Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sweet Home

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there
Which seek thro’ the world, is ne’er met elsewhere

Home! Home! Sweet, sweet home!
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home!
(Home, Sweet Home; John Howard Payne, 1823)

When the missionaries arrived on O‘ahu in April 1820 they lived in the grass houses provided by traders and ship captains in an area just mauka of the fort (mauka of what is now the Aloha Tower area).

In 1828, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM) sent 20-people in the Third Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi, including four ministers and their wives. 

A physician and his wife accompanied the ministers, Dr. Gerrit Parmele Judd and Laura Fish Judd.  Dr. Judd was sent to replace Dr. Abraham Blatchely, who, because of poor health, had left Hawaiʻi the previous year.

Judd, a medical missionary, had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician, intending to treat native Hawaiians for the growing number of diseases introduced by foreigners. He immersed himself in the Hawaiian community, becoming a fluent speaker of Hawaiian.  Judd soon became an adviser to and supporter of King Kamehameha III.

In May 1842, Judd was asked to leave the Mission and accept an appointment as “translator and recorder for the government,” and as a member of the “treasury board,” with instructions to aid Oʻahu’s Governor Kekūanāoʻa in the transaction of business with foreigners.

In the mid-1840s Dr. Judd began to make plans for a new house. After he left the mission he had rented for a time the pleasant stone dwelling of the premier, Kekauluohi (Auhea).

This house delighted Mrs. Judd, who wrote, “The high ceiling, large windows, and papered walls afford such a contrast to our little cottage, that I feel like a traveler at a hotel, or on board a finely furnished steamer – a mere lodger for the night.” (Judd)  The premier soon decided to occupy the house herself, and the Judds had to move to another next to the palace.

Mrs. Judd commented, “Our new house is not so nice as hers, but in some respects we like it better. The yard is full of rubbish and ruins of adobe walls and pig-sties, and we shall have the pleasure for the fourth time of pulling up thistles and planting roses.”

In many ways this house proved unsatisfactory. Mrs Judd complained particularly that the children needed more privacy. “I must have a more retired home for them. So much anxiety and so much company unfit me for maternal duty.”

By the summer of 1846, the Judds were planning to build their own home in Nu‘uanu Valley, they named it “Sweet Home”, after the popular 1823 song by John Howard Payne.  The new home consumed much of his time and strained his finances to the limit. (Judd)

“The house has a chimney and a kitchen within, which is an anomaly in Hawaiian architecture. We had been collecting the materials for two years, a little here and a little there, as we could command the means of payment.”

“The doors, floors, and gates were made in Copenhagen and sent out for sale, and my husband purchased them at auction for much less than we could get them made.”

“The windows, glazed, and blinds already painted were sent out from Boston. … I never felt poorer, even when a missionary, for we were obliged to borrow money to pay carpenters and masons who built our house, and give a mortgage on it for security.”

To finance the house Judd sold some cattle to the government, raised $1,000 on a mortgage from the treasury, and borrowed $5,500 from his colleague Wyllie.

The privy council on February 18, 1847, gave him a fee-simple title to the homesite, amounting to 7.61 acres, for $50.00, a figure which the chiefs named, and the family moved into Sweet Home the following month. At that time the house was far from finished. (Judd)

At Sweet Home the Judd family announced engagements, celebrated weddings, and anxiously awaited the birth of babies. The house was seldom silent, save during the rare and somber visitations of sickness and death. (Judd)

“There we played or busied ourselves with household tasks, or entertained our numerous friends. If the afternoon was fine, we sat on the lawn under the cool shade of the low-boughed trees, or, if one of the numerous valley-showers came, we gathered on the broad verandas to watch over the bright flower-pots the rain as it hurried to the town.”

“Ours was a happy family. In the evening we gathered around the shaded lamp and studied our lessons, or listened with bated breaths while mother read some romantic adventure aloud.”

