Prominent People | Page 125 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 25, 2017 by Peter T Young 6 Comments

It’s Not About Race

“When you talk about minorities in Hawaiʻi, you’re talking about everyone. Unlike in most states, no racial or ethnic group constitutes a majority in the Aloha State.” (Time)

In the dawn hours of January 18, 1778, on his third expedition, British explorer Captain James Cook on the HMS Resolution and Captain Charles Clerke of the HMS Discovery first sighted what Cook named the Sandwich Islands (that were later named the Hawaiian Islands.) Hawaiian lives changed with sudden and lasting impact, when western contact changed the course of history for Hawai‘i.

At the time of Cook’s arrival, 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, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

In 1782, Kamehameha started his conquest to rule the Islands. After conquering the Island of Hawaiʻi, 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.)

Providing the Means, as well as Ways to this End, many foreigners (mostly white men) supported Kamehameha, including John Young, Isaac Davis, Don Francisco de Paula Marin, George Beckley and Alexander Adams (and others.)

In April of 1819, Spaniard Don Francisco de Paula Marin was summoned to the Big Island of Hawai‘i to assist Kamehameha, who had become ill. Although he had no formal medical training, Marin had some basic medical knowledge, but was not able to improve the condition of Kamehameha. On May 8, 1819, King Kamehameha I died.

Following the death of Kamehameha I, leadership was passed to his son, Liholiho, who would rule as Kamehameha II. Kaʻahumanu (Kamehameha I’s favorite wife) recruited Liholiho’s mother, Keōpūolani, to join her in convincing Liholiho to break the kapu system which had been the rigid code of Hawaiians for centuries.

“An extraordinary event marked the period of Liholiho’s rule, in the breaking down of the ancient tabus, the doing away with the power of the kahunas to declare tabus and to offer sacrifices, and the abolition of the tabu which forbade eating with women (ʻAi Noa, or free eating.)” (Kamakau)

Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition. These included priests, some courtiers, and the traditional territorial chiefs of the middle rank. Kekuaokalani demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edict on abolition of the kapu system. (Daws)

Kamehameha II refused. After attempts to settle peacefully, “Friendly means have failed; it is for you to act now,” and Keōpūolani then ordered Kalanimōku to prepare for war on Kekuaokalani. Arms and ammunition were given out that evening to everyone who was trained in warfare, and feather capes and helmets distributed. (Kamakau)

In December 1819, just seven months after the death of Kamehameha I, the two powerful cousins engaged at the final Hawaiian battle of Kuamoʻo, on the jagged lava fields south of Keauhou Bay. Liholiho had more men, more weapons and more wealth to ensure his victory. He sent his prime minister, Kalanimōku, to defeat his stubborn cousin.

Kaʻahumanu would rule as an equal with Liholiho and created the office of Kuhina Nui (similar to premier, prime minister or regent.) Kaʻahumanu was, at one time, arguably, the most powerful figure in the Hawaiian Islands, and helped usher in a new era for the Hawaiian kingdom.

She ruled first with Kamehameha II until his departure for England in 1823 (where he died in 1824) and then as regent for Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III). Kaʻahumanu assumed control of the business of government, including authority over land matters. Kaʻahumanu was such a powerful person and Kuhina Nui that subsequent female Kuhina Nui adopted her name, (Kaʻahumanu II, III & IV.)

Some have suggested it was the missionaries that ended the kapu that disrupted the social/political system in the Islands; that is not true – the missionaries had not even arrived in the Islands, yet. The kapu was abolished by Hawaiians and it affected only Hawaiians.

On April 4, 1820, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries arrived from the northeast US at Kailua-Kona (after the death of Kamehameha I and the abolition of the kapu by Liholiho, Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani.) There were seven American Caucasian couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.

Soon after the first anniversary of their landing at Honolulu on April 19, 1821, Kaʻahumanu, Kalanimōku and Kalākua visited the mission and gave them supplies. This visit became important because during it Kaʻahumanu made her first request for prayer and showed her first interest in the teachings of the missionaries. From that point on, Kaʻahumanu comes into more constant contact with the mission.

