Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings | Page 34

March 12, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Krakatau

Krakatau (Krakatoa) was a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. In April 1883, signs of unusual volcanic activity were observed; then a series of volcanic explosions started about mid-day, with the main eruption (and island destruction) occurring about 10 am local time August 27.

The final explosion was audible nearly 2,000-miles away and it produced an infrasonic pressure pulse that was recorded by barographs around the world.

The northern two-thirds of the island collapsed beneath the sea, generating a series of devastating pyroclastic flows and immense tsunamis that ravaged adjacent coastlines.

So that’s in Indonesia, how does that relate to Hawaiʻi?

Rev. Sereno Bishop, a missionary in Hawaiʻi, was the first to provide detailed observations of a phenomenon not previously reported – he noted his observation on September 5, 1883.

“Permit me to call special attention to the very peculiar corona or halo extending from 20° to 30° from the sun, which has been visible every day with us, and all day, of whitish haze with pinkish tint, shading oft’ into lilac or purple against the blue. I have seen no notice of this corona observed elsewhere. It is hardly a conspicuous object.” (Sereno Bishop)

“The long continuance and extending diffusion of this haze or dry fog seems to justify expectation that it may become visible around the globe, and give ample opportunity for investigation.” (Sereno Bishop)

“Although not seen in San Francisco until November 23, it was brilliant in Santa Barbara on October 14. A rapid upper current seems to have borne it in a belt within the tropics in a very few days, leaving a slow diffusion to extend it to the temperate zone. Australia is perhaps an example of this.” (Sereno Bishop)

The whole world was agog with wonder and inquiry as to the cause of the phenomena. There were the usual suggestions of the approaching end of the world and endless speculations, but no theory which would hold water …

… until from far Hawaii, over the signature of Sereno E. Bishop, appeared an article, illustrated with drawings demonstrating the argument, propounding an explanation which was eventually unanimously accepted by the scientific world as correct. (Biography of Sereno E. Bishop)

Sereno Bishop was born at Kaʻawaloa on February 7, 1827; he was son of Rev. Artemas and Elizabeth Bishop (part of the 2nd Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi (1823) and first stationed at Kailua, on the Big Island.) His mother died at Kailua, the first death in the mission.

Sent to the continent at age 12 for education (he graduated from Amherst College in 1846 and Auburn Theological Seminary in 1851,) he married Cornelia A Session in 1852 and accepted a position of Seaman’s Chaplin in Lāhainā – he returned to Hawaiʻi in 1853.

After 10-years in Lāhainā, he moved to Hāna and later returned to Lāhainā and served from 1865 to 1877 as principal of Lahainaluna. From there, he moved to Honolulu and became editor of “The Friend,” where he lived until his death, March 23, 1909.

But, back to the halo …

“Gigantic as were these effects, they were surpassed in strangeness and extent, by those conspicuous effects which were left upon the earth’s atmosphere causing remarkable sunset and sunrise glows which have set the world wondering.”

It is now known that this halo is caused by diffraction of sunlight around the very small spherical sulphuric acid droplets.

Since this event, it has generally been known as “Bishop’s Ring,” in honor of its first discoverer. It is typically observed after large volcanic eruptions.

But the importance of Bishop’s observations was not just related to rings around the sun; his observations suggested the existence of the ‘Jet Stream’ (this used to be referred to as the ‘Krakatoa Easterlies.’)

“It now seems probable that the enormous projections of gaseous and other matter from Krakatoa (Krakatau) have been borne by the upper currents and diffused throughout a belt of half the earth’s circumference, and not improbably, as careful observation may yet establish, even entirely around the globe.” (Sereno Bishop)

“This almost incredible statement implies a terrific undulation of the atmosphere, such as could only be produced by a vast and continuous jet of gas projected upwards beyond the limits of the atmosphere, and driving the air in vast waves in every direction.”

“So abnormal and gigantic a force may well have propagated not only its tidal waves as it did across the Pacific, but it may also have transmitted its portentous and lurid vapours to belt the globe with flaming skies.” (Sereno Bishop)

In 1896 his alma mater, Amherst College, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, in recognition of his literary and scientific attainments.

