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June 28, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Muses of Hawai‘i

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives recently produced another Cemetery Pupu Theatre event at Oʻahu Cemetery – Muses of Hawai‘i.

It’s a unique dinner theatre experience where history comes alive for the evening, brought to you by Mission Houses and Oʻahu Cemetery.

Mission Houses discovers stories from the lives of prominent Hawaiʻi residents and brings those stories back to life – in the cemetery, at the place where that person is buried.

Muses of Hawai‘i – the current version of ‘dinner theatre in a cemetery’ is focused on a small sample of people – historians and authors, a dramatist and actor, a museum curator, and a musician – who have contributed to the humanities in the history of Hawai‘i.

These characters all speak from their own perspectives about the same place and approximate time. These people all knew one another, or at least knew about one another, and often had something to say about each other.

See if you can catch their references to each other during their performances.

Standing at five different headstones, actors perform a monologue of the lives of the people buried at Oʻahu Cemetery.

Actors are dressed in period costume, telling the life events of select individuals, at their respective grave sites.

There was nothing ghoulish about it; rather, it was very effective storytelling.

Johnny Noble (Portrayed by Zach Thomas Woods)

Johnny Noble (1892-1944,) who took his inspiration from Sonny Cunha, who created hapa haole music in 1900 by mixing traditional Hawaiian music with American ragtime. Noble took Cunha’s idea a step further and mixed Hawaiian music with jazz and blues with for a new style of hapa haole music.

Critics said it degraded and commercialized Hawaiian music, but audiences loved it. “Sing Me a Song of Hawaii,” “My Little Grass Shack,” “Hula Blues,” and “Hawaiian War Chant” are among some of his most recognizable songs. He also recorded hundreds of traditional Hawaiian songs. (Wayne Paakaula is the Ukulele player.)

Ethel Damon (Portrayed by Alicia Rice)

Ethel Moseley Damon (1883 – 1965) authored several plays including Punahou’s 75th Anniversary Pageant and The Romance of Reality: A Historical Play in Two Acts, a centennial missionary memorial play.

She also authored Samuel Chenery Damon (a biography of her grandfather), Early Hawaiian Churches and Their Manner of Building, and her seminal history of Kaua‘i Koamalu: A Story of Pioneers on Kauai.

Thomas Thrum (Portrayed by Eli Foster)

Thomas Thrum (1842 – 1932) operated a book and stationery store. In 1875 he produced the first issue of Hawaiian Almanac and Annual which is commonly referred to as Thrum’s Annual.

He was the first editor of Paradise of the Pacific in 1888 and published several collections of Hawaiian legends and several publications on Hawaiian heiau.

Emma Nakuina (Portrayed by Kahana Ho)

Emma Nakuina (1847 – 1929) was the first woman curator of a museum in Hawai‘i. She became curatrix of the Hawaiian National Museum in the Judicial Building during Kalakaua’s reign and authored Hawaii: Its People and Their Legends and Ancient Hawaiian Water Rights and Some Customs Pertaining to Them, among many others.

Nathaniel Emerson (Portrayed by Christopher Denton)

Nathaniel B. Emerson (1839 – 1915) was a physician, author, and husband of Dr. Sarah Emerson. He was the author of The Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: the Sacred Songs of the Hula; and Pele and Hiʻiaka: A Myth from Hawai‘i.

This Cemetery Pupu Theatre was researched by Mike Smola, script was written by Zach Thomas Woods, wardrobe by Peggy Krock and directed by William Haʻo.

The next Mission Houses program, 5:30 – 8 pm, Saturday, July 16, 2016, will be the ‘Aloha Ho‘oipoipo’ portion of Mission Houses ‘Na Mele Aloha’ series ($30 each in advance, or $35 at door.) (To be held at Mission Houses.)

This performance will explore romantic love through songs, mele ho‘oipoipo, both those which openly reveal the individuals in such a relationship and those songs which use kaona or hidden meanings to obscure the specific relationships.