On February 11, 1824, Kaʻahumanu made one of her first public speeches on religious questions, giving “plain, serious, close and faithful advice.”

At a meeting of the chiefs and school teachers, Kaʻahumanu and Kalanimōku declared their determination to “adhere to the instructions of the missionaries, to attend to learning, observe the Sabbath, Worship God, and obey his law, and have all their people instructed.” The Hawaiian people followed their native leaders, accepting the missionaries as their new priestly class. (Schulz)

Ka‘ahumanu had requested baptism for Keōpūolani and Keʻeaumoku when they were dying, but she waited until April, 1824, before requesting the same for herself. “She was admitted to the church in 1825, and was baptized by the name of Elizabeth.” (Lucy Thurston)

“Her influence and authority had long been paramount and undisputed with the natives, and was now discreetly used for the benefit of the nation.”

“She visited the whole length and breadth of the Islands, to recommend to her people, attention to schools, and to the doctrines and duties of the word of God, and exerted all her influence to suppress vice, and restrain the evils which threatened the ruin of her nation.” (Lucy Thurston)

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawai¬ʻi 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. Missionaries taught, but also taught the Hawaiians to be teachers.

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built 1,103 schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 52,882 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 white missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and Juliette Montague Cooke to teach the 16-royal children and run the school. The Hawai‘i sovereigns who reigned over the Hawaiian people from 1855 were educated in this school.

This included, 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.)

Interestingly, these same early missionaries taught their lessons 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.

Kamehameha III asked missionary William 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.

Betsey Stockton served with Richards at Lāhainā; she was an African American missionary who was part of the American mission, and the only single woman missionary to the Islands.

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, 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. Hawaiʻi was not a race-based constitutional monarchy – Hawaiian citizens were from varying ethnicities.

Today, there remain ongoing claims and discussions about restoring the Hawaiian Government that was deposed on January 17, 1893 and replaced by the Provisional Government of Hawaiʻi, later the Republic of Hawaiʻi, then annexation and statehood.

Some suggest that “American white supremacist racists” overthrew the constitutional monarchy and initiated a calculated campaign of social, cultural and spiritual genocide.

On January 16, 1893, the Committee of Safety wrote a letter to John L Stevens, American Minister, that stated: “We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Honolulu, respectfully represent that, in view of recent public events in this Kingdom, culminating in the revolutionary acts of Queen Liliʻuokalani on Saturday last, the public safety is menaced and lives and property are in peril, and we appeal to you and the United States forces at your command for assistance.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 17, 1893)

The Committee of Safety, formally the Citizen’s Committee of Public Safety, was a 13-member group also known as the Annexation Club; they started in 1887 as the Hawaiian League.

The Committee of Safety was made up of 6-Hawaiian citizens (3-by birth and 3 naturalized (1-former American, 1-former German & 1-former Tasmanian;)) 5-Americans, 1-Scotsman and 1-German.

Most were not American, and, BTW, none were missionaries and only 3 had missionary family ties – the Missionary Period ended in 1863, a generation before the overthrow. I am not sure where the evidence is that they were racist, or what the details were for the ‘calculated campaign.’

Some suggest the make-up of the 1901 Legislature (the first Legislature in the Territory of Hawai‘i) as an example of racial tensions and concern for lack of racial representation of the people.

In 1900, the Kanaka Maoli (aboriginal Hawaiians) had formed their own political party, called the Home Rule Party, through merging two organizations, Hui Aloha ‘Āina and Hui Kālai‘āina, who had worked together to support Queen Lili‘uokalani and oppose annexation. (Silva)

That year, the Home Rulers elected Robert Wilcox as Hawaiʻi’s first delegate to the US Congress. (However, on July 10, 1902, Prince Kūhiō split from the Home Rule Party, joined the Republican Party and won the Congressional seat in the election on November 4, 1902.)

Some suggest the early Legislative elections and party affiliations were based on race (Home Rule for Hawaiians and Republicans for whites.) However, it’s interesting to note that in 1901, 1903 and 1905 there was successive decline in representation by Home Rule candidates in the Legislature, although there continued to be a total of around 30-Hawaiians (out of 45) in the Legislature.