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Bishop's Ring around the sun due to volcanic ash of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on Iceland-2010

27th May 1883: Clouds pouring from the volcano on Krakatoa (aka Krakatau or Rakata) in south western Indonesia during the early stages of the eruption which eventually destroyed most of the island. Royal Society Report on Krakatoa Eruption – pub. 1888 Lithograph – Parker & Coward (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop, D. D. (1827-1909). Photograph taken in 1902

March 9, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Collaboration

Definition of collaborate – “to work jointly with others or together …” (Merriam-Webster)

The recent Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives project “Letters from the Ali‘i,” more than 225 letters written by 42 different ali‘i between 1820-1907, helps illustrate the collaboration between the missionaries and the ali‘i.

These letters have been digitized, transcribed, translated and annotated by interns under the direction of Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier, Executive Director of the Awaiaulu Foundation.

The Ali‘i Letters project “changed my perspective on the anti-missionary, anti-Anglo-Saxon rhetorical tradition that scholarship has been produced, contemporary scholarship, and it is not to discredit that scholarship, but just to change a paradigm, to shift the paradigm, and it shifted mine.” (Kaliko Martin, Research Assistant, Awaiaulu)

Jon Yasuda was another of the intern translators who participated in the translation project. He received his Master’s Degree in Hawaiian Language from UH Mānoa.

In a November 4, 2016 interview on ‘Ōlelo’s ‘First Friday’, interviewer Manu Ka‘iama noted that “the nice thing about these letters is it kind of is a portal” that illustrate the feeling at the time and “you have some proof of that”. She asked what Yasuda found interesting in the letters; he noted:

“I think one thing that is interesting is that it really shows the way that the missionaries and a lot of the chiefs at the time needed to work together. They worked together, and through their letters we can see the ways … that they helped each other. And I think that both sides had things to share with each other that were beneficial to both sides.”

“I think that one thing that is commonly believed is that the missionaries really came in and started barking orders, and saying this is how it’s going to be … and you are going to do this and you are not going to do that and this is how you need to be. But what we are really seeing is that it wasn’t quite like that.”

“There were very few missionaries in comparison to how many Hawaiians there were at the time. And so, the letters really show us the way that the missionaries and Hawaiians worked together and how some of the things the missionaries brought, for example, sewing and some business, and trade were attractive to the Hawaiians at the time. And, they really had to work together for a lot.” (Jon Yasuda)

Puakea Nogelmeier had a similar conclusion. In remarks at a Hawaiian Mission Houses function he noted,

“The missionary effort is more successful in Hawai‘i than probably anywhere in the world, in the impact that it has on the character and the form of a nation. And so, that history is incredible; but history gets so blurry …”

“The missionary success cover decades and decades becomes sort of this huge force where people feel like the missionaries got off the boat barking orders … where they just kind of came in and took over. They got off the boat and said ‘stop dancing,’ ‘put on clothes,’ don’t sleep around.’”

“And it’s so not the case ….”

“The missionaries arrived here, and they’re a really remarkable bunch of people. They are scholars, they have got a dignity that goes with religious enterprise that the Hawaiians recognized immediately. …”

“The Hawaiians had been playing with the rest of the world for forty-years by the time the missionaries came here. The missionaries are not the first to the buffet and most people had messed up the food already.”

“(T)hey end up staying and the impact is immediate. They are the first outside group that doesn’t want to take advantage of you, one way or the other, get ahold of their goods, their food, or your daughter. … But, they couldn’t get literacy. It was intangible, they wanted to learn to read and write”. (Puakea Nogelmeier)

When the Ali‘i Asked, the Missionaries Collaborated

An 1826 letter written by Kalanimōku to Hiram Bingham (written at a time when missionaries were being criticized) states, “Greetings Mr Bingham. Here is my message to all of you, our missionary teachers.”

“I am telling you that I have not seen your wrong doing. If I had seen you to be wrong, I would tell you all. No, you must all be good. Give us literacy and we will teach it. And, give us the word of God and we will heed it … for we have learned the word of God.”

“Then foreigners come, doing damage to our land. Foreigners of America and Britain. But don’t be angry, for we are to blame for you being faulted.”

