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

November 29, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

“Oh, father, dear father, do take me back!”

In 1840, as the ship carrying the missionaries’ offspring pulled away from the dock, a distraught seven-year-old, Caroline Armstrong, looking at her father on the shore, the distance between them widening every moment … “Oh, father, dear father, do take me back!” (Judd)

Her plea echoed in the hearts of the community. In June of that year the mission voted to establish a school for the missionary children at Punahou. (Emanuel)

Let’s look back …

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period,”) about 180-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.

The Prudential Committee of the ABCFM in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said: “Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. … Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high.”

“You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.” (The Friend)

The missionaries were scattered across the Islands, each home was usually in a thickly inhabited village, so that the missionary and his wife could be close to their work among the people.

In the early years, they lived in the traditional hale pili (thatched house) – “our little cottage built chiefly of poles, dried grass and mats, being so peculiarly exposed to fire … consisting only of one room with a little partition and one door.” (Sybil Bingham) The thatched cottages were raised upon a low stone platform. Later, they lived in wood, stone or adobe homes.

The missionary family’s day began at 4 am (… it continued into the night, with no breaks.) The mission children were up then, too; in the early morning, the parents taught their children. “We had one tin whale-oil lamp between us, with a single wick…. Soon after five we had breakfast.” (Bishop)

By 9 am, after accomplishing all domestic duties and schooling of the children, the wives would begin the instruction of the Hawaiian children – and taught them for six solid hours, occasionally running into the house to see that all was straight.

The missionaries established schools associated with their missions across the Islands. This marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of Chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

These early missionaries taught their lessons in Hawaiian, rather than English. In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians. (In later years, the instruction, ultimately, was in English.)

“During the period from infancy to the age of ten or twelve years, children in the almost isolated family of a missionary could be well provided for and instructed in the rudiments of education without a regular school … But after that period, difficulties in most cases multiplied.” (Hiram Bingham)

Missionaries were torn between preaching the gospel and teaching their kids. “(M)ission parents were busy translating, preaching and teaching. Usually parents only had a couple of hours each day to spare with their children.” (Schultz)

From 1826, until Punahou School opened in 1842, young missionary parents began to make a decision seemingly at odds with the idealizing of the family so prevalent in the 19th century; they weighed the possibility of sending their children back to New England. The trauma mostly affected families of the first two companies, and involved 19 out of 250 Mission children. (Zwiep)

“(I)t was the general opinion of the missionaries there that their children over eight or ten years of age, notwithstanding the trial that might be involved, ought to be sent or carried to the United States, if there were friends who would assume a proper guardianship over them”. (Bingham)

“Owing to the then lack of advanced schools in Hawaii, the earlier mission children were all ‘sent home’ around Cape Horn, to ‘be educated.’ This was the darkest day in the life history of the mission child.” (Bishop)

“Peculiarly dependent upon the family life, at the age of eight to twelve years, they were suddenly torn from the only intimates they had ever known, and banished, lonely and homesick, to a mythical country on the other side of the world …”

“… where they could receive letters but once or twice a year; where they must remain isolated from friends and relatives for years and from which they might never return.” (Bishop)

The parents in the first company demonstrate the range of options available: going home with all the children (as did the Chamberlains and Loomises;) keeping all the children to be educated by the mother (the Thurstons’ choice;) or sending some or all of the children home, not knowing when or if they would be reunited (the course taken by the Binghams, Ruggleses and Whitneys.)

In 1829, Sophia Bingham was sent back to the continent. “It was a sad, sad day when our Sophia left us. She stood at the rail clutching her only toy, a wooden doll made for her by her father. Our hearts said farewell beloved child!” (Sybil Bingham; Punahou)

Mail was so slow that her mother Sybil waited a year and a half for her first letter from Sophia. “This poor, waiting, anxious heart,” she confessed, “has been made so glad by your long, crowded pages, that it would not be easy to tell you all its joy.” (Zwiep)

On July 11, 1842, fifteen children met for the first time in Punahou’s original E-shaped building. The first Board of Trustees (1841) included Rev. Daniel Dole, Rev. Richard Armstrong, Levi Chamberlain, Rev. John S Emerson and Gerrit P Judd. (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1916)

By the end of that first year, 34-children from Sandwich Islands and Oregon missions were enrolled, only one over 12-years old. Tuition was $12 per term, and the school year covered three terms. (Punahou)

By 1851, Punahou officially opened its doors to all races and religions. (Students from Oregon, California and Tahiti were welcomed from 1841 – 1849.)

