Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Henry Nicholas Greenwell

William Thomas Greenwell (1777–1856) and Dorothy Smales (1789–1871) of Lanchester, Durham, England had a son, Henry Nicholas Greenwell on January 9, 1826.

Henry was educated in the Durham Grammar School and at Sandhurst, the British military college.  As fourth son he had little chance of inheriting the family estate called Greenwell Ford.

After graduating from the Royal Military Academy, in 1843, at the age of 17, he became an Ensign in the 70th Regiment of Foot, and a Lieutenant in 1844.  Part of his military work included helping feed folks starving during the Potato Famine in 1847.

Finding the military life insupportable, at the age of 23 he left for Australia to make a new start, arriving there on July 4, 1848.  In early-1849, he decided Australia was not for him, then got a partner and planned to make a profit by buying goods in Australia and selling them in San Francisco.

“On arrival, all hands took off for the gold fields, leaving the partners to unload the goods themselves. During this process, HNG was severely injured and was forced to go to Honolulu for treatment. He arrived on January 2, 1850 … On recovery he discovered that his partners had run out on him”.

He worked as an agent for HJH Holdsworth in his importing and retail business, and opened a branch of the business at Kailua (Kona) in September of 1850. (Kona Echo, April 1, 1950; Melrose, Kinue)

The Greenwell store was built around 1851 at Kalukalu (Kealakekua, near Konawaena High School) and originally served as a store and post office.  (Greenwell also served as the area’s postmaster as well as the area’s general merchandiser.)

The HN Greenwell Store is now a museum set in the 1890s timeframe, with costumed interpreters and period merchandizing.  (Suggested Donation is $5 for adults and children under 17 years old are free.)

Greenwell started to buy land, gradually acquired extensive land holdings, and got into the cattle and sheep business on a large scale.  (In 1879, he acquired the lease on Keauhou from Dr Georges Trousseau.)

Greenwell grew oranges.  “At last we reached a cross-road store, back of which is a vast orange-grove. This is the home of Mrs. HN Greenwell, and is known as Kalu Kalu, South Kona. We drew rein in front of the store and called for some refreshments. … The oranges were the largest and sweetest I ever saw.”

“In a large wareroom the people were packing the oranges in boxes for shipping. There were several hundred barrels of the fruit in a pile, and men and women were wrapping the oranges separately in tissue-paper and placing them in boxes. I was told that the Greenwell plantation produced the largest sweet oranges in the world, and from my own experience I believe the statement true.”  (Musick)

He also grew coffee and is recognized for putting “Kona Coffee” on the world markets.  In 1873, at Weltausstellung 1873 Wien (World Exhibition in Vienna, Austria (1873,)) Greenwell was awarded a “Recognition Diploma” for his Kona Coffee.  Greenwell descendants continue the family’s coffee-growing tradition in Kona. (Greenwell Farms)

Writer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) seemed to concur with this when he noted in his Letters from Hawaiʻi, “The ride through the district of Kona to Kealakekua Bay took us through the famous coffee and orange section. I think the Kona coffee has a richer flavor than any other, be it grown where it may and call it what you please.”

“’Coffee-trees are often planted with a crowbar,’ it is said. Strange as this may seem, it is nevertheless true. A hole is drilled through the rock, or lavacrust, and the soil thus reached; the tree, a small twig dug up from the forest, is planted in this hole, and it grows, thrives, and yields fruit abundantly.”  (Musick, 1898)

At one point Greenwell was accused of 2nd degree murder; he pled not guilty, testimony in support of his plea was made and he was ultimately found not guilty.

Henry married Elizabeth Caroline Hall on April 9, 1868, and they had six sons and four daughters, William Henry Greenwell June 7, 1869,) Dora Caroline (Carrie) Greenwell (October 15, 1870,) Arthur Leonard Greenwell (December 7, 1871,) Elizabeth (Lillie) Greenwell (April 11, 1873,) Christina Margaret (September 16, 1874,) Francis Radcliffe Greenwell (August 26, 1876,) Wilfrid Alan Greenwell (November 7, 1878,) Julian Greenwell (September 2, 1880,) Edith Amy Greenwell (August 28, 1883) and  Leonard Lanchester Greenwell (December 4, 1884.)