“My parents were genuinely religious, and gave to our spiritual welfare the greatest possible care. We learned long passages from the Scriptures and recited them with much emphasis. On Sundays we were allowed no playthings, and walked to church, so as to give the horses a day of rest.” (Elizabeth Judd; Judd)

On December 18, 1872, Dr Judd made his will, beginning with the traditional phrase, “In the name of God, amen.” First, he divided his real estate among his seven surviving children. Sweet Home and an adjoining building lot went to Helen Judd, and each of his three other daughters received land in Nu‘uanu Valley. (Judd)

Dr Judd died on July 12, 1873 in Honolulu at the age 70. Aptly descriptive of his lifetime work, the epitaph on his tomb in Nu‘uanu Cemetery (now O‘ahu Cemetery) reads, “Hawaii’s Friend”. (HMAA)

Gerrit and Laura Judd had 9 children: Gerrit Parmele, b. March 8, 1829 (he died at the age of 10); Elizabeth Kinau, b. July 5, 1831; Helen Seymour, b. Aug. 27, 1833; Charles Hastings, b. Sept. 8, 1835; Laura Fish, b. Sept. 8, 1835; Albert Francis, b. Jan. 7, 1838; Allan Wilkes, b. Apr. 20, 1841; Sybil Augusta, b. March 16, 1843; and Juliet Isabelle, b. March 28, 1846 (she died at the age of 10). (Hawaiian Historical Society)

On March 8, 1879, a trust deed over the Sweet Home property was made; the grantors were Helen Seymour Judd and others, but the consideration was paid by Henry AP Carter and it appears from the face of the instrument that the deed was in the nature of a settlement by Henry AP Carter for the benefit of his wife and children.  (Carter v Davis, Hawaii Supreme Court)

(On February 27, 1862, Sybil Augusta Judd (4th daughter and 8th child of Gerrit Parmele Judd and Laura Fish Judd) married Henry Alpheus Peirce Carter (son of Captain Joseph Oliver Carter and Hannah Trufant Lord Carter.))

(They had 7 children: Frances Isabelle, b. Jan. 18, 1863; Charles Lunt, b. Nov. 30, 1864; George Robert, b. Dec. 28, 1866; Agnes, b. Oct. 15, 1869; Sybil Augusta, b. Feb. 16, 1873 (she died at the age of 1); Cordelia Judd, b. May 18, 1876; and Joshua Dickson, b. Feb. 8, 1880 (he died at the age of 2). (Hawaiian Historical Society))

In part, the trust deed that Henry AP Carter initiated covering Sweet Home stated, “During the life of Sybil Augusta Carter wife of the said Henry AP Carter to allow her to occupy and enjoy the said estate she paying the taxes and all necessary charges and expenses or at her election to pay over to her the net rents and profits thereof …”

“(A)t her death in further trust to allow the children of the said Sybil Augusta Carter by the said Henry AP Carter and such person or persons as their guardian appointed …”

“The plan of the trust deed was to keep the property in the hands of the trustee, as long as it was to be used as a home for Sybil Augusta Carter or any of her minor children …”

“… and whenever the time might occur that it should be no longer needed for this purpose it was to be conveyed to the children then living with suitable provision for the heirs of those who had died meantime.” (Carter v Davis, Hawaii Supreme Court)

Behind Sweet Home, and extending right to the Nu‘uanu Road, is the O‘ahu Cemetery. When Sweet Home was demolished in 1911, its site was added to the cemetery grounds. (HHS)

Judd Street was named for Dr Gerrit Parmele Judd (1803–1873), missionary doctor who arrived in 1837 and became an important adviser to Kamehameha III. His residence, “Sweet Home,” was at Nuʻuanu and Judd streets. (Place Names)

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“The Kind-eyed Chief”

Thomas ap Catesby Jones was born April 24, 1790 to Major Catesby and Lettice Turbeville Jones at Hickory Hill in Westmoreland County, Virginia. (The ‘ap’ in his name is a Welch prefix noting he is ‘Thomas, the son of Catesby Jones.’)

His father died September 23, 1801, leaving six children and a widow; she died in mid-December 1804. Thomas went to live with an uncle – who later died from injuries suffered in a duel.

