General | Page 169 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

Clouds of reef fish and corals, French frigate shoals, NWHI

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sharks-NOAA

Tern_Island

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Jean-Michel Cousteau – PTY

Papahanaumokuakea-Marine-National-Monument-Map

Papahanaumokuakea_World_Heritage_Site

Papahanaumokuakea-World_Heritage_Site

January 18, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu in 1846

“The so-called city of Honolulu of to-day is in every particular a very different place from the village of that name, when I arrived here on the 8th of March, 1846, after a voyage of 116 days around Cape Horn from Boston, in the clipper-schooner Kamehameha III., Captain Fisher A. Newell.”

“There were over one hundred whale ships in the harbor, closely packed, three and four side by side, coopering oil, discharging into homeward bound whalers or merchant vessels, and preparing for the summer’s cruise in the northern seas.”

“The whaling business was much more generally successful in those days than it ever has been since. Seventeen hundred barrels was an ordinary season’s catch, while frequently twenty-five hundred and as high as three thousand barrels was reported.”

“The port, as may be supposed, presented a busy scene. Each of these 100 and more ships had on an average thirty persons attached to it as seamen and officers, amounting in the aggregate to some 3,000 persons …”

“… about one half of whom were always on shore “on liberty,” and they gave the town quite a lively appearance. The grog-shops were particularly lively, and the police-court presented an animated spectacle every morning.”

“The streets of the town – or village, as the foreign residents appropriately termed it – were dusty or muddy thoroughfares, according to the weather, with no pretense to sidewalks. Indeed, there were no necessity for the latter, for there were no horse teams and hardly a carriage to be seen.”

“When ladies – and sometimes gentlemen – went out to an evening party or to church on Sunday, they were conveyed in a sort of handcart with four wheels, drawn by one kanaka and pushed from behind by another.”

“To a new-comer, the sight was grotesque and a forcible reminder of the partially civilized state of the country, to see a well-dressed white lady thus pulled and propelled along the street by two bareheaded and barefooted natives, whose only clothing consisted of a malo and a very short denim frock.”

“Goods were transported from the wharves to stores on heavy trucks, drawn by a dozen natives, sweating and tugging through the yielding soil and sand of the streets. Horses were plentiful and cheap, and most foreign residents kept one or more for riding.”

“Then most of the houses were of thatch, even down to the business part of the village, with here and there a stone, or more frequently an adobe structure, but generally with a thatched roof, for shingles brought around Cape Horn were costly, and Oregon lumber was as yet unknown.”

“It cannot be denied that the thatched house, when sufficiently high between joints, was a much more comfortable lodging in this climate than our modern clapboard and shingled houses.”

“The largest foreign-built structure at this date, – with the exception of the King’s palace – was the Bethel church, where the Rev. Dr. Damon officiated, having succeeded the Rev. Mr. Deill in 1843.”

“With the large number of seamen visiting the port at that time we may be assured that “Father Damon” – as he was generally but quite respectfully entitled – had no idle time on his hands, but was often to be seen visiting from ship to ship. The Sailor’s Home was not built until some years after this.”

“What is now Nu‘uanu Avenue, was then little else than a bridle-path through the taro patches up the valley and leading to the Pali.”

“There were no pretty cottages such as now line both sides of that fine thoroughfare, but only here and there a hut of thatch, squatting on the edge of a patch of taro or sweet potatoes.”

“Ornamental trees had not been introduced, and the only ones to be seen in the village and suburbs were an occasional kukui or the unsightly hau.”

“There were no water-works, the supplies for domestic use and for shipping being obtained from wells, of which there was one in almost every house-lot.”

“In some of these wells – particularly those near the harbor – the water rose and fell with the ocean tides. It was more or less brackish, and what housewives denominate as peculiarly ‘hard.’”

“Gentlemen’s linen was not so immaculately white in those days as now. There was no Fire Department, and fortunately no fires of any consequence, until when a Department was organized some years after.”

“Among the prominent natives of that time, I remember, beside the noble King Kamehameha III, and his Queen Kalama, A. Paki and Konia his wife, Keliiahonui, John Young, M. Kekuanaoa, Kanaina, Leleiohoku, Kapeau, Kaiminaauao, Kaliokalani, J. Piikoi, B. Namakaeha, Hooliliamanu, L. Haalelea, Kekauonohi, and many others, all now dead.”