Greenwell died May 18, 1891.  His significant land holdings were eventually divided into three main ranches. In the North (Honokōhau area,) son Frank first managed and then grandsons Robert and James Greenwell;) relatively central (Kalukalu,) son William, then grandson Norman managed; and in the South (Captain Cook,) son Arthur, then grandson Sherwood managed.  (The latter two ranches were sold, Lanihau Properties/Palani Ranch are still controlled by Greenwells.)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Nutridge

For at least 40,000 years, Australian Aborigines have lived in macadamia heartland. As hunters and gatherers, they had an intimate understanding of their environment.

The wild macadamias usually grew in dense rainforests, with competition from other trees and absence of light resulting in their producing few nuts.

However, trees growing at the edge of the rainforest or where the Aborigines had encouraged them by burning around each tree generally produced annual crops.

Macadamia nuts were a treasured food but a very minor part of the Aboriginal diet due to their rarity. (McConachie)

In 1828, Alan Cunningham (explorer and botanist) was the first Western person to record the macadamia. Other names for Macadamia Nuts are Bush nut, Queensland nut, Queen of nuts, Macadamia, Bauple nut, Boombera, Jindilli and Gyndl.

In 1857, German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller gave the genus of this plant the scientific name Macadamia – named after von Mueller’s friend Dr John Macadam (although, allegedly, Macadam had not seen a macadamia nut tree, or even tasted the macadamia nut.)

Macadamia seeds were first imported into Hawaiʻi in 1882 by William Purvis; he planted them in Kapulena on the Hāmākua Coast. A second introduction into Hawaii was made in 1892 by Robert and Edward Jordan who planted the trees at the former’s home in Nuʻuanu Honolulu. (Storey)

“Brought in ‘solely as an addition to the natural beauty of Paradise’ (Hawaiian Annual, 1940,) it was not until ES (Ernest Sheldon) Van Tassel started some plantings at Nutridge in 1921 that the commercial growing of the plant began. On June 1, 1922, the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Company Ltd. was formed.” (NPS)

The Van Tassel plantings were at ʻUalakaʻa on a grassy hillside of former pasture land. Mo‘olelo (Hawaiian stories) indicate that Pu‘u ‘Ualaka‘a was a favored locality for sweet potato cultivation and King Kamehameha I established his personal sweet potato plantation here.

‘Pu‘u translates as “hill” and ‘ualaka‘a means “rolling sweet potato”, so named for the steepness of the terrain. (It’s above Makiki and also called Round Top.) Within the valley is a quarry where the basalt outcrop was chipped into pieces to make octopus lures. That is believed to be the origin of the word ‘makiki’ – a type of stone used for weights in octopus lures.

Historical attempts at cultivation in the Makiki-Tantalus area included a coffee plantation by JM Herring along Moleka Stream in the late-1800s (valley conditions proved too wet for coffee beans to flourish) and Hawai‘i’s first commercial macadamia nut plantation along the west side of Pu‘u ‘Ualaka‘a.

“Van Tassel, President of the Hawaii Macadamia Nut Company, Ltd, became interested in the possibilities of this nut for creating a new industry and had so much faith in its future that he organized in 1922 the present company for the purpose of commercial production and has been its guiding spirit ever since.” (Mid-Pacific, October 1933)

“At the present time, the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Company has about 7,000 trees in its groves at Keauhou, Kona District, Hawaii, which are now coming into profitable bearing. The company has also approximately 2,000 trees growing and producing in the Nutridge grove on Round Top, Honolulu, or a total of 9,000 trees.” (Mid-Pacific, October 1933)

Nutridge was the name for Van Tassel’s home and grove. In 1925, Mr. Van Tassel commissioned architect Hart Wood to design his residence at Nutridge.

Wood was at the forefront of the movement to create a style of architecture in Hawaii which would appropriately reflect a sense of place.

One story high, the house is essentially devoid of ornate embellishment and follows an extremely original layout with the lanai (porch) serving in the capacity of a hallway, providing direct access to the bedrooms. Such an arrangement accentuates the sense of outdoor living.