Click HERE to make your reservation for 5:30 – 8 pm, Saturday, July 16, 2016,  ‘Na Mele Aloha’ series ‘Aloha Ho‘oipoipo’:

Check out the Mission Houses website for future programs and events, as well as the many other activities at the historic site on King and Kawaiahaʻo Streets. Click HERE.

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Mission Houses Museum - Cemetery Pupu Theatre - Muses of Hawaii
Mission Houses Museum – Cemetery Pupu Theatre – Muses of Hawaii
Johnny Noble (Portrayed by Zach Thomas Woods-Wayne Paakaula on Ukulele)
Johnny Noble (Portrayed by Zach Thomas Woods-Wayne Paakaula on Ukulele)
Ethel Damon (Portrayed by Alicia Rice)
Ethel Damon (Portrayed by Alicia Rice)
Thomas Thrum (Portrayed by Eli Foster)
Thomas Thrum (Portrayed by Eli Foster)
Emma Nakuina (Portrayed by Kahana Ho)
Emma Nakuina (Portrayed by Kahana Ho)
Nathaniel Emerson (Portrayed by Christopher Denton)
Nathaniel Emerson (Portrayed by Christopher Denton)

Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, Cemetery Pupu Theatre, Johnny Noble, Ethel Damon, Thomas Thrum, Emma Nakuina, Nathaniel Emerson

June 24, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapiʻolani Home

“In fulfillment of the commands of His Majesty, and to carry out the views of my colleagues of the Board of Health and the community in the erection of a Home for leper girls, I now present to Your Majesty, as Lady Patroness of this benevolent institution, named after Your Majesty, the keys of this Home.” (Gibson, Dedication of Kapiʻolani Home, November 9, 1885)

“Queen Kapiʻolani took the keys in her hand and proceeded to the door leading into the refectory. She put a key, especially marked, into the door, unlocked it, and then, withdrawing the key, handed it to the Reverend Mother Superior, with the remark:”

“’I deliver these keys to you.’ The President of the Board of Health then said: ‘By command of His Majesty the King I declare the Home now open.’” (Dedication of Kapiʻolani Home, November 9, 1885)

Kapi‘olani had visited Kalaupapa in 1884 to learn how she could assist those who were diagnosed with leprosy and exiled there, and she raised the funds to build the Kapiʻolani Home for Girls. (KCC)

Queen Kapiʻolani, Father Damien de Veuster (now Saint Damien,) Dr Eduard Arning and Mother Marianne (now Saint Marianne) recognized the need for a home for the non-infected children of the leprosy patients.

On November 9, 1885, the healthy girls living in Kalawao moved into Kapiʻolani Home on the grounds of the sisters’ convent at the Kaka’ako Branch Hospital. (Hawaii Catholic Herald)

“It will accommodate fifty inmates, besides the matron, and will be under the supervision and control of the Sisters of Charity, of whom there are now seven, including the Mother Superior attached to the Convent of their order, which is within the enclosure of the Branch Hospital.”

“The Home is a two-story building, on the mauka side of the Branch Hospital, and separated from it by a high fence. The building is 70 feet by 50 feet, and is surrounded by open-railed verandas, 10 feet wide, which furnish a cool and sheltered place for play in all weather.”

“On the ground floor, which is approached by a wide flight of steps to the lower veranda, are two store rooms, an office, class room and refectory. The last two are spacious rooms, well lighted and ventilated, the height of the ceiling being 13 feet 1 inch.
A wide flight of stairs on the outside loads to the upper floor, on which are situate two large dormitories, two bath rooms and matron’s room.”

“The arrangement of these dormitories deserves mention. The one on the mauka or land side, which is the breeziest, from the prevailing wind, will be occupied by girls who have developed the disease; the other will be occupied by girls who are as yet free from it, but who, having been born of leper parents, may be reasonably suspected of having the disease latent in their blood.”

“There will be no communication between these rooms. Separate closets and baths have been provided for each class of inmates. In this way it is hoped to minimize the risk of contagion, by preventing the clean breathing the same atmosphere with the unclean at night.”

“During the daytime, when there is a free circulation of air, the risk of contagion is so slight that it need hardly be estimated. At the same time it should be stated that no bad case of leprosy will be admitted to the Home, but only such as gives hopes of yielding to cleanliness, wholesome food, moderate exercise and kind and scientific treatment.”

