Images of Old Hawaiʻi

  • Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance
    • American Protestant Mission
    • Buildings
    • Collections
    • Economy
    • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
    • General
    • Hawaiian Traditions
    • Other Summaries
    • Mayflower Summaries
    • Mayflower Full Summaries
    • Military
    • Place Names
    • Prominent People
    • Schools
    • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
    • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Collections
  • Contact
  • Follow

July 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kawaiahaʻo Steeple

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kawaiahao_Church-King-Punchbowl-dirt-roads-PP-15-11-015-00001
Kawaiahao_Church-King-Punchbowl-dirt-roads-PP-15-11-015-00001
Kawaiahao_Church,_Honolulu,_in_1857
Kawaiahao_Church,_Honolulu,_in_1857
Kawaiahao_Church_illustration,_c._1870s
Kawaiahao_Church_illustration,_c._1870s
Kawaiahao Church-1885-LOC
Kawaiahao Church-1885-LOC
Kawaiahao_Church-Diamond_Head_in_Background
Kawaiahao_Church-Diamond_Head_in_Background
Kawaiahao_Church-Lunalilo_Tomb-PP-15-12-023-00001
Kawaiahao_Church-Lunalilo_Tomb-PP-15-12-023-00001
Kawaiahao_Church-1900
Kawaiahao_Church-1900

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Honolulu, Oahu, Liliuokalani, Kawaiahao Church, Hiram Bingham, Pauahi

July 17, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hale Pili o Nā Mikanele

The Second Company of American Protestant missionaries to Hawai‘i left on the Thames from New Haven Connecticut and arrived at Honolulu on April 27, 1823. (The Hawaiians called the missionaries mikanele.)

The members of the first reinforcement were critical in the expansion of the Mission, important relationships with the royal family and, through the efforts of missionary William Richards, the development of a Hawaiian constitutional government.

William & Clarissa Richards and Charles & Harriet Stewart (and their dear friend Betsey Stockton) were assigned a hale pili (thatched homes) on Missionary Row.

“While in America my imagination had often portrayed scenes of the future – the humble cot on missionary ground, and all its appurtenances fancy had dressed in fairy colours …”

“… She had twined around her happy dwelling many romantic sweets, and scattered with a lavish hand the beauties of natural scenery. You will ask if the picture exists in real life. I answer no. I find nothing (of) this kind; but I do find what is infinitely more valuable.” (Charissa Richards Journal, May 1, 1823; Leineweber, Mission Houses)

Despite her initial disillusionment, Clarissa looked with pleasure on her new accommodations. “If our cottage has not all that elegant simplicity about it that I had fancied, it is far more comfortable within.”

“Her husband, William Richards was a little more direct, ‘We are living in houses built by the heathen and presented to us.” Within a grouping of six grass houses were “two … put up for our accommodation before our arrival.” (Leineweber, Mission Houses)

Levi Chamberlain (another member of the 2nd Company, noted, “Monday July 28 (1823.) The wind has been excessively strong today, rendering it very uncomfortable to go abroad, and indeed uncomfortable to be at home from the necessity of having the windows & doors of our houses shut to keep out the dust.”

“Mrs. Loomis, & Mrs. Bishop, & Mr. & Mrs. Ely were obliged to leave their thatched houses & come into the wood house to avoid the dust. which came into their houses in such abundance thay they could not remain with comfort.” (Levi Chamberlain Journal)

“The Hawaiian mode of building habitations was, in a measure, ingenious, and when their work was carefully executed, it was adapted to the taste of a dark, rude tribe, subsisting on roots, fish, and fruits, but by no means sufficient to meet their necessities, even in their mild climate.” (Hiram Bingham)

“(The frame of) the building assumes the appearance of a huge, rude bird cage. It is then covered with the leaf of the ki, pandanus, sugarcane, or more commonly (as in the case of the habitations for us) with grass bound on in small bundles, side by side, one tier overlapping another, like shingles.”

“A house thus thatched assumes the appearance of a long hay stack without, and a cage in a hay mow within. The area or ground within, is raised a little with earth, to prevent the influx of water, and spread with grass and mats, answering usually instead of floors, tables, chairs, sofas, and beds.”