“And it is not you foreigners, (it’s) the other foreigners.” (Kalanimōku to Bingham, 1826)

Ali‘i Asked the Missionaries for Christianity, the Missionaries Collaborated

“Here’s my message according to the words of Jehovah, I have given my heart to God and my body and my spirit. I have devoted myself to the church and Jesus Christ.”

“Have a look at this letter of mine, Mr Bingham and company. And if you see it and wish to send my message on to America to (your President,) that is up to you. Greetings to the chief of America. Regards to you all, Kalanimōku.” (Kalanimōku to Bingham, 1826)

Kaumuali‘i and his wife, Kapule, reiterated appreciation of the missionaries in letters transcribed on July 28, 1820 to the ABCFM and mother of a recently-arrived missionary wife.

“I wish to write a few lines to you, to thank you for the good Book you was so kind as to send by my son. I think it is a good book – one that God gave for us to read. I hope my people will soon read this, and all other good books …”

“When your good people learn me, I worship your God. I feel glad you good people come to help us. We know nothing here. American people very good – kind. I love them.” (Kapule to the mother of Mrs Ruggles)

Ali‘i Asked the Missionaries for Literacy, the Missionaries Collaborated

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawai¬ʻi in 1820 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.

“By August 30, 1825, only three years after the first printing of the pīʻāpā, 16,000 copies of spelling books, 4,000 copies of a small scripture tract, and 4,000 copies of a catechism had been printed and distributed.”

“On October 8, 1829, it was reported that 120,000 spelling books were printed in Hawaiʻi. These figures suggest that perhaps 90 percent of the Hawaiian population were in possession of a pīʻāpā book!”

“This literacy initiative was continually supported by the aliʻi. Under Liholiho, ships carrying teachers were not charged harbor fees. During a missionary paper shortage, the government stepped in to cover the difference, buying enough paper to print roughly 13,500 books.”

“This legendary rise in literacy climbed from a near-zero literacy rate in 1820, to between 91 to 95 percent by 1834. That’s only twelve years from the time the first book was printed!” (KSBE)

Ali‘i Asked the Missionaries for More Teachers, the Missionaries Collaborated

On August 23, 1836, fifteen chiefs signed a letter addressed to the American missionaries, asking for more teachers,

Shortly after, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent the largest company of missionaries to the Islands; including a large number of teachers.

Ali‘i Asked for a Special School for their Children, the Missionaries Collaborated

In 1839, King Kamehameha III, Hoapili and Kekāuluohi (mother of William Charles Lunalilo, who became the Kuhina Nui or regent of the Hawaiian Kingdom) signed a letter asking missionaries to run the Chiefs’ Children’s School.

In a missionary general meeting, “This subject was fully considered in connection with an application of the chiefs requesting the services of Mr. Cooke, as a teacher for their children; and it was voted, …

“That the mission comply with their request, provided they will carry out their promise to Mr. Cooke’s satisfaction; namely, to build a school house, sustain him in his authority, over the scholars, and support the school.” (Sandwich Islands Mission General Meeting Minutes, 1839)

The school was unique because for the first time aliʻi children would be brought together in a group to be taught, ostensibly, about the ways of governance. The School also acted as another important unifying force among the ruling elite, instilling in their children common principles, attitudes and values, as well as a shared vision.

Ali‘i Asked for Instruction in Western Governance, the Missionaries Collaborated

It was a time of transition, when the Hawaiian people were faced with the difficult task of adjusting themselves to changing conditions. They turned to their teachers, the American missionaries, for guidance along this intricate path.

The king and chiefs, acknowledging their own inexperience, had sought for a man of probity and some legal training who could act as their advisor in matters dealing with other nations and with foreigners within the Islands. (Judd)

Richards “accepted the invitation of the Chiefs to become their teacher, and entered into engagements with them which were signed on the 3d of July (1838). According to those engagements, (he) was to devote (his) time at (his) discretion to the instruction of the King and chiefs, as far as (he) could and remain at Lahaina, and do the public preaching.”

“(He) also met king & chiefs daily when other public business did not prevent, and as fast as (he) could prepare matter read it to them in the form of lectures. (He) endeavored to make the lectures as familiar as possible, by repeating them, and drawing the chiefs into free conversation on the subject of the Lecture.”

