Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings | Page 89

October 26, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Armstrong Appointment

“The Missionaries have been the fathers, the builders and the supporters of education in these Islands, and (William Lee) thought it proper that their wishes in reference to the appointment of a person to superintend Education should in some degree be consulted”. (William Lee)

“Mr Richards the Minister of Public Instruction is sick and has been given up to die, though he still lives. The Minister of the Interior has been appointed to act for him provisionally”. (Gerrit Judd)

“Mr. Wyllie rose and said a sense of duty to the King induced him to state that the appointment of a Minister of Public Instruction, in the peculiar circumstances of the Islands, was the most important under the Crown.”

“On public instruction was based the Security of His M’s Crown, and the progress of His subjects in civilization and christianity. That, therefore, an appointment so momentous for good or evil, ought not to be precipitately made.” (Two names were discussed, Lorrin Andrews and Richard Armstrong.)

“That the man of greatest talent, most moral worth, most devoted to the King and to His Subjects and best acquainted with the language should be selected and he believed that man to be Mr Armstrong.”

“He gave this opinion as if speaking in presence of his Maker and having to answer for it, at the great day of Judgement. But he
hoped that whoever might be appointed, the appointment should be considered provisional, so as to meet the case of the possible recovery of Mr Richards.” (Richard Wyllie)

Lee “Said it was his mind that this matter is the most important one that can come before the Privy Council. With the Minister of Public Instruction rested the weighty responsibility of moulding the mind and character of this Nation for generations to come.”

“How necessary then, that we select the best man the Kingdom affords. He had looked around him to see who this man was, and his mind and heart were fixed upon Richard Armstrong.”

“He was his first choice, and in his humble opinion the Man of all men best adopted to discharge the high duties of this Post. He gave his preference to Mr Armstrong because he was a good Man, a wise Man and an industrious Man.”

“He would say nothing in disparagement of Mr Andrews of Molokai, for he knew little or nothing about him. But he did know Mr Armstrong, and thought he should certainly have the first offer.”

“He was a tried and devoted to this Nation and one whom we could not mistake – A question of such vast importance required our most sober deliberations, and he trusted that in whatever we did, we might not move with precipitation.”

“He most heartily concurred with Mr Wyllie in his remarks, and would end as he began, in stating it as his firm conviction, that Richard Armstrong was the Man.” (Lee)

“Mr (John Papa) Ii spoke very eloquently in favor of both candidates – said that either of them do well, but that Mr Armstrong was a good fisher of Men and that his loss would be severely felt in the Church.” (Ii)

Richards died – “the oldest, the most devoted, faithful and tried servant of His Majesty. He had given all the best energies of his body, mind & soul to this Nation, and what was more, he had died in poverty”. (William Lee)

“Kekuanaoa states that in his opinion Mr Armstrong be appointed and so notified. In his opinion, Mr Armstrong was the best Man and that he ought to be appointed at once.” (Kekuanaoa)

“Mr Wyllie stated that notwithstanding all that had been said, he could not without violence to his conscience, do otherwise than support the views of Governor Kekuanaoa and John Ii. Their views were r that Mr Armstrong should be appointed subject to the approval of the Missionaries at their next General Meeting.”

“He (Mr Wyllie) supported those views, both because he considered Mr Armstrong the best man, & because the whole Missionary body thought him to be the best Man. …” (Wyllie)

“It was, therefore, due, no less in gratitude than in policy, for the Government, to act so as to cultivate the good opinion & continue the sympathy of the American Board of F. Missions in the U. S. and the good will of the Missionaries here.”

“Nothing would do that more effectually than the appointment of M. Armstrong, whom all the Missionaries considered the fittest Man for the Post, although from the value they attach to him, they did not like to part with him.”