“The Commerce of Honolulu, as gathered from official sources, was in those days rather insignificant when compared with the record of to-day.”

“The gross value of imports at the Custom House, for the year ending Dec. 31, 1846, was $598,382.24; the exports of domestic produce for the same period, (more than half of which represented supplies to whalers) amounted to $763,950.74. The custom receipts for that year were $36,506.64.”

“Sugar figures in the exports to the amount of 300,000 lbs., and molasses, 16,000 gallons. Among the imports the whalers brought goods free of duty to the value of $11,142.68, and the American Mission to the value of $5,896.15, also duty free.”

“Lahaina, which was a favorite port of call and roadstead anchorage for whalers, returned in 1846 for harbor dues, duties, etc., the sum of $4,874.62.”

“The American Missionaries, then and for many years subsequently under the direction and supported by the ABCFM. of Boston, held their general meeting in Honolulu in June, 1846.”

“As I had read a great deal in boyhood about the Sandwich Islands Mission, I naturally was curious to see these men who had devoted their lives to the work of Christianizing the heathen people.”

“And so I was gratified by a sight and in some instances with a personal acquaintance with those I herewith name, some of whom have gone to rest, while some yet remain”. (Sheldon, 1881)

Downtown and Vicinity-Street_Names-Map-1843

January 15, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kailua Wharf

Kailua Bay has been a focal point for the Kona districts since ancient times. It was a Royal Center where ali‘i lived; this was a favorite spot of King Kamehameha I who spent his last years at Kailua. He died here at his home, Kamakahonu, on May 8, 1819. Other Hawaiian royalty lived here at different times.

By the end of the century, large ranches had begun to form and ranching, along with coffee, came to dominate much of the economics and landscape of the Kona Coast for the next 50 years.

The first Kailua wharf, adjoining Kaiakeakua Landing on the west was probably constructed in the late-nineteenth century to accommodate whale boats and lighters (open barges) from interisland steamers.

Competitors Wilder Steamship Co (1872) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co (1883) ran different routes, rather than engage in head to head competition.

“The Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co, established in 1883, own(ed) and operate(d) a fleet of first-class vessels engaged exclusively in the transportation of passengers and freight between ports on the islands of the Hawaiian group.” (Annual Report of the Governor, 1939)

Inter-Island operated the Kauaʻi and Oʻahu ports plus some on Hawaiʻi. Wilder took Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Maui plus Hawaiʻi ports not served by Inter-Island. Both companies stopped at Lāhainā, Māʻalaea Bay and Makena on Maui’s leeward coast. (HawaiianStamps)

Mahukona, Kawaihae and Hilo were the Big Island’s major ports; Inter-Island served Kona ports; vessels left Honolulu stopping at Lāhainā and Māʻalaea Bay on Maui and then proceeding directly to Kailua-Kona.

From Kailua, the steamer went south stopping at the Kona ports of Nāpoʻopoʻo on Kealakekua Bay, Hoʻokena, Hoʻopuloa, rounding South Point, touching at the Kaʻū port of Honuʻapo and finally arriving at Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, the terminus of the route. (From Punaluʻu, five mile railroad took passengers to Pahala and then coaches hauled the visitors to the volcano from the Kaʻū side.)

In 1915, Kona freight shipments, consisting of coffee, sugar and general cargo, had increased to such an extent that it became necessary to enlarge the wharf area. This work was completed in 1916.

Another of the primary usages of the wharf was for the shipment of cattle. A unique facet of ranching in Hawai‘i was its close relationship to the local maritime industry of inter-island and inter-coastal shipping.

Before the days of refrigeration, cattle, for other than the local markets of each island, had to be shipped live to the island of Oahu where, because of the larger population and accelerated development, the demand for fresh beef was always greater.

The transporting of live cattle posed dramatic technical challenges that were complicated by the shallow bay bottom, precluding an inter-island schooner or steamer to dock for loading of cattle (or other freight).

Ranchers ran the cattle through Kailua town and the paniolo would drag cattle out from the beach to longboats that rowed out to the main steamer with cattle tied by the head to the gunwales. (Strazar)

The last shipment of cattle from Kailua occurred in the early 1950s. This marked the end of an area. This colorful but inefficient method of shipping cattle became obsolete when improvements were made to the Kawaihae Wharf located 30 miles to the north.

