Prominent People | Page 146 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 14, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Charlie Chaplin

“You wish to write my impressions of Hilo. Very good. Here it is. I saw the volcano.” (Charlie Chaplin, Los Angeles; Volcano House Register, NPS)

“There are many charms in Hilo other than the Volcano. A maidenly diffidence forbids me suggesting the possessor of them.” (Edna Purviance, Los Angeles; Volcano House Register, NOS)

“Charlie in his honest-to-goodness self and personality today walked up the main street of Honolulu. So thousands of movie fans who have laughed themselves hoarse the antics and swagger of the jovial Charlie on the screen will have an opportunity for the next few week of occasionally bumping into that worthy the streets.”

“Charlie arrived on the Matsonia. In the Chaplin party also were Miss Eda Purviance, another well known screen star; Tom Harrington and Bob Wagner of the Saturday Evening Post staff.”

“Wagner is accompanying Charlie on his trip just for the sake of being with him and to record the personal side of the vacation.
Charlie is here primarily for rest and to see the sights of the islands.”

“His trip, at least at present, has nothing to do with the possibility of staging comic scenario the islands, though Charlie is not averse to picking up few hints that may serve him well in his business of making humanity laugh away dull care.”

“Charlie and his party were the life of the boat coming over and made things gay for the passengers, aided and abetted by R. J. Buchly of the First National bank, who as terpischore expert taught Charlie and Miss Purviance a few steps. The dancing lessons were the occasion for more merriment aboard the Matsonia.”

“Charlie visited the Young hotel this morning and called on Mr Van Loan, the movie photographer. This gave rise to the rumor that Chaplin was down here in Honolulu to take some films.”

“‘No sire!’ he replied emphatically. ‘You don’t catch me doing any work while I’m down here. I’m on vacation, and I’m going to rest.’”

“Charlie was asked what he thought of Honolulu. ‘Great,’ he exclaimed, enthusiastically: ‘I love every minute of it. I wish I could stay here longer. I’m tickled to death with the place. I was going to New York instead but, say, this has got anything I’ve seen beaten by a mile.’”

“Although the film star is minus his dinky moustache and cane, derby hat and huge shoes, he is still the same old Charlie, and could hardly get by in a crowd without being discovered. He is going to get out on a surfboard and be a regular kamaaina, he says.” (Star Bulletin, October 10, 1917)

“Charley Chaplin managed to see a good deal of Hawaii in the short week he stayed in the Islands, one reason being that while here he outfitted himself with new glasses. Pleased with his new outlook on things Hawaiian, Chaplin had his co-star Miss Purviance, also fitted with new glasses.”

“As a final result, Dr. RA Thompson has added a much prized letter of appreciation from Chaplin to the collection of other testimonials to his optician skill, letters written by former President Roosevelt, Former President Tuft, William Jennings Bryan, Elbert Hubbard, Billy Sunday and other celebrities.”

“The autographed letter from Charley Chaplin is a highly complimentary one and highly prized by its recipient. Doctor Thompson has definitely decided to make his home in Honolulu, opening an office here for the practice of his profession.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1917)

“The famous Charlie Chaplin arrived in Honolulu October 10, and while he intended to come for a rest between custard pie throwing contests, he was kept extremely busy sightseeing.”

“Photographers camped on his trail and snapped him riding the surfboards on the beach at Waikiki, eating two-fingered poi, dancing with the hula girls and even flirting with Pele, the Goddess of Fire, on the edge of the volcano at Kilauea.”

“Charlie likes Hawaii’s style and he fain would stay a while, loafing on the sun-kissed sand, eating poi with either hand; listening to the ukulele played by Waikiki Bill Bailey; eating dog in guise of pig; practicing the hula jig.”

“But he’s got to get back home and with us may no more roam – back to make a nation smile in rare Charlie Chaplin’s way.” (Logan Republican, November 15, 1917)

Charlie & Edna Purviance in Hawaii, 1917. Charlie met Edna in a cafe in San Francisco in 1914. He said later that she was ‘more than pretty, she was beautiful’. She went on to appear in 34 films with Chaplin from 1915-1923. She is my favorite of his leading ladies.

They had a certain sweetness onscreen that Charlie didn’t have with any of his other leading ladies-in my opinion anyway. Charlie & Edna cared deeply about each other long after their romantic relationship ended and Charlie kept Edna on his payroll until her death in 1958.

