Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Henry Martyn Whitney

Henry Martyn Whitney was the son of the Rev. Samuel and Mercy Whitney, a teacher and mechanic of New Haven, Connecticut, who was a member of the Pioneer Company of missionaries that arrived in Honolulu on the brig Thaddeus in 1820. (His sister, Maria Pogue, was the first white girl born in the Hawaiian Islands.

Whitney was born at Waimea, Kauai, on June 5, 1824; as a very young boy, he left Hawaii to get his education on the continent, staying with relatives in New England. At an early age, he learned the printing trade and practiced his trade on the continent.

Then the opportunity arrived to return to the Islands; Whitney married Catherine Olivia March (1821–1896) in June 1849, and travelled via Panama to San Francisco. He met Dr Garret Parmele Judd who was then travelling abroad with the two young princes who later became the King Kamehameha IV & V.

Judd wanted a practical man to take charge of the Polynesian, the government’s paper; several editors had left the paper to join the Gold Rush in California – Whitney joined the Polynesian.

Hawaiʻi opened a post office in Honolulu and Whitney was appointed Postmaster of Honolulu (December 22, 1850;) the location of the new post office was at the office of The Polynesian.

When Whitney was postmaster, he conceived and produced Hawaiʻi’s first stamps, issued in 1851 (the stamps are now called “Hawaiian Missionaries,’ all printed locally by letterpress at the Government Printing Office.

Whitney later left the Polynesian and started his own newspaper, the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (forerunner of Honolulu Advertiser – first issue July 2, 1856.)

“The whalemen desired an American paper and the white residents wanted one which was not run ‘by authority.’ Whitney gave such a paper to them calling it the Pacific Commercial Advertiser.” (The Independent, August 18, 1904)

“Early in the fifties the writer of this article was strongly urged to publish an independent paper, free from government control. This finally resulted in the establishment of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser; named after the well known New York Advertiser, with which the writer had been connected.” (Whitney, Hawaiian Gazette, August 19, 1904)

“He got from New York a Washington hand press … which had a capacity of only 600 papers an hour and this had to be propelled by hand power. The first number of the paper was a little four page five column sheet. It was weekly.” (The Independent, August 18, 1904)

In its first two and a half months, on its last page, The Pacific Commercial Advertiser ran a Hawaiian-language section, “Ka Hoku Loa o Hawaii” (The Morning Star of Hawaiʻi.) Whitney was fluent in Hawaiian and wrote most of the Hawaiian-language page’s content under his Hawaiianized name, ‘Heneri M Wini.’

In an earlier issue, Whitney wrote in Hawaiian, ‘Aloha, o you close friends living in the towns, the country, the valleys and beaches from Hawaii to Kauai. Great aloha to you. Behold today there is opening the dawn of the Morning Star of Hawaii, to be a torch illuminating your home …’

Whitney did say that the Hawaiian-language page might not survive long. After it ran for 2 ½- months, on September 25, 1856, Whitney announced that he would discontinue the Hawaiian-language page because the newspaper needed space for foreigners when whaling ships arrive in Hawaii. After 5-years, Whitney would publish an entire Hawaiian-language newspaper, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. (Digital Newspaper Project)

“In 1850 the Polynesian – a weekly owned by the government – was the principal paper here, though there several other small weekly and monthly papers issued, the only one among them that has survived to this date being The Friend, which is really the oldest publication here.”

“The paper had not been established two months before the young publisher had fought and won out of court his first libel suit, in which RG Wylie, Minister of the Interior, was the complainant.” (The Independent, August 18, 1904)

During the Civil War in the US, the cost of cotton rose to “an almost fabulous price.” Whitney received a “quantity of Sea Island cotton seed and distributed the seed widely, at the same time agreeing to purchase all of the seed cotton produced at a good price. For a time the industry flourished.”