“He believed and Mr Armstrong also believed that by waiting till the next General Meeting, the Missionaries would so far consent to his separation, as to enable him to take office with their approval.” (Wyllie)

“Mr Wyllie moved the following Resolution ‘Resolved that the Reverend Mr Armstrong’s offer to assist the Minister of the Interior until the next General Meeting of his brethren, be accepted; and that if he can then obtain the approval of his brethren, he be appointed to the Office of Minister of Public Instruction.’” (Wyllie)

“The Rev. Mr. Armstrong, having by letter to Judge Lee, dated May 1848, accepted the office of the Minister of Public Instruction, tendered him by Resolution of the 2nd of December 1847 – took the Oath of Allegiance.” (All from Privy Council Minutes)

Armstrong left the mission and became Minister of Public Instruction on June 7, 1848. Armstrong was to serve the government for the remainder of his life. He was a member of the Privy Council and the House of Nobles and acted as the royal chaplain.

He set up the Board of Education under the kingdom in 1855 and was its president until his death. Armstrong is known as the “the father of American education in Hawaiʻi.”

The government-sponsored education system in Hawaiʻi is the longest running public school system west of the Mississippi River. To this day, Hawaiʻi is the only state to have a completely-centralized State public school system.

Armstrong helped bring better textbooks, qualified teachers and better school buildings. Students were taught in Hawaiian how to read, write, math, geography, singing and to be “God-fearing” citizens. (By 1863, three years after Armstrong’s death, the missionaries stopped being a part of Hawaiʻi’s education system.)

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October 22, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Mission Jubilee

“Fifty years ago it looked like a gigantic task that would require perhaps two centuries to perform, but under the power of God it was effected in half a century. Let this glorious triumph stimulate all evangelical churches to strengthen and enlarge their missionary operations in foreign lands.” (Christian Work, September 1, 1870)

“The fiftieth anniversary of the introduction Christianity into these Islands will be celebrated this year as a jubilee, the Government, through the Minister of Interior, having given public notice that Wednesday, June 15th, will be a national holiday. … A hymn for the occasion has been prepared by Rev. L Lyons, of Hawai‘i”. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 4, 1870)

“The present week having been designated for the observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the landing of the first American Missionaries on Hawaii, in April 1820, the exercises have partaken of a character designed to celebrate the event.”

“The very idea of such a festival stirred up great enthusiasm among the native population, who have been eager to manifest their appreciation of the efforts of the missionaries, and their joy at the improved state; and nearly five hundred dollars were contributed by them during April to aid in the celebration. The exercises opened on Sunday morning, when both the native congregations in this city united at Kawaiahaʻo Church to hear.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 18, 1870)

“It was fitting, at the close of the half century from the landing of the mission on the Sandwich Islands, should be a formal recognition of God’s signal blessing on the enterprise. A Jubilee celebration was accordingly planned by the Hawaiian Board for some time in the month of June, 1870, the usual time for the annual meeting of the mission; and the Prudential Committee of the American Board, and the English missions in the South Pacific, were invited to be present by their representatives.” (Anderson)

“(T)he king (Kamehameha V) proclaimed Wednesday, June 15th, a national holiday, as it was to be observed in commemoration of ‘the introduction of Christianity into this kingdom, under the auspices and direction of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.’” (Christian Work, September 1, 1870)

June 12, 1870

“On Sabbath morning June 12th, the two native congregations in Honolulu united, in the Kawaiaha‘o or great Stone Church, to hear the Rev. Mr. Kuaea, the distinguished native pastor, preach the Jubilee sermon. It was of course in the Hawaiian language. Every seat in the church was occupied, and benches were brought in till all available space was filled. As many as twenty-five hundred persons were seated.”

“At half past ten, the officiating clergymen, seven in number, entered the pulpit; when there was a voluntary skillfully played, by Mrs. Governor Dominis, on the powerful organ belonging to the church.

“After a short prayer by the Rev. B. W. Parker, a hymn in the native language, composed for the occasion, was sung by a choir of fifty Hawaiian singers.” (Anderson)

“Mr. Kuaea’s text was Lev. xxv. 11: ‘A Jubilee shall the fiftieth year be to you.’ The discourse was not less noticeable for its orderly arrangement, than for its matter, and occupied an hour in the delivery, during which the preacher is said not to have referred to note or memorandum of any kind.”

