Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Endeavour

A ship now simply known as RI 2394 lies wrecked on the muddy seabed of Newport Harbor. It had been sunk by the British military in an American harbor.

Its location was forgotten for over two centuries until Australian maritime archaeologists worked with a team in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, to hunt for clues that confirmed its identity.

Then, … “it is with great pride that after a 22-year program of archival and archaeological fieldwork that, based on a preponderance of evidence approach, I have concluded that an archaeological site known as RI 2394, located in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, USA, comprises the shipwreck of HM Bark Endeavour.” (Kevin Sumpton, Australian National Maritime Museum)

However, the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project, reportedly the lead organization for the study in Newport harbor, says “the report that the Endeavour has been identified is premature.”

Let’s look back …

In the late-1700s, the small seaside village of Whitby was known as a ‘nursery’ for mariners, where expert shipbuilders and the most competent seafarers completed their apprenticeships. This center for commercial trade bred colliers – sturdy ships capable of carrying heavy loads, including coal, across the Baltic Sea and beyond.

They were steady workhorses that could be relied upon. Their solid, flat-floored hulls were adept in navigating shallow harbors and estuaries.

Earl of Pembroke was one such vessel, built by Thomas Fishburn for Thomas Milner in 1764. The ship was used as a coal carrier.

One of its rare and distinguishing features was a ‘deadwood’ or ‘rider’ keelson that ran along the inside bottom of the hull. This reinforcing centerline timber prevented the vessel from breaking its back when loading or unloading cargo in shallow tidal waters.

A March 27, 1768 letter from The Yard Officers, Deptford to The Royal Navy Board stated, “We have surveyed and measured the undermentioned ships recommended to your Honours to proceed on Foreign Service and send you an account of their quantities, condition, age and dimensions …”

“The Earl of Pembroke, Mr Thos. Milner, ownes was built at Whitby, her age three years nine months, square stern bark, single bottom, full built and comes nearest to the tonnage mentioned in your warrant and not so old by fourteen months, is a promising ship for sailing of this kind and fit to stow provisions and stores as may be put on board her.”

A subsequent letter from The Royal Navy to the Secretary of the Admiralty on March 29, 1768 stated, “We desire that you will inform their Lordships that we have purchased a catbuilt bark, in burthen 368 tons, and of the age of three years and nine months, for conveying such persons as shall be thought proper to the southward …”

“… for making observations of the passage of the planet Venus over the disc of the sun, and pray to be favoured with their Lordships’ directions for fitting her for this service accordingly … and that we may also receive Their commands by what name she shall be registered on the list of the Navy.”

An April 5, April 1768 response stated, “We do hereby desire and direct you to cause the said vessel to be sheathed, filled, and fitted in all respects proper for that service, and to report to us when she will be ready to receive men. And you are to cause the said vessel to be registered on the list of the Royal Navy as a bark by the name of the Endeavour”.

Captain James Cook’s first Pacific voyage (1768-1771) was aboard the Endeavour and began on May 27, 1768. It had three aims; establish an observatory at Tahiti to record the transit of Venus (when Venus passes between the earth and the sun – June 3, 1769;) record natural history, led by 25-year-old Joseph Banks; and continue the search for the Great South Land.

When Captain Cook set sail on the first of three voyages to the South Seas, he carried with him secret orders from the British Admiralty to seek ‘a Continent or Land of great extent’ and to take possession of that country ‘in the Name of the King of Great Britain’.