“The conversation frequently took so wide a range that there was abundant opportunity to refer to any and to every fault of the present system of government. But when the faults of the present system were pointed out & the chiefs felt them & then pressed me with the question, ‘Pehea la e pono ai,’ (How will it be bettered?)”

“A system of laws has been written out by (Boaz) Mahune, a graduate of the (Lahainaluna) high school, and he was directed by the King to conform them to the principles of Political Economy which they had learned. Those laws are some what extensive and protect all private property.”

“According to this code, no chief has any authority over any man, any farther than it is given him by specific enactment, and no tax can be levied, other than that which is specified in the printed law, and no chief can act as a judge in a case where he is personally interested, and no man can be dispossessed of land which he has put under cultivation except for crimes specified in the law.” (Richards Report to the Sandwich Islands Mission, May 1, 1839)

This is a summary; click HERE for more on Collaboration between the Hawaiians and missionaries.

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A_Missionary_Preaching_to_the_Natives,_under_a_Skreen_of_platted_Cocoa-nut_leaves_at_Kairua_by_William_Ellis-1823

March 5, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Iosepa

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traces its beginnings to Joseph Smith, Jr on April 6, 1830 in Western New York. He and five others incorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York.

As early as 1844, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (popularly called the Mormons) were working among the Polynesians in Tahiti and surrounding islands.

“The Mormons are said to have commenced their mission (in Hawaiʻi) in 1850. Their converts are scattered over all the islands. They number about nine per cent of all those who in the census returns have reported their religious affiliations.” (The Friend, December 1902)

In the summer of 1850, in California, elder Charles C Rich called together more elders to establish a mission in the Sandwich Islands. They arrived December 12, 1850, but within six weeks, only half stayed. Later, more came.

Church membership grew fast in the Hawaiian Islands, where the native Polynesian people were quick to embrace the teachings of the gospel.

Many of these Hawaiian converts felt a strong desire to come to Zion, where they could do temple work for themselves and for their ancestors.

In 1889, a group of three Hawaiian converts and three returned missionaries was assigned to choose a location. After considering possibilities in Cache, Weber and Utah counties, they selected a 1,920-acre site in Skull Valley, known as the Quincy Ranch or the Rich Ranch (about 75-miles southwest of Salt Lake City,) as a gathering place for the South Sea Islanders.

According to some accounts, Skull Valley received its name from buffalo skulls found there, and some Indian tales relate that Tooele County was a favored ground for buffalo before the coming of white men to the area. (Blanthorn)

On August 28, 1889, lots were drawn for plots of land that had room for a home, garden, barn and corral. (August 28 was later designated as Hawaiian Pioneer Day.)

A sawmill was purchased and the Polynesians built homes, a chapel/assembly hall, a school and a store in their community.

The colony was organized as a joint stock company, the Iosepa Agriculture and Stock Company, owned by the LDS Church.

At its height, Iosepa was home to 228-people, mostly Hawaiians, but also Samoans, Maoris, Portuguese, Scots and English. In the 10-year period from 1907 through 1916, 48 babies were born, while 29 people died. (Poulsen)

The Polynesians raised pigs and fished for the carp that grew in the ponds in the vicinity to add to the crops they grew. A few Anglos resided in the town, working as supervisors on the Skull Valley farm. (UtahHistoryToGo)

Utah historian J Cecil Alter wrote in 1911, “Iosepa is perhaps the most successful individual colonization proposition that has been attempted by the Mormon people in the United States …”

“There are 1,120-acres practically all in use and half as much more is being brought under the magic wand of the Hawaiian irrigator.” (Poulsen)

Although they managed to get by most of time, much of their food was imported from Salt Lake City. New hopefuls came from the Islands only to turn away after seeing what life was like in Iosepa. (GhostTowns-org)

Gold was being mined in the nearby mountains. Many of the men departed the colony to work in the mines and did not return. As deaths from pure hardship outnumbered births, it was only a question of time until the town itself would die. (GhostTowns-org)

In addition to economic difficulties, there were other problems for the settlement. In 1896 three cases of leprosy were discovered and the victims were isolated in a special house, although fears of the spread of leprosy were unfounded.