Then, Thomas received an appointment as a midshipman and joined the US Navy (at the time, 1805, it had only 29-vessels.) He moved up through the ranks. (Smith)

He later fought in the War of 1812; with five gunboats, one tender and a dispatch boat headed toward the passes out to Ship Island, to watch the movements of the British vessels. This little flotilla, barely enough for scout duty at sea, was the extent of the naval forces in the Gulf waters.

A British flotilla of barges started coming from the direction of the enemy’s ships, evidently to overtake and attack the gunboats with 1,200-men and 45-pieces of artillery. The American defensive forces were seven small gunboats, manned by 30-guns and 180-men.

The battle was fiercely fought for nearly two hours, when the American gunboats, overpowered by numbers, were forced to surrender, losing 6-men killed and 35-wounded, among the latter Jones (he was one struck in the shoulder, “where it has remained ever since.”) Several barges of the enemy were sunk, while their losses in killed and wounded were estimated at two to three hundred. (Smith)

These results show that the victory of the British was a costly one. Although wounded and captured, Jones received commendation for delaying the British advance that culminated in the Battle of New Orleans (January 8, 1815,) the final major battle of the War of 1812 when the Americans prevented the British from taking New Orleans.

Later, Jones went to the Islands.

Growing concerns over treatment, safety and attitudes toward American sailors (and therefore other US citizens in the Islands) led the US Navy to send Jones to the Islands, report back on what he learned, banish the bad-attitude sailors and maintain cordial relations with the Hawaiian government.

“The object of my visit to the Sandwich Islands was of high national importance, of multifarious character, and left entirely to my judgment as to the mode of executing it, with no other guide than a laconic order, which the Government designed one of the oldest and most experienced commanders in the navy should execute”. (Jones, Report of Minister of Foreign Affairs)

“Under so great a responsibility, it was necessary for me to proceed with the greatest caution, and to measure well every step before it was taken; consequently the first ten or fifteen days were devoted to the study and examination of the character and natural disposition of a people who are so little known to the civilized world, and with whom I had important business to transact.”

“The Sandwich Islanders as legislators are a cautious, grave, deliberate people, extremely jealous of their rights as a nation, and are slow to enter into any treaty or compact with foreigners, by which the latter can gain any foot-hold or claim to their soil.”

“Aware of these traits in the character of the Islanders with whom I had to negotiate, I determined to conduct my correspondence with them in such a manner as at once to remove all grounds of suspicion as to the object and views of the American Government, and to guard against misrepresentation and undue influence”.

“(I also wanted to) give the Chiefs and others in authority, the means of understanding perfectly the nature of my propositions, I took the precaution to have all official communications translated into the Oahuan language, which translation always accompanied the original in English”.

“(B)y giving them their own time to canvass and consult together, I found no difficulty in carrying every measure I proposed, and could I have been fully acqainted with the views of my government, or been authorized to make treaties, I do not doubt but my success would have been complete in any undertaking of that character.” (Jones Report to Navy Department, 1827)

Jones’s resolved the sailor desertion issue, the chiefs agreed to pay in full the debts and then Jones negotiated ‘Articles of Arrangement’ noting the “peace and friendship subsisting between the United States and their Majesties, the Queen Regent and Kauikeaouli, King of the Sandwich Islands, and their subjects and people,” (later referred to as the Treaty of 1826, the first treaty signed by the Hawaiians and US.)

Jones elevated the image of America … protesting the agreement His Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General, Captain Richard Charlton declared the islanders to be mere tenants at will, subjects of Great Britain, without power to treat with any other State or Prince, and that if they entered into treaty stipulations with the United States, Great Britain would soon assert her right by taking possession of the Islands. (Jones Report to Navy Department, 1827)

Jones asked Charlton what was the nature or character of the commission he bore from the King.  The response, “Consul-General to the Sandwich Islands.” Jones followed up with, ‘What are the duties or functions of a Consul-General?’ (The answer was in accordance with the acknowledged international understanding of the office.)

He then asked Charlton if it was customary for a Prince or Potentate to send Consuls, Consuls-General or Commercial Agents, to any part or place within his own dominions? Charlton had no answer.