While each of the three journeys made by Captain Cook into the Pacific had its own aim and yielded its own discoveries, it was this confidential agenda that would transform the way Europeans viewed the Pacific Ocean and its lands. (State Library, New South Wales)

Endeavour voyaged to the South Pacific, mainly to record the transit of Venus in Tahiti in 1769. After that, the ship sailed around the South Pacific searching for the “Great Southern Land.” (Wall Street Journal)

After heading west from England, rounding Cape Horn beneath South America and crossing the Pacific, Cook landed the Endeavour in Australia’s Botany Bay on April 29, 1770. To the British, Cook went down in history as the man who ‘discovered’ Australia – despite Aboriginal Australians having lived there for 50,000 years and the Dutch traversing its shores for centuries. (Ward)

When Endeavour sailed around the coast of Australia, on June 11, 1770, she became stuck in a reef, now known as Endeavour Reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef). Cook ordered that all extra weight and unnecessary equipment be removed from the ship to help her float.

The reef had created a hole in the hull which, if removed from the reef, would cause the ship the flood. After several attempts, Cook and his crew successfully freed Endeavour but she was in a dire condition. She sailed to Batavia, part of the Dutch East Indies, to properly repair her before the voyage home.

Captain Cook’s charting of Australia’s east coast paved the way for the establishment of a penal colony. In 1788, British settlers landed in what is now downtown Sydney.

At the time Captain Cook was sailing in the Pacific and bumped into Hawai’i (January 18, 1778) recall that back in the Atlantic, the American Revolutionary War was still ongoing with the Americans (with support from the French) fighting the British.

After returning to Britain in 1771, the Endeavour was sent to Woolwich to be refitted to be used as a naval transport and store ship, frequently operating between Britain and the Falklands. In 1775 she was sold out of the navy to a shipping company Mather & Co. She was refitted and renamed Lord Sandwich.

Lord Sandwich was also contracted by the British navy to transport soldiers in 1776 to fight against the American colonists who sought to break free from British control.

In 1776, Lord Sandwich was stationed in New York during the Battle of Long Island that led to the British capture of New York. In August 1778, the British scuttled the Lord Sandwich and four other vessels at Newport Harbor to try to create a blockade to stop a fleet of French warships that had sailed in to support the American forces. (VOA News)

Cook’s second Pacific voyage (1772-1775) aboard Resolution and Adventure aimed to establish whether there was an inhabited southern continent, and make astronomical observations.

Cook’s third and final voyage (1776-1779) of discovery was an attempt to locate a North-West Passage, an ice-free sea route which linked the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Cook commanded the Resolution while Charles Clerke commanded Discovery. (State Library, New South Wales)

Cook’s crew first sighted the Hawaiian Islands in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778. His two ships, the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, were kept at bay by the weather until the next day when they approached Kauai’s southeast coast.

On the afternoon of January 19, native Hawaiians in canoes paddled out to meet Cook’s ships, and so began Hawai’i’s contact with Westerners. The first Hawaiians to greet Cook were from the Kōloa south shore.

The Hawaiians traded fish and sweet potatoes for pieces of iron and brass that were lowered down from Cook’s ships to the Hawaiians’ canoes.

The Island “were named by Captain Cook the Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich, under whose administration he had enriched geography with so many splendid and important discoveries.” (Captain King’s Journal; Kerr)

Hawaiian lives changed with sudden and lasting impact, when western contact changed the course of history for Hawai’i.

At the time of Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lanai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Throughout their stay, the ships were supplied with fresh provisions which were paid for mainly with iron, much of it in the form of long iron daggers made by the ships’ blacksmiths on the pattern of the wooden pāhoa used by the Hawaiians.

After a month’s stay, Cook got under sail again to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific. Shortly after leaving Hawaiʻi Island, the foremast of the Resolution broke. They returned to Kealakekua. On February 14, 1779, Cook was killed. (Information here is from Australian National Maritime Museum, Ward, RIMAP, MuSEAum).)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

George Lucas

George Lucas (May 7, 1821 – March 2, 1892) was born in County Clare, Ireland; he first came to Hawaiʻi in 1849.  His father, the first George Lucas, moved his family to Australia by the British government to take charge of the government domain there.

He remained there for several years, and met and married Miss Sarah Williams.  Shortly after his marriage, hearing of the gold excitement in California, he set sail, accompanied by his wife, for San Francisco.