By 1944, the wharf was under the control of the Board of Harbor Commissioners and had an area of 11,608 square feet. In 1952 a contract was let to build a more modern facility of steel and concrete.

The Wharf had a berthing length of 157 feet and a water depth of three to five feet. The wharf area was 10,755 square feet and had a shed which covered an additional area of 9,508 square feet and a fuel storage facility.

“Plans are being prepared and bids will soon be called on the construction of a wharf to replace the old Kailua Wharf, Island of Hawaii.”

“This replacement will be so designed that barges and inter island vessels of draft of 16 to 18 feet can dock alongside of pier face. The cost of this project is being paid from current revenues.” (Board of Harbor Commissioners, 1952) The new wharf was completed in 1953.

However, with the completion of improvements to Kawaihae Harbor in 1959, the use of the Kailua-Kona Wharf became uneconomical and all cargo handling was moved to Kawaihae. The use of the Kailua Wharf became sport fishing oriented. As sport fishing and other visitor interests grew, it became apparent that the Wharf was too small to service all interested parties.

In the 1980s, damage to the Wharf’s steel bulkhead was discovered and repairs were made. In the early-1990s, underwater inspections revealed addition damage to the Wharf bulkhead. Repairs were made to the structure in 2004.

The present wharf, enlarged to 62,109 square feet in 1952, has mooring facilities, though limited, as well as a boat ramp.

Click HERE for an Expanded View of the ABCFM.

Kailua_Pier-Old Wharf

Kailua Landing-PP-29-10-007

Kailua landing with the S.S. Humuula off-shore-PP-29-9-018-1935

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Kailua Wharf-PP-29-9-004-1950

Cowboys at Kailua landing-PP-29-9-026

Kailua-Kona-pier in background

People gathered at Kailua landing-S00079

January 14, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions had its beginning in the revivals at the end of the eighteenth, and the beginning of the nineteenth century.

During the latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth century several missionary societies were formed in the United States.

Back then, Williamstown was a frontier village, similar in many respects to any western village of the last half century, composed of men with patriotic hopes and daring wills.”

Twelve years after the incorporation of Williams College in 1793, the Second Great Awakening spread from its origins in Connecticut to Williamstown, Massachusetts. Enlightenment ideals from France were gradually being countered by an increase in religious fervor, first in the town, and then in the College. (Williams College)

In the spring of 1806, Samuel J. Mills, the 23-year old son of a Connecticut clergyman, joined the Freshman class. Mills, after a period of religious questioning in his late teens, entered Williams with a passion to spread Christianity around the globe. (Williams College)

He found the town and college under the influence of a great revival. Though felt but slightly in the college in 1805, in the summer of 1806 it was profoundly stirring men’s souls. Prayer-meetings by groups of students were being maintained zealously.

On Wednesdays, the men met south of West College beneath the willow trees. On Saturdays, the meetings were held north of the college buildings, beneath the maple trees in Sloan’s meadow. (The Haystack Centennial)

On a Saturday afternoon in August, 1806, five Williams College students, Congregationalists in background, gathered in a field to discuss the spiritual needs of those living in Asian countries. The five who attended were Samuel J. Mills, James Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byram Green.

The meeting was interrupted by the approaching storm. It began to rain; the thunder rolled with deafening sound familiar to those who dwell among the hills; the sharp quick flashes of lightning seemed like snapping whips driving the men to shelter.

They crouched beside a large haystack which stood on the spot now marked by the Missionary Monument. Here, partially protected at least from the storm, they conversed on large themes.

The topic that engaged their interest was Asia. The work of the East India Company, with which they were all somewhat acquainted, naturally turned their thoughts to the people with which this company sought trade.

Mills especially waxed eloquent on the moral and religious needs of these people, and afire with a great enthusiasm he proposed that the gospel of light be sent to those dwelling in such benighted lands

All but Loomis responded to this inspiration of Mills. Loomis contended that the East must first be civilized before the work of the missionary could begin.

The others contended that God would cooperate with all who did their part, for He would that all men should be partakers of the salvation of Christ.

Finally at Mills’ word, ‘Come, let us make it a subject of prayer under the haystack, while the dark clouds are going and the clear sky is coming,’ they all knelt in prayer. (The Haystack Centennial)

‘The brevity of the shower, the strangeness of the place of refuge, and the peculiarity of their topic of prayer and conference all took hold of their imaginations and their memories.’ (Global Ministries)

The students were also influenced by a pamphlet titled ‘An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use means for the Conversion of the Heathen,’ written by British Baptist missionary William Carey.