When informed of all that had been said between Jones and Charlton, Kalanimōku, noted, “It is so…. Is America and England equal? We never understood so before. We knew that England was our friend and that Capt Charlton was here to protect us, but we did not know that Mr Jones, the Commercial Agent, was the representative of America – we thought he was for trade only.” (Jones Report to Navy Department, 1827)

“Capt. Jones, as a public officer, carefully sought to promote the interests of commerce and secure the right of traders, pressed the rulers to a prompt discharge of their debts, and negotiated articles of agreement with the government for the protection of American interests”.

He “secured for himself among the people the designation of ‘the kind-eyed chief’ – a compliment falling on the ear of many of different classes”. (Hiram Bingham)

Jones later commanded the US Pacific Squadron, fought in the Mexican American War and later in his career, however, Jones was court-martialed for oppression of seamen and mishandling of Navy funds on the coast of California in the wild days of the Gold Rush. Jones denied all charges. (Gapp) (He was later reinstated and his pay was restored.) He died May 30, 1858.

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Village Green

“This is, then, a complicated problem.” (Adv, June 8, 1965)

In 1924, Robert Hind purchased 2,090-acres and established the Hind-Clarke Dairy.  The Hind-Clarke Dairy was a favored stop along the road, as noted in a 1930 visitor’s guide …

“The Hind-Clarke Dairy, a short way ahead and to our left with a large sign over the entrance, is not to be passed unnoticed. The dairy is a model of its kind and well affords an opportunity to see dairying in its most scientific form. The cottage cheese on sale is, perhaps, the most delicious you have ever tasted.”  (Cultural Surveys)

(The Hind Clark Dairy operation occupied the area now used as ʻĀina Haina Shopping Center and ʻĀina Haina Elementary School.) 

In 1946, Hind sold his dairy operation to Creameries of America, and soon after that began to develop the remainder of his land for residential use.  The former cattle pasture was subdivided into lots to form a new residential community called ‘Āina Haina (which means, “Hind’s land.”)

Soon after this the Hawaiian Dredging Company filled in the old Wailupe Fishpond, forming the Wailupe Circle subdivision. A deep channel (depth of approximately 12 to 20 feet) was dredged around the pond, as well as a channel through the reef to the open ocean) and dredge material filled in the pond.

“[W]hen Aina Haina was first developed commercial zoning was asked for [the ‘village green’ strip of open space fronting Aina Haina].  But area home owners objected and it was finally agreed by all in 1948 to leave the area open space. It was put into a “residential” zoning classification because that was the only suitable category where it could be kept open.”

“The ‘village green’ at Aina Haina is used for recreation purposes, including community carnivals, Lions Club chicken barbecues, Little League practice, dog obedience club training, and just plain playing for kids while parents shop.  But it is also true that there are several other playgrounds in the Aina Haina area, including one at the nearby Aina Haina School.”

“The open view – looking across the green lawn, to the low line of shops and into the deep valley – is one of the more interesting and attractive along a highway that is becoming increasingly closed in from sight of either mountains or sea.  The alternative, no matter how handsome a structure, is hardly likely to equal the open vista.”

Fast forward, “Opinion is Aina Haina is split over the City Planning Commission’s recommendation to rezone the Aina Haina village green for commercial use.” (Adv, June 5, 1965)

“The 75,385 square feet of ‘residential’ land is a tax burden as it now stands. The comprehensive zoning plan, although parts of it can and are being speeded, is several months or more away from completion. Its adoption, however, will provide the Preservation District classification.”

“Presumably this would eliminate the economic hardship argument, although seemingly there would be more profit in commercial buildings than in tax relief.”

“The need for more commercial building in this area seems doubtful. There are four shopping centers from Waialae-Kahala to Koko Head. The neighboring Niu Shopping Center has a number of store spaces still for rent.” (Adv, June 8, 1965)

“Developer Kenneth Makinney has proposed changing the area zoning from residential to commercial, so that he can construct an addition to the Aina Haina Shopping Center.” (Adv, June 30, 1965)  The ‘Āina Haina Shopping Center was built in 1950.