En route, they stopped in the Islands for three weeks for the ship to re-provision, finally reaching California on the last day of December, 1849. He met with little success as a miner, deciding, instead, to remain in San Francisco and establish himself as a carpenter.  He prospered for about six years; however, had a severe loss due to a fire.

He could not forget Hawaiʻi, and in July, 1856, he returned there to make the Islands his home. He began his contracting and building business, and founded the Honolulu Steam Planing Mill.

The energy and perseverance of the man brought its reward when he opened the Mill on the Esplanade – a “shapely stuccoed brick structure.” This mill was one of Honolulu’s leading manufacturing establishments, and has always furnished employment to a large number of mechanics and laborers.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 03, 1892)

Although the plant began in a small way, turning out finishings and equipment needed for his contracting jobs, its volume of business grew steadily and became the largest concern of its kind in the islands. (Nellist)

“This mill is well fitted and complete in every respect, having machines of the latest patterns and make, and capabilities for turning out work in great variety. It is fitted with a planer, strikers, blind machines, morticers, running lathes, band and jig saws, tenoning machine, and rip and cross-cut saws of every size, and other machines.”

“The proprietor, Mr. George Lucas, first started business in this city March 7, 1859, but found that the rapidly-increasing demand for woodwork finish, in all its requirements, made it absolutely necessary for him to open the present establishment, which now ranks second to none in any city.”

“First-class workmen are employed in this establishment, and all work is guaranteed. The mill is of brick, 82 x 42 feet, and 14 feet high. The engine is of twenty-horse power. Twenty men are employed in this establishment.”   (Browser; Maly)

Lucas’ Honolulu Planing Mill building served a couple other critical purposes at Honolulu Harbor.  First, the clock tower served as a range marker for ships aligning to enter/leave the harbor.  (“The line of the harbor light (red) and the clock tower of the Honolulu Planing Mill on Fort … just touches the west side of this channel at the outer end.”)  (Hawaii Bureau of Customs)

In addition, the clock served as a local time piece, as well as the official time to mariners.  “Time-Signal at Planing Mill … a time-signal has been established at the Honolulu steam-planing mill, Honolulu, Sandwich islands. The signal is a whistle, which is sounded twice daily by electric signal from the survey office; … (giving time associated with) Greenwich mean time.  (Nautical Magazine, January 1890)

The Lucas clock didn’t always work, “Lucas’ clock … At 7 this morning the clock was of the opinion that 10:45 was about the correct time.”  (Hawaiian Star, October 25, 1895)

“Lucas’ clock on the Esplanade has been groggy for some time lately but repairs are being made.  It’s a godsend to the waterfront people and the government should keep it in repair.”  (Evening Bulletin, July 12, 1897)

Others wanted to be different, “Maui wants to adopt the Government time on Lucas’ clock with five minutes added, but some few will not agree to it. The result is a great uncertainty in times. (Maui, June 28)” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 1, 1890)

Lucas was one of the first contractors and builders in Honolulu, and constructed many of the business buildings in the city.

He built the Campbell Block, the Pantheon Block, the Brewer Block and many other large downtown buildings, and was responsible for all woodwork construction in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (the one downtown, it was later the Army/Navy YMCA and now the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum.)

Most notably, when King Kalākaua decided to build ʻIolani Palace, he named George Lucas as general superintendent and the contractor for all of the cabinetry, woodwork and finishing in the Palace.  (Nellist)

George Lucas supervised the carpentry, using fine imported (e.g., American walnut and white cedar) and Hawaiian (koa, kou, kamani and ʻōhiʻa) woods.