“Such was the habitation of the Hawaiian, – the monarch, chief, and landlord, the farmer, fisherman, and cloth-beating widow, – a tent of poles and thatch-a rude attic, of one apartment on the ground-a shelter for the father, mother, larger and smaller children, friends and servants.” (Hiram Bingham)

Most Hawaiian family hale compounds had several special-purpose hale. This collection was called a kauhale. The household complex was the center of the Native Hawaiian family and household production of the necessities of life. Men and women’s activities took place in different areas. (Leineweber)

Missionary Row was Diamond Head side of the present wood frame building at Mission Houses – it fronted along what is now King Street.

The proposed Richard’s hale pili will be reproduction of a hale that Boki ordered built for the new missionaries arriving as the Second Company in 1823. The hale represents a bridge between cultures and represents support given to the missionaries by the host culture, and the cooperative relationship that existed between the chiefs and the missionaries.

Clarissa Richards dimensioned her house with “one room – 22 feet long and 12 feet wide” with a height of “12 feet from the ground to the ridge pole. … (It) had three windows, or rather holes cut through the thatching with close wooden shutters.” The door was “too small to admit a person walking in without stooping.” (Betsey Stockton)

The interior of each of the houses was one large room with no floors, but the “ground spread with mats.” Most of the furniture in each of the houses had arrived with the individual family in the reinforcement.

Clarissa Richards described the sleeping accommodation in her house, “Mats are fastened over and at the sides of our bed, except the front, which has a tappa curtain.” The rest of the furniture in the Richards’ House consisted of “a bed, two chairs, (one without a back,) a dozen trunks and boxes, and a couple of barrels.” Four large square trunks made a table. (Leineweber)

“Mr. R’s writing desk and the beautiful workbox presented by my beloved Cordelia. Over this table hangs a small looking glass – and on the other table (at) the other side of the window are arranged a few choice books, most of them testimonials of affection from absent friends.” (Clarissa Richards; Leineweber)

When William Richards and Charles Stewart left for Lahaina with Keōpūolani, Maria Loomis moved into one of the vacated houses. “Employed today in assisting Mrs Loomis to remove the furniture of her room into the thatched house recently occupied by Mr. Richards.”

In 1831 with Lorrin Andrews, Richards helped to build the high school at Lahainaluna on the slopes above Lahaina. In 1838 the king asked him to become a political adviser; he resigned his position with the mission and spent his time urging the improvement of the political system.

Richards was instrumental in helping to transform Hawai‘i into a modern constitutional state with a bill of rights (1839) and a constitution (1840). In 1842, he went abroad with Timoteo Haʻalilio as a diplomat seeking British, French and US acknowledgment of Hawaiian independence.

William Richards later became the Minister of Public Instruction in 1846 and worked with the legislature to make education a legal mandate.

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives is in the process of reconstructing the Richards hale pili. The Hale Pili o na Mikanele is a non-traditional hale, as many activities took place here and missionaries did not separate gender activities into different buildings.

The reconstructed hale pili will not use pili grass for the covering; instead a fire-retardant thatch panel will be used (it is situated next to the oldest wood frame house in the Islands.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

L2R Ellis, Richards & Stewart-Stockton; Frame House-Kawaiahao
L2R Ellis, Richards & Stewart-Stockton; Frame House-Kawaiahao
Missionary Row-Chamberlain-Oct 11, 1820-TheFriend Oct 1925
Missionary Row-Chamberlain-Oct 11, 1820-TheFriend Oct 1925
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Section
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Section
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Location
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Location
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Floor Plan
Hale Pili o na Mikanele-Richards Hale-Floor Plan

Filed Under: Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Hawaiian Traditions, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, William Richards, Hale Pili

July 14, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Dole Street

The beginning of the original Dole Street was just below the Punahou School campus and was part of a small subdivision of lots the school developed to raise money for the school’s endowment.

“In 1880 the ‘lower pasture,’ containing 31.3 acres, was divided into building lots, and streets laid out in it. The sale of these lots has added twenty-one thousand four hundred ($21,400.00) to the endowment.” (Alexander, 1907)

The Punahou Lots development was surveyed in 1880 by SE Bishop (Reg 848) – streets within the subdivision were named for prior leaders of the school.