“In the course of his sermon, he called attention to the wonderful change that had been brought about in the short space of half a century. The Hawaiians he said, were a law-abiding, Sabbath-keeping people; and so general was education among them, that it was extremely rare to find a man or woman who could not both read and write.” (Anderson)

“In the evening, members of the royal family, government officials, and foreign ministers, assembled to hear an interesting historical discourse by the Rev. Dr. Damon.”

June 13 and 14, 1870

“The most interesting features of Monday and Tuesday, June 13th and 14th, were the reading of memorial essays by Mrs. Thurston and Mrs. Whitney, the only survivors of the pioneer missionaries. They gave many interesting reminiscences of their life among the natives.” (Christian Work, September 1, 1870) (That church was again filled”. (Anderson)

June 15, 1870

“Wednesday will be a holiday, and the proceedings can best be inferred from these programmes, which have been prepared for the occasion:

Jubilee Procession, June 15th, 10 am
Form at Kawaiaha‘o, at 9 am, under the direction of Major Moehonua, assisted by SB Dole Esq and others
Order of Procession.
Band.
Kawaiaha‘o Sabbath Schools.
Members of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, and Clergymen of all Denominations.
Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.
Lahainaluna Alumni.
Members of the Legislature.
Kaumakaplli Sabbath School.
Fort Street and Bethel Sabbath Schools.
Citizens Generally.

The procession will start at 10 am from Kawaiaha‘o Church, move down King to Richards street, up Richards to Beretania, thence to Nu‘uanu and King, and back to Kawaiaha‘o Church”. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 11, 1870)

“On Wednesday, the great day of the week, large numbers of the native men, women, and children, all neatly attired, formed in a grand procession. A detachment of native soldiers joined in the march, and the children of the various Sunday-schools marched together, with flags and banners, making an imposing appearance.”

“(King Kamehameha V) and the various government and foreign officials, were present at the church, where services were held, together – with about 3,000 people, and many more were unable to gain admission.” (Christian Work, September 1, 1870)

“Wednesday was the Jubilee, and a day long to be remembered on these Islands. The people attended in great numbers, and the day was as pleasant as could have been desired. The Kawaiaha‘o was tastefully decorated by the hands of ladies. A procession was formed at ten o’clock. Two companies of infantry and one of cavalry, all native soldiers, did honor to the occasion.”

“The legislature, had adjourned, and the members were in attendance, with the older missionaries, in carriages. The younger ministers, the native preachers and delegates, the faculty of Oahu College, the alumni of Lahainaluna Seminary, and the Mission Children’s Society, added numbers and dignity to the display.”

“But the most interesting feature, of the procession was the array of children from the Sabbath-schools of the two native and two foreign churches of the city, eight hundred in number, all in neat holiday attire, and each school with its beautiful banner. The place of martial music was well supplied by hymns, ringing out in a multitude of harmonious youthful voices.”

“The children occupied the spacious galleries of the church, and the body of the house was filled to repletion by adults. the king then entered, with Queen Emma, queen dowager, and attended by his ministers. He was received by the audience standing, the choir singing a version of ‘God save the King,’ in the Hawaiian language.”

“The scene was impressive. On the front of the gallery was the inscription in evergreen, ‘1820-JUBILEE -1870; and beneath, the national motto ‘Ua mau ka ea o ka aina, i ka pono,’ ‘The, Life of the Land is preserved by Righteousness.’”

“The king sat at the right of the pulpit, and behind him were the members of his cabinet, and the diplomatic representatives of foreign nations. On the left were the missionaries; and a great mass of natives, numbering perhaps three thousand, crowded the edifice; and there was believed to be a greater number outside.”

“After prayer in Hawaiian, by Dr. Lowell Smith, and singing by the choir, Dr. Clark speaking in behalf of the American Board, made remarks; which the Rev. HH Parker, pastor of the native church, translated sentence by sentence into the native tongue.”

“The choir now sang, in Hawaiian, the hymn commencing ‘No mortal eye that land hath seen, Beyond, beyond the river.’ after which addresses were delivered by Hon. C. C. Harris, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. HA Pierce, American Minister Resident, the Rev. Artemas Bishop, the oldest of the resident missionaries, the Hon. D. Kalākaua, of the House of Nobles, the Hon. Mr. Aholo, of the Legislative Assembly, and the Rev. Mr. Kauwealoha, who had spent the last seventeen years as a missionary at the Marquesas Islands.”