“A notice of this kind would be incomplete were no mention made of the Branch Leper Hospital contiguous to the Home, and the noble Christian work performed therein by the Sisters of Charity. The Branch Hospital was established in 1881, and as in the case of the Leper Settlement at Molokai, it was not well managed at the outset, nor indeed, until after the arrival of the first party of the Sisters two years ago precisely yesterday.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 9, 1885)

“I had the honor to address the Bishop of Olba a letter, dated January 4, 1883, in which I informed His Lordship that the care of the sick poor of this Kingdom had most earnestly enlisted the sympathies of Their Majesties the King and Queen and awakened the solicitude of the Government) that they appreciated the necessity for trained and faithful nurses, and felt that nowhere could such invaluable assistance be obtained so readily as among the ranks of those blessed Sisterhoods of Charity, who have, in various parts of the earth devoted themselves to the care of the sick”. (Address by Gibson, President of the Board of Health)

From 50 other religious communities in the United States, only Mother Marianne’s Order of Sisters agreed to come to Hawaii to care for people with Hansen’s Disease (known then as leprosy.)

The Sisters arrived in Hawaii on November 8, 1883, dedicating themselves to the care of the 200 lepers in Kaka‘ako Branch Hospital on Oahu. This hospital was built to accommodate 100 people, but housed more than 200 people. (Cathedral of Our lady of Peace)

Kapiʻolani Home was devoted to the care of non-leprous girls of leprous parents, not yet confirmed as lepers, and others suspected of the disease.

Under the care of the Franciscan Sisters, the government has provided a home for many little girls born of leper parents. It is exceedingly rare that a child inherits leprosy, and even where both parents are lepers, if the child be removed before it has become infected with the disease there is small danger of its developing leprosy.

These non-leprous children are generally taken from their parents when 2 years of age. Sometimes friends of the family provide for them, and in other cases they are taken to the home.

Girls, ranging from 2 to 20 years of age, who are not only given a good school education, but trained in such branches of domestic work as are necessary to fit them to become useful members of the community thereafter.

This home is for girls, and is insufficient to accommodate the present number of inmates comfortably. There is a necessity for a similar institution for boys and for enlarging the present capacity of the Kapiʻolani Home. (Hawaiian Commission, September 8, 1898) (A Boys Home was later built in Kalihi.)

After the hospital closed in 1888, the home was moved three times: first, to a more suitable new building adjacent to the Kalihi Receiving Station; second, to a temporary camp in Waiakamilo when a typhoid epidemic closed the previous home in 1900; finally, in 1912 to Kalihi where the patients’ children were housed until 1938. (Hawaii Catholic Herald)

Mother Marianne died in Kalaupapa on August 9, 1918. The Sisters of St. Francis continue their work in Kalaupapa with victims of Hansen’s Disease. No sister has ever contracted the disease. (Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace)

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Gibson_and_Mother_Marianne_Cope-Kakaako_Leper_Detention_Center
Gibson_and_Mother_Marianne_Cope-Kakaako_Leper_Detention_Center
Kapiolani Girls Home-1907
Kapiolani Girls Home-1907
Kapiolani Girls Home-new_dormitory-1907
Kapiolani Girls Home-new_dormitory-1907
Kapiolani Girls Home-Sisters_Residence-1907
Kapiolani Girls Home-Sisters_Residence-1907
Queen Kapiolani Statue
Queen Kapiolani Statue
Mother_Marianne_Cope_in_her_youth
Mother_Marianne_Cope_in_her_youth

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Saint Marianne, Molokai, Kapiolani Home

June 22, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Madge Tennent

She was born Madeline Grace Cook in Dulwich, England, on June 22, 1889. Her father owned a construction business; her mother was the editor of a women’s fashion magazine.

When she was five she moved with her family to Cape Town, South Africa. At the age of twelve, she entered an art school in Cape Town.