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Charlie Chaplin en route to Hawaii 1917

Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance and Robert Wagner-1917

Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin and Robert Wagner-1917

Charlie & Edna in Hawaii, 1917

Charlie & Edna

Charlie Chaplin, Robert Wagner and Edna Purviance-Volcano-1917

TheImmigrant-1917

October 11, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

William Ansel Kinney

William Ansel Kinney was born October 16, 1860 in Honolulu. His parents were born in Canada, lived a while in Calais, Maine, then moved to Hawai‘i.

William first attended the Royal School at Honolulu, afterwards at O‘ahu College (Punahou – (1874–1877.)) During his boyhood, when out of school, he has been a clerk in a law office. He graduated from Michigan University Law School in 1883. (Michigan University)

He returned to the Islands; his first law partner was Arthur P Peterson. Then, in 1887 he became partners with William Owen Smith and Lorrin A. Thurston. (Kuykendall) From 1887-1888, he was a member of the House of Representatives, representing Hawai‘i Island.

Kinney was part of the team that drafted the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i (‘Bayonet Constitution.’) Other reforms to the government included replacement of the Kings cabinet. (Forbes)

He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, about 1890 and practiced law there. “After several visits to the states about 1891 (his mother) came to live for a time at Salt Lake with her second son William A Kinney, then and for several years after a well-known attorney of this city. (Salt Lake Herald, April 9, 1897)

Following the overthrow of the Hawai‘i constitutional monarchy, “William A. Kinney, now a lawyer in Salt Lake City, but a former resident of the Sandwich Islands and one of the leading participants in the revolution of 1887…”

“… met the members of the committee (seeking Hawai‘i annexation to the US) at Ogden for the purpose of renewing old acquaintance, and was induced to accompany the body to Washington in an unofficial capacity as legal adviser.” (NY Times, February 4, 1893)

Kinney moved back to the Islands in 1893 and on August 16, 1893 he married Alice Vaughan McBryde in Honolulu. McBryde was the daughter of Judge Duncan McBryde, who laid the foundation for what later was to become McBryde Sugar Company. Not a planter himself (but encouraged by Kinney and Dillingham,) McBryde hired a few men to obtain seed, plow the land and haul cane.

The original plantation lands extended from Kōloa to the Hanapepe River giving the newly formed McBryde Sugar Company access to a port. At first, the ʻEleʻele sugar mill was used to grind the cane, but within a couple of year, the Directors knew that another mill would have to be built.

As fortune would have it, McBryde bought the large Cuban type mill originally destined for Molokai’s American Sugar Company, whose plans for a plantation had to be abandoned. (HSPA)

Following Queen Lili‘uokalani’s arrest in 1895, “Mr William A. Kinney … Without military experience, he was commissioned a captain, and afterward charged with the duty of Judge Advocate in attacking me, and those of my people who sought liberty from the foreign oppressor.” (Lili‘uokalani)

While critical of Kinney related to the trials in 1895, in 1909, Lili‘uokalani retained Kinney and others in her claim to Crown Lands.

“Mr Kinney was judge advocate for the United States in the trial of Queen Lili‘uokalani and as he says ‘I tried her, prosecuted her, and convicted her, and I am now her attorney. Of course there was never anything personal in the matter.’” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 26, 1910)

Queen Lili‘uokalani made a claim to Crown Lands as her personal property. Noting, “Her cause of action is predicated upon an alleged ‘vested equitable life interest’ to certain lands described in the petition, known as ‘crown lands,’ of which interest she was divested by the defendants.”

However, the US Court of Claims noted, “It may not be unworthy of remark that it is very unusual, even in cases of conquest, for the conqueror to do more than to displace the sovereign and assume dominion over the country.”

The Court concluded, “The crown lands were the resourceful methods of income to sustain, in part at least, the dignity of the office to which they were inseparably attached. When the office ceased to exist they became as other lands of the Sovereignty and passed to the defendants as part and parcel of the public domain.”

The Court further noted, “The constitution of the Republic of Hawai‘i, as respects the crown lands, provided as follows: ‘That portion of the public domain heretofore known as crown land is hereby declared to have been heretofore, and now to be, the property of the Hawaiian Government …” (Lili‘uokalani v The United States, 1910)

Later, Kinney joined forces with Prince Kūhiō in fighting Governor Frear (and the Big 5’s hold on the Islands,) noting, “Simply that the plantations, finding Gov. Frear under fire on their account, have been trying to fix things up …”

“… for they do not propose to lose control of the governorship and the local Territorial government; and when they do, however justly, a determined cry will be raised by them for commission government.”