The sophisticated mansard roofs and the detailed brickwork, moldings and wrought iron were completed in time for Kalākaua’s coronation ceremony on February 12, 1883, for which the palace served as centerpiece.  (Kamehiro)

For many years Mr. Lucas was Chief Engineer of the Honolulu Volunteer Fire Department, and during the reign of King Kalākaua he was offered the position of superintendent of public works, but declined it. (Nellist)  After retiring, he was acting Chief for six months, as the Department was unwilling to nominate anyone else, and only did so because he refused to serve.

“It was through his persistent efforts that the first two steam fire engines were imported to these islands, and when he retired from the office of Chief he still retained a deep interest in the department, and was made an honorary member of No. 1 Engine.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 3, 1892)

Lucas was the founder and first president of the old Mechanics’ Library (Honolulu Library and Reading Room,) now the Hawaiʻi State Library.

George and Sarah had nine children; the seven who lived were Thomas, Charles, John, George, Albert, William and Eliza. (Nellist)

Following his death in 1892, sons Thomas, Charles and John formed a partnership, Lucas Brothers, to carry on the trade and business of carpenters, builders and contractors; it lasted until April 19, 1910, when son John incorporated the concern.

“No citizen was better known than he. He could count his friends by the score, and when he made a friend it was a friendship that would last forever.”

“There are few individuals in Honolulu who have done more in the way of charity and benevolence in proportion to their means than Mr. Lucas.”    (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 3, 1892)

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Japanese Charity Hospital

In the late 1800s, the sugar plantations in Hawaii were booming and the contract laborers were the backbone of the industry. During this period, relief to needy persons was provided according to ethnicity by various charity organizations such as the Hawaiian Relief Society, British Benevolent Society and Ladies’ Portuguese Charitable Association.

Although several Japanese charity groups were formed, these organizations provided limited relief and many were in existence for only a short time. However, one such organization, the Japanese Benevolent Society, survived.

The Society was established as a voluntary association in 1892 and incorporated in 1899 as an eleemosynary corporation for the purpose of giving relief to the Japanese in Hawaii whose needs resulted from illness, poverty, accident or other causes.

In January 1900, the Chinatown fire left thousands of Japanese immigrants without homes, food or clothing. The Society provided emergency relief and then immediately started plans to build a hospital.

After raising enough funds, they purchased a site with more than half an acre of land located in the Kapalama district of Honolulu, south of King Street at the end of a narrow lane. In July 1900, a two-story wooden building containing 38 beds was completed and called the Japanese Charity Hospital.

“That the society is accomplishing a great work among the Japanese people in this city was evidenced by the statements submitted by Secretary S. Masuda, who briefly outlined the objects and future ambitions of the of the society.”

“Since the early part of the year 1893 the society has seen the necessity of building a permanent hospital in order to carry out its work of charity among Japanese people. It was about this time that Dr S Kobayashi realized the need of the hospital and decided to erect one at his own expense.”

“With this end in view a temporary hospital was built on leased ground on Liliha, near School street. Satisfactory arrangements were made for the time being with the hospital and the Benevolent society whereby its patients were to be received and treated at special and reasonable rates.” (Honolulu Republican, Oct 6, 1900)

In August 1902, the hospital moved a few miles away into a three-story wooden structure. It had 25 bedrooms, three operating rooms, an autopsy room, a morgue, and a few other specialized rooms. For fifteen years, the Society maintained this hospital until it, too, became overcrowded and rundown.

By September 1918, funds from the Society and public contributions (which included a special donation from Emperor Taisho and the Empress of Japan) helped build a modern facility at the hospital’s third and present site on Kuakini Street.

The 16-building hospital had 120 beds and was equipped with up-to-date appliances and facilities. The institution, whose name was shortened to “Japanese Hospital” in April 1917, was situated on almost four acres of land. By 1920 the Japanese Hospital was the second-largest civilian hospital in the territory.

In 1932, many of the Japanese immigrant men who had worked on the plantations had reached retirement age, were unmarried and had no families to care for them.