“Whitney had set up a number of foot-power gins for removing the seed preparatory to shipping the lint to Boston. The quality of the fiber was considered very fine, and realized upwards of $1.00 in currency per pound. … The customs records show that the largest shipments of cotton made in a single year amounted to a little over 22,000 pounds; this was in 1866.”

“With the decline in prices, the production fell off gradually, until in 1874, the last shipment, amounting to about 2000 pounds, was made.” (Hawaiian Almanac)

Whitney sold the Advertiser in 1870 to Black & Auld, but took charge of it in 1878 and did finally give up his connection with it until 1896. He also (1885) took the editorship of the Planters’ Monthly.

Whitney was also editor and publisher of the Hawaiian Gazette (1873-1878.) In the mid-1870s, the paper turned decidedly anti-monarchy when the views of King Kalākaua and those of the local oligarchy–a powerful contingent of pro-American, pro-annexation sugar interests–began to diverge. (Chronicling America)

Besides the Postmaster General position (1850-1856,) Whitney served in the House of Representatives (1855) and the Privy Council (1873-1891.) Whitney died August 17, 1904 in Honolulu.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … John Kendrick – American Patriot Who Died in Honolulu

Sea Captain John Kendrick was born in 1740 in Cape Cod; he followed his father and went to sea by the time he was fourteen.

Kendrick fought in the French & Indian War in 1762. Like most Cape Codders of the time, he served for only eight months and did not re-enlist.

Family tradition holds that on the rainy night of December 16, 1773, John Kendrick had taken part in the Boston Tea Party band that boarded two East India Company ships at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

Kendrick later fought in the American Revolutionary War and commanded three different ships, the Fanny, Count D’Estaing and Marianne.

After the victorious Revolution, an economic depression had settled across the new nation.

The US needed to turn to trade to raise the necessary funding and shipping was a critical component of early commerce.

Kendrick and Robert Gray were selected to lead an expedition to establish new trade with China, settle an outpost on territory claimed by the Spanish and find the legendary Northwest Passage.

In September 1787, Kendrick in the Columbia and Gray in the Lady Washington, along with fifty other men – sailors and tradesmen alike – set sail from Boston.

They became the first citizens of the new nation to sail into the Pacific and lay eyes on the lush and resource-rich Northwest Coast of North America.

The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska.  The furs were to be mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods that were sold in the US.

Trading ships crossing the Pacific needed to replenish food supplies and water; traders realized they could get these in Hawai‘i.

Within ten years after Captain Cook’s 1778 contact with Hawai‘i, the islands became a favorite port of call in the trade with China.

Kendrick provisioned in Hawai‘i a number of times and is also credited for initiating the sandalwood (‘iliahi) trade there (Hawai‘i’s first commercial export).

Sandalwood became a source of wealth in the islands, trade in Hawaiian sandalwood began as early as the 1790s; by 1805 it had become an important export item.

Unfortunately, the harvesting of the trees was not sustainably managed (they cut whatever they could, they didn’t replant) and over-harvesting of ‘iliahi took place. By 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed.

On December 3, 1794, Kendrick returned to Fair Haven (Honolulu Harbor) Hawaiʻi aboard the Lady Washington; a war was waging between Kalanikupule and his half-brother Kaʻeokulani (Kaʻeo.)

Also in Honolulu were British Captain William Brown (the first credited with entering Honolulu Harbor) in general command of the Jackall and the Prince Lee Boo, Captain Gordon.

Kalanikupule sought and obtained assistance from Captain Brown. Brown furnished guns and ammunition, and, as Kaeo continued to advance, the mate of the Jackall, George Lamport, and eight sailors from the English ships volunteered to fight for the Oahu king.”