“(I)nsistent retention of medieval ideas on land and labor, is merely an illustration of the recognized principle that things are apt to move along the lines of least resistance.”

“When the plantations of Hawaii have either got to do the right thing in regard to homesteading or go to the wall, they will come to time, and they should be forced to that position, not by way of retaliation nor in a spirit of hostility but because it is right and just to Hawaii and to the mainland that this be done.” (Kinney, Testimony before US House of Representatives, 1912)

The matter related to appointment of the next Territorial Governor of Hawai‘i. Kinney wanted someone without ties to the Plantations.

Lucius Pinkham, from the mainland, but had prior Island business interests and noted by Kūhiō that the Hawaiians “are very fond of Pinkham and … believe he is their best friend,” got the appointment.

Kinney left the Islands shortly thereafter and lived in California, continuing with his legal profession; he died sometime after 1930 in California.

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William Ansel Kinney-(PP-51-9-001)-1895-400

William_Ansel_Kinney-WC-1883

Hawaiian_Military_Commission-Alexander George Morison Robertson, William Ansel Kinney, and Alfred Wellington Carter-(PP-51-9-001)-1895

Neumann addressing Military Court-PP-53-6-003-00001

Trial_of_1895_Counter-Revolution_in_Hawaii-Kinney at far right

Political cartoon depicting Kinney on the shoulder of a governor going after sugarcane plantation interests-1912

October 6, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Charles A Cottrill

“A hard fight had been made against him. He was opposed, on nothing but the fact that he was a negro. His opponents, many of them sincere, urged that his color would prevent success in office here, that he would be ostracized, that his assistants would not work with him.”

“Obstacles were thrown in his way from the start, until Cottrill himself arrived on the scene and went about his duties.” (Star Bulletin, January 22, 1913)

In his support the Toledo Chamber of Commerce noted, “Mr Cottrill is a man of excellent educational qualifications well fitted by experience and training to perform the duties of this new office, faithful to the work he has in hand, of unquestioned integrity and having the strength of character that will make him a forceful number of your community.”

“I feel very positive that he will within a short time be held in the same high esteem by the business men of Honolulu in which he is now held by the business men of Toledo.”

“The Toledo Chamber of Commerce does not frequently write letters of this character but in this particular instance our officers feel that this tribute to Mr Cottrill is so thoroughly well deserved as to warrant our putting aside old precedents.” (Louis Paine, Secretary Toledo Chamber of Commerce; Hawaiian Gazette, December 9, 1910)

“Charles A Cottrill was born in Findlay, Ohio, December 3, 1863, and moved with his parents to Toledo in 1867. He entered the public schools of this city and was graduated therefrom in June 1881, having been president of his class during his entire senior year in the high school.”

“He entered the United States Internal Revenue Service at Toledo August 1, 1881 as clerk to the collector and by a series of promotions rose to the position of general bookkeeper for the tenth collection district of Ohio. During this time he read law relating to that branch of the public service.”

“He was employed from June 1, 1887 to January 1, 1888 by the treasurer of Lucas County, Ohio and on the latter date entered the office of the secretary of state at Columbus as chief of the Division of Incorporation, and continued in that office until January 1, 1893. During that time he specialized in corporation law.”

“In January 1893 he was appointed deputy recorder of Lucas County, Ohio and filled the duties of that office so satisfactorily that on November 1, 1897 he was promoted to chief deputy which position he held to the entire satisfaction of the tax-payers and of his chief until September 1, 1910.

“During these years Mr. Cottrill gave a great deal of time and attention to laws relating to real estate. Mr. Cottrill has always been prominently and efficiently identified with the Republican party not only In this city, county and state, but also nationally. (Hawaiian Star, December 9, 1910)

Prior to arriving, he noted, “‘I regard the Negro Officeholder as a man loaded down with responsibilities of the most serious kind,’ said the Hon Charles A Cottrill, the new collector of internal revenue for the district of Hawaii, as a reception tendered him by Hon WH Clifford in Washington recently.”