In order to assist these elderly men who were not acutely ill but needed a protective environment, the Society built the Japanese Home of Hawaii on the grounds of the hospital using community donations. The 50-bed facility, the forerunner of the present Kuakini Home, provided care, food and shelter for these elderly men.

A major expansion program that was completed in 1939 increased the hospital’s size to 100 beds and provided more services with the addition of X-ray, surgical, pediatric and maternity facilities.

A portion of the new building (designed with a copper dome) was called the Imperial Gift Memorial Building in recognition of the financial support Kuakini received from the Imperial Family of Japan. (In 1934, Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Shōwa) and the Empress of Japan donated 10,000 yen for the hospital expansion program.)

With the onset of World War II in 1941, the U. S. Army took control of over half of the hospital’s facilities. Due to the fact that Kuakini’s Board consisted of descendants of Japanese immigrants, Kuakini was the only hospital in the United States to be occupied by the U.S. Army. In 1942, the hospital changed its name to Kuakini Hospital and Home. The hospital was returned to civilian control in 1945.

A major fund drive in 1951 financed the construction of the hospital’s Ewa wing and part of its Waikiki wing which increased Kuakini’s bed count to 140 beds.

Kuakini received its first accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (now called the Joint Commission) in 1954. At that time, there were 235 employees, 63 full-time registered nurses and 225 doctors on the medical staff.

With its modern, well-equipped facilities, the hospital was an excellent training ground for interns in need of further medical experience. Physicians from Japan came to Kuakini to receive training in American medicine before going to mainland hospitals for additional experience.

Senior medical technology students from the University of Hawaii spent a year in the hospital’s laboratory for training and nursing students obtained their clinical experience in medical and surgical nursing at Kuakini.

In 1956, the governing Board of Kuakini authorized the use of an architectural consultant to assist in the development of a master plan for future physical expansion at Kuakini.

In the late 1950s, more physicians became specialists and pediatric and obstetric patients began to seek these physicians as well as the specialty hospitals for their care. With the resulting low occupancy rate of its obstetrics and pediatrics units and the need for more medical/surgical beds

Kuakini eliminated its obstetrics department in 1964 and its pediatrics department in 1967. This decision not only benefited Kuakini through the availability of more beds for medical and surgical services, but it also helped increase census at the specialty hospitals in the community through the elimination of duplicate services at Kuakini.

Through the years, Kuakini has kept pace with the community’s demand for quality health care. The hospital was renamed Kuakini Medical Center in 1975 to reflect its expanded programs to the community and in celebration of its 75th anniversary.

Kuakini has the distinct honor of being the last surviving hospital established by Japanese immigrants in the US.  Kuakini Medical Plaza, an eight-story physicians’ office building next to the Medical Center, was completed in 1979 to provide a medical facility that enables doctors to be near their hospitalized patients.

In March 1980, Kuakini dedicated its Hale Pulama Mau (House of Cherishing Care) building. Acute medical/surgical services as well as geriatric care services are provided within Hale Pulama Mau. A second physicians’ office building, the Kuakini Physicians Tower and a new parking facility for employees were completed in 1998.

Today, Kuakini is a 250-bed acute care hospital.  (Lots of information here is from Kuakini Health System.)

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William McKinley

Born in Niles, Ohio, in 1843, William McKinley briefly attended Allegheny College, and was teaching in a country school when the Civil War broke out. Enlisting as a private in the Union Army, he was mustered out at the end of the war as a brevet major of volunteers. He studied law, opened an office in Canton, Ohio, and married Ida Saxton, daughter of a local banker.

At 34, McKinley won a seat in Congress. His attractive personality, exemplary character, and quick intelligence enabled him to rise rapidly. He was appointed to the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

Robert M. La Follette, Sr., who served with him, recalled that he generally “represented the newer view,” and “on the great new questions .. was generally on the side of the public and against private interests.”

During his 14 years in the House, he became the leading Republican tariff expert, giving his name to the measure enacted in 1890. The next year he was elected Governor of Ohio, serving two terms.  William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until September 14, 1901. (WH Historical Assoc)

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence.