December 15 of that year, Old School Hall, “the new spacious school house,” opened officially to receive its first students. The building is still there and in use by the school.

Sophia Bingham, the first white girl born on Oʻahu (November 9, 1820,) is my great great grandmother. The image shows Sophia.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Sophia Bingham
Sophia Bingham

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Caroline Armstrong, Hawaii, Missionaries, Sophia Bingham

November 13, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Mama, Mama, my dear old Mama!’

Joseph Fielding Smith, born November 13, 1838, was the first child of Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith. When Mary Fielding married Hyrum Smith, he was the widowed father of five children.

Mary willingly took responsibility for the children and, in addition to Joseph, gave birth to a daughter. Hyrum, older brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, died on June 27, 1844. Joseph was fatherless at age six.

Mary and the family arrived in Salt Lake City in 1848. In 1852, however, Mary died, leaving Joseph an orphan at age thirteen.

The family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and at age fifteen he was called on a mission (reportedly the youngest Mormon missionary.)

On April 24, 1854, Joseph was ordained an elder. He also received his endowment that day, in special rooms dedicated for that purpose on the upper floor of the Council House in Salt Lake City.

He was set apart for his mission by Elder Parley P Pratt, who promised him that “by the gift of God as well as by study,” he would learn the Hawaiian language.

Joseph was one of twenty-one missionaries called to Hawaiʻi. They included two of his cousins, Silas Smith and Silas S Smith.

Most of the group left Salt Lake City on May 27, 1854, headed for southern California. They were joined by the last member, Silas S. Smith, in Parowan.

By early September, Joseph, his two cousins, and six other missionaries had raised enough money to book passage to Hawaii on a clipper ship, the Vaquero, which left San Francisco harbor September 8, 1854. The other missionaries left at various later times. They sailed into Honolulu harbor on September 27.

He was assigned to work on the Islands known as Molokai and Maui. However, as he left Honolulu he became seriously ill and remained so for the first month. Mary J Hammond nursed him back to health. He was then assigned to the Kula district of Maui.

A hundred days after his arrival in Honolulu he was able to conduct a meeting, open it with prayer, and give a talk in the native tongue; his fluency increased rapidly.

One of Joseph’s various responsibilities was to work with the native Elders in raising money to obtain a boat for the mission. Eventually the funds collected enabled them to build a sloop out of timbers from the mountains of Oahu.

Intend for use as transportation between the islands, it was named Lanai, after the island that had been designated as a gathering place for the Hawaiian Saints.

It was used for a while, but it soon became clear that it was a liability rather than an asset because of the expenses involved in maintaining it. The sloop was sold in June, 1856.

In July 1855, Joseph, still sixteen years old, was assigned to preside over the Church on Maui, succeeding Francis A Hammond. That same month a group of Saints arrived from Australia. They were on their way to the United States, but their ship was leaking so badly that they had to stop for repairs. When they found that it could not be repaired they had to remain in Hawaii.

In April, 1856, Joseph was transferred to the big island of Hawaii, and assigned to preside over the Hilo conference. He was transferred to preside over the Kohala conference, also on Hawaii, six months later. After another six months he was assigned to preside over the Church on the island of Molokai.

While serving on Molokai, Joseph again became desperately ill, this time with a fever that lasted for nearly three months. He was taken under the wing of a young Hawaiian couple, who took him into their home and did all they possibly could to help him recover.