“In the course of his speech Mr Cottrill called upon those present to be true to race interests. ‘Manhood and race interests,’ he said, ‘demand that we acquit ourselves with credit in the positions we are called to fill. This we must do in order that the other members of the race who come after us may have an easier time.’” (Afro-American Ledger, February 18, 1911)

A distinguished African American was supported by President William Taft to be tax collector for the Hawai’ian Territory in 1911.

“‘The first and the principal thing for an office holder to do, is to render best service to the public. The question of who should be appointed in office, is a secondary matter.’”

“He emphasized the fact, however, that any office holder should render his best service to the public, which he considers, as the principal thing to do, and says he has no present intention of making changes.”

“He will be officially installed in office next Saturday morning, succeeding W. F. Drake, who has been Collector since Roy H. Chamberlain resigned in 1907.”

“Cottrill, who is a lawyer by profession, comes from Toledo, Ohio. He is a negro. He arrived this morning accompanied by Mrs. Cottrill and JC Cottrill the son.” (Evening Bulletin, March 16, 1911)

Later, on a visit by Legislators and others to Waialeʻe Industrial School, “the boys were assembled in the schoolroom to be addressed by Charles A Cottrill, collector of internal revenue.”

“Tears sprang into the eyes of the youngsters, who had been found guilty of some offense and sent to the institution, and ashamed faces were concealed, as Mr. Cottrill pointed out the better ways before them.”

“He did not tell them they had done wrong. Perhaps if he had his words would not have affected them. When his address was ended, Speaker Holstein and Representative Watkins were heard to say that nothing could have been a greater benefit to the youths, and Superintendent Tucker agreed with them.” (Star Bulletin, April 21, 1913)

“Collector Cottrill is a strong race man. Yet, with all his loyalty to his race, he has steadily grown in favor among all classes in Hawaii. His services as an orator are always in demand, and indeed, he has given many people here a new idea of the negro and the negro’s ability.”

“These are some of the reasons why Collector Cottrill deserves to be kept in office. Such a course on the part of the Democrats who command national patronage will set an example far more valuable than any of partisan politics.” (Star Bulletin, January 22, 1913)

Cottrill was a socialite who enjoyed the privileges provided by prestigious country clubs and socialized with top business executives associated with Hawai’i’s top five corporations. His son attended Punahou School.

“Mr. Cottrill is a gentleman of pleasing personality and affable manners, making friends easily and retaining them by reason of his innumerable likeable qualities of heart and mind.” (Hawaiian Star, December 9, 1910)

He left the Hawaiian Islands in 1915, when President Wilson sent him to Ohio, where he continued his political career. (Kelley)

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Charles A Cottrill-OhioHistory

charles-a-cottrill-hawaiian-star-dec-9-1910

October 3, 2016 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Dowsett Tract

Honolulu, by the end of the 19th century, was densely populated. Overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions were of great concern.

In part because of the 1900 plague and the Chinatown fire, residents began moving away from the city and into the surrounding valleys, wanting to escape from the overcrowded city into the quiet and serene rural areas.

With the introduction of the railway, trolley system, and the construction of new roads into the Honolulu area, transportation and accessibility into the city was made easier, thus affording residents with an easier commute.

There was a trolley that traveled from Waikiki into Manoa Valley along Oahu Avenue, and another that traveled along Nu‘uanu Avenue from town into the Nuuanu Valley. The introduction of automobiles, and construction of finished roadways also made travel easier.

Before the construction of the Pali Road, residents living on the windward side of Oahu would travel over the Ko‘olau Mountains by foot, along a treacherous path, to reach Honolulu.

In 1876, improvements were made to the trail to allow horses access to the trail as well. Regardless of these improvements, the trail was still quite dangerous, and took time to travel.

In 1897, plans for the construction of Pali Road were initiated. Engineered by Johnny Wilson and Lou Whitehouse, after its completion, it was considered one of Oahu’s major roadways.

Pali Road, connecting with Nuʻuanu Avenue (the present Pali Highway), officially connected the windward side of the island with downtown Honolulu. The development of this road allowed for greater accessibility into the valley.

In order to support the growing populations in dense areas in Honolulu, reservoirs and sophisticated systems were developed to collect and transport water to these areas.

By 1890, there were already two reservoirs in place in Nuʻuanu Valley, and a third one was under construction. Plans for a fourth reservoir was underway after the 1891 drought, and construction on this reservoir began in 1905.