Also by placing the rooms in a serial manner, the architect provided each room with cross-ventilation taking advantage of the trade winds. The dwelling’s double-pitched hipped roof would become a common feature in the evolving ‘Hawaiian style’ of architecture, and adds to the building’s low profile. (NPS)

In order to stimulate interest in macadamia culture, beginning January 1, 1927, a Territorial law exempted properties in the Territory, used solely for the culture or production of macadamia nuts, from taxation for a period of 5 years.

That year, the Territory granted Van Tassel a 50-lease on Nutridge. By 1934, there were about 25-acres planted on Tantalus. (CTAHR)

Commercial processing of macadamia nuts began in 1934 at Van Tassel’s new factory in Kaka‘ako. The nuts were shelled, roasted, salted, bottled and marketed there as “Van’s Macadamia Nuts.” (Schmitt)

Nuts went from the farm on Round Top down through the flumes into trucks to his processing warehouse in Kakaʻako, where they were then sold. This plantation remained in operation until the 1970s and discontinued when the Honolulu processing plant suspended operations. (NPS)

In its heyday, celebrities such as Clark Gable, Carlo Lombard, Frank Sinatra and Dina Merrill visited and stayed at the Nutridge House.

The macadamia nut trees and the remnants of the historic flume system used to collect and transport the nuts remain on the slopes of ‘Ualakaʻa today. In 1981, the house was nominated and placed on the National Register of Historic Places and is part of the Hawaii State Park System, Pu‘u ‘Ualaka‘a State Wayside in Tantalus.

For approximately 30-years, the historic house has been cared for and occupied under a permit by Rick Ralston, the founder and former owner of retail icon Crazy Shirts.

Ralston invested significant sums of money and devoted considerable time and energy in meticulously restoring the historic house which might have otherwise been lost due to years of neglect. The house had been quietly maintained and used as a residence. (DLNR) It appears the Experience Nutridge now operates a luau on the site.

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by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Benjamin Franklin Dillingham

Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Dillingham was the son of Benjamin Clark Dillingham, a shipmaster, and Lydia Sears (Hows) Dillingham, born on September 4, 1844 in West Brewster, Massachusetts.

He left school at 14 and shipped on his uncle’s vessel for a voyage around the Horn to San Francisco. During the Civil War, on June 6, 1863, he was nineteen-year-old third mate on the clipper ship Southern Cross bound for New York with a cargo of ‘log wood.’

‘Florida’ was flying the British ensign, though as she steamed closer, she ran up the rebels’ ‘stars and bars.’ A squad of armed Confederate sailors boarded and took Dillingham and the rest of the clipper’s small crew prisoner.

Then, as the new prisoners watched from the deck of their captor, the Southern Cross was set ablaze and sunk. Eventually they were put ashore at Rio de Janeiro and worked their way back to the war-torn United States.

Dillingham headed west, determined to take up residence in San Francisco and find work ashore. An unsuccessful hunt for employment led him back to the sea, and in 1865 he was hired by Captain John Paty as first mate on the bark Whistler, on the San Francisco/Honolulu run.

“A brief sojourn in the city enabled me to realize that I had no training in any other vocation, save that of the sea, and learning that Capt. Paty of the bark Whistler plying between the coast and Honolulu was in need of officers, I applied and obtained the position of first mate without delay.” (Dillingham; Chiddix & Simpson))

Dillingham wrote that he felt at home the first time he came ashore in Honolulu: “After my tempstuous experiences in rounding Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, the trip seemed to me like a pleasure excursion.”

“It felt as if I had anchored in a home port; the cordiality I experienced from all those whom I met removed at once the feeling of being in a foreign land though the streets were filled with several nationalities. The luxuriant foliage, the balmy breezes, the tropical fruits, all afforded such delights that I felt sure I should return.”

He did return, and ultimately stayed after an unfortunate encounter between his horse and a carriage; “The first officer of the bark Whistler, Mr. Dillingham, whose leg was broken last Friday night, by being thrown from a horse, in collision with a carriage, on the valley road …”

“(Dillingham) is now at the American Marine Hospital, where he receives every care and attention, and is in favorable condition for recover.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 29, 1865) Unfortunately for him, the Whistler left him in Honolulu and sailed away.