“After the benediction, the assembly retired to the adjoining well-shaded grounds, where a collation was spread … such as had never before been seen on those Islands. His Majesty the King, and Queen Emma, honored the feast by their presence for a brief space.” (Anderson)

“In the afternoon a feast was given, at which nearly 7,000 persons partook, and to which the King made the royal contribution of 10,000 lbs. of poi, 20 hogs, 8 sheep, 400 mullet fishes, 1 bullock, &c.” (Christian Work, 1870) “The king had previously contributed (most of the food) and afterwards he gave a hundred dollars towards expenses.” (Anderson)

“The exercises of the week were participated in by Hawaiian, English, American, and natives of Tahiti and the Marquesas, ‘all freely mingling together and enjoying the profuse hospitality of a genial host.’ Connected with the missionary work are two literary institutions, the Oahu College and the Kawaiaha‘o Female Seminary.”

“From all this may be gathered some idea of the magnitude of the work accomplished by a few missionaries among a heathen and degraded people.” (Christian Work, September 1, 1870)

This is a summary; click HERE for more information on the Mission Jubilee.

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October 17, 2018 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Black Box

Ke, ku la ia, ku la.
Pilia, ku lalani, ku la.
O pouli la, poeleele la.
Opu kalakala, lau ia, e ku’ la.
He Akua nui, he Akua mana,
He Akua ola, he Akua mau
O’Iehova he Kamahele mai ka lani mai;
He Akua noho i ka iuiu,
O ka welelau o ka makani,
Iloko o ke ao kaa lelewa.
He ohu ku i ka honua,
He onohi ku i ka moana,
Ieku, ko makou Kalahala.

Arise, stand up, stand.
Fill up the ranks, stand in rows, stand.
Lest we be in darkness, in black night.
Ye thorny-hearted, assemble, a multitude, stand.
A great God, a mighty God,
A living God, an everlasting God,
Is Jehovah, a Visitor from the skies;
A God dwelling afar off, in the heights,
At the further end of the wind,
In the rolling cloud, floating in the air.
A light cloud resting on the earth,
A rainbow standing in the ocean,
Is Jesus, Our Redeemer.
(Portion of Hewahewa’s Prayer)

At the close of a Makahiki ceremony marking the time of Lono, the Hawaiian god of peace, agriculture, the weather and healing, a prophecy was given that Lono would return in a small black box and the people would not know him or recognize the language he spoke. (alohakeakua)

“I knew the wooden images of deities, carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants, but worshipped them because it was a custom of our fathers … My thought has always been, there is one only great God, dwelling in the heavens.” (Hewahewa; Thurston)

Hewahewa, the last high priest of the ancient regime in these islands, was a great favorite with the high chiefs and the royal family.

He foresaw the coming of the missionaries and instructed his awa-chewer to run in front of the house, near the shore where the royal family were living, and call out, “E ka lani e, ina aku ke akua a pae mai.” O King, the god will soon land yonder, pointing, as he spoke.

A few days later, April 4, 1820, the Pioneer Company of missionaries arrived at that very spot aboard the brig Thaddeus, bringing with them the new god.

In commemoration of this incident the spot received the name, “Kai-o-ke-akua,” the sea of the god, by which name it has ever since been called (it is now more commonly called Kailua.)

During the next few days the missionaries had audience with royalty and earnestly presented the claims of their god for the worship of the people.

Their pleading made such an impression on the high chiefess, Kapiʻolani nui, that she told Hewahewa that the god had really landed, and expressed her willingness to accept the new religion.

This led Hewahewa, the chief religious leader of the kingdom, to prepare his prayer as a welcome to the new god who had so recently arrived. (Emerson)

Reportedly, the missionaries carried a ‘black box’ (a box or baggage holding the Bible.)

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Black Box

195th Anniversary – Reenactment of Landing – Hewahewa with Black Box (left of Liholiho)

October 15, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

David Malo’s Grave

In 1823, Malo moved to Lāhainā, Maui where he learned to read and write. Malo soon converted to Christianity and was given the baptismal name of David.