Dole, Beckwith, Alexander and Bingham Streets, were named for prominent men associated with Punahou School.

Rev. Daniel Dole (1841-1854), Rev. Edward Griffin Beckwith (1854-1859) and William DeWitt Alexander (1864-1871), were initial and early leaders of the school.

Another street within the Punahou Lots development, Bingham, was named for Rev. Hiram Bingham, the initial recipient of the land grant, on behalf of the American Protestant mission, that eventually became Punahou School.

Apparently, some at the University of Hawaiʻi are trying “to restore Dole Street to its Hawaiian name” – suggesting Dole Street was originally named Kapaʻakea Street. (HNN)

“University of Hawaiʻi graduate student Kepoo Keliipaakaua found it on an 1882 survey map of the Mānoa area. Kapaʻakea means coral bedrock or limestone.” (HNN) The students also suggest the street was named for Sanford Dole.

That is not true. The history is clear; Dole Street was formed in 1880 by Punahou School and was named for Rev. Daniel Dole, the first teacher/administrator of Punahou (it was not named for Dole’s son, Sanford).

Regional maps from 1887, 1893, 1912 and 1923 (and others) show Dole Street and its subsequent extensions in the direction of where the University of Hawaiʻi is presently situated.

None of those early maps show any roads around or below where the UH is today (keep in mind the University didn’t make it to Mānoa until 1912); and none of these maps show a Kapaʻakea Street at all.

There is a 1934 map noting a short street as part of the St Louis Heights that Dole Street was proposed to extend to – however, that street in St Louis Heights was not named Kapaʻakea Street.

The ‘1882’ map noted by the UH students shows a notation for a road segment noted as Kapaʻakea Street – suggesting the road was there in 1882 (although all other mapping clearly note otherwise).

In addition, that ‘1882’ map also includes references on it dated in 1927, 1928 and 1930, suggesting edits made to the map over time.

Those edits relate to executive orders and other actions for the University – again, the UH campus wasn’t built until 1912 (well after the ‘date’ of the map).

Even an untrained, casual observer will see that the delineation of the ‘Kapaʻakea Street’, the printing of its name and the surrounding notations are in a different style than most of the other writing on the map.

So that map, over time, was obviously updated, although some suggest it carries only the 1882 time-reference.

And, it’s not clear when that text and portion of the map were put on the map; it is also not clear if Kapaʻakea Street was ever built.

In the broader area, there is a short road segment below King Street, generally running mauka-makai, called Kapaʻakea Lane; it is well removed from the University campus area and is (was) not possibly interconnected with Dole Street.

Some of the old maps note wetland area identified as Kapaʻakea. Kapaʻakea Spring was originally known as Kumulae Spring (later Hausten Spring/Pond). In 1944, the Willows Restaurant opened there.

As noted, starting in 1880, Dole Street in Mānoa was named for Rev. Daniel Dole, the initial teacher/administrator at Punahou School – other nearby streets in the Punahou Lots subdivision (below the existing Punahou campus) are named for other early school leaders.

Suggestions that the ‘original’ name of Dole Street was Kapaʻakea Street are simply wrong and not consistent with the clear history of the road and its subsequent extensions.

The image is a portion of an 1892 map of the area. It notes Dole Street and the Punahou Lots subdivision (on the left); note that there are no roads on the right, and definitely nothing labeled Kapaʻakea, other than the wetland. Check out the full story and multiple maps that show the same – Dole Street, but no Kapaʻakea Street below UH.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

1887-Downtown and Vicinity-Map-portion
1887-Downtown and Vicinity-Map-portion
1892-Downtown_Honolulu-Map-portion
1892-Downtown_Honolulu-Map-portion
1912-HonoluluDoveRandMcNally-map-portion
1912-HonoluluDoveRandMcNally-map-portion
1923-Honolulu-and-Vicinity-Map
1923-Honolulu-and-Vicinity-Map
1934-Honolulu and Vicinity Map-portion
1934-Honolulu and Vicinity Map-portion
1949-Honolulu and Vicinity-Transit-Map-portion
1949-Honolulu and Vicinity-Transit-Map-portion
1950-Honolulu and Vicinity - Pearl Harbor to Hawaii Kai - DAGS-portion
1950-Honolulu and Vicinity – Pearl Harbor to Hawaii Kai – DAGS-portion
1882-Manoa_Valley-Baldwin-(DAGS)-Reg1068-portion
1882-Manoa_Valley-Baldwin-(DAGS)-Reg1068-portion
1882-Manoa_Valley-Baldwin-(DAGS)-Reg1068-portion-zoom to 1920s Exec Orders
1882-Manoa_Valley-Baldwin-(DAGS)-Reg1068-portion-zoom to 1920s Exec Orders
1880-Punahou Lots-(Reg0848)-portion
1880-Punahou Lots-(Reg0848)-portion
Daniel_Dole-1874
Daniel_Dole-1874