In 1857, Joseph was nursed back to health by Ma Manuhii. He tells her that she will “live to see the day when a temple will be built in Hawaiʻi.”

Like his uncle, Joseph Smith (the first President,) Joseph F Smith became President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the latter was the 6th President.)

Then, a famous and tender story tells about what happened many years later when, as President of the Church, Joseph F Smith returned to Hawaiʻi.

When they landed at the wharf in Honolulu, people were out in great numbers with their wreaths or Leis, beautiful flowers of every variety and hue. The Royal Hawaiian band welcomed them.

“In the midst of all the celebrating, a poor blind woman was led to the prophet. She was calling, ‘Iosepa, Iosepa.’”

“Instantly, he ran to her and clasped her in his arms, hugging and kissing her – saying, “Mama, Mama, my dear old mama.” (Persons) (Lots of information here is from Nauvoo Times and Allen.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Ma_Manuhii_statue-coltonbh
Ma_Manuhii_statue-coltonbh
Ma_Manuhii-statue
Ma_Manuhii-statue
Ma_Manuhii-statue-coltonbh
Ma_Manuhii-statue-coltonbh
Ma Manuhii-statue
Ma Manuhii-statue
Ma Manuhii-statue-plaque
Ma Manuhii-statue-plaque
Joseph F Smith, about 1857-LDS
Joseph F Smith, about 1857-LDS
Mary Fielding Smith, mother of Joseph F Smith-LDS
Mary Fielding Smith, mother of Joseph F Smith-LDS
Hyrum Smith, father of Joseph F Smith-LDS
Hyrum Smith, father of Joseph F Smith-LDS

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormon, Joseph Smith

November 7, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaluaikonahale

He was born about 1789 with the name Kaluaikonahale, the son of Keʻeaumoku and his wife Nāmāhana. He was the youngest of four famous siblings.

His sisters were Queen Kaʻahumanu, Kamehameha’s favorite wife who later became the powerful Queen Regent and Kuhina nui, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie and Namahana-o-Piʻia (also queens of Kamehameha) and brother George Cox Kahekili Keʻeaumoku.

His father, Keʻeaumoku, was a “tried friend of Kamehameha and one of the principal promoters of his fortunes. Being of prodigious personal strength, his valor powerfully assisted Kamehameha in securing the entire dominion of the group.” (Polynesian, January 4, 1845)

Kaluaikonahale was born on Maui, but as an infant he was taken to Keauhou to grow up; he excelled in canoeing and other sports. In his youth, he once jumped a stone wall and injured his foot; he almost died from the injury, but recovered and remained lame for the rest of his life. (Oaks)

He married Analeʻa (Ane or Annie) Keohokālole; they had no children. (She later married Caesar Kapaʻakea. That union produced several children (including the future King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani.))

He later married Lydia Haʻaheo Kaniu. They had one son Keōua, who died in infancy, and one daughter Kamanele (1814–1834.)

With the introduction of Christianity and adoption of western names, he changed his name and chose the name John Adams after John Quincy Adams (the US President at the time.)

From then, he was called John Adams Kuakini.

His physical appearance was formidable; standing 6-feet, 3-inches “and even heavier than this gigantic stature would indicate.” Ellis noted he was “tall, stout, well made and remarkably handsome.” (Oaks)

His wife “was like himself, a royal chief of highest rank, and not quite equally ponderous. I remember seeing the princely pair lolling on their own pile of rich Niʻihau mats, with many attendants busily kneading their bodies and limbs (lomi-lomi). Ages of nourishing diet and massage for digestion had bred a royal Hawaiian race of immense stature and girth.” (Bishop)

Kuakini was an important adviser to Kamehameha I in the early stages of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. His “first office of importance under Kamehameha I was that of captain of the ordnance at Oʻahu. Upon the King’s last return to Hawaiʻi in 1813, he was raised to the rank of counselor.”

“Immediately after the death of the King, Kaʻahumanu made him Governor of Hawaii; his original charge was limited to the district of Kona. In 1830, she further appointed him to the governorship of Oahu, which office he retained until December, 1831, when he returned to Hawaiʻi.”