“City Councilmen approved by 7 to 1 vote yesterday commercial zoning for Aina Haina’s village green. … ‘This is an old story in Honolulu.’”

“‘ This isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last time, for land developers to break faith with the City government and the gullible people who are talked int trusting and believing them.’” (said Councilman Frank Fasi, the lone negative vote; Adv, Aug 4, 1965)

One of the first businesses built on the former village green was Hawai‘i’s first McDonald’s, and Ray Kroc showed up for the opening.

“Kroc first realized the possibilities of developing a big franchise operation in the early 1950s, when he was selling mixing machines to make malted milks.”

“Two brothers named McDonald installed eight of his machines in one burger facility in San Bernadino, Calif, and Kroc woke up to the kind of volume business that was possible.”

“He said the McDonalds had developed a formula for a quality hamburger and a new way to doing business which is now the trademark of the McDonald’s chain. … In 1960, Kroc borrowed $2.7 million to buy … from the McDonalds and to buy the sole right to the use of the name and hamburger merchandising ideas.” (SB, Nov 8, 1968)

“Kroc officially opened the Aina Haina unit yesterday [November 7, 1968] but it has been open for business since last weekend.” (SB, Nov 8, 1968)

At the time McDonald’s opened in Hawai‘i with the ‘Āina Haina unit, there were about 1,100 McDonalds spread across the US; in 2023, the company operated and franchised approximately 41,000 restaurants globally (with a plan to grow to 50,000 by 2027).

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Nicholas Peter Canlis

Nicholas Peter Canlis was born in Sacramento, California, in 1913. to parents Nicholas and Susan. He grew up in Stockton, where his parents opened their restaurant The Food Palace and Fish Grotto in 1910. (Nims)

Peter Canlis left Stockton in 1939, determined to make his own way in the world and not follow his parents’ footsteps into the restaurant business. He traveled from California to Hawai‘i in 1939, where he initially sold shoes and then dry goods.  (Nims)

“Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the facilities at Pearl Harbor, Schofield, Hickam and elsewhere were being bolstered, while others were being created. Barbers Point Naval Air Station was developed.”

“The radio station at Lualualei was commissioned and rest and recreation facilities set up throughout Honolulu. The Armed Services YMCA was developed.”

“Peter Canlis, an employee of a suitcase and shoe supply company … was put in charge of the food facility there. We worked with him on the design of the kitchen and dining room.” (John Lind; Ian Lind)

“That food operation became a popular spot for civilian as well as military use. It was super and Peter Canlis became popular as a result.  Following the war, Peter decided he was going to open his own restaurant.” (John Lind; Ian Lind)

“We were friends from Junior Chamber of Commerce activity and over several nights on my living room floor we made layouts of his proposed first Honolulu location in a small bungalow across the street from Kuhio Beach.”  (John Lind; Ian Lind) 

Canlis “was a guy who had a $1500 budget to convert a World War II blackout Chinese restaurant, called the Golden Palms, into an acceptable steakhouse.”

“And what do you do with $1500? You install a broiler so you don’t have to enlarge the kitchen. You push out and build a wall along the sidewalk so you can put in more tables which you protect with a striped awning. You get your wife to upholster banquettes with sailcloth so you don’t have to buy too many chairs.”

“And when I asked Peter what kind of a lighting budget he had, he said zero so we lit mostly with candlelight.” (WATG)  Canlis opened The Broiler in 1947 about where the Hyatt Regency now stands. 

Finally, the place opened. Peter didn’t have a liquor license so you brought your own booze. People complained about the high prices (a filet was $2.50) but flocked there anyway.” (WATG)

“In 1950, Peter Canlis moved to Seattle and opened the restaurant that would make his mark on the nation’s emerging fine dining scene. Borrowing all he could (fifty thousand dollars) he sought to build a restaurant in the heart of the city, but as an outsider he could not break in.”