“In the final battle, between Kalauao and Aiea, the Englishmen were stationed in boats along the shore inside the eastern arm of what is now called Pearl Harbor. Kalanikupule gained a decisive victory and Kaeo was killed.” (Kuykendall)

On December 12, 1794, to celebrate the victory, Kendrick’s brig fired a thirteen-gun salute.  (The tradition of rendering a salute by cannon originated in the 14th century as firearms and cannons came into use. Since these early devices contained only one projectile, discharging them rendered them harmless.)

Brown answered with a round of fire. Unfortunately, one of the saluting guns on Brown’s ship was loaded with shot, killing Kendrick.

“Kendrick was buried at the place where Captain Derby was interred in 1802 and Isaac Davis in 1810.” “[T]he chiefs designated a place for the burial of a foreigner in 1794 [so] it is likely that other foreigners who died in Honolulu would be interred in the same locations.” (Restarick)

On December 12, 2022, the Hawai‘i State Organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution installed a memorial plaque in honor of Captain John Kendrick.  It was placed at a spot that would have been about the shoreline when Kendrick was killed.

Click the links below for general summaries that helps explain it – the file ending with ‘SAR–RT’ is a formatting used by the Sons of the American Revolution for presentations by its members under its Revolutionary Times program:

Click to access John-Kendrick-American-Revolutionary-War-Patriot.pdf

Click to access John-Kendrick-–-American-Patriot-Who-Died-in-Honolulu-SAR-RT.pdf

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by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Until Death Should Us Part

Within the seconds, the minutes, and the hours,
Within your loneliness and sorrow,
Within the flowers, the leaves and everything,
Within you and without, I am with you.

He stood before the officer of the government and said, “I first ask whether my wife will be allowed to go with me, the one I swore before Almighty God to care for, to become one blood with me, from whom only death could part me?”

Denied, he replied, “the cord of my love for her is to be cut, and I am commanded to break my sacred promise before God and live alone in a strange land”.

“The consecrated law of marriage has come to us, and we swore by the holy book to live together in the time of food and of famine, in sickness and in health … until death should part us, and now, the power of the government wants to break the law of man and of God and make the oath before Almighty God as nothing.” (Koʻolau)

He was born in 1862; his name, Kaluaikoʻolau, may be translated as ‘the grave at Koʻolau,’ a commemorative name and, as fate would have it, prophetic. (Frazier) He was a cowboy from Kekaha, Kauai.

He was reared with care and vigilance, and his growth was unrestricted. And when he reached the age he was entered by his parents, in 1868, in the school of Father George Rowell at Waimea, Kauai.

In a very little while at the school he displayed understanding and enthusiasm for his lessons, and his energy and alertness was unfailing. He also was willing and active in the tasks given him by the parents, showing his love and attention to their voices.

In these days of his growth there was planted in his heart the reverence for the word of God, and the beauty of the sacred lessons was wound in his conscience. Therefore, with the growth of Koʻolau’s body, these spiritual qualities grew also.

Thus he sought the learning of the school until he was grown and he was physically ready for work, between sixteen and seventeen years of age, and he spoke to his parents of setting aside school and going to work, and his request was granted by his parents with serenity.

He became the foreman of the cowboys, under Mr. Francis Gay (Palani Ke.) He was also placed in this position over the length and the breadth of Mr. Valdemar Knudsen’s (Kanuka) lands at Kekaha. He divided his duties as Head of the Cowboys between his two employers.

In 1881, at the age of 19, he married Piʻilani (age 17.) A year later, they had a son, Kaleimanu.

In 1889, Koʻolau noticed a little rash on his cheeks – he thought it was because of his work out in the sun. It would later disappear and reappear.

“In a couple of years the disease developed quite noticeably, and in 1891 and 1892 when the gathering of the lepers started, he was in a bad state, and Mr Stolz, the deputy sheriff, told him to go to Doctor Campbell and be examined.” (The Garden Island, December 19, 1916)

Koʻolau and his young son Kaleimanu contracted leprosy; the Hawaiian government’s way of coping with the problem was to attempt to strictly segregate leprosy patients from the rest of the world at Kalawao (Kalaupapa,) on the Island of Molokai.