“(Kuakini’s) administrations were vigorous and effective. Energetic in action, but reserved in manners, he assumed to himself much responsibility. It was difficult to secure his confidence in matters of council, as he relied much upon his own judgment.”

“While in Hawaiʻi, being remote from the seat of government and the influence of other chiefs mostly assembled around the King, he acted in a great measure independently of them, and sometimes contrary to their opinions.”

“His acquaintance with the English language, and his thirst for knowledge, gave him a superiority in general intelligence, over most of the chiefs of his rank; and afforded him a better insight into the nature of things than others attained.”

“He was more enterprising in deed than other native rulers, and many of the objects which claimed his attention, such for instance as the building of churches and the making of roads, were intended for the public benefit”.

“(Y)et in most of his enterprises, his aim was to accumulate property. But he was correct in his business transactions and a man of his word.” (Polynesian, January 4, 1845)

“By sea and by land we have enjoyed the protection of God, and the countenance and patronage of the king and chiefs. Especially would we notice the kindness of Kuakini, the Governor of Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi,) who received us with great hospitality, and freely lent his influence and authority to aid us in the attainment of our immediate objects”.

“… with a view to the permanent establishment of a missionary station there, (Kuakini) has promptly commenced the erection of a chapel at Kairua for the worship of Jehovah, whose rightful and supreme authority he has publicly acknowledged.” (Ellis)

Kuakini gave land to missionary Asa Thurston to build Mokuʻaikaua Church. “This was erected by Governor Kuakini about 1828. It was a wholly native structure, framed with immense timbers cut and dragged from the great interior forest by Kuakini superintending his subjects in person.” (Bishop)

“(I)n 1835, the great church was burned by some incendiary, and the services were then conducted in a large canoe-shed of the Governor, which was vacated for the purpose.”

“The energetic Kuakini immediately set about building the great stone church now standing on the site of the old one. … the corners were built up with large square blocks of pāhoehoe lava, which were transported by the people from some heiau at a distance. They were smoothly hewn, evidently with great labor. (Bishop)

During his tenure, Kuakini built other historical sites that dominate Kailua-Kona today. The Great Wall of Kuakini, probably a major enhancement of an earlier wall, was one of these.

The Great Wall of Kuakini extends in a north-south direction for approximately 6 miles from Kailua to near Keauhou, and is generally 4 to 6-feet high and 4-feet wide.

He built Huliheʻe Palace in the American style out of native lava, coral lime mortar, koa and ‘ʻōhiʻa timbers. Completed in 1838, he used the palace to entertain visiting Americans and Europeans with great feasts.

The Palace was constructed by foreign seamen using lava rock, coral, koa and ʻōhiʻa timbers. Kuakini oversaw the construction of both Mokuʻaikaua Church and Huliheʻe Palace and these landmarks once shared a similar architectural style with exposed stone.

Kuakini died December 9, 1844 in Kailua-Kona; the Palace passed to his adopted son, William Pitt Leleiōhoku. Leleiōhoku died a few months later, leaving Huliheʻe to his wife, Princess Ruth Luka Keʻelikōlani. It became a favorite retreat for members of the Hawaiian royal family.