The next election (1907,) there was only 1-Home Rule party member serving in the Senate, and none in the House; however, a total of 32-Hawaiians were in the Legislature; there were more Hawaiians in the Legislature then, than that first 1901 session. With Republicans dominating both chambers, it is clear that most of the Hawaiians were Republicans. (While the Home Rule Party was race-based, the Republican Party was not.)

It is evident that native Hawaiians did not need the ‘Home Rule’ race-based political party to get representation in the local or national legislatures. After a decade of election losses, the Home Rule Party was disbanded after the elections of 1912.

However, Hawaiian representation in the Legislature continued to be just under 30 – out of a total of 45 (15-Senators and 30-Representatives.) (Report of Secretary of the Interior)

Since ‘contact,’ Hawaiians (especially Hawaiian Aliʻi and Chiefs) had partnered and collaborated with the white foreigners. Kamehameha was successful because of his collaboration with the white foreigners.

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.

Today, “White residents make up just a quarter of the population — the lowest proportion in the country (which is 66% white overall, according to US Census figures.) Nearly 40% of Hawaiians are classified as Asian, with an additional 9% native Hawaiian. … Hawaii (is) a place where ‘racial and ethnic lines are often blurred or deemed irrelevant.’” (Time)

Our forefathers of different races got along fine; I am not sure what the benefit (or goal) is with repeated slurs and racial rants, today. The Hawaiian nation was overthrown … not the Hawaiian race (it was a constitutional monarchy, not race-limited.)

By international practice and laws, as well as the specific laws and practice of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Hawaiian citizenship in the constitutional monarchy included people of other races (not just native Hawaiians.) Their descendants carry the same right to citizenship as the native Hawaiians.

Yet, to date, apparently, the only people permitted to exercise their rights related to discussions on restoration, reparation, sovereignty, independence, etc related to the Hawaiian nation have been those of one race, the native Hawaiians.

All Hawaiian citizens lost their nation in 1893 … Hawaiian citizens with their varying ethnicities, not just those who descend from those who lived in the Islands prior to 1778.

Why aren’t all Hawaiian citizens included in the recognition and sovereignty discussions and decisions today? And, why don’t people stop the racial focus, name-calling and racial rants (and other inappropriate distractions), and start working together?

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July 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kawaiahaʻo Steeple

“On this spot … Ka‘ahumanu started her prayer meeting for women. Here the elder Hiram Bingham preached the first sermon ever delivered in this city from the text, “Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people’ …”

“… and here, in 1838, Mr. Bingham with the chiefs and the people of the land broke ground for the foundations of the church.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

The Reverend Hiram Bingham prepared plans for a stone building of two stories with cellar, galleries, pillars in front, and a bell tower. The final dimensions were 144 feet long by 78 feet wide, large enough to accommodate thousands.

“March 12th, 1839. Work on meeting house commenced. June 5th. Cornerstone of church laid.” (Judd Journal; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“They went down six or seven feet and laid their foundations upon the coral rock. From this time on the place of building was the theater of constant activity.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“The cornerstone of the church was laid in the presence of a vast concourse of people. In a hole under the stone now deposited is a brass plate with some writing upon it. Dr. Judd’s book on anatomy, Brother Andrew’s on surveying, geometry navigation, etc., and an entire Bible. Also a map of the islands and one of Honolulu.” (Cooke Diary, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“The high chief Abner Paki furnished the corner stone which was laid in 1839. It was hewn out of the reef at Waianae and floated to Honolulu on a raft, some say on canoes.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“We then assembled in the meeting house (the grass one) and Brother Bingham preached from Hagai 1:11: ‘Go ye up to the mountains and bring timber, etc., etc.’ After the sermon Auhea (w.) said a few words, then Kekuanaoa and also the King Kamehameha III.” (Cooke Diary, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“July 8th, 1840. Having received the promise of a ‘mano’ (a mano is 10 x 40 equal to 400) or two of mamaki and 200 cattle from the King, I started on the 8th for Waialua to hire 100,000 shingles made.” (Judd Journal; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1894)

“The ground was covered with great piles of stone. Lime kilns were burning day after day. Nearly seventy thousand cubic feet of stone were used in the building.”