“Unknown, untrusted, and with ‘an idea so crazy that Seattle would never go for it’ Peter fought to find his start. Famed restaurateur Walter Clark took an interest in the newcomer and offered a piece of land ‘way outside the city.’ Even as young kids we could recite his answer: ‘If it’s within a dollar’s cab ride of downtown, they’ll come.’” (Canlis)

“His impossibly lofty strategy was to build the most beautiful restaurant in the world. … He bet on upstart Northwest artists (George Tsutakawa’s first sculpture is still our door handle).”

“He snuck fresh fish from Hawaii on Pan Am flights and returned the same suitcases to The Broiler with salmon and Dungeness crab.”

“He built his lounge around a piano and the first post-prohibition liquor license in the city and priced his menu twice as high as the nearest competitor.” (Canlis)

“Then he invited kings and heads of state, business tycoons and civic leaders. He invited them before ever earning the right to. His experiment in Hawaii had worked and in Seattle he would double down on it.”

“Finally, waiting to serve a city of skeptics and naysayers, was his team of women of Japanese descent who had recently endured internment, clad in their own stunning kimonos.”

“Seattle fell for the restaurant and overnight, Europe’s 200-year, influential grip on American fine dining was under legitimate siege.  In the years to follow, three more restaurants were built.” (Canlis)

The initial, rather casual, The Broiler closed in 1953; then, “In 1954, Canlis opened his iconic Canlis Broiler at 2100 Kalakaua.  As late as 1985, it was described in a New York Times story as ‘a dependable old favorite with excellent food and service at moderate prices….’” (John Lind; Ian Lind)

Peter Canlis also opened Canlis restaurants in Portland at the Hilton Hotel, and in San Francisco at the Fairmont Hotel. Those restaurants operated, respectively, from 1963 to 1979 and 1965 to 1985. The Honolulu restaurant was open until 1989.  (Nims)  Honolulu architect George James (Pete) Wimberly designed all four Canlis restaurants. (WATG)

On July 6, 1977, Peter Canlis died at the age of 64 from lung cancer. After services held at St. Mark’s Cathedral, he was buried in his hometown of Stockton, California.

Among remembrances for the man who changed the face of fine dining in Seattle (and Honolulu) was this in The Seattle Times: “Pete was a much-honored restaurateur. He set a standard of excellence from which he never deviated.”

“He was a friend whose gruff exterior couldn’t hide a soft interior. He will be sorely missed by a lot of friends, who counted any day they saw him a brighter one”. (Nims)

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Kamalō

“As agriculture developed, the landscape began to transform and has undergone alterations throughout its history of human settlement. Polynesian voyagers stocked their canoes with pigs, chickens, and dogs as well as crops needed for colonization.”

“The native lowland forests were cleared and replaced with taro, sweet potato, yam, banana, sugarcane, breadfruit, and coconut. The land was modified with advanced farming practices that included irrigation from streams, terracing, mulching, and use of green manure.”

“Slash and burn techniques were used to clear land for crops and to encourage the growth of pili grass used in house thatching.” (Kakahai‘a NWR, FWS)

The arrival of Europeans in the 1770s brought the introduction of goats, horses, cattle, and sheep.  The Duke of Edinburgh had deer transported from Japan to Molokai as a gift to Kamehameha V in 1870.

The growing herds quickly increased and endemic plants quickly declined, leaving vast areas barren due to soil compaction that increased runoff and accelerated erosion. (Kakahai‘a NWR, FWS)

“As foreign vessels began to visit the Islands the number of imported cultivated plants and domesticated animals increased rapidly. … Provisioning of ships gave the first foreign stimulus to Hawaiian agriculture.”

“Ships stopping at the Islands during the four decades following discovery were mainly engaged in fur and sandalwood trade

between the Pacific Northwest, China, and Hawaii. … “

“Provisioning of ships gave the first foreign stimulus to Hawaiian agriculture. Ships stopping at the Islands during the four decades following discovery were mainly engaged in fur and sandalwood trade between the Pacific Northwest, China, and Hawaii.”  (Philipp)

Sugar cultivation on Molokai began commercially with the founding of the Kamalō Sugar Plantation in 1873. John C. McColgan established the plantation, leasing land from the estate of King Kamehameha V.  Shortly thereafter came Moanui Sugar Mill and Plantation (established in 1875) and Kalae Sugar Plantation (established in 1876).