A highway is named “Kuakini Highway,” which runs from the Hawaii Belt Road through the town of Kailua-Kona, to the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area. He is also the namesake of Kuakini Street in Honolulu, which is in turn the namesake of the Kuakini Medical Center on it.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kuakini_wearing_feather_cloak
Kuakini_wearing_feather_cloak
John_Adams_Kuakini
John_Adams_Kuakini
Lamentation at the death of Queen Keopuolani. The men with the cane is Governor Kuakini-1823
Lamentation at the death of Queen Keopuolani. The men with the cane is Governor Kuakini-1823
Kuakini_watches_a_Hula
Kuakini_watches_a_Hula
Royal_Family_mourning_Keopuolani's_death-1. Kuakini 2. Hoapiri 3. Kauikeouli 4. Nahienaena 5. Kamehamaru 6. Wahinepio 7. Kalakua-1823
Royal_Family_mourning_Keopuolani’s_death-1. Kuakini 2. Hoapiri 3. Kauikeouli 4. Nahienaena 5. Kamehamaru 6. Wahinepio 7. Kalakua-1823
Great_Wall_of_Kuakini
Great_Wall_of_Kuakini
Great_Wall_of_Kuakini
Great_Wall_of_Kuakini
Hulihee_Palace,_before 1884
Hulihee_Palace,_before 1884
Huliheʻe_Palace,_Kona,_Hawaiʻi,_c._1859._Watercolor_by_Paul_Emmert
Huliheʻe_Palace,_Kona,_Hawaiʻi,_c._1859._Watercolor_by_Paul_Emmert
Mokuaikaua_Church,_ca._1890
Mokuaikaua_Church,_ca._1890
Mokuaikaua-LOC-1884
Mokuaikaua-LOC-1884
LaRue and Lydia Sutherland at arch at Mokuaikaua (1928) – Great grandson and Great-great grand-daughter of Hiram Bingham
LaRue and Lydia Sutherland at arch at Mokuaikaua (1928) – Great grandson and Great-great grand-daughter of Hiram Bingham
Kailua_Town_and_Vicinity-Map-Kanakanui-Reg1676 (1892)-(note_Great_Wall_of_Kuakini)
Kailua_Town_and_Vicinity-Map-Kanakanui-Reg1676 (1892)-(note_Great_Wall_of_Kuakini)

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hulihee Palace, Mokuaikaua, Hawaii, Hawaii Island, Great Wall of Kuakini, Kuakini

November 5, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Malia Puka O Kalani

The ahupua‘a of Waiakea, South Hilo, is large, about 95,000 acres. It extends from the coast to approximately the 6,000-foot elevation on the windward slope of Mauna Loa.

Waiakea was held by Kamehameha. When he died in 1819, his son Liholiho received the lands. The property was affirmed as Crown Land during the Mahele.

Kuleana properties generally refer to cultivated fields with house lots, indicating habitation and agricultural production within the same zone; at Waiakea, kuleana were generally within the coastal zone.

After contact, the coastal area continued to contain the vast majority of the population. Houses and stores were concentrated in the northern half of Hilo Bay, somewhat removed from Waiakea, because at the time the main pier for Hilo was at the mouth of the Wailuku River. (Cultural Surveys)

Keaukaha is along the central coastline of the Waiakea ahupuaʻa; it was included in lands designated to the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

The Hawaiian Homes Commission act was approved by President Harding on July 9, 1921. In the first five years, over 60 homes were established in the ‘Kuhio Settlement’ of the Hawaiian Homes lands at Keaukaha, in the vicinity of Hilo.

The 1929 Report of the Commission notes, “Kuhio Settlement, in the subdivision of Keaukaha near the town of Hilo, Island of Hawaii, has proven to be an unqualified success.”

“One-acre lots have been given to Hawaiians who work for wages in the City of Hilo or in adjacent industries.” By 1930, more than 200-house lots had been assigned. (Pukui)

Among the ‘reserved lots for public purposes’ within the Keaukaha lands was a 1-acre lot (lot #127) for a Catholic Church Site. (Report of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, 1929)

This church became Malia Puka O Kalani (St Mary, Gate of Heaven,) one of only two parishes in the Diocese of Honolulu located on Hawaiian Home Lands.

The Mission Statement of the church: “Malia Puka O Kalani is a Roman Catholic parish on Hawaiian Home Lands in Keaukaha, Hawaiʻi dedicated to building a church community filled with the Holy Spirit, guided by God’s Word and enriched by the Hawaiian culture.”

In 1934, the parish, under the care of the Sacred Hearts Fathers, built a large hall on the property. This was used as a place of worship as well as a community center. In 1940 the existing church which seats 120 people was constructed.