He accepted a job as a clerk in a hardware store called H. Dimond & Son for $40 per month. The store was owned by Henry Dimond, formerly a bookbinder in the 7th Missionary Company. In 1850 Dimond had been released from his duties at the Mission and had gone into business with his son.

Dillingham later bought the company with partner Alfred Castle (son of Samuel Northrup Castle, who was in the 8th Company of missionaries and ran the Mission business office;) they called the company Dillingham & Co (it was later known as Pacific Hardware, Co.)

On April 26, 1869, Dillingham married Emma Smith, daughter of 6th Company missionaries Reverend Lowell and Abigail Smith.

But hard times came on Dillingham with the collapse of whaling and the rise of sugar. Large suppliers pulled Dillingham’s credit lines, and his accounts were paid late. Then Dillingham was given the opportunity to buy the James Campbell lands in Ewa.

While he couldn’t raise the money to buy it, Campbell leased the land for 50-years. Dillingham realized that to be successful, he needed reliable transportation.

On September 4, 1888, Frank Dillingham’s 44th birthday, the legislature gave Dillingham an exclusive franchise “for construction and operation on the Island of O‘ahu a steam railroad … for the carriage of passengers and freight.”

Dillingham formed O‘ahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L,) a narrow gauge rail, whose economic being was founded on the belief that O‘ahu would soon host a major sugar industry.

“Among the most important works now in process of rapid construction, is the Oahu railway to Pearl Harbor, which is already approaching completion, so far as grading is concerned. Eleven miles of this line will have the grading completed in two weeks; and of this length ten miles are already finished.”

“The depot itself will be of imposing size and made as ornamental in appearance as convenience and traffic requirements will allow. … The progress of this important work has been so rapid during the month of July that we give it first place among the works in progress during the past month.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 27, 1889)

“Mr BF Dillingham, promoter of the Oahu Railway and Land Company, on his birthday a year previous, was accosted by an acquaintance with the remark: ‘Well, Mr. Dillingham, you have got your franchise: when are you going to give us the railway?’”

“Mr. Dillingham replied that on his next birthday, that day one year, he hoped to treat his friends to a railway ride. … with a strong company now at his back, the originator of the enterprise, having taken the contract to build the road, resolutely pushed operations to their present advanced stage.”

“When the appointed day arrived Mr Dillingham was ready to celebrate. His engine had been set up some days. Two third class cars, the best passenger accommodation as yet on the ground, were put together. … With a shrill blast from the whistle and the bell clanging, the engine moved easily off with its load. Three rousing cheers were given by the passengers, and crowds assembled at the starting point responded.” (Daily Bulletin, September 5, 1889)

Ultimately OR&L sublet land, partnered on several sugar operations and/or hauled cane from Ewa Plantation Company, Honolulu Sugar Company in ‘Aiea, O‘ahu Sugar in Waipahu, Waianae Sugar Company, Waialua Agriculture Company and Kahuku Plantation Company, as well as pineapples for Dole.

By the early-1900s, the expanded railway cut across the island, serving several sugar and pineapple plantations, and the popular Haleʻiwa Hotel. They even included a “Kodak Camera Train” (associated with the Hula Show) for Sunday trips to Hale‘iwa for picture-taking.

When the hotel opened on August 5, 1899, guests were conveyed from the railway terminal over the Anahulu stream to fourteen luxurious suites, each had a bath with hot-and-cold running water.

Thrum’s ‘Hawaiian Annual’ (1900,) noted, “In providing so tempting an inn as an adjunct and special attraction for travel by the Oahu Railway – also of his (Dillingham’s) creation – the old maxim of ‘what is worth doing is worth doing well’ has been well observed, everything About the hotel is first class…”

The weekend getaway from Honolulu to the Haleʻiwa Hotel became hugely popular with the city affluent who enjoyed a retreat in ‘the country.’

In addition, OR&L (using another of its “land” components,) got into land development. It developed Hawai‘i’s first planned suburban development and held a contest, through the newspaper, to name this new city. The winner selected was “Pearl City” (the public also named the main street, Lehua.)