The following year, her parents, who recognized and encouraged her talent, moved to Paris to enable Madeline to study there In Paris, she studied figure drawing under William Bouguereau, an experience that laid the technical foundation for her later figural drawings and paintings. (Beebe)

Two years later they returned to Cape Town, where Madge taught art and illustrated fashion magazines. She was also an accomplished pianist, taught by her mother, and gave regular recitals in Cape Town. One such recital was attended by a visiting military officer from New Zealand, Hugh Cowper Tennent, who was in South Africa with his regiment.

They married (1915) and returned to his home, New Zealand, where she led the haphazard life of an army camp follower until their first son Arthur was born in 1916.

Madge directed an art school, having been appointed head instructor at the Government School of Art in Woodville, the village where Madge and Hugh lived while he awaited further military orders. (Wageman)

Hugh went off to war in Europe and returned with a seriously wounded hand; the young family was sent to Western Samoa, which had become a New Zealand protectorate after the war, with Hugh as the treasurer of the territory. Their second son, Val, was born there in Apia.

They spent six years in Samoa. During her stay in Samoa, Tennent became fascinated with Polynesians, and while on a leave of several months in Australia, Tennent studied with Julian Ashton “and learned to draw seriously for the first time.” (Beebe)

On a trip to London to enroll the boys in a British boarding school in 1923, the Tennents arrived in Honolulu with their two young sons, planning on a three-day stop-over.

They were introduced to members of the local artistic community, who saw her Samoan studies and asked her to stay and paint the Hawaiians. They stayed.

As a chartered accountant (the British equivalent of a CPA), Hugh was unable to work until he put in a year of residency. Madge supported the family by doing watercolor portraits, mostly of society children. She kept a studio downtown on Hotel Street.

Madge was fascinated by the Hawaiians from the beginning, but true inspiration struck when she was given a book of colored reproductions by Paul Gauguin in Tahiti. From that time on she devoted herself to the single-minded pursuit painting Polynesians.

Often referred to as Hawai‘i’s Gauguin, Tennent was unswerving in her devotion to the beauty of the Hawaiian people with pen, brush and palette knife. (Walls)

She was active in Hawai’i from the 1930s to the 1960s. “The Hawaiians are really to me the most beautiful people in the world … no doubt about it – the Hawaiian is a piece of living sculpture.” (Tennent; HPA)

Tennent portrayed Hawaiian women as solidly fleshed and majestic – larger than life. Her method of working with impasto – applying thick layers of paint to achieve a graceful, perfectly balanced composition – is evident in ‘Lei Queen Fantasia.’

The paint is applied in whirls in what might be called the ‘Tennent whirl’ – the colors bright and luminous. Tennent envisioned Hawaiian Kings and Queens as having descended from Gods of heroic proportion, intelligent and brave, bearing a strong affinity to the Greeks in their legends and persons. (HPA)

Over the years she was very active in the arts community in Honolulu, taught frequent classes at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and wrote for publication on art-related subjects. (Walls)

Just a few days before her death in 1972, Tennent summed up her philosophy of life and art for a newspaper reporter who interviewed her, frail and blind, at a private nursing home overlooking Diamond Head. He asked her …

“How does it feel, Mrs. Tennent, to have your genius publicly recognized during your lifetime?” … “Genius, baloney,” she muttered, with all the strength she could muster. “It was nothing but darn hard work.” (Walls)

Major collections of her work are found at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the University of Hawaii. In 2005, Hawai’i Preparatory Academy’s Isaacs Art Center was chosen by the Trustees of the Tennent Art Foundation to become the caretaker of the collection. (HPA) Tennent died February 5, 1972.