In the early years of the settlement, those who contracted leprosy were allowed to be accompanied by helpers, or kokua, usually a family member, but this practice caused problems. In 1893, Koʻolau, agreed at first to go to Molokai if Piʻilani, his wife, could accompany him.

The authorities denied this. Koʻolau refused to be parted from his wife. Vowing he would never be taken alive, the husband with wife and young son took refuge in the isolated Kalalau Valley, descending into it by an ancient and most difficult trail.

Government forces pursued them. Koʻolau shot a policeman who had been pursuing them (Louis Stolz (known familiarly by the name of Lui), the Deputy High Sheriff of Waimea.)

“On June 30th the districts of Waimea and Hanalei, which included the village of Kalalau, were placed under martial law and an armed force of police and military, under the command of Deputy Marshal Larsen, was sent to Kalalau to effect the capture of the desperado.”

“It was the intention to secure the murderer alive, if possible, and establish the majesty of the law without further bloodshed. … but Koʻolau sent defiance and a statement that he would never be taken alive.” (Polynesian, July 13, 1893)

The Provisional Government determined to send an army of 35-men, under Capt W Larsen to Kalalau to carry out the orders of the Government; ultimately, 15-soldiers landed and set up ‘Camp Dole.’ All lepers were directed to be taken prisoner within 24-hours. If the lepers failed to obey after the time given them they were to be taken dead or alive. (Frazier)

Hidden in the valley, “We listened quietly to the noise and understood that the soldiers were climbing up to our place where we sat. It was not far, but we could not be seen or see because of the vegetation. Then we were again startled by the firing of guns and the bullets began to strike … but no one harmed us.” (Piʻilani)

Koʻolau shot back, killing three soldiers, P Johnson, JMB McCabe and Hirschberg (Hursberg.)

The firing continued without rest for four full days.

On Friday morning, July 13, the steamship Iwalani arrived from the battle site at Kalalau. The leper Koolau and his wife and son had not been found. Perhaps another search will be made for his hiding place, or perhaps he fell from the cliff. His hiding place had been blanketed by gunfire. There was no sign of refuge, only a very small flat place at the edge of the cliff, protected in front by steep drops and ʻōhia trees. (Frazier)

They fled. “After this we began to wander, never staying anywhere more than one, two, or three days in one place, when we would leave and move on. … During this time of living in loneliness and inaction, for a long time afterwards, my husband would not allow us to show ourselves.”

“It was three years and five or more months of wandering life in the wild valleys and rows of steep cliffs, in the midst of an awesome loneliness. We set aside love of parents and family, cast away our fears and sighs, and I sacrificed my life for my husband and child, so beloved to me.” (Piʻilani)

“During this time of living as a threesome, we were well and we had sufficient to eat and drink.” Then, tragedy struck; “our beloved child began to show the spread of the disease upon his body, and he became very weak in his limbs.”

“(O)ne day, he gestured to me and when I went to his side, he put his arms around my neck and rubbed his cheek against mine, and I saw that his lashes were wet with tears, and he whispered; ‘Where is Papa? I am going to sleep.’”

“We attempted to speak with him, calling him, but his ears were done hearing, his eyes gently closed, his last breath flew away, and he was asleep in the Lord, his Saviour in the beyond.” (Piʻilani)

Then it was Koʻolau’s time. “My cheeks were often wet with tears, seeing the body and the features of my husband quietly ebbing away, without being able to help and save him although I tried, with every means available to me.”

“When the sun began to spread its warming rays over the land that morning, and the palis and ridges of that beloved valley were spread out, Koʻolau slept quietly in death.” (Piʻilani)

“I wandered alone in the cloaking darkness, with the rustling murmurs of the little stones of the stream and the sweet murmuring land shells of the ti-plants, and when the dawn came and the clouds of night crept softly behind the high peaks and the light of the sun flashed forth, I had arrived at a place close to the kamaʻāinas’ homes.” She hid for nearly a month before revealing herself.