The harsh environment – burning heat in the summer and extreme cold in the winter – took its toll on the settlers, as witnessed by the large number of graves in the cemetery. (UtahHistoryToGo)

Utah’s Iosepa Colony lasted as a community until 1917, at which time the residents returned to Hawaiʻi where the Hawaiian Mormon Temple was under construction – from that point, Iosepa was virtually abandoned.

For decades, the only evidence that the town had ever even existed was a small cemetery with the names of those who had lost their lives in Iosepa. (Poulsen)

As the years passed, the town that had flourished at the turn of the century, slowly fell into disrepair and was neglected by most of the outside world, with the occasional exception of a few groups such as the Boy Scouts and some BYU organizations who did a little repair work. (Poulsen)

In 1980, Vermin Hawes, a direct descendant of two Iosepa families, organized Memorial Day activities at the old town site, where she and a few other Polynesians from Utah gathered for the event. That year, the group repaired the fence and beautified the area. (Poulsen)

Since then, this once small group has held annual Memorial Day activities that have gathered more momentum each year and have made Iosepa the gathering place for Polynesians from all over the West. (Poulsen)

Click Here for 360-degree view of Iosepa.

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March 4, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Julia Sherman Mills Damon

The inscription on a headstone in Oʻahu Cemetery made me curious about her story: “Died in Cheyenne City, Wyoming USA, June 19, 1890.”

How did the daughter of a teacher to Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia, niece of the founder of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, wife of a prominent preacher in Honolulu and mother of a successful Honolulu businessman die in Wyoming? Before we go there, here is some of her background.

Julia Sherman Mills was born on August 17, 1817 in Torringford, Connecticut, the daughter of Eleanor Welles Mills (1785-1831) and Jeremiah Fuller Mills (1777-1833) (brother of Samuel John Mills Jr (1783–1818.))

Julia’s uncle, Samuel John Mills Jr, was one of five participants in the famous 1806 Williams College “Haystack Prayer Meeting” that led to the beginning of a secret missionary fraternity called the Society of Brethren, the first Protestant foreign missions organization in America.

He later led in the formation the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions or ABCFM (the Protestant Missionaries who came to Hawaiʻi in 1820.)

We should also recall that Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia (Obookiah,) a native Hawaiian from the Island of Hawaiʻi who in 1809, at the age of 16, after his parents had been killed, boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent.

He traveled throughout New England and was greatly influenced by many young men who were active in the Second Great Awakening and the establishment of the missionary movement.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia lived with Samuel John Mills Jr and was studying at the Foreign Mission School to become a missionary (with other Hawaiians.) ʻŌpūkahaʻia noted that he continued his “study in spelling, reading, and writing to Mr. Jeremiah Mills (Julia’s father,) … “

“… whom (he) was acquainted with at the first. Here (he) learned some sort of farming-business: cutting wood, pulling flax, mowing, &c. – only to look at the other and learn from them.” (Memoirs)

ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly of typhus fever in 1818, the “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” served as an inspiration for missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands. 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.)

Julia was orphaned of both parents, at the age of fourteen. On October 16, 1841, Julia Sherman Mills married Samuel Chenery Damon. The Damons sailed from New York March 10, 1842 aboard the Victoria and arrived in Honolulu October 19, 1842.

“Of the social and religious life of this city, Mrs. Damon became a most important component part. The Chaplaincy on Chaplain Street, became under her ministration, a place of constant, simple, cordial hospitality …”

“… which multitudes of guests will ever remember, both travellers from abroad, visitors from our Pacific merchant and whaling fleets, and missionaries in transit, and from other islands.”

“That open parlor was always a place of warm and homelike welcome, while the table in the next room was almost never without one or more guests, often those sojourning in the house.” (The Friend, August 1, 1890)

Julia Damon, was for many years head of the Strangers’ Friend Society, a leading charitable organization to aid the sick and destitute stranger in Honolulu’s early days.