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Lei_Queen-Tennent
Lei_Queen-Tennent
Madge Tennent
Madge Tennent
Hawaiian Girl-Tennent
Hawaiian Girl-Tennent
Hawaiian Lady in Holoku, Facing Right-Tennent
Hawaiian Lady in Holoku, Facing Right-Tennent
Hawaiian Singer-Tennent
Hawaiian Singer-Tennent
Hawaiian_Bride-Tennent
Hawaiian_Bride-Tennent
Hawaiian_Girl-Tennent
Hawaiian_Girl-Tennent
Lei_Sellers-Tennent
Lei_Sellers-Tennent
Mother and Daughter-Tennent
Mother and Daughter-Tennent
Three_Musicians_Subdued
Three_Musicians_Subdued
Woman in Holoku Looking Left-Tennent
Woman in Holoku Looking Left-Tennent
Woman in Holoku Looking Right-Tennent
Woman in Holoku Looking Right-Tennent
Woman Staring-Tennent
Woman Staring-Tennent
Young Hawaiian Girl-Tennent
Young Hawaiian Girl-Tennent
Signature_of_Madge_Tennent,_1945
Signature_of_Madge_Tennent,_1945

Filed Under: General, Prominent People, Economy Tagged With: Madge Tennent, Hawaii

June 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Simon Peter Kalama

Lahainaluna Seminary (now Lahainaluna High School) was founded on September 5, 1831 by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents”.

In December, 1833, a printing press was delivered to Lahainaluna from Honolulu. It was housed in a temporary office building and in January, 1834, the first book printed off the press was Worcester’s Scripture Geography.

Besides the publication of newspapers, pamphlets and books, another important facet of activity off the press was engraving. A checklist made in 1927 records thirty-three maps and fifty-seven sketches of houses and landscapes, only one of which is of a non-Hawaiian subject.

“It was stated last year that some incipient efforts had been made towards engraving. These efforts have been continued. It should be remembered that both teacher & pupils have groped their way in the dark to arrive even at the commencement of the business.”

“A set of copy slips for writing was the first effort of importance; next a map of the Hawaiian islands. For some time past a Hawaiian Atlas has been in hand & is nearly finished, containing the following maps Viz. the Globes, North America, South America, the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Hawaiian islands & the Pacific.”

“It is evident that if the business is to be carried on so as to be of any benefit to schools generally, some considerable expense must be incurred for fitting up a shop for engraving & a room for printing. Hithertoo, everything has been done at the greatest disadvantage. Some means for prosecuting the business have lately been received from the Board.” (Andrews et al to Anderson, November 16, 1836)

Andrews was fortunate to have real talent in his artisans. Simon Peter Kalama was one of the best. Nineteen when he became a scholar, Kalama arrived at Lahainaluna with a recognized skill in drafting.

Kalama compiled the first map of Hawaiʻi published in Hawaiʻi and executed most of the “views,” which are the only record we have of the true island landscape of that time.

Since they were intended for the use of the Hawaiian students, the place names were given either in the Hawaiian form of the name, or in a modified transcription in which vowels were added so the foreign words could be pronounced in the Hawaiian style. (Fitzpatrick)

Ho‘okano, an assistant to Dr Gerrit P Judd, was assigned in the 1830s to interview kahuna lapa‘au to gain information about their practice which Judd incorporated in treating his own patients.

When Ho‘okano died in 1840, his notes were transcribed by Kalama and published in Ka Hae Hawaii in 1858 – 1859. The serialization has been translated by Malcolm Chun as Hawaiian Medicine Book: He Buke La‘au Lapa‘au and is the best source of information on traditional kahuna lapa‘au that exists today. (Mission Houses)

During the Wilkes expedition on Hawai‘i Island, on January 16, 1841, Kalama saved Judd from death in the crater of the volcano Kilauea. (Twain)

“Dr. Judd volunteered to head a party to go in search of some specimens of gases, with the apparatus we had provided, and also to dip up some liquid lava from the burning pool.” (Wilkes)

“I went down into Kilauea on the 16th to collect gases, taking a frying pan, in hopes of dipping up some liquid lava. Kalama went with me to measure the black ledge, and I had five natives to carry apparatus and specimens.” (Judd)

“While thus advancing, he saw and heard a slight movement in the lava, about fifty feet from him, which was twice repeated; curiosity led him to turn to approach the place where the motion occurred.”