The railway owned 2,200-acres in fee simple in the peninsula. First they laid-out and constructed the improvements, then invited the public on a free ride to see the new residential community. The marketing went so well; ultimately, lots were auctioned off to the highest bidder.

“Mr. Dillingham, besides creating the O‘ahu Railway, a line for which he struggled twenty-seven years against a public prejudice that would not see its financial possibilities, established Olaʻa plantation on the Island of Hawai‘i and McBryde plantation on Kauai.”

“He retained active management of the Oahu Railway & Land Company until 1915, when he relinquished it to George P. Denison.” (Sugar, May 1918) Dillingham died April 7, 1918 (aged 73.) (Information in this post taken, in part, from ‘Next Stop Honolulu.’)

The Dillingham Transportation Building was built in 1929 for Walter F Dillingham of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, who founded the Hawaiian Dredging Company (later Dillingham Construction) and ran the Oahu Railway and Land Company founded by his father, Benjamin Franklin Dillingham.

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hollister Drug

For about a century following ‘contact’ with the Islands by Europeans, pharmacy did not exist separately from medicine. It was another function of the physician. The Hawaiians were first introduced to western medicine as it was practiced by ships captains and an occasional ship physician.

In 1820 missionaries reaching Hawaii brought with them the first resident medical practitioner. By the 1840s there were many doctors throughout the islands.

These early resident physicians did their own drug dispensing, depending for supplies of drugs and medicines on passing ships, mainland druggists or, if missionaries, on shipments by the Missionary Board from Boston. (LRB)

Sailing from Boston in October, 1838, Dr. Robert W Wood arrived in Honolulu on April 6, 1839, the first American Doctor not a missionary to settle in Hawai‘i. On his arrival he was appointed physician to the US Seaman’s Hospital; in 1847 Dr Wood opened the first public pharmacy. (Kelley)

The first drug store not owned by a doctor or a dentist appears to have been established in 1869. A few years later, Benson, Smith, and Company was founded and was probably the initial drug store in Hawaii owned and operated by a trained druggist. Within the next three years Hollister and Company were also listed as druggists. (LRB)

Henry Reed Hollister was born at Salisbury, Connecticut, September 13, 1824, and engaged in various business enterprises in New York State, in Illinois, in Mexico, and in California.

Hollister married Charlotte Pond at Winchester, Illinois on December 1, 1845. Charlotte died on February 18, 1848 and Hollister then left his infant daughter (Phoebe Adelaide Hollister, born November 27, 1847) with his mother at LeRoy, NY, and went to Texas.

About 1852, Hollister was in California, and soon after migrated to the Hawaiian Islands in 1856, where his father (Richard) had been residing a number of years. (Hollister Family)

Richard, the senior Hollister was admitted to the bar, but engaged in mercantile business at Waimea, on Kauai in 1853. Hearing that his son, Henry Reed, was in California, he joined him in Sacramento, remaining in California about a year and a-half, and then returned to the Hawaiian Islands, where he was appointed collector of the port on Kauai. The senior Hollister died April 19, 1878.)

In 1863, Henry R Hollister and Phillip G Hyland, founded the first soda water company, ‘Hollister & Hyland’ in Hawai‘i. (Cultural Surveys) Unfortunately, with the drowning death of Hyland in 1871, the partnership was dissolved and Hollister established ‘Hollister & Co.’ (It has been suggested that Hollister & Co was previously formed by Richard Hollister.)

In 1878 the drug department was established, and it grew steadily “into the large proportions of the present enterprise.” (Bulletin of Pharmacy, 1896)

On September 24, 1867 Howard A Parmelee married Phoebe Adelaide Hollister (one of two children of Hollister; Charles Henry Hollister died as an infant.) Parmelee came to the Islands in December 1878 and became a partner in the firm of Hollister & Co. with his father-in-law

Hollister died May 12, 1895 and Parmelee was the practical head of the firms of Hollister & Co, the Hollister Drug Company and the Honolulu Tobacco Company, in Honolulu. Parmelee, a friend of President Dole, took a hand in the annexation movement.

“The islands are prosperous under the new administration.” said Mr. Parmelee in a reported interview. “We had 100,000 inhabitants in 1896, and we are to have another census right away.”