Filed Under: General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Missionaries, Punahou, Manoa, Daniel Dole, Dole Street

July 9, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

St Martin de Tours Chapel

Some would suggest that Catholicism started in Hawaiʻi with the arrival of Don Francisco de Paula Marin (Manini) to the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 or 1794 (at about the age of 20.)

In 1819, Kalanimōku was the first Hawaiian Chief to be formally baptized a Catholic, aboard the French ship Uranie. Shortly thereafter, Boki, Kalanimōku’s brother (and Governor of Oʻahu) was baptized.

“The captain and the clergyman asked Young what Kalanimōku’s rank was, and upon being told that he was the chief counselor (kuhina nui) and a wise, kind, and careful man, they baptized him into the Catholic Church.” (Kamakau)

It wasn’t until July 7, 1827, however, when the pioneer French Catholic mission arrived in Honolulu. It consisted of three priests of the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Father Alexis Bachelot, Abraham Armand and Patrick Short. They were supported by a half dozen other Frenchmen.

Their first mass was celebrated a week later on Bastille Day, July 14, and a baptism was given on November 30, to a child of Marin.

On April 17, 1837, two other Catholic priests arrived. However, the Hawaiian government forced them back onto a ship on April 30. American, British and French officials in Hawaii intervened and persuaded the king to allow the priests to return to shore.

Catholic Christian worship in Hilo was as early as 1839. The first chapel located on bay front was made from pili grass and was called Saint Martin de Tours. Father Charles Pouzot, SCC became the first pastor of the parish in 1845.

By 1848 the small grass chapel was replaced by a new wooden structure. The Tabernacle to preserve the Eucharist was placed in the sanctuary in 1849.

Gradually the worship space was adorned with statues and stations of the cross. A bell donated in 1850, was a gift from sailors serving on the American man-of-war Independence.

In 1852 the chapel was enlarged due to the generosity of sailors from another American warship whose spiritual needs had also been served in Hilo.

In 1862 the parish of St. Martin de Tours had once again outgrown its place of worship. A new larger church was built in the area of Kalākaua Park on Keawe and Waiānuenue Avenue.

On July 9, 1862 Bishop Louis Maigret, Bishop of Honolulu dedicated the new church to Saint Joseph. That same day 30 more people were baptized and about 300 more were confirmed to become full members of the Saint Joseph Catholic Community.

In the 1880s an increase in the number of Portuguese immigrants from the Madeira Islands more than doubled the Catholic Christian population in Hilo.

Father Puozot already fluent in English, French and Hawaiian, learned Portuguese and began to preach his sermons in Portuguese as well as in English and Hawaiian.

Fr. James C. Bessell, SSCC was assigned as pastor at Saint Joseph in 1909. Father’s zealous effort to reach many families resulted in increasing devotional opportunities and an increase in the numbers of parishioners.

By 1911, Hawaiʻi had 85 priests, 30 churches and 55 chapels. The Catholic population was 35,000; there were 4 academies, a college and 9 parochial schools established by the mission, and the total number of pupils was 2,200.

A new, larger church was needed in Hilo. Father Beissell purchased the property on the corner of Kapiʻolani and Haili Streets from the First Hawaiian Company in 1915.

The large community of active faithful including, among others, Hawaiian and Portuguese families worked together to build their new church.