“(T)he crust was broken asunder by a terrific heave, and a jet of molten lava, full fifteen feet in diameter, rose to the height of about forty-five feet … He instantly turned for the purpose of escaping, but found he was now under a projecting ledge, which opposed his ascent, and that the place where he descended was some feet distant.” (Wilkes)

Although he considered his life as lost, he prayed God for deliverance, “and shouted to the natives to come and take my hand, which I could extend over the ledge so as to be seen. … Kalama heard me and came to the brink, but the intense heat drove him back. ‘Do not forsake me and let me perish,’ I said.” (Judd)

“(He) saw the friendly hand of Kalumo (Kalama,) who, on this fearful occasion, had not abandoned his spiritual guide and friend, extended towards him. … seizing Dr. Judd’s with a giant’s grasp, their joint efforts placed him on the ledge. Another moment, and all aid would have been unavailing to save Dr. Judd from perishing in the fiery deluge.” (Wilkes)

A few years later, as the Western concept of landownership began to alter the Hawaiian landscape, Kalama enjoyed a lucrative career as a surveyor. He served as konohiki (overseer) of the Kalihi Kai district on O‘ahu, as a member of the House of Representatives and eventually as privy councilor to two kings. (Wood)

“The Hon SP Kalama, a member of the Privy Council, died on the 2nd inst at his residence at Liliha Street, having been ill for some months.”

“Mr Kalama was formerly a Government Surveyor, had served several terms in the Legislature as a Representative, and was a member of the Privy Council under Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and his present Majesty (Kalākaua.) He was about 60 years of age.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 4, 1875)

Here is a video of Moses Goods portraying Kalama (it was part of a Mission Houses event:)

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Na Mokupuni O Hawaii Nei-Kalama 1837
Na Mokupuni O Hawaii Nei-Kalama 1837
Mission_Houses,_Honolulu-Drawn_by_Wheeler_and_engraved_by_Kalama-_ca._1837
Mission_Houses,_Honolulu-Drawn_by_Wheeler_and_engraved_by_Kalama-_ca._1837
Maui from the anchorage of Lahaina-engraved by Kalama
Maui from the anchorage of Lahaina-engraved by Kalama
Sheldon_Dibble_House_at_Lahainaluna,_engraved_by_Kalama
Sheldon_Dibble_House_at_Lahainaluna,_engraved_by_Kalama
Kilauea-Wilkes-Expedition-1845
Kilauea-Wilkes-Expedition-1845
Palapala_Honua,_engraved_by_Kalama_and_Kepohoni,_1839
Palapala_Honua,_engraved_by_Kalama_and_Kepohoni,_1839

Filed Under: Schools, Economy, General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Hawaiian Traditions, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Lahainaluna, Gerrit Judd, Kalama, Simon Peter Kalama

June 15, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Percy Martyn Pond

“‘I could not do office work,’ he said, ‘and so I had to get out of door occupation. And I thought that I would try and see whether the land right here close to town would not yield results.’” (He had a farm “around the shoulder of Diamond Head.”)

“Mr. Pond has made the land give results, too, in produce, in eggs, in chickens, in taro, in small fruits in all those things that the people who will frankly admit possibilities know can be made to come from the soil here.”

Percy Pond studied the situation here, and thought that his first show for profit was to devote the major portion of his attention to dairy farming. And the Jersey dairy farm, which is the name of his place, is a dairy conducted on strictly scientific principles.” (Advertiser, June 4, 1905)

In 1914, Pond started the Kemoo Farm for the conservation of table refuse from Schofield Barracks by the production of pork and eggs, producing more than a million pounds of pork during the war. He also served on the Territorial district draft board during the war period. (Nellist)

“The Kemo‘o farm, located near Schofield Barracks, Oahu, has a swine herd numbering 1,460 animals, 250 of which are brood sows of high grade and 10 are pure-bred Duroc-Jersey and Berkshire boars. Each sow on this farm farrows, on the average, 3 litters in two years and raises 5 or 6 pigs per annum.”