On September 5, 1831, classes at the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (Upper Lāhainā)) began in thatched huts with 25 Hawaiian young men.

Under the leadership of Reverend Lorrin Andrews, the school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents”. It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

When Sheldon Dibble arrived to Hawai‘i in 1836, “connected with the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna, and being called to teach History as one branch of my department of instruction”.

He had found it “quite objectionable that the scholars, whilst they were becoming acquainted with other nations, should remain to a great degree in ignorance of their own.”

Dibble made an “effort to collect the main facts of Hawaiian history,” he “selected ten of the best scholars of the Seminary, and formed them into a class of inquiry.”

Dibble “requested them to go individually and separately to the oldest and most knowing of the chiefs and people, gain all the information that they could on the question given out, commit each his information to writing and be ready to read it on a day and hour appointed.” (Dibble, April 28, 1843) One of the leading students was Malo.

“(David) Malo was the son of Aoao and his wife Heone, and was born at the seaside town of Keauhou, North Kona, Hawaii, not many miles distant from the historic bay of Kealakeakua, where Captain Cook, only a few years before, had come to his death.”

“The exact year of his birth cannot be fixt’d, but it was about 1793, the period of Vancouver’s second visit to the islands. … During his early life Malo was connected with the high chief Kuakini (Governor Adams), who was a brother of Queen Kaahumanu …”

“… and it was during this period specially that he was placed in an environment the most favorable to forming an intimate acquaintance with the history, traditions, legends and myths of old Hawaii, as well as with the meles, pules and olis that belong to the hula and that form so important and prominent a feature in the poesy and unwritten literature of Hawaii.”

“Such good use did Malo make of his opportunities that he came to be universally regarded as the great authority and repository of Hawaiian lore.” (NB Emerson)

Malo was ordained into the Christian ministry and settled down in the seaside village of Kalepolepo on East Maui. (Trinity) His book, Hawaiian antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii – 1898,) addressed the genealogies, traditions and beliefs of the people of Hawai‘i.

In the “Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition,” Admiral Wilkes (1840,) commenting on books about Hawai‘i, said, “(s)ome of them are by native authors. Of these I cannot pass at least one without naming him.”

“This is David Malo, who is highly esteemed by all who know him, and who lends the missionaries his aid, in mind as well as example, in ameliorating the condition of his people and checking licentiousness.”

“(A)s Malo aged, and perhaps because he spent so much time pondering the old traditions in writing Hawaiian Antiquities or wading through Lahaina’s crowds of seamen on leave, he became increasingly exasperated with the rising tide of haoles as the Hawaiians died and kept on dying.”

“In a letter to native friends, he wrote: If a big wave comes in, large and unfamiliar fishes will come from the dark ocean, and when they see the small fishes of the shallows they will eat them up.”

“The white man’s ships have arrived with clever men from the big countries. They know our people are few in number and our country is small, they will devour us.” (Malo; Vowel)

Malo died October 21, 1853. “The death of the well-known native preacher, David Malo, is one of those events which throw sorrow upon the hearts of the friends of the native race.”

“Seeing a white object on the very summit of Mt. Ball (a hill above Lahainaluna School), a day or two since, I inquired what it was.”

“It was David Malo’s tomb. And why was he buried in so strange spot? He wished it. He said this land would fall into the possession of foreigners.”

“Land in Lahaina would be valuable. The graveyards, enriched by the remains of the natives, would be coveted, and the contents of the graves scattered abroad.”

“He wished not his bones to be disturbed. Let him be buried on that summit where no white man will ever build his house.”

“And so his grave has become beacon; and if his spirit ever lingers over it, he can survey, as from lofty watch-tower, his former home, and the scene of many of his labors.” (Sereno Bishop; The Friend, November 16, 1853)

Malo’s grave is on Pu‘u Pa‘upa‘u (sometimes called Mt Ball) – that is the hill above Lahaina with the ‘L’ (standing for Lahainaluna, the school that Malo attended).