“It was not an uncommon thing to see from five hundred to a thousand men at work. The stone for this vast edifice was hewn out of the reef between Honolulu and Waikiki. It was then drawn on trucks and sleds to its proper place. Men, horses and oxen were used in hauling the material.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“Most of the timber used in the roof and for the floor beams was cut in the mountains at Helemano, back of Waialua. It was dragged to the sea at Honouliuli and thence floated to Honolulu. Much of the lumber came from California and the northwest coast; boards, nails, sashes and glass from Boston.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 12, 1894)

“The whole basement story is excavated down to the coral rock, and the foundation walls are laid on that rock. The basement walls are 44 inches thick and about 12 feet high. … Above the basement, the walls were carried up 36 inches thick to the sills of the gallery windows, and thence 27 inches to the plates.”

“Rev. R. Armstrong succeeded (Hiram Bingham) as Pastor of the church, and under him it was completed and dedicated July 21, 1842 (before the steeple and gallery had been completed.)” The Friend, November 1885)

Rev. Mr. Bingham, designer of the church, returned to the US in 1840, while the building was yet incomplete. He had left for the continent on August 3, 1840, due to his wife, Sybil’s illness, hoping to recover and return; he never came back to see the finished church. (The Friend, November 1885)

In 1850 the town’s first clock, presented by the King, was installed in the Kawaiaha‘o tower, having come around the Horn from Boston. It cost $1,000.00 and commenced running January 10, 1851. The tower chock has continued in operation to this date, with only an occasional interruption.

The structure of 1842 resembled his original drawings except for the bell tower, which was topped by ‘an absurd wooden spire,’ blunt and without much visual attraction, looking for all the world like a lamp extinguisher. (HABS & NPS)

Kawaiaha‘o Church ordered an organ in 1867 to replace the melodion then in use. To prepare for its installation, the pulpit was moved forward some twenty or thirty feet to nearly the center of the auditorium, and a new choir loft built behind the pulpit. Music was under the leadership of Mrs Lydia Dominis (later Queen Lili‘uokalani) and Mrs Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Pauahi died on October 16, 1884. Her will (Clause 13) states her desire that her trustees “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”. Kamehameha Schools was later formed.

But Pauahi’s will also provided funds to Kawaiaha‘o Church. “Eleventh. I give and bequeath the sum of Five thousand Dollars ($5000.) to be expended by my executors in repairs upon Kawaiaha‘o Church building in Honolulu, or in improvements upon the same.” (Bernice Pauahi Bishop Will)

The Bishop funds were used at Kawaiaha‘o to build up the tower with coral stone to give it the square tower (at its present height) and remove the pointed spire.

“The builders of the new section of the stone church tower have nearly completed its first square, and evidently in a substantial manner.” (Daily Honolulu Press, October 20, 1885) The November 11, 1885 issue or the Daily Honolulu Press noted, “The steeple of the Kawaiaha‘o church is finished.”

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July 20, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Bishop Bank – Waimea

Charles Reed Bishop was born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York; his father was a toll collector who worked on a toll booth in the middle of the Hudson River. Glens Falls was later known as “Hometown USA,” a title given to it by Look Magazine in 1944.

Shortly after his brother was born (1824,) his mother became ill and died a few weeks later. Her older sister, Lucy, takes the two-year old to Fort Ann, New York to live with her awhile.

He then went to live with his paternal grandfather, Jesse. He didn’t have much schooling, attending Glens Falls Academy for 7th and 8th grades, his only years of formal schooling.

After leaving school, he was a clerk for Nelson J Warren, the largest business in Warrensburgh, New York. He learns bartering, bookkeeping, taking inventory, maintenance and janitorial duties.

At about the age of 20 (in 1842,) the younger worked as a bookkeeper and head clerk for Charles Dewey in the Old Stone Store in Sandy Hill.

He then sailed (February 23, 1846) for the continent’s west coast aboard the ‘Henry,’ however the ship needed extensive repairs and landed at Honolulu Harbor on October 12, 1846.