In 1906 in Honolulu, Kahikina Kelekona (John GM Sheldon) published a book in the Hawaiian language (later translated by Frances N Frazier) to be preserved in ink and disseminated to the many people of the true story of Kaluaikoʻolau, the one boasted of as “The Fierce Brave One of the Kalalau Cliffs who Glides along the Peak of Kamaile whence the Fire was Flung.” It was the basis of this summary.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Royal Twins

At the time of ‘contact’ (Captain Cook’s arrival (1778,)) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, and the queen of Kauaʻi was disposed to assist him in these enterprises. The occupation of the Hana district of Maui by the kings of Hawaiʻi had been the cause of many stubborn conflicts between the chivalry of the two islands …”

“… and when Captain Cook first landed on Hawaiʻi he found the king of that island absent on another warlike expedition to Maui, intent upon avenging his defeat of two years before, when his famous brigade of eight hundred nobles was hewn in pieces.” (Kalākaua)

Then, in 1782, Kamehameha started his conquest to rule the Islands. After a struggle of more than ten years, in 1791, Kamehameha succeeded in securing the supreme authority over the island of Hawaiʻi.

After conquering that Island, he moved on to defeat the armies in Maui Nui and concluded his wars on Oʻahu at the Battle of Nuʻuanu in 1795. After failed attempts at conquering Kauaʻi, he negotiated peace with Kaumualiʻi and the Island chain was under his control (1810.)

In getting there, he appointed Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa (the four Kona Uncles) to be his secret advisors (hoa kuka malu) and counselors (hoaʻahaʻolelo) in ruling the island. They alone were consulted about what would be for the good or the ill of the country. (Kamakau)

Two of the four (Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa) were twins, often referred to as the Royal Twins; they are depicted on the Hawaiian Coat of Arms. The men are “clad in the ancient feather cloak and helmet of the Islands, the one bearing a kahili (Kame‘eiamoku on the right) and the other a spear (Kamanawa on the left) as in the processions of former times.”

Their father was Chief Keawepoepoe and mother was Kanoena (Keawepoepoe’s sister.) Because their parents were high ranking siblings, Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa were known as nīʻaupiʻo, the offspring of a royal brother and sister.

In 1790, American fur trader Simon Metcalf of the ship Eleanora flogged Kameʻeiamoku when he boarded his ship. Metcalf later sailed to Maui and, in retaliation to Hawaiians stealing a skiff, he fired his cannons on the villagers of Olowalu.

Kameʻeiamoku vowed to attack the next American ship to appear; it ended up being the Fair American, captained by Thomas Metcalf, the son of Simon. The lone survivor was Isaac Davis. Later, the Eleanora returned to the Island of Hawaiʻi and John Young went ashore and was abandoned by Simon Metcalf.

Young and Davis would both become military advisors and translators for Kamehameha and fought alongside Kamehameha and his Kona Uncles.

As a reward for Kameʻeiamoku’s service to Kamehameha, certain lands were given to him, including the property that now makes up Punahou School. At Kameʻeiamoku’s death in 1802, the land transferred to his son Ulumāheihei (Hoapili,) who resided there from 1804 to 1811. Hoapili passed the property to his daughter Kuini Liliha. (Ultimately, the gift to Punahou was considered to be a gift from Kaʻahumanu, Kuhina Nui or Queen Regent at that time.)

Kameʻeiamoku’s grandson shared the same name as Kameʻeiamoku’s twin, Kamanawa. The grandson Kamanawa and Kamokuiki were parents of Caesar Kapaʻakea. In 1835, Caesar married the High Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole; they had several children.

Most notable were a son, who on February 13, 1874 became King Kalākaua, and a daughter, who on January 29, 1891 became Queen Liliʻuokalani.