In 1954, the Maryknoll Fathers assigned the first resident pastor to the parish. Today, the parish is under the care of the Diocese of Honolulu as the ministry on the Hawaiian Homelands continues.

In a 2011 church pastoral plan, parishioners note, “As a parish, we are committed to maintaining our Hawaiian culture within the framework of the Roman Catholic Church.”

“We intend to continue our traditions of lay involvement in liturgy and of volunteerism within and beyond the parish. Parishioners and visitors alike are drawn to our vibrant community and to the spirit existing in the faith expression of our Hawaiian traditions.”

DHHL records note the St. Mary, Gate of Heaven (Malia Puka O Kalani) Catholic Church is operating under a license from the Commission (1999-2028.)

About 35-years ago, Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church started a small Advent workshop known as the Big Island Liturgy and Arts Conference. It grew.

It is recognized as “One of the remarkable accomplishments of Malia …. This conference has attracted many of today’s brightest and best known composers and artists”. (GIA Music for the Church)

It has grown to attract some of the biggest names in liturgical music and many noteworthy keynote speakers. The Marianists in Honolulu began hosting the event in 2003.

The program is now known as Marianist BILAC; all the conference events now take place on the campus of Chaminade University and Saint Louis School in Kaimuki. (This year’s theme is ‘The Spirit of Malia – 40 Years of BILAC;’ it starts November 5, 2015.) (Lots of information here is from Malia Puka O Kalani.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Malia_Puka_O_Kalani_Catholic_Church
Malia_Puka_O_Kalani_Catholic_Church

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaii Island, Keaukaha, Malia Puka O Kalani

October 29, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Foreign Mission School

On October 29, 1816, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) established the Foreign Mission School as a seminary.

Classes began in 1817 “for the purpose of educating youths of Heathen nations, with a view to their being useful in their respective countries.”

Its object was to educate the youth of promising talent and of hopeful demeanor to return, in due time, to their respective lands in the character of husbandmen, school-masters, or preachers of the gospel.

The first four destinations chosen were (1) the Bombay region of India (1813,) (2) Ceylon (1816,) (3) the Cherokee Indian Nation in the State of Tennessee (1817) and (4) Hawai‘i (1820). (Brumaghim)

The Foreign Mission School connects the town of Cornwall, Connecticut to a larger, national religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening.

The Second Great Awakening spread from its origins in Connecticut to Williamstown, Massachusetts; enlightenment ideals from France were gradually being countered by an increase in religious fervor, first in the town, and then in Williams College.

In the summer of 1806, in a grove of trees, in what was then known as Sloan’s Meadow, Samuel John Mills, James Richards, Francis L Robbins, Harvey Loomis and Byram Green debated the theology of missionary service. Their meeting was interrupted by a thunderstorm and they took shelter under a haystack until the sky cleared.

That event has since been referred to as the “Haystack Prayer Meeting” and is viewed by many scholars as the pivotal event for the development of Protestant missions in the subsequent decades and century.

The first American student missionary society began in September 1808, when Mills and others called themselves “The Brethren,” whose object was “to effect, in the person of its members, a mission or missions to the heathen.” (Smith) Milla graduated Williams College in 1809 and later Andover Theological Seminary.

In June 1810, Mills and James Richards petitioned the General Association of the Congregational Church to establish the foreign missions. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formed with a Board of members from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School exemplified evangelical efforts to recruit young men from indigenous cultures around the world, convert them to Christianity, educate them and train them to become preachers, health workers, translators and teachers back in their native lands.

Initially lacking a principal, Edwin Welles Dwight filled that role from May 1817 to May 1818; he was replaced the next year by the Reverend Herman Daggett. In its first year, the Foreign Mission School had 12 students, seven Hawaiians, one Hindu, one Bengalese, an Indian and two Anglo-Americans.

The school’s first student was Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia (Obookiah,) a native Hawaiian from the Island of Hawaiʻi who in 1807 (after his parents had been killed) boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. In its first year, the Foreign Mission School had 12 students, more than half of whom were Hawaiian.