After praying, these five young men sang a hymn together. It was then that Mills said loudly over the rain and the wind, ‘We can do this, if we will!’ (Williams College)

That moment changed those men forever. Many historians would tell you that all mission organizations in the US trace their history back to the Haystack Prayer Meeting in some way. Yes, these men turned the world upside down. And it all began in a prayer meeting under a haystack. (Southern Baptist Convention)

Though only two of the five Williams students at the Haystack Prayer meeting ever left the United States, the impact of their passion for missions is widespread.

Samuel Mills became the Haystack person with the greatest influence on the modern mission movement. He played a role in the founding of the American Bible Society and the United Foreign Missionary Society.

In 1808, Mills and other Williams students formed ‘The Brethren,’ a society organized to ‘effect, in the persons of its members, a mission to the heathen.’

Upon the enrollment of Mills and Richards at Andover Seminary in 1810, Adoniram Judson from Brown, Samuel Newall from Harvard, and Samuel Nott from Union College joined the Brethren.

Led by the enthusiasm of Judson, the young seminarians convinced the General Association of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts to form The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. (Williams College)

In June 1810, Mills and James Richards petitioned the General Association of the Congregational Church to establish the foreign missions. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formed with a Board of members from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

“The general purpose of these devoted young men was fixed. Sometimes they talked of ‘cutting a path through the moral wilderness of the West to the Pacific.’ Sometimes they thought of South America; then of Africa. Their object was the salvation of the heathen; but no specific shape was given to their plans, till the formation of the American Board of Foreign Missions.” (Worcester)

“The Board has established missions, in the order of time in which they are now named at Bombay, and Ceylon; among the Cherokees, Choctaws, and the Cherokees of the Arkansaw …” (Missionary Herald)

At this same time, in the Islands, a Hawaiian, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, made a life-changing decision – not only which affected his life, but had a profound effect on the future of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

‘Ōpūkaha’ia swam out to and boarded Brintnall’s ‘Triumph’ in Kealakekua Bay. After travelling to the American North West, then to China, they landed in New York in 1809. They continued to New Haven, Connecticut. ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn – seeking to be a student at Yale.

The Mills family invited ʻŌpūkahaʻia into their home. Later Mills brought ʻŌpūkahaʻia to Andover Theological Seminary, the center of foreign mission training in New England.

In October, 1816, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) decided to establish the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, for the instruction of youth like ʻŌpūkahaʻia.

By 1817, a dozen students, six of them Hawaiians, were training at the Foreign Mission School to become missionaries to teach the Christian faith to people around the world. Initially lacking a principal, Dwight filled that role from May 1817 – May 1818.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was being groomed to be a key figure in a mission to Hawai‘i, to be joined by Samuel Mills Jr. Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died at Cornwall on February 17, 1818, and several months later Mills died at sea off West Africa after surveying lands that became Liberia.

Edwin W Dwight is remembered for putting together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation), as a fundraiser for the Foreign Mission School. It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death, becoming a best-seller of its day.

Ōpūkaha’ia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

The coming of Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia and other young Hawaiians to the US, who awakened a deep Christian sympathy in the churches, moved the ABCFM to establish a mission at the Islands.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of ABCFM missionaries set sail from Boston on the Thaddeus to establish the Sandwich Islands Mission (now known as Hawai‘i). Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

Click HERE for an Expanded View of the ABCFM.

Williams_College_-_Haystack_Monument

Haystack Prayer Meeting

Henry_Opukahaia_ca.-1810s

Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree

Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School

Cornwall-home_of_the_Foreign_Mission_School-by_Barber-(WC)-1835

Hiram_and_Sybil_Moseley_Bingham,_1819-head of Pioneer Company

Asa Thurston and Lucy Goodale Thurston

Thomas and Lucia Holman

Samuel and Nancy Ruggles

Samuel and Mercy Whitney-1819

departure_of_the_second_company_from_the_american_board_of_commissioners_for_foreign_missions_to_hawaii

January 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Money to Burn

“After the Pearl Harbor bombing, people in Hawai’i hoarded money against an emergency such as a possible invasion. Fearing that the Japanese might capture Hawai‘i and find all this money, the U.S. government on Jan. 2, 1942, made it illegal for individuals to own more than $200 in cash. Businesses could own $500.”

