy, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Sugar, American Protestant Missionaries, Hawaii, Missionaries

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