“Those Ladies of Honolulu have become interested in the enterprise, whose benevolence and capability are a sure pledge that it will succeed. The term “stranger” will not be narrowed down to signify only a select few, but it is intended that Charity shall spread wide her mantle.”

“We have bespoke for the sick sailor a berth, and feel confident that his case will be always attended to, whenever the Foreign Consuls in Honolulu do not make provision for him.” (The Friend, July 2, 1852)

“Mrs. Damon found an especial sphere of activity in aid and direction to the needy and suffering. … Dr. Damon was surely blessed in the sweet home his wife made for him, in her strong support and judicious counsel, and in her practical aid in his multifarious Church and Chaplaincy work …”

“… in the latter of which especially, her gift of free and graceful hospitality fell in accord with his own cordiality, and gave influence to them both. In the sacred relation of Mother, her children indeed rise up and call her blessed, and in their own lives and happy homes are testimonies to the excellence of their maternal training.” (The Friend, August 1, 1890)

About Julia’s death … she was widowed on February 7, 1885.

“Overtaken by a nervous depression, for which a change was the prescribed relief, she accompanied eastward, a son and his wife. …”

“Starting in her active way, to say, as is supposed, good bye to some friends leaving the train at a very early hour in the depot at Cheyenne, the car moved as she was leaving it; she fell with one arm under the wheel.”

“Amputation was necessary. After a very few hours of suffering, with no rational consciousness, her spirit took flight from all the clouds of earth into the light of heaven.” (The Friend, August 1, 1890)

A little side note; in 1843, Samuel Chenery Damon founded The Friend and served as editor and publisher of the monthly journal, which continued to be published for more than 100 years.

The Friend began as a monthly newspaper for seamen, which included news from both American and English newspapers, and gradually expanded to adding announcements of upcoming events, reprints of sermons, poetry, local news, editorials, ship arrivals and departures and a listing of marriages and deaths. Rev. Damon published between a half million and a million copies of The Friend, most of which he personally distributed.

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February 24, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ali‘i Letters

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

As an example, the following are translations of three letters written by chiefs that specifically relate to that positive, collaborative working relationship.

Chiefs’ Request for More American Teachers

The first was sent August 23, 1836 to the American missionaries; the Hawaiian chiefs asked that more American teachers be sent to the Islands.

“Salutations to you, our friends in America.”

“Here is our proposition for the improvement of the lands here in Hawai‘i. Give us more instructors like those you have in your land, America. These are the types of instructors we are considering.”
“A carpenter
A tailor
A house builder
A cobbler
A wheelwright
A paper maker
A make of lead printing type
A farmer who knows the planting and care of cotton and silk, and sugar refining
A clothier, and
Carriages suitable for heavy work
A teacher for the chiefs in matters of land, comparable to what is done in foreign lands
And if there are others appropriate for those endeavors, those as well.”
Also whatever other teachers would be of value to us”

“If you agree and send these teachers when we will protect them when they arrive provide the necessities to make their professions viable and support those efforts that we will.”

(The letter is signed by 15-chiefs, including Kauikeaouli (King Kamehameha III.)

In response to the Chiefs’ request, shortly after, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent the largest company of missionaries to the Islands, that included a large number of teachers. The Eighth Company left Boston December 14, 1836 and arrived at Honolulu, April 9, 1837 on the Mary Frazier from Boston. Among the missionaries were:

• Physician Seth Lathrop Andrews (1809–1892) and wife Parnelly Pierce (1807–1846)
• Teacher Edward Bailey (1814–1903) and wife Caroline Hubbard (1814–1894)
• Rev. Isaac Bliss (1804–1851) and wife Emily Curtis (1811–1865)
• Samuel Northrup Castle (1808–1894) and first wife Angeline Tenney (1810–1841)
• Rev. Daniel Toll Conde (1807–1897) and wife Andelucia Lee (1810–1855)
• Amos Starr Cooke (1810–1871) and wife Juliette Montague (1812–1896), (Later asked by Kamehameha III to teach the young royals at the Royal School)
• Rev. Mark Ives (1809–1885) and wife Mary Ann Brainerd (1810–1882)
• Teacher Edward Johnson (1813–1867) and wife Lois S. Hoyt (1809–1891)
• Teacher Horton Owen Knapp (1813–1845) and wife Charlotte Close (1813–1846)
• Rev. Thomas Lafon (1801–1876) and wife Sophia Louisa Parker (1812–1844)
• Teacher Edwin Locke (1813–1843) and wife Martha Laurens Rowell (1812–1842)
• Teacher Charles MacDonald (1812–1839) and wife Harriet Treadwell Halstead (1810–1881)
• Teacher Bethuel Munn (1803–1849) and wife Louisa Clark (1810–1841)
• Miss Marcia M. Smith (1806–1896), teacher
• Miss Lucia Garratt Smith (1808–1892), teacher, later married to as his second wife Lorenzo Lyons
• Teacher William Sanford Van Duzee (1811–1883) and Oral Hobart (1814–1891)
• Teacher Abner Wilcox (1808–1869) and wife Lucy Eliza Hart (1814–1869)

Chiefs’ Request for American Missionaries to Teach the Chiefs’ Children

The second letter, sent in 1839, was signed by three chiefs, Kamehameha III, Hoapili Wahine and Kekāuluohi; it was directed at the missionaries, specifically Amos Starr Cooke (teacher) and Gerrit Parmele Judd (physician).

The missionaries were asked by the King to teach and care for the next generation of the highest-ranking chiefs’ children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom.

“We ask Mr. Cooke to be teacher for our royal children. He is the teacher of our royal children and Dr. Judd is the one to take care of the royal children because we two hold Dr. Judd as necessary for the children and also in certain difficulties between us and you all.
Kamehameha III
Hoapili Wahine
Kekāuluohi”

This resulted in the formation of O‘ahu’s first school, the Chiefs’ Children’s School (The Royal School.) Seven families were eligible under succession laws stated in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i; Kamehameha III called on seven boys and seven girls to board in the Chiefs’ Children’s School.

The Chiefs’ Children’s School was unique because for the first time aliʻi children would be brought together in a group to be taught, ostensibly, about the ways of governance.

The School also acted as another important unifying force among the ruling elite, instilling in their children common principles, attitudes and values, as well as a shared vision. No school in Hawai‘i has ever produced so many Hawaiian leaders in one generation.

In this school were educated the Hawai‘i sovereigns who reigned over the Hawaiian people from 1855, namely, Alexander Liholiho (King Kamehameha IV,) Queen Emma, Lot Kamehameha (King Kamehameha V,) King Lunalilo, King Kalākaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani.

In addition, the following royal family members were taught there: Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Princess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Pratt, Prince Moses Kekūāiwa, Princess Jane Loeau Jasper, Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, Prince Peter Young Kaeo, Prince William Pitt Kīnaʻu, Princess Abigail Maheha, Prince James Kaliokalani and Princess Mary Polly Paʻaʻāina.

“And it’s so not the case ….” (Nogelmeier)

The third letter is from Kalanimōku to Hiram Bingham, written in 1826; that letter translates to, “Greetings Mr Bingham. Here is my message to all of you, our missionary teachers.”

“I am telling you that I have not seen your wrong doing. If I had seen you to be wrong, I would tell you all. No, you must all be good.”

“Give us literacy and we will teach it. And, give us the word of God and we will heed it. Our women are prohibited, for we have learned the word of God.”

“Then foreigners come doing damage to our land. Foreigners of American and Britain. But don’t be angry, for we are to blame for you being faulted. And it is not you foreigners, the other foreigners.”

“Here’s my message according to the words of Jehovah, I have given my heart to God and my body and my spirit. I have devoted myself to the church and Jesus Christ.”

“Have a look at this letter of mine, Mr Bingham and company. And if you see it and wish to send my message on to America to our chief (President,) that is up to you. Greetings to the chief of America. Regards to you all, Kalanimōku.”

The Ali‘i Letters is an exciting new project of Mission Houses and is part of the initial activities related to the Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial. As these and other letters demonstrate, there was a very good working relationship between the chiefs and the missionaries.

Click HERE to view/download Background Information on the Ali‘i Letters

(This includes links to the letters and discussions about them.)

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Chiefs to Mission (Send Teachers-Farmers) Aug 23 1836-400