The cornerstone was laid in 1917 and the church was dedicated at its present location in February 1919. (St Joseph)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

St_Joseph's-Catholic_Church-Bertram
St_Joseph’s-Catholic_Church-Bertram
St_Joseph's_Catholic-Church-Bertram
St_Joseph’s_Catholic-Church-Bertram
Waianuenue-St Joseph's in background (left of center)-Bertram
Waianuenue-St Joseph’s in background (left of center)-Bertram
Hilo-St Joseph's at far right-Bertram
Hilo-St Joseph’s at far right-Bertram
St_Joseph's_Catholic_Church-Bertram
St_Joseph’s_Catholic_Church-Bertram
St_Joseph's_Catholic_Church,_Hilo,_Hawaii_by_Jules_Tavernier,_1887
St_Joseph’s_Catholic_Church,_Hilo,_Hawaii_by_Jules_Tavernier,_1887
Saint_Joseph_Catholic_Church_interior
Saint_Joseph_Catholic_Church_interior
Saint_Joseph_Catholic_Church_in_Hilo-WC
Saint_Joseph_Catholic_Church_in_Hilo-WC
Saint_Joseph_Catholic_Church_in_Hilo
Saint_Joseph_Catholic_Church_in_Hilo

Filed Under: Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: St Martin de Tours, Hawaii, Hawaii Island, Hilo, Catholicism, St Joseph's

July 6, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Was There a Missionary Political Party?

“Nothing resembling political parties developed in the Islands until the reign of King David Kalākaua in 1874. Over the next 20 years, prior to the overthrow of the kingdom, they existed as relatively unstable organizations with shifting memberships, and acted as rallying points for individuals and groups opposed to or in support of the monarchy.” (Pratt & Smith)

Some suggest from then, on, there was a ‘Missionary Party’ – suggesting it was made up of missionaries, and/or their descendants. That is not true; there was no formal ‘Missionary Party’ – in fact, in part, “(Native Hawaiians) sarcastically termed Americans ‘the Missionary Party.’” (LaFeber)

“By Missionary party is not meant that the members of it are missionaries, but that they are descendants of the early missionaries who went to the islands and because of the opportunities offered them became very rich. The descendants are not missionaries, but are mostly politicians and business men.” (Honolulu Republican, September 19, 1901)

“The Anglo-Saxon has made this country; he has not only improved his own condition, but he has that of the native as well … If the Anglo-Saxon has done all this, if he has so benefitted the native race, there should be some recognition of his services at the present he is ignored, the man who has done everything for this country is slighted and put aside; his wishes are systematically opposed.”

“An attempt has been made to try and call the Anglo-Saxon party, or better the commercial and agricultural party, the Missionary party, and papers abroad have been weak enough to be taken in by the claptrap.”

“There is no ‘missionary party’ any longer, that is a thing of the past: the opposition to the present administration, the opposition to the Palace party is composed of anything but so called ‘missionary’ elements, it is made up of the hard headed, hard handed pioneers of our national industries: …”

“… all that these men want is to have their due share in the direction of affairs; bearing the burden and heat of the fight they demand, and they have a right to demand that their views should receive careful attention.” (Hawaiian Gazette, August 23, 1882)

“The Anglo Saxon race have always been a pushing race and the Americans are the most pushing of all. When Americans get the treasury and the resulting power about a dozen of them could control the world. Why is it that those islands are ruled by the smallest minority that over controlled a nation?”

“We hear considerable about the ‘missionary party.’ Now there are two meanings to the term missionary. The first missionaries went there filled with a zeal and fire to save the people; they were the cream of the Earth.”

“But they took their families with them – and missionaries are usually blessed with large families and these young men born and brought up upon the islands soon gained the confidence of the natives gained riches and became more and more arrogant as the time wore on.”

“They sought power and the natives were soon deprived of their natural rights. We are apt to condemn the fathers for the sins of the children and to this day the term missionary party is tided as a reproach.”

“The children are very different from the noble band of Christian workers who came from Boston seventy or more years ago and are wealthy, powerful and arbitrary. The whole history of the political changes of the islands is the history of the progress of these sons and daughters of missionaries and the simple natives have been so influenced and over awed that today they are strangers in their own halls of legislation.” (The Independent, Match 26, 1897)

“It is admitted on all hands that the term ‘missionaries,’ so far as the word applies to Christian missionaries, is very far from applicable or appropriate … This name may not be literally applicable …” (Letter Opinion, Daily Bulletin, September 4, 1888)

“(There is a) political weapon of the vulgar and reactionary prejudice against what is popularly but improperly termed the ‘missionary party,’ this phase of the Government’s Polynesian policy will appear in its true light as the rankest hypocrisy.” (Daily Bulletin, January 22, 1886)

The Hawaiian Islands Mission Ended in 1863

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

At its General Meeting from June 3, 1863 to July 1, 1863, the Sandwich Islands Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM) met to discuss the future of the Mission. They formed the “Board of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association”.