With the area’s water system development, it supported the lifestyles of those living in the valley area. This area was one of the first on O‘ahu to be developed as a residential subdivision. It was called the Dowsett Tract.

The Dowsett Tract was named after the family that once owned the land. James Isaac Dowsett was born to Samuel James Dowsett (born in Rochester, Kent, England 1794 – lost at sea in 1834) and Mary Bishop Dowsett (Rochester, Kent, England; 1808 – 1860) in Honolulu, December 15, 1829.

Samuel and Mary married in Australia. A ship captain, Samuel did shipping business in Australia and was into whaling. Samuel first arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1822 when he was first officer of the “Mermaid,” accompanying the “Prince Regent,” a gift-ship from King George IV of England to King Kamehameha I, promised to the King by George Vancouver.

Samuel returned with his wife on July 17, 1828, arriving on the brig Wellington; they set up their home in Hawaiʻi at that time. Samuel and Mary had 4 children, James, Samuel Henry, Elizabeth Jane and Deborah Melville. James Isaac Dowsett was the first non-missionary white child to be born in Hawai‘i.

With his father’s disappearance, James Dowsett started working from the young age of twelve, and had a strong work ethic that would help him become a successful businessman.

He was active in the whaling and lumber industry, owned a fleet of boats that operated between the islands, and had extensive ranching investments. In his youth, Dowsett was a playmate of Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Lunalilo.

Dowsett married Annie Green Ragsdale of Honolulu, and together they had thirteen children. “He was a quick thinker and an excellent reasoner and while not a talkative man was always willing to supply any information from his great storehouse that might be useful to another or that might interest an inquirer.”

“He knew the town, the people and the country. He never left the Islands but once in his whole life and then four days in San Francisco was enough of life in foreign parts. He was a perfect encyclopedia of history and biography not only of Honolulu and Oahu, but of the entire group.”

“The common suggestion to one in search of obscure historical data was to go to Mr. Dowsett and he never failed. He could always supply day and date and all required details.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

Dowsett took on Chung Kun Ai as his protégé, allowing Ai to use a portion of his warehouse, and Ai started importing cigars, tea, peanut oil, shoe nails and other items. Ai and others later started City Mill, a rice milling and lumber importing business in Chinatown, Honolulu. The City Mill building on Nimitz was dedicated to Dowsett.

“Dowsett saw the grass hut replaced by the stone business block and the taro patch filled up for mansion site. He saw the little paths become fine streets and the broad and barren plains thickly populated districts. He saw the life of a nation change. … Through all this he was a close observer and always on the side of what was right and just.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

Dowsett died on June 14, 1898; “news of the death of Mr. Dowsett had been sent all over the Island and the Hawaiians in large numbers joined the throng of haoles calling to pay respects and offer consolation.”

“The older Hawaiians could not restrain themselves at all and gave vent to floods of tears and to strange wailings. They were overpowered and overcome by the thought that no more would they have the friendly greeting, the certain and reliable advice or the material assistance of the one who had been their reliance at all times and upon all occasions for so many years.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

After his death in 1899, James Dowsett’s heirs formed The Dowsett Company, Ltd. to help manage his extensive Hawaii property, including Dowsett Tract.

The Dowsett Tract was 273 acres of land in Nuʻuanu Valley. On October 4, 1912, the Dowsett Company subdivided the property into two lots (A and B). In June of 1916 – September 1916, the property was subdivided into 57 lots.

The Niniko ʻauwai runs through the development, providing fresh drinking water for virtually every land parcel contained within the triangular portion of land bounded by Nuʻuanu Avenue, Dowsett Avenue and Alika Avenue. Dowsett Avenue and Ragsdale Place in Dowsett Tract and Highlands in Nuʻuanu are named after James and Annie.

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Oahu_Country_Club-from_Alewa-(GaryWild)-1919-Dowsett Tract

Nuuanu_Emmert-No._6-Looking_Mauka-1854

Nuuanu Valley, Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 1900

Nuuanu_Valley_1929

Nuuanu_Valley-Aviation Day formation over Oahu-(hawaii-gov)-December 17, 1934

Nuuanu_Homes-Monsarrat-(portion)-1920

September 27, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Rycroft

Robert Henry Rycroft (April 27, 1843 – February 3, 1909) emigrated to the United States from Leeds, England, when he was 16 years old. After serving 16 months in the U.S. Cavalry during the Civil War, he arrived in Honolulu.