“We are waiting to see what the next Congress gives us in the way of legislation. A number of amendments to the present tariff laws, with special reference to Hawaii, are needed.” (Merck’s Report, Oct 1899)

On April 30, 1900, HA Parmelee and PA Parmelee posted a dissolution of co-partnership concerning Hollister & Co, noting that “the business of said Hollister & Co and this dissolution have no connection with the Hollister Drug Co, Ltd, the said Hollister Drug Co, Ltd being an independent corporation.” Hawaiian Star, May 5, 1900)

“The Walrus Company, through their California distributors, the Langley & Michaels Co. of San Francisco, report the sale of a very elaborate Soda Fountain outfit to the Hollister Drug Co … This is but one of a number of outfits that the Walrus Company have marketed in Honolulu through their San Francisco distributors.” (Pacific Pharmacist, 1915)

The Hollister firm focused as wholesale and retail druggists, tobacconists and manufacturers of aerated waters, but later became a “vast mercantile establishment.” (Hollister Family)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Alii, the Missionaries and Hawaii

Click HERE for more on the Ali‘i and the missionaries.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

The Mission Prudential Committee in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said: “Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. …”

“Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.” (The Friend)

The Laws and Regulations of the ABCFM stated, “No missionary or assistant missionary shall engage in any business or transaction whatever for the sake of private gain …”

“… nor shall anyone engage in transactions or employments yielding pecuniary profit, without first obtaining the consent of his brethren in the mission; and the profits, in all cases, shall be placed at the disposal of the mission.”

After 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Over the years, the missionaries set up missions across the islands.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

Collaboration between native Hawaiians and the American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the introduction of Christianity; the creation of the Hawaiian written language and widespread literacy; the promulgation of the concept of constitutional government; making Western medicine available; and the evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing.)

Introduction of Christianity

Within five years of the initial arrival of the missionaries, a dozen chiefs had sought Christian baptism and church membership, including the king’s regent Kaʻahumanu. The Hawaiian people followed their native leaders, accepting the missionaries as their new priestly class. (Schulz)

Keōpūolani is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the Islands, receiving baptism from Rev. William Ellis in Lāhainā on September 16, 1823. Keōpūolani was spoken of “with admiration on account of her amiable temper and mild behavior”. (William Richards) She was ill and died shortly after her baptism.

On December 24, 1825, Kaʻahumanu, six other Chiefs and one makaʻāinana (commoner) were baptized and received Holy Communion at Kawaiahaʻo Church. This was the beginning of expanded admission into the Church.

Kamakau noted of her baptism, “Kaʻahumanu was the first fruit of the Kawaiahaʻo church … for she was the first to accept the word of God, and she was the one who led her chiefly relations as the first disciples of God’s church.”

Creation of the Hawaiian Written Language

When Captain Cook first made contact with the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language. Historical accounts were passed down orally, through oli (chants) and mele (songs.)

Then, on July 14, 1826, the missionaries established a 12-letter alphabet for the written Hawaiian language, using five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w) in their “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language.” The alphabet continues in use today.

Widespread Literacy

The missionaries established schools associated with their missions across the Islands. This marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of Chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

Interestingly, as the early missionaries learned the Hawaiian language, they then taught their lessons in the mission schools in Hawaiian, rather than English. In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians.

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built over 1,100-schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 53,000-students. (Laimana)

In 1839, King Kamehameha III called for the formation of the Chiefs’ Children’s School (Royal School.) The main goal of this school was to groom the next generation of the highest ranking Chiefs’ children and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom. The King asked missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and Juliette Montague Cooke to teach the 16-royal children and run the school.

In this school, the Hawai‘i sovereigns who reigned over the Hawaiian people from 1855 were educated, including: Alexander Liholiho (King Kamehameha IV;) Emma Naʻea Rooke (Queen Emma;) Lot Kapuāiwa (King Kamehameha V;) William Lunalilo (King Lunalilo;) Bernice Pauahi (Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of Kamehameha Schools;) David Kalākaua (King Kalākaua) and Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha (Queen Liliʻuokalani.)

The King also saw the importance of education for all; “Statute for the Regulation of Schools” was passed by the King and chiefs on October 15, 1840.