“Everybody was supposed to turn in their cash and securities. Patriotically, they did so – $200 million worth.” (Krauss)

“From the time of the Blitz, everyone realized the possibility of the return of the (Japanese) and naturally gave consideration to the safety of their money.”

“Those who had bank deposits began to worry about the security of their deposits and as a result many withdrew their savings and secreted them in various places considered safe.”

“This worried the banks, but a more serious problem was occasioned by the cashing of drafts by Navy ships for paying the crews in cash and for other purposes and depositing drafts to cover the withdrawals.”

“The money received by the ships, which was used to pay the sailors, was all too quickly spent in Hawaii, but the receivers of that money carefully withdrew a considerable portion of it from circulation and secreted in places best known to themselves. The result was that the banks were gradually running out of cash.”

“During the first week in January 1942 a group of bankers called on me to assist them in getting the Army and Navy to fly in money from the Mainland for them. They had plenty of credit, but their actual cash had shrunk to an alarming state.”

“I had a great deal of sympathy for the bankers, but their plan had two very serious objections.”

“First, neither the Military Governor nor anyone else in the military service had a right to place the Government in the position of insuring private money.”

“Second, the admirals and the generals were using every available airplane for military purposes and both were pleading for more.”

“Both of these reasons forbade the use of military aircraft for the purpose, but it was clear that some remedial action had to be taken and promptly, since the situation was worsening rapidly.”

“The bankers informed me that there was plenty of cash in the Territory but that it was not in their banks. I agreed to think the matter over and late that night I came up with a plan which was a little frightening to me but it would work.”

“When I informed the bankers of it the next day it not only frightened them but astonished them as well.”

“The Military Governor would issue an order prohibiting the withdrawal of more than $200 per month from a bank and forbidding the possession of more than $200 in cash.”

“Exceptions to the order included the Federal Government, the Territorial Government, banks, trust companies, finance companies, building and loan associations, etc.”

“There was also a catch-all provision which permitted anyone to be exempted from the provisions of the order upon a showing of the necessity therefor.”

“The bankers agreed that it might solve their problem, and I became more convinced than ever that some means must be found for substituting some form of legal tender for our present paper money.”

“The so-called ‘money order’ was issued as General Orders #51 and dated January 9, 1942. The effective date of the order was January 12th, three days after the issuance of it.”

“The new bills were similar to the ordinary bank note except that the seals and the numbers were printed in brown ink instead of green and the bills bore the word ‘Hawaii’ overprinted in black on both sides. It was explained to me that the printing of red money would require prohibitive changes in normal Treasury practice and processes.”

“As the old bills came into banks they were exchanged for new bills and then bundled up and destroyed”. (Maj Gen Thomas H Green)

“At first, the money was incinerated at the O‘ahu Cemetery crematorium, in Nu‘uanu Valley. However, it was soon discovered that the facility couldn’t handle the large quantity of bills, it was decided to burn the bills in the ‘Aiea Sugar mill.” (Numismatist)

“All of this was done with the full cooperation of Governor Poindexter and was under careful scrutiny by a committee composed of a local banker, a Treasury representative, and a junior Army officer.”

“Applications for the last-named post were numerous and it was not until I learned of the practice of lighting cigarettes from bills of large denominations that I understood the desirability of such duty.”

“This ritual was enjoyed, especially by young officers who had little prospect of handling, much less burning, bills of large denominations.”

“The objective of the plan was now complete. It placed the Treasury in the position of being able to declare our overprinted Hawaiian money not legal tender in the event that the (Japanese) were able to take the Hawaiian Islands.”

“The plan worked so well in Hawaii that the use of scrip was adopted all-over the world wherever our troops served. While the need for ‘Emmons Money’ ceased with the termination of hostilities with Japan, the money is still in use and I have personally received some of the bills in change in various parts of the United States. (Maj Gen Thomas H Green)

“By October of 1944, the U.S. no longer felt the threat from Japan, and they took the emergency bills out of circulation, allowing normal currency to re-enter Hawaii. The treasury took some of the overprint bills out of circulation and pushed some of them to other islands in the Pacific.” (Numismatist)