He became ‘Hawaiʻi’s First Banker’ and formed Bishop & Co Bank in 1858. The Bishop Bank Building at 63 Merchant Street was the earliest of the Italianate (or Renaissance Revival) structures on the street, built in 1878 and designed by Thomas J. Baker (one of the architects of ʻIolani Palace.)

In 1895, Samuel M Damon bought Bishop & Co. from founder Charles Bishop. After the turn of the century the bank started opening neighbor island branches, including the Waimea branch on Kauai in 1911.

The Waimea branch at one time served the entire island of Kauai. As the economy of the island developed, however, additional branches on that and other islands were opened. The Bank incorporated as Bank of Bishop & Co. Ltd in 1919.

(After some mergers, in 1956 it was renamed Bishop National Bank of Hawai‘i; in 1960, First National Bank of Hawai‘i; then, in 1969, First Hawaiian Bank.) (FHB)

“One of the oldest and most reliable banking institutions in the Territory is Bishop’s Bank. With head offices in Honolulu, it has branch banks in Waimea, Kauai, and Hilo, Hawaii, both of which are conducted in the same prompt and highly satisfactory manner.”

“The bank issues Commercial and travelers’ Letters of credit, available to all parts of the world. All business entrusted to this institution or to either of its branch houses, receives prompt attention.” (The Garden Island, April 29, 1913)

On December 29, 1929, construction was completed on the Bishop National Bank of Hawaii’s Waimea Branch. It replaced an earlier structure on the same site which had been built in 1911.

Its eclectic style and solid, imposing appearance is typical of post-World War I banking architecture. It is designed to give an aura of permanence and stability a visual assurance to Waimea’s inhabitants that the bank was ‘here to stay.’ (NPS)

Like many buildings in Waimea, the first floor was constructed three feet off the ground to protect against flooding. This presented an opportunity for the architect to create an important entry porch.

Stairs lead up to the main entry, which is flanked on each side by two classic columns of simple Ionic order supporting an entablature above which a dental cornice with crown mould surrounds the building, topped by a partially balustraded parapet.

Although a small structure, it contributes a sense of permanence and solidity. The exterior has retained most of its original appearance; however, extensive remodeling to the bank interior has altered the appearance from the typical 1920s era banking structure.

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July 19, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Gilbert Conwall Wiltse

“In view of the existing critical circumstances in Honolulu, including an inadequate legal force, I request you to land marines and sailors from the ship under your command for the protection of the United States legation and United States consulate, and to secure the safety of American life and property.” (Stevens to Wiltse, January 16, 1893)

“You will take command of the battalion, and land in Honolulu for the purpose of protecting our legation and the lives and property of American citizens, and to assist in the preservation of public order.”

“Great prudence must be exercised by both officers and men, and no action taken that is not fully warranted by the condition of affairs and by the conduct of those who may be inimical to the treaty right of American citizens. You will inform me at the earliest practicable moment of any change in the situation.” (Wiltse to Lt-Commander Swinburne, January 16, 1893)

“Promptly the men from the Boston were landed. Detachments were placed around the legation and the consulate, the principal members having marched to a central hall for shelter and headquarters …”

“… the night being at hand, the public anxiety being especially strong as to what might be done by irresponsible persons in the night, the landing of the men of the Boston so promptly gave immediate relief to the public anxiety.”

“The committee of public safety forthwith took possession of the Government buildings, archives, and treasury, and installed the Provisional Government at the heads of the respective departments. This being an accomplished fact, I promptly recognized the Provisional Government as the de facto Government of the Hawaiian Islands.”

“The English minister, the Portuguese charge d’affaires, the French and the Japanese commissioners promptly did the same; these, with myself, being the only members of the diplomatic corps residing here.”

“It is proper that I should add, that the presence of the Boston here has been of the highest importance, and the behavior of officers and men has been admirable.”

“Capt. Wiltse has exercised prudence and great firmness, while he and the undersigned have recognized only accomplished facts and have not allowed the use of the United States force for any but the most conservative reasons, I am, sir, John L. Stevens.” (Blount Report)

Let’s look back …

Gilbert Conwall Wiltse was appointed to the Naval Academy from New York, and graduated on September 20, 1855. He became a midshipman on June 9, 1859, and was ordered to the frigate, Congress, the flagship of Admiral JS Sands, cruising on the Brazilian Station from 1859 to 1861. He was made Lieutenant on Aug. 31, 1861.