Its preamble stated, “The basis on which the Kingdom rests is wisdom and knowledge. Peace and prosperity cannot prevail in the land, unless the people are taught in letters and in that which constitutes prosperity. If the children are not taught, ignorance must be perpetual, and children of the chiefs cannot prosper, nor any other children”.

Constitutional Government

Kamehameha III asked Richards (who had previously been asked to serve as Queen Keōpūolani’s religious teacher) to become an advisor to the King as instructor in law, political economy and the administration of affairs generally.

Richards gave classes to King Kamehameha III and his Chiefs on the Western ideas of rule of law and economics. His decision to assist the King ultimately resulted in his resignation from the mission, when the ABCFM board refused to allow him to belong to the mission while assisting the King.

“The Hawaiian people believed in William Richards (Rikeke), the foreigner who taught the king to change the government of the Hawaiian people to a constitutional monarchy and end that of a supreme ruler, and his views were adopted.” (Kamakau)

Of his own free will, King Kamehameha III granted the Constitution of 1840, as a benefit to his country and people, that established his Government upon a declared plan. (Rex v. Booth – Hanifin)

That constitution introduced the innovation of representatives chosen by the people (rather than, as previously, solely selected by the Aliʻi.) This gave the common people a share in the government’s actual political power for the first time.

Western Medicine

Later (when Richards was sent on a diplomatic mission to the US and Europe to recognize the rights of a sovereign Hawaiʻi,) King Kamehameha III asked missionary Judd to resign from the mission and serve as his advisor and translator.

Judd, a doctor by training, had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician. While in that role, Judd set up part of the basement in the 1821 Mission House as a Western medicine pharmacy and doctor’s office, beginning in 1832.

Dr Judd did not dismiss Native Hawaiian medical practices. He thought Native Hawaiian practice should be improved. Over the years, Dr Judd modified his practice to include Native Hawaiian ingredients in his treatments.

Judd wrote the first medical book in the Hawaiian language and later formed the first medical school in the Islands. Ten students were accepted when it opened in 1870, all native Hawaiians (the school had a Hawaiians-only admissions policy.)

Distinctive Musical Tradition

Another lasting legacy left by the missionaries in the Islands related to music. Some songs were translations of Western songs into Hawaiian; some were original verse and melody.

Oli and mele were already a part of the Hawaiian tradition; it was delivered in an almost monotone way, without instrumentation, or with percussion (drums) or flutes.

“As the Hawaiian songs were unwritten, and adapted to chanting rather than metrical music, a line was measured by the breath; their hopuna, answering to our line, was as many words as could be easily cantilated at one breath.” (Bingham)

The missionaries introduced Western choral tradition, harmony, hymns, gospel music, and Western composition. In the early period, instrumentation included the “Church Bass,” a cello-like instrument and a flute. Later on, church organs, pianos, melodeons, and other instruments were introduced to Hawai`i.

One of the unique verses (sung to an old melody) was Hoʻonani Hole – Hoʻonani I Ka Makua Mau. Bingham wrote/translated it to Hawaiian and people sang it to a melody that dates back to the 1600s – today, it is known as the Hawaiian Doxology.

Another popular Hawaiian song was written by another missionary, Lorenzo Lyons. Lyons composed many poems and hymns; Lyons’ best known and beloved work is the hymn “Hawaiʻi Aloha,” sung to the tune of “I Left It All With Jesus.” The song was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Widely regarded as Hawaiʻi’s second anthem, this hymn is sung in both churches and public gatherings. It is performed at important government and social functions to bring people together in unity, and at the closing of Hawaiʻi Legislative sessions.” (Hawaiian Music Museum)

Today, the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Hawaiian Mission Houses) promotes an understanding of the social history of 19th-century Hawai‘i and the relationship between the Aliʻi and the missionaries, and their critical, collaborative role in the formation of modern Hawai‘i.

Over the years, the growing partnership and collaboration between native Hawaiians and the American Protestant missionaries resulted in the introduction of Christianity, a written Hawaiian language, literacy, constitutional government, Western medicine and an evolving music tradition.

Click HERE for more on the Ali‘i and the missionaries.

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