Grandson Kamanawa had one other notable claim; he was the first to be charged and hanged under Hawaiʻi’s first modern criminal laws for poisoning his wife in 1840.

Kameʻeiamoku’s twin brother Kamanawa also served Kamehameha well. Late in 1790, Kamehameha sent an emissary to the famous kahuna (priest, soothsayer,) Kapoukahi, to determine how Kamehameha could conquer all of the island of Hawaiʻi.

Kapoukahi prophesized that war would end if Kamehameha constructed a heiau dedicated to the war god Kū at Puʻukoholā. (This was at about the same time that George Washington was serving as the US’s first president (1790.))

With Puʻukohola completed in 1791, but, pending its formal consecration, Kamanawa (and others) were dispatched to Kaʻū under a flag of truce, to invite rival Keōua to visit Kamehameha, with the view of arranging terms of peace. (Kalākaua)

Kamehameha gave the order: “Go to Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and tell him that great is my desire to make friends (ike.) You are the best one to bear the message, for you are related to his mother, and he will heed your words sooner than anything I could say to him.” (Pratt)

By the time Keōua’s canoes arrived at Kawaihae, it was clear that Keōua expected Kamehameha’s warriors would try to kill him and all his supporters travelling with him in his canoe (“the wind clouds are gathering in the heavens for a storm.”)

Just as Keōua was stepping from the canoe onto the beach at Kawaihae, Keʻeaumoku and other chiefs of Kamehameha’s forces attacked and killed Keōua.

With Keōua dead, and his supporters captured or slain, Kamehameha became King of Hawaiʻi Island, an event that according to prophecy eventually led to the conquest and consolidation of the islands under the rule of Kamehameha I.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

250 Years Ago … Hawai‘i at the Time of the American Revolution

On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.  The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen American colonies.

“The shot heard round the world” was fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. Following this, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, and it was signed by 56-members of the Congress (1776.)

The next eight years (1775-1783,) war was waging on the eastern side of the continent.  The main result was an American victory and European recognition of the independence of the United States (the war ended in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.)

In Hawai‘i, over the centuries, the islands weren’t unified under single rule. Leadership sometimes covered portions of an island sometimes covered a whole island or groups of islands.  Island rulers ascended to power through family successions or warfare.

At the time of the start of the American Revolution, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of Hāna in east Maui; (2) Maui (except Hāna) Molokai, Lanai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

In 1775, war between Hawaiʻi and Maui Chiefs broke out at Kaupō on the island of Maui; it was the first battle that the rising warrior Kamehameha took part in.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s army was routed and retreated, and barely a remnant escaped and returned to Hāna. (Although often defeated, Kalaniʻōpuʻu managed to hold the famous fort in Hāna for more than twenty years.)

Kalaniʻōpuʻu returned to Hawaiʻi, met with Captain Cook on January 26, 1779, and exchanged gifts.

Following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death in April 1782, his kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō’s cousin) was given guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war.

In the Islands, about the time of the Treaty of Paris, war broke out between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and chiefs under Kamehameha. Kīwalaʻō was killed.

War in the Islands continued into the 1790s. After solidifying his rule of the Island of Hawai‘i, Kamehameha invaded/conquered Maui, Molokai & O‘ahu.

Then, Kamehameha looked to conquer the last kingdom, Kauai (under the control of Kaumualiʻi). 

In 1804 (the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition of lands in the Louisiana Purchase), King Kamehameha moved his capital from Lāhainā, Maui to Honolulu on O‘ahu, and planned an attack on Kauai.

Weather and sickness thwarted the invasions.  However, in 1810 (just before war broke out on the continent again (War of 1812)), Kaumuali‘i peacefully joined the rest of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kamehameha.

Click the following link to a general summary about Hawai‘i at the Time of the American Revolution:

Click to access Hawaii-at-the-Time-of-the-American-Revolution-SAR-RT.pdf

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