The Congress was recalled from the station upon the breaking out of the civil war, and Wiltse was detached from that vessel and ordered to the St. Lawrence of the home squadron, in which ship he was present at the engagement of the Confederate ram, Merimac, with the Congress and the Cumberland, in Hampton Roads, on March 8 and 9, 1862.

He was also in the engagement with the Sewel Point batteries in May, 1862. He served on the steam sloop, Dacotah, of the West India squadron in 1862-63, and in the Atlantic blockading squadron in 1863-64.

He had a taste of hot work in the engagement of monitors with Forts Sumter and Moultrie in Nov. 1863. He was commissioned Lieutenant Commander on March 3rd, 1865. He served with distinction all through the civil war.

He served successfully on the steamer Agawam, Atlantic squadron, 1866-67; apprentice ship. Saline, 1867-68; navy yard, New York, 1868-69; on monitor, Saugus, North Atlantic fleet, 1869-70; navy yard, Pensacola, 1870-72.

On November, 8, 1873, he was made commander and put in charge of the Sawmut, North Atlantic squadron, 1875-76. He was on shore duty at the New York Navy yard, 1878-81, and assigned to the command of the Swatara, North Atlantic squadron, 1884-85.

When in command of the Swartara, he was the conveyor of several millions of dollars in silver coin from New Orleans to New York, and it was when in command of that vessel in the harbor of Aspinwall that he protected the three political refugees.

He was promoted to Captain on Jan. 20, 1887, and placed in command of the receiving ship, Franklin; and then the U. S. steamship, Minnesota. He was assigned to the command of the Boston in 1891. The Boston was under his command with the Baltimore and the Yorktown, in the harbor of’ Valparaiso, when the men of the Baltimore were attacked in the streets of that city.

His last service with the Boston. Captain Wiltse of the US Navy was in command of the USS Boston when the Hawaiian revolution occurred; and, at the request of United States Minister Stevens, landed a detachment of marines.

Following that, Captain Wiltse returned to New York City and died at his home, No. 42 East Fifty-third St., New York City, on April 26, 1893. “He was taken ill on Thursday night of last week with congestion of the brain. His condition was not considered serious until Monday night when he became unconscious. He remained so until his death. He was 54 years old.” (Wiltse)

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July 15, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

He wanted to be Lindbergh of the Pacific

Just days after Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic triumph, the Honolulu Star Bulletin announced a new challenge. Hawaii’s “Pineapple King” James Dole was offering cash prizes to the first and second person or crew to fly nonstop from North America to Honolulu.

But before the race even got off the ground, the Army’s Lieutenant Lester J Maitland (pilot) and Lieutenant Albert F Hegenberger (navigator) became the first to reach Hawaii by air flying the ‘Bird of Paradise.’ (So with that glory claimed, the Dole Derby, as it became known, evolved into a one-time race for cash.) (Smithsonian)

Ernest L Smith dreamt of becoming the ‘Lindbergh of the Pacific.’ But after the Army’s Maitland and Hegenberger reached Hawai‘i before him, he settled on becoming the first civilian to do so. Emory Bronte was his navigator.

Smith, born in Reno, Nevada, had moved with his family to San Francisco in time to experience the great earthquake of 1906. Later the Smiths moved to Oakland, where ‘Ernie’ graduated from high school and spent two years at the University of California at Berkeley.

He then went on to dental training, which was interrupted by the US entry into World War I. After serving briefly in the medical corps, Smith transferred to the new US Army Air Service and learned to fly at Rockwell Field in San Diego.

He spent the rest of the war as an instructor at March Field in Riverside, then joined the Army’s aviation reserve while flying for the Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest. In 1926 he worked for Pacific Air Transport as a pilot.

Bronte, a native of New York, had gone to sea at age 15 before entering the Navy in World War I. After the war he joined Isthmian Steamship Company, working his way up from third mate to master.