The school increased its number of pupils the second year to twenty-four; four Cherokee, two Choctaw, one Abenaki, two Chinese, two Malays, a Bengalese, one Hindu, six Hawaiians and two Marquesans as well as three American. By 1820, Native Americans from six different tribes made up half of the school’s students.

Once enrolled, students spent seven hours a day in study. Subjects included chemistry, geography, calculus and theology, as well as Greek, French and Latin.

They were also taught special skills like coopering (the making of barrels and other storage casks), blacksmithing, navigation and surveying. When not in class, students attended mandatory church and prayer sessions and also worked on making improvements to the school’s lands. (Cornwall)

In due time, Reverend Hiram Bingham visited the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall but that wasn’t until May 1819, one year after ʻŌpūkahaʻia died.

Then, from Andover Theological Seminary, Bingham wrote in a letter dated July 18, 1819, to Reverend Samuel Worcester that “the unexpected and afflictive death of Obookiah, roused my attention to the subject, & perhaps by writing and delivering some thoughts occasioned by his death I became more deeply interested than before in that cause for which he desired to live …”

“… & from that time it seemed by no means impossible that I should be employed in the field which Henry had intended to occupy…the possibility that this little field in the vast Pacific would be mine, was the greatest, in my own view.” (Brumaghim)

Subsequently, in the summer of 1819, Bingham and his classmate at Andover Theological Seminary, Reverend Asa Thurston, volunteered to go with the first group of missionaries to Hawai‘i.

On October 23, 1819, a group of northeast missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i.)

The Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said:

“Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. … Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high.”

“You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.” (The Friend)

The points of special and essential importance to all missionaries, and all persons engaged in the missionary work are four:
• Devotedness to Christ;
• Subordination to rightful direction;
• Unity one with another; and
• Benevolence towards the objects of their mission

Between 1820 and 1848, the ABCFM sent “eighty-four men and one hundred women to Hawai‘i to preach and teach, to translate and publish, to advise and counsel – and win the hearts of the Hawaiian people.” (Dwight; Brumaghim)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School
Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School
Cornwall-home_of_the_Foreign_Mission_School-by_Barber-(WC)-1835
Cornwall-home_of_the_Foreign_Mission_School-by_Barber-(WC)-1835
Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School-lantern
Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School-lantern
First Foreign Mission School-Marker (St. Peter's Lutheran Church)
First Foreign Mission School-Marker (St. Peter’s Lutheran Church)
First Foreign Mission School Marker
First Foreign Mission School Marker
Departure_of_the_2nd_Company_from_the_ABCFM_to_Hawaii
Departure_of_the_2nd_Company_from_the_ABCFM_to_Hawaii
Williams_College-Sloan's_Meadow-1906
Williams_College-Sloan’s_Meadow-1906
Williams_College_-_Haystack_Monument
Williams_College_-_Haystack_Monument
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions group-(LOC)-1901
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions group-(LOC)-1901
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree
Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree
Memoirs_of_Henry_Obookiah
Memoirs_of_Henry_Obookiah
ABCFM-Missionary_Companies_to_Hawaii
ABCFM-Missionary_Companies_to_Hawaii

Filed Under: Schools, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Missionaries, Henry Opukahaia, Samuel Mills, American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, Edwin Welles Dwight, Cornwall, Foreign Mission School

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • …
  • 134
  • 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

  • Establishing the Waiakea – Hilo Mission Station
  • 250 Years Ago … Slaves in the Revolutionary War
  • Aikapu
  • 1804
  • Charles Furneaux
  • Koʻanakoʻa
  • About 250 Years Ago … Committee of Correspondence

Categories

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

Tags

Albatross Al Capone Ane Keohokalole Archibald Campbell 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 Liliuokalani Mao Math Mauna Loa Midway Monk Seal Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Oahu Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Pearl Pualani Mossman Queen Liliuokalani Thomas Jaggar Volcano Waikiki Wake Wisdom

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...