“Eighty cans containing about 300 pounds of garbage each are daily hauled from the military posts to the Kemo’o farm. In 1915 the Kemo‘o farm sold 365 garbage-fed hogs … In 1918 the sales increased to 1,686 head …”

“Kemo‘o farm, where swine raising constitutes the main and a highly specialized line of farming, with dairying and poultry raising ranking next in importance.” (CTAHR, 1923)

But farming is not what Pond is generally known for – Percy Martyn Pond, was born on Feb. 2, 1870, in Medina, Medina County, Ohio, the son of Reverend Chauncey Pond and Harriet Permelia Perkins Pond. He graduated from Oberlin College (Ohio) in 1892.

Coming to Hawaii in 1896, Pond was a luna at Ewa plantation until 1897, when he joined Castle & Cooke, Ltd., as merchandise cashier.

He was bookkeeper and clerk for the S. N. Castle Estate in 1899 and 1900, and in the latter year entered the real estate business, when the firm of McClellon & Pond was formed.

Pond married Edith O Eldredge, November 26, 1900, in Chicago. They had two sons, Eldredge B and Richard C Pond.

In conjunction with Castle & Lansdale, Pond opened up the College Hills tract, lower Manoa Valley. From 1903 to 1904 Pond was affiliated with the Waterhouse Trust Co., Ltd., leaving there to start his dairy, which he conducted until 1914, when the retail business was disposed of and the enterprise was combined with the Honolulu Dairymen’s Association.

Pond was one of the first men in Honolulu to engage in real estate promotions on a big scale. He realized years ago that the city was to have a future then foreseen by few residents, and that room for expansion was a vital necessity.

Acting on this conviction, in 1911 he bought land in Kālia, Waikiki and filled in the ponds and wetlands there. He subdivided the property makai of Kalākaua Avenue and between Lewers Street and Saratoga Road and called it Beach Walk.

Many small homes were built in the area, some of which were rented out as vacation cottages. The tenants, who generally arrived for long stays on a Matson steamer, had close access to Waikiki Beach by means of the foot right-of-way that still exists on the Diamond Head side of the Outrigger Reef Hotel. (Kelley)

Pond later purchased and developed the Royal Grove tract, in the Waikiki district, where values have also greatly increased. The Clark tract at Wahiawa, Dewey Court tract and ʻĀinahau tract were also promoted by Pond. In 1923, he financed Prospect Terrace, and in 1924 he opened the Castle tract in Honolulu.

Real estate development, however, is only one of a number of business ventures financed and promoted by Mr. Pond.

In 1916 Smoot & Steinhauser was formed; Pond became Vice President (the firm later became Pond Co., Ltd., an automobile sales agency, (Story of Hawaii and Its Builders, Nellist)).

A new building was built by the company on Beretania street in 1921, and in 1924 Pond organized the Hawaiian Finance Co., Ltd., a corporation dealing in installment automobile paper, of which he was president.

The 1940 census noted Pond’s occupation as ‘Realatar.’ Pond returned to the mainland at the outbreak of the war after disposing of his property in Hawai‘i.

Percy Pond died on July 3, 1945, in Orlando, Florida, after an illness of more than two years. (Overlin) (Lots of information here is from Nellist)

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Percy Pond-MidPacificMag-1916
Percy Pond-MidPacificMag-1916
Vats for steaming garbage at Kemoo Farms-CTAHR-1923
Vats for steaming garbage at Kemoo Farms-CTAHR-1923
Pond Farm-Milking Shed-Diamond Head-Adv-June 4, 1905
Pond Farm-Milking Shed-Diamond Head-Adv-June 4, 1905
Pond Cows in kiawe pasture-Diamond Head-Adv-June 4, 1905
Pond Cows in kiawe pasture-Diamond Head-Adv-June 4, 1905
Pond Cows going for milking-Diamond Head-Adv-June 4, 1905
Pond Cows going for milking-Diamond Head-Adv-June 4, 1905
Garbage-fed pigs at Kemoo Farms-CTAHR-1923
Garbage-fed pigs at Kemoo Farms-CTAHR-1923
Colllege_Hill-Alexander_Reg2134-1906
Colllege_Hill-Alexander_Reg2134-1906
Beach_Walk_Subdivision-1914
Beach_Walk_Subdivision-1914

Filed Under: Economy, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, College Hills, Percy Pond, Kemoo Farm, Beach Walk

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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