In 1923 he relocated to San Francisco to work for McCormick Steamship Company, after which he became the Pacific Coast representative of the Inland Waterways Corporation.

Along the way he had authored a book on navigation, but government service had also whetted his interest in the law, a field he planned to study after the 1927 flight was over. He had taken flying lessons and had soloed in a Curtiss JN-4 ‘Jenny’ but had no actual pilot’s license.

“The crowd of 10,000 that had assembled at Bay Farm Island across the bay from San Francisco watched intently on July 14, 1927, as (Smith and Bronte’s) Travel Air 5000 high-winged monoplane dubbed City of Oakland warmed up on the runway at Oakland Airport, preparing for a transpacific flight attempt.” (Grover)

“Smith and navigator Emory Bronte took off from Oakland, California, in a single-engine Travelair on July 14, 1927. Aside from radio earphone problems, their 25-hour trip went well ….” (Smithsonian)

At 3:45 pm they transmitted an “all’s-well” message. The SS Maunaloa received a message from the City Of Oakland at about 6:00 pm, by which time the flyers were about 500 miles out and doing well.

At 3:00 am one of Bronte’s transmissions was picked up by the SS Wilhelmina and the Army transport Kenowis. The signals were quite weak. However, the SS Waniwa later heard from Bronte’s transmitter with a stronger signal.

Now quite close to the Hawaiian Islands and a place to land, the flyers’ spirits soared only to be momentarily dampened by the sounds of their only engine sputtering and coughing.

They were running out of fuel …

Smith switched to another tank and hand-pumped fuel to it. Within seconds, the engine roared back to life. Smith checked his supply and calculated that only about one hour’s fuel remained … but, they had four hours of flying time to the Islands.

Bronte sent SOS messages to all listeners, marking the plane’s latitude and longitude where they expected to ditch.

Methodical Bronte made a close check of the navigational problem about 500 miles from Hawai‘i and learned that Maui, much closer than their O‘ahu destination, could be reached if their fuel wasn’t depleted beforehand.

Smith took measures to conserve what fuel remained by retarding his throttle, showing down to 100 miles per hour. On they flew, straining for a sight of land.

Reaching Molokai’s southern coast, the engine continued to turn. Smith flew on, parallel to the east coast, then they could see the southwestern side of the island to be heavily wooded and uneven.

Smith headed for the softest looking clump of trees he could find, as the engine quit running entirely. (Horvat; Hawaii Aviation)

“Kiawenui, a desolate, rocky stretch along the southeast coast of Molokai, aptly taking its name from the deep covering of kiawe trees that bristles on beach and hills, has been added to Hawaii’s famous spots—and the kiawe tree has become a famous species in the minds of Ernest Smith, pilot, and Emory Bronte Jr., navigation.”

“It was on this lonely stretch, about two miles east of Kamalo landing that Smith, running out of gasoline, in a last desperate effort to bring his silver monoplane City of Oakland to Oahu from the Pacific coast, was forced to land.”

“And it was the thick, thorn-encrusted limbs of a kiawe that extended Hawaii’s initial welcome to the daring birdmen.”

“Cheering thousands watched the Travelair monoplane take off from the Oakland airport at 10:40 a.m. Pacific time, Thursday. Startled mynah birds and a terrified flock of quail constituted the reception committee for Hawaii 24 hours later.” (Buckley, Star Bulletin, July 16, 1927; Hawaii Aviation)

Pilot and navigator were shaken but unhurt except for scratches from the tree thorns. It was 8:47 am, Hawaiian Standard Time, July 15, 1927.

There was no prize money to be collected, the plane was unusable. But the pair was later honored, along with Lindbergh, Maitland and Hegenberger and other famous flyers, by the President of the United States for their feat and contribution to the development of aviation. The airplane was returned to the US and repaired.

Smith became an executive of Trans World Airways. Bronte was given a Navy reserve lieutenant’s commission. Ten years later, he returned with Mrs. Bronte to the Islands aboard Pan America‘s China Clipper.

During World War II, Bronte went through the Navy’s flight training program as a commander. The pioneer flyer went on to command three naval air stations and an island in the Admiralty group off New Guinea. (Horvat; Hawaii Aviation)

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