William McKinley was president of the United States, and the causal event was the explosion of the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba on February 15, 1898.

Spain had interests in the Pacific, particularly in the Guam and Philippines.  Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Likewise, US foreign policy advocated the taking of the Caribbean Islands and the Philippine Islands for bases to protect US commerce.

Meanwhile, Hawai’i, had gained strategic importance because of its geographical position in the Pacific.  Honolulu served as a stopover point for the forces heading to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the breaking of diplomatic relations with Spain as a result of her treatment of Cuba so completely absorbed public attention that the matter of Hawaiian annexation seemed to have been forgotten.

The war drama moved swiftly. The destruction of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor precipitated matters, and on April 25, 1898, President McKinley signed the resolutions declaring that a state of war existed between the United States and Spain.

On May 5, Representative Francis Newlands, of Nevada, offered a joint resolution addressing the annexation of Hawai‘i. Though considerable opposition to annexation was still manifested in the House, the Newlands resolutions were finally passed.

The resolutions were immediately reported to the Senate, which had been discussing the treaty for nearly a year.  That body referred them to its Committee on Foreign Relations, which in turn at once favorably reported them.

On June 15, 1898, the Newlands resolution passed the House by a vote of 209 to 91; the vote on the Newlands Resolution in the Senate was 42 to 21 (2/3 of the votes by Senators were in favor of the resolution, a significantly greater margin was cast by Representatives in the House.) (Cyclopedic Review of Current History, 4th Quarter 1898)

The US Constitution, Article II, Section 2 states: “(The President) shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur …”  The following day, July 7, 1898, President McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution it into law.

“There was no ‘conquest’ by force in the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands nor ‘holding as conquered territory;’ they (Republic of Hawai‘i) came to the United States in the same way that Florida did, to wit, by voluntary cession”.

On August 12, 1898, there were ceremonial functions held in Honolulu at which the Hawaiian government was formally notified by the United States minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of the adoption and approval of the joint resolution aforesaid, and at which the Hawaiian government made, an unequivocal transfer and cession of its sovereignty and property.  (Territorial Supreme Court; Albany Law Journal)

At the time, there was no assigned garrison here until August 15, 1898, when the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry regiment and the 3rd Battalion, 2nd US Volunteer Engineers landed in Honolulu for garrison duty.

The two commands were initially camped alongside each other as though they were one regiment in the large infield of the one-mile race track at Kapi‘olani Park.  The initial camp in the infield at the race track was unnamed.

As more members of the regiment arrived, the camp was moved about three or four hundred yards from the race track to an area called ‘Irwin Tract.’  The Irwin Tract camp was named “Camp McKinley,” in honor of the president.

William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901.

Leon Czolgosz shot him twice in the abdomen. McKinley died after eight days of watch and care (September 14, 1901). He was the third American president to be assassinated. After his death, Congress passed legislation to officially make the Secret Service and gave them responsibility for protecting the President at all times.

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Broken Leg

In 1834, John Paty sailed for the first time to Hawai‘i in the brig Avon, of which he was master and part owner, accompanied by his wife and brother, and arrived at Honolulu in June of that year.  (They had three children while in Hawaiʻi, John Henry Paty (1840,) Mary Francesca Paty (1844) and Emma Theodora Paty (1850.)

In 1860, “Capt John Paty, as a ship master out of Honolulu, and the valuable assistance rendered by him in the furtherance of commercial intercourse between the Hawaiian Islands and adjacent ports in foreign countries, as evidenced by the accomplishment of his one hundredth passage across the Pacific.”   (The Friend, November 1, 1860)

In 1865, Paty, on another run to the Islands, hired Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Dillingham as first mate on the bark Whistler, on the San Francisco/Honolulu run.