“After twenty-one days of debate, the result was reached with perfect unanimity, and the Association agreed to assume the responsibility hitherto sustained by the Board. This measure was consummated by the Board in the autumn following, and those stations no longer look to the American churches for management and control.” (Missionary Papers, 1867)

In effect, “The mission has been, as such, disbanded and merged in the community.” (1863)

Control was passed to the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (which was formed in 1853); in 1959 it joined the United Church of Christ and later became known as the Hawai‘i Conference United Church of Christ.

Rufus Anderson, Foreign Secretary of the ABCFM, in his July 6, 1863 letter to Kamehameha IV notes, in part: “I may perhaps be permitted, in view of my peculiar relations to a very large body of the best friends and benefactors of this nation, not to leave without my most respectful aloha to both your Majesties.”

“The important steps lately taken in this direction are perhaps sufficiently indicated in the printed Address …. I am happy to inform your Majesty that the plan there indicated has since been adopted, and is now going into effect, — with the best influence, as I cannot doubt, upon the religious welfare of your people.”

“My visit to these Islands has impressed me, not only with the strength, but also with the beneficent and paternal character of your government. In no nation in Christendom is there greater security of person and property, or more of civil and religious liberty.”

“As to the progress of the nation in Christian civilization, I am persuaded, and shall confidently affirm on my return home, that the history of the Christian church and of nations affords nothing equal to it.”

“And now the Hawaiian Christian community is so far formed and matured, that the American Board ceases to act any longer as principal, and becomes an auxiliary,— merely affording grants in aid of the several departments of labor in building up the kingdom of Christ in these Islands, and also in the Islands of Micronesia.”

“Praying God to grant long life and prosperity to your Majesties, I am, with profound respect, Your Majesty’s obedient, humble servant, R. Anderson”

Elections and Formal Political Parties

The following list the subsequent elections, candidates and associated political parties.

  • Election of Lunalilo (1873) – Lunalilo vs Kalākaua
  • Election of Kalākaua (1874) – Kalākaua vs Queen Emma
  • Election of 1884 –National (Hawaiian) vs Independent (Foreign)
  • Election of 1886 –National (Government) vs Independent (Opposition)
  • Special Election of 1887 – Government (Anti-Reform) vs Reform Party
  • Election of 1890 –National Reform Party vs Reform Party
  • Election of 1892 –National Reform Party, Reform Party, Liberal Party & Native Sons of Hawaii

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Voting Booths-GrassrootInstitute

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, ABCFM, Missionary Party, Hawaii

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • …
  • 133
  • Next Page »

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.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Connect with Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Broken Bones
  • Piece of Pahoehoe
  • Haleakalā Trail and Highway
  • Koa House
  • The Clinic
  • “Call the little baby Kīna’u.”
  • Kīlauea

Categories

  • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
  • Economy
  • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Mayflower Summaries
  • American Revolution
  • General
  • Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance
  • Buildings
  • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
  • Hawaiian Traditions
  • Military
  • Place Names
  • Prominent People
  • Schools

Tags

Albatross Al Capone Ane Keohokalole Bernice Pauahi Bishop Charles Reed Bishop Downtown Honolulu Eruption Founder's Day George Patton Great Wall of Kuakini Green Sea Turtle Hawaii Hawaii Island Hermes Hilo Holoikauaua Honolulu Isaac Davis James Robinson Kamae Kamaeokalani Kamanawa Kameeiamoku Kamehameha Schools Lalani Village Lava Flow Lelia Byrd Liberty Ship Liliuokalani Mao Math Mauna Loa Midway Monk Seal Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Oahu Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Pearl Pualani Mossman Quartette Queen Liliuokalani Thomas Jaggar Volcano Waikiki Wake

Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Copyright © 2012-2024 Peter T Young, Hoʻokuleana LLC

Loading Comments...