He first went to work in the Honolulu Iron Works and afterwards went into the plumbing business, which was his profession. He was also proprietor of the Fountain restaurant and Temperance saloon on Fort Street in an old one story frame building

Failing in the restaurant and saloon business on Fort Street in Honolulu he went to Brisbane, Australia, to establish an ice works and was nearly successful in establishing his system on steamers to carry frozen mutton to Europe.

“(H)e erected an ice machine at Brisbane, which was the first ammonia machine there using a pump to compress the gas. After remaining, there about two years he returned to Honolulu and soon after removed to the Island of Hawaii in 1877.”

“There he went into the ‘awa shipping business. The trade in ‘awa at that time was so large that many tons were handled each year, much of it going to foreign ports, mostly to the United States, for medical purposes.”

“About the year 1881 Mr. Rycroft went into the cattle business, having purchased the Pohoiki and Keahialeka tracts in Puna, Hawaii, containing about nine thousand acres.”

“He also erected a large saw mill at Pohoiki and furnished the Government with all of the hard wood used in the public works. He also furnished the wood supply of Honolulu for several years by the Allen & Robinson line of schooners. The ties of the O. R. & L. Co. came from this mill.”

“Soon after things were running smoothly Mr. Rycroft again branched out and was one of the first, if not the very first, who went into the systematic cultivation of coffee, upon a large scale.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 9, 1900)

Rycroft launched a boom in coffee production during the late 19th century; between 1896 and 1906, most of the 300 land grants made to speculators were for coffee.

In the Puna District in 1880, Hawaiians maintained small-scale traditional farms, and other settlers invested in commercial properties like coffee plantations on approximately three dozen land grants. (ORNL)

He constructed a coffee mill in 1891 to process the coffee then being planted in Puna. However, for some unknown reason, the coffee boom ended in 1899, leaving the mill basically without a product to process. Then, probably, the Rycrofts had to find an alternate crop to process in the new coffee mill.

Presumably, then, the Rycroft guava business in Puna was started in about 1900 to use the coffee mill, and possibly was abandoned after 1910.

Rycroft and his son, Walter, should be credited with the first commercial production of guava at Pohoiki in Puna; they produced guava jam and jelly in the ‘coffee mill.’ (Shigemura & Bulloock)

Rycroft also funded improvements at Pohoiki Landing to support his commercial ventures, although the original landing was destroyed by a tsunami in August 1885. (DLNR)

The Pohoiki area has remained mostly undeveloped except for the 23-year period of commercial development under Robert Rycroft. Rycroft’s ventures between 1877 and 1899 included ‘awa, cattle, sawmill, coffee and guava. The Pohoiki commercial activity appears to have ended when Rycroft moved to Honolulu in 1899. (DLNR)

When he sold out in 1899 he had in lower Puna sixty-five acres and in Ola‘a 170 acres of bearing coffee. This venture, however, did not prove as profitable as most of Mr. Rycroft’s enterprises. Messrs. H. Hackfeld & Co purchased his Olaa property.

“Last year upon the formation of the Puna Sugar Co. an offer was made Mr. Rycroft for his 9,000 acres of land in lower Puna and he determined to sell out and remove to Honolulu.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 9, 1900)

Rycroft returned to Honolulu in 1899, starting the Fountain Soda Works. “Since coming to Honolulu Mr. Rycroft has purchased six lots in the old base ball ground, where he is now erecting a fine residence, which will be competed as rapidly as the work can be done.”

“Mr. Rycroft will go into business in Honolulu and will become a permanent resident. He has not as yet thoroughly settled upon his future plans, but will make his debut in business circles in the near future.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 9, 1900)

For some years his eldest son conducted the soda business (in the vicinity of what is now Rycroft Street) while Rycroft attended to his investments in general. (Hawaiian Star, February 3, 1909)

“Robert Rycroft, one of the oldest residents of the Hawaiian Islands, died of heart trouble early this morning at his home on Wilder avenue. He leaves a wife, three sons, Henry, Mark and Walter, and two daughters Sophia and Gladys. Mrs. Rycroft is a sister of AN Campbell, Treasurer of Hawaii, and was married to Mr. Rycroft in 1872.” (Hawaiian Star, February 3, 1909)

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