The Hawaiian Gazette ran a story in 1873, “New Sugar Plantation. The steamer, on her last trip to windward, landed at Molokai seventy head of bullock, belonging to Mr. J. McColgan, who proposes to start a sugar plantation on land which he has lately leased from the administrators of the late King’s estate.”

“The tract, which Is located between Kaunakakai and Kaluaaha, comprises about four thousand acres [Kamalo Sugar Company controlled the coast from Kamalō to Mapulehu (USGS)] …

“… stretching from the sea to the mountains, and is known as Kamaloo. Of this about one hundred and fitly acres are low land, and believed to be adapted to cane growing.”

“The cane will be cultivated by a farmer who has already gone to work. The mill is the same as that used on Mr McColgan’s Ewa plantation, and will be set up in time to take off the crop, which will be ground on shares. This system divides the risk and the

profit between the planter and manufacturer.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 23, 1873)

John C McColgan (also known in the Islands as John Kamanoulu and sometimes referred to as John H McColgan) was born in Ireland on December 24, 1814. In 1849, McColgan moved to California to work in the gold mines and, on November 26, 1849, he sailed from San Francisco, California, aboard the American ship Elizabeth Ellen. He arrived in Honolulu on December 13, 1849.

Shortly after his arrival in the Hawaiian Islands, McColgan started work as a tailor. He is credited with bringing the first sewing machines to Hawai‘i on September 12, 1853, and his skill and expertise led to his becoming the personal tailor for King Kamehameha III & IV. (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

“He set up a household, part Hawaiian, part haole style. His wife was a handsome large Hawaiian woman named Kala‘iolele … [they] had 16 children in all. … The fourteenth of these hapa-haole (half white) children was Jennie, whom in Hawaiians called Kini. She grew up to be a famous hula dancer and to marry John H Wilson, mayor of Honolulu.” (Clarice Taylor)

As an infant, Ana Kini Kapahukulaokamāmalu Ku‘ululani McColgan Huhu (aka Kini Kapahu – Jennie Wilson) was adopted by Kapahukulaokamāmalu, who was an expert chanter, hula performer, and friend of Queen Kapi‘olani.  She and her adoptive mother lived on a property adjacent to the royal palace. (Imada)

By 1873, John McColgan owned a sugar cane plantation in ʻEwa on Oʻahu. Later that year, in July, he leased land from the late King Kamehameha V’s estate on Molokai to start a sugar cane plantation which would use the same milling technology employed at the ʻEwa plantation.

In about 1877, John moved to Kamalō on Molokai. His sugar cane plantation, the Kamalo Plantation, did well, producing “rattoons, six months old, from the same place, which measured eight feet in length and nine inches in circumference … “ and “stalks of cane … eleven months old, and measured 10 to 12 feet in length.” (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

In 1878 Kamalo Plantation harvested its first crop. Located on the southern slopes of the island, 44 laborers cultivated about 100 acres of cane. Its mill struggled to produce 250 tons of sugar in any one year.  (Dorrance)

By 1880, John’s cousin Daniel McCorriston (1840-1927) managed the Kamalo Plantation, and his cousin Hugh McCorriston (1836-1926) refined the sugar while John acted as the agent in Honolulu. (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

In the 1880s, nearby sugar planters would load sugarcane onto a small flatbed barge and tow the cargo by draft animals along the shallow shoreline to the mill at Kamalo. (Kakahai‘a NWR, FWS)

By 1884, the Kamalo Plantation was doing well enough to engage in the exportation of refined sugar to the United States, helping lay the foundation for the sugar partnership between California and Hawaii that exists today as C&H Sugar. (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

In 1891 the plantation harvested its last crop. (Dorrance) Kamalo Sugar Plantation, under manager Patrick McLane and Agent, Frank Hustace, started in 1899; it was short-lived and closed in 1900 – signaling the end of sugarcane plantations on Molokai. (Dorrance)

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