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David Malo grave

October 1, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Holmans

The Prudential Committee of the ABCFM announced that all overseas missionaries were required to have a wife before departure; their reason, the temptations for inappropriate relations were too great on the Polynesian islands.

Of the seven men in the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawai‘i, only Daniel Chamberlain was married. The six other men had a little over a month to find brides before the October departure date.

In addition, the company’s departure from Boston in 1819 was in danger of delay because they lacked a physician for the mission. Samuel Ruggles thought of his sister, Lucia, and her suitor, a physician practicing in Cooperstown, New York.

If the doctor could be persuaded to join the missionary cause, events could proceed on schedule; Lucia could marry, and the Ruggles would have the company of kin on this endeavor.

Lucia Ruggles at twenty-six years of age was an independent and strong-minded woman. She was not indifferent to religion or the cause of foreign missions.

Her brother, Samuel, was a teacher at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall, Connecticut, and she had been active in the Society of Butternuts, a fund-raising organization for the Cornwall school, prior to opening a girls’ school in Cooperstown, New York.

There Miss Ruggles met Dr. Thomas Holman, a recent graduate of Cherry Valley Medical School in New York. The couple fell in love but could not marry due to the debts incurred by the doctor’s unsuccessful practice.

Then a solution appeared in the guise of becoming missionaries. Reportedly refusing his father’s offer of three thousand dollars to clear his debts, Dr. Holman signed on with the American Board. (Wagner-Wright)

Dr. Holman, the physician, conveniently married fellow Pioneer Company member Samuel Ruggle’s older sister, Lucia Ruggles Holman and joined the mission.

After rounding Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America) and 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Hawai‘i’s “Plymouth Rock” is about where the Kailua pier is today.

On April 11, King Kamehameha II gave the missionaries permission to stay. However, “The King gives orders that Dr. H. and our teacher must land at Kiarooah – the village where he now resides, and the rest of the family may go to Oahhoo, or Wahhoo.”

“(H)e wanted the Dr. to stay with them, as they had no Physician and appeared much pleased that one had come; as to pulla-pulla (learning), they knew nothing about it. Consequently it was agreed that Dr. H. & Mr. Thurston should stay with the King and the rest of the family go to Oahhoo.” (Lucia Ruggles Holman)

Things did not go smooth for the Holmans and the rest in the mission – it started on the trip over – “Long before the close of the voyage this little community began most sensibly to feel the unpropitious influence of a most refractory spirit in (Dr Holman) …”

“… (who declared) determination not to comply with the principles established by the Board, & expressed to us in the instructions of the prudential committee, for the regulation of our economical policy.”

“Both the Dr. & his wife spoke often of acquiring personal wealth & returning early if they should succeed, to their own country. The Dr. objected to subscribing to our byelaws founded on the above named principles, because he said they cut him off from his original plans.”

“He wished to acquire the miens of returning at pleasure to America, & to educate his children there &c. … When he was referred to the general tenure of our instructions, he replied … that he had not subscribed them all &c. Sister H. too, from the time of leaving Boston repeatedly talked loudly of returning to her friends.”

“He has now received the 2nd admonition – Br. Thurston says ‘it is most manifestly our duty to proceed in our course of discipline with him even to excision if he does not confess his faults & evidence repentance future amendment’”. (Bingham to Samuel Worcester, October 11, 1820)

Dr. Holman, contrary to the unanimous advice and request of the brethren, left them, and went to reside on the island of Maui, more than 80 miles from any of them. This they considered an abandonment of the mission.

“The subject is too painful to dwell on, except when imperious duty demands – All the mission family is exhausted with it and with one voice, much as they need a physician, they would desire the Dr & his wife were safely landed on their native shore.” (Bingham to Evarts, November 2, 1820)

After only four months in the islands, the Holmans had not adjusted to the spirit of the mission. (Kelley) He withdrew from the mission on July 30, 1820 and returned to the US with his family (including Lucia Kamāmalu Holman born in 1821).

On October 2, 1821, Dr. Holman and family accepted free passage home on the Mentor, a whaleship, via China and the Cape of Good Hope. Mrs. Lucia Ruggles Holman is believed to be the first American woman to circumnavigate the globe. (Portraits)

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