Frank, the son of Benjamin Clark Dillingham, a shipmaster, and Lydia Sears (Hows) Dillingham, was born on September 4, 1844 in West Brewster, Massachusetts. Frank left school at 14 and shipped on his uncle’s vessel for a voyage around the Horn to San Francisco. 

“A brief sojourn in the city enabled me to realize that I had no training in any other vocation, save that of the sea, and learning that Capt. Paty of the bark Whistler plying between the coast and Honolulu was in need of officers, I applied and obtained the position of first mate without delay.”  (Dillingham; Chiddix & Simpson)

Dillingham wrote that he felt at home the first time he came ashore in Honolulu: “After my tempstuous experiences in rounding Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, the trip seemed to me like a pleasure excursion.”

“It felt as if I had anchored in a home port; the cordiality I experienced from all those whom I met removed at once the feeling of being in a foreign land though the streets were filled with several nationalities. The luxuriant foliage, the balmy breezes, the tropical fruits, all afforded such delights that I felt sure I should return.”

He would indeed return, and on his third trip aboard the Whistler, he rented a horse. “Sailors are notoriously unfamiliar with horses” he later wrote—describing his collision with a carriage. Ships and sailors were of economic import in the Islands, and on July 29, 1865, the Pacific Commercial Advertiser ran a short piece on his accident:

“The first officer of the bark Whistler Mr Dillingham, whose leg was broken last Friday night by being thrown from a horse, in a collision with a carriage on the vally road, is now at the American Marine Hospital, where he receives every care and attention, and is in a favorable condition for recovery.”

The Whistler could not wait and sailed without him. Ultimately, and unknown to anyone at the time, this changed to course of economic history in the Islands and resulted in lasting legacies.

While recovering, Dillingham had a long time to reflect upon his options. This time he was more serious about staying ashore. Already in love with these Islands, he had met Emma Louise Smith on an earlier visit.

Despite tales of her nursing him back to health, she was away in New England while Frank was recuperating. She was also engaged to another man whom by all accounts she did not love. Dillingham’s patience in slowly courting Emma demonstrated a determination for which he later became known.

He accepted a job as a clerk in a hardware store called H. Dimond & Son for $40 per month. The store was owned by Henry Dimond, formerly a bookbinder in the 7th Missionary Company. In 1850 Dimond had been released from his duties at the Mission and had gone into business with his son.

Dillingham later bought the company with partner Alfred Castle (son of Samuel Northrup Castle, who was in the 8th Company of missionaries and ran the Mission business office;) they called the company Dillingham & Co (it was later known as Pacific Hardware, Co.)

On April 26, 1869, Dillingham married Emma Smith, daughter of 6th Company missionaries Reverend Lowell and Abigail Smith.

But hard times came on Dillingham with the collapse of whaling and the rise of sugar. Large suppliers pulled Dillingham’s credit lines, and his accounts were paid late.  Then Dillingham was given the opportunity to buy the James Campbell lands in Ewa.

While he couldn’t raise the money to buy it, Campbell leased the land for 50-years.  Dillingham realized that to be successful, he needed reliable transportation.

On September 4, 1888, Frank Dillingham’s 44th birthday, the legislature gave Dillingham an exclusive franchise “for construction and operation on the Island of O‘ahu a steam railroad … for the carriage of passengers and freight.”

They laughed at him and called it ‘Dillingham’s Folly.’ But Benjamin Franklin Dillingham’s dream of a railroad into the wilderness of West Oahu carried the promise of a sugar industry and major developments that would change Hawaii forever. (Wagner)

Dillingham formed O‘ahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L,) a narrow gauge rail, whose economic being was founded on the belief that O‘ahu would soon host a major sugar industry.

“Among the most important works now in process of rapid construction, is the Oahu railway to Pearl Harbor, which is already approaching completion, so far as grading is concerned. Eleven miles of this line will have the grading completed in two weeks; and of this length ten miles are already finished.”

“The depot itself will be of imposing size and made as ornamental in appearance as convenience and traffic requirements will allow. … The progress of this important work has been so rapid during the month of July that we give it first place among the works in progress during the past month.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 27, 1889)

“Mr BF Dillingham, promoter of the Oahu Railway and Land Company [OR&L], on his birthday a year previous, was accosted by an acquaintance with the remark: ‘Well, Mr. Dillingham, you have got your franchise: when are you going to give us the railway?’”

“Mr. Dillingham replied that on his next birthday, that day one year, he hoped to treat his friends to a railway ride.  … with a strong company now at his back, the originator of the enterprise, having taken the contract to build the road, resolutely pushed operations to their present advanced stage.”

On September 4, 1889, Mr. Dillingham’s forty-fifth birthday, the first train to run out of Honolulu took an excursion party one-half mile into the Palama rice fields.

‘Dillingham’s Folly’ had now become the greatest single factor in the development of O‘ahu and Honolulu.  (Nellist)

“With a shrill blast from the whistle and the bell clanging, the engine moved easily off with its load. Three rousing cheers were given by the passengers, and crowds assembled at the starting point responded.”  (Daily Bulletin, September 5, 1889)

The rail line was extended, reaching Waianae in 1895 and, with Waialua plantation enormously expanded under Mr. Dillingham’s driving leadership, the railroad eventually was extended there and on to Kahuku. (Nellist)

Ultimately, OR&L sublet land, partnered on several sugar operations and/or hauled cane from Ewa Plantation Company, Honolulu Sugar Company in ‘Aiea, O‘ahu Sugar in Waipahu, Waianae Sugar Company, Waialua Agriculture Company and Kahuku Plantation Company, as well as pineapples for Dole.

By the early-1900s, the expanded railway cut across the island, serving several sugar and pineapple plantations, and the popular Haleʻiwa Hotel.  They even included a “Kodak Camera Train” (associated with the Hula Show) for Sunday trips to Hale‘iwa for picture-taking.

When the hotel opened on August 5, 1899, guests were conveyed from the railway terminal over the Anahulu stream to fourteen luxurious suites, each had a bath with hot-and-cold running water.

Thrum’s ‘Hawaiian Annual’ (1900,) noted, “In providing so tempting an inn as an adjunct and special attraction for travel by the Oahu Railway – also of his (Dillingham’s) creation – the old maxim of ‘what is worth doing is worth doing well’ has been well observed, everything about the hotel is first class …”

The weekend getaway from Honolulu to the Haleʻiwa Hotel became hugely popular with the city affluent who enjoyed a retreat in ‘the country.’

In addition, OR&L (using another of its “land” components,) got into land development.  It developed Hawai‘i’s first planned suburban development and held a contest, through the newspaper, to name this new city.  The winner selected was “Pearl City” (the public also named the main street, Lehua.)

The railway owned 2,200-acres in fee simple in the peninsula.  First they laid-out and constructed the improvements, then invited the public on a free ride to see the new residential community.  The marketing went so well; ultimately, lots were auctioned off to the highest bidder.

“Mr. Dillingham, besides creating the O‘ahu Railway, a line for which he struggled twenty-seven years against a public prejudice that would not see its financial possibilities, established Olaʻa plantation on the Island of Hawai‘i and McBryde plantation on Kauai.”  (Sugar, May 1918) 

On his death in 1918 at age 74, Dillingham was hailed as a “master builder” and Honolulu’s financial district closed its doors out of respect.   (Wagner)  The Islands would have been different, if not for a sailor breaking his leg riding a horse.

The Dillingham Transportation Building was built in 1929 for Walter F Dillingham of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, who founded the Hawaiian Dredging Company (later Dillingham Construction) and ran the Oahu Railway and Land Company founded by his father, Benjamin Franklin Dillingham. (Information in this post taken, in part, from ‘Next Stop Honolulu.’)

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