Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks | Page 52

November 1, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1790s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1790s – including John Young and Isaac Davis joining Kamehameha, Vancouver visits, Battles of Kepaniwai and Nu‘uanu, etc. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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October 30, 2016 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

John Joseph Halstead

John Joseph Halstead was born on October 30, 1808 in a notable New York City family of the early Colonial days. His father had intended him for a physician, but young Halstead was unable to overcome his natural repugnance to handling cadavers.

He gave up his medical studies and went to sea in a whaler. Returning from his first whaling voyage he fell in love, but chose to go on another whaling voyage before marrying.

A whaling voyage in those days took all of three years, and on his return he found his betrothed betrayed him for another man. Halstead left New York for a voyage to the “off-shore whaling grounds” in the South Pacific Ocean off the South American coast.

In the year 1840 John Joseph Halstead sailed to Hawaii on a whaling ship bringing with him from New York carpentry and cabinet-makings skills. He set up a shop in Lāhainā.

With his Germanic influence in making furniture in the Empire style Halstead seems to have worked exclusively with koa, a wood native to Hawai‘i.

In many of his large pieces he mixed light and dark wood for dramatic effect. Few of these objects survive today. This is mainly due to devastating attacks by termites which are extremely active and destructive in the Hawaiian Islands. (Martin)

It was said to be the first man to put up a frame house in Lāhainā. He married ‘Uwaikikilani, a granddaughter of Isaac Davis (who helped Kamehameha in his conquest.)

He and his family moved over to Kalepolepo, along the Kihei shoreline, and shortly thereafter built a new house for himself. (Wilcox)

It was a large Pennsylvania Dutch style house made entirely of koa, built next to the south wall of Ko‘ie‘ie Loko I‘a (fishpond) (also called Kalepolepo Fishpond.)

Halstead’s three story house/store was nicknamed the ‘Koa House.’ With the mullet-filled fishpond, the Koa House became a popular retreat for Hawaiian royalty such as Kamehameha III, IV, V and Lunalilo. (Starr)

He opened a trading station on the lower floor. Whalers came ashore to buy fresh produce that was brought in by the farmers via the Kalepolepo Road.

The western trading interests at Kalepolepo between 1850 and 1860 were focused on the whaling and maritime trading industries, and co-existed with the continued traditional activities that focused on fishing and maintaining the ponds.

He promoted the Irish potato industry in Kula, which even then was a thriving industry for provisioning whale ships in their seasonal voyages after whales.

During the Irish potato boom of those days any native farmer with an acre or two of potatoes would sell his crop, and as soon as he received payment in fifty-dollar gold pieces he would hurry off to the nearest store to buy a silk dress for his wife or a broadcloth suit for himself.

Kula produce was also shipped out by Halstead to California during the gold rush era. During this period, Hobron’s interisland schooner, Maria, made regular stops (about every 10 days) at Kalepolepo, on its route between Honolulu, Lāhainā, Makee’s Landing (Makena) and Kawaihae.

During the 1850s Kalepolepo was not so barren looking a place. Coconut trees and kou trees grew beside pools of clear water, along the banks of which grew the taro and the ape (a giant plant which grows nowhere else on earth to-day), and was the scene of the labors of David Malo. (Wilcox)

From the 1840s to 1860s a small whaling station was maintained at Kalepolepo. During the winter and spring months schools of whales would come to stay or calf in the quiet waters of Ma‘alaea Bay.

Whale boats manned by native crews officered by experienced whalers would go out to battle with the big mammals, and if successful would return towing the carcass in to be cut up and tried for oil.

Once, a big whale came in close ashore on a Sunday. The temptation proved too much for the whalers, and Halstead himself went out, harpooned the whale – in defiance of the strict Sunday laws.

Halstead was summoned to court. His bail was fixed at $25, which was paid (the whale fetched thousands of dollars in oil and whalebone.)

In 1876, Halstead closed his store and moved to ʻUlupalakua, where he died eleven years later, May 3, 1887. (Wilcox) (NPS) (Lots of information here is from NPS and Wilcox.)

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John Joseph Halstead-Koa House-Paradise of the Pacific-1921

Uwaikikilani Halstead-Stanley-Hassrick-1849

Uwaikikilani Halstead-Stanley-Hassrick

Koieie-Fishpond-NPS

Koieie_Fishpond-NPS

Kihei Coastline-Kalepolepo-Pepalis

John Joseph Halstead-gravestone

September 19, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

First Whalers in Hawai‘i

Edmund Gardner was born in Nantucket, MA in 1784. In 1800, at the age of 16, he began his career as a mariner, sailing on a whaling voyage in the sloop Dove. He married Susanna Hussey of Nantucket in 1807. Six of their twelve children survived childhood.

His first command came in 1807 when he was asked to be the master of the Nantucket ship Union. Captain Gardner achieved some notoriety on this voyage by having his vessel sunk by a whale while on route to the Azores. This event was noted in Melville’s Moby Dick which was first published in 1851.

Edmond Gardner, captain of the New Bedford whaler Balaena (also called Balena,) and Elisha Folger, captain of the Nantucket whaler Equator, made history in 1819 when they became the first American whalers to visit the Sandwich Islands (Hawai‘i.)

“I had one man complaining with scurvy and fearing I might have more had made up my mind to go to the Sandwich Islands. I had prepared my ship with all light sails when I met the Equator.”

“I informed him of my intention. He thought it was too late to go off there and get in time on the West Coast of Mexico. I informed Folger what my determination was.”

“So little did I expect him to accompany me that I wrote my letters for him to forward to the United States if an opportunity presented. He took my letters and then said ‘if I conclude to go in company with you, I will stand on, if not, shall tack in for the land.’”

“I gave orders in the morning to put the ship on a WSW course putting on all sail. In a short time after the morning, I discovered he was following. We made the best of our way to the Sandwich Islands where we arrived in six-teen days, had a pleasant passage to the Islands and arrived at Hawaii 19th 9 Mo 1819.“ (Gardner Journal)

“I left California 3d of 9 Mo 1819. I came to anchor in Kealakekua Bay, Hawai‘i in seventeen fathoms water. While at this place heeled my ship to paint the bends and kept all the natives on one side of the ship, having previously installed one of the Natives as shipkeeper with a rattan for his badge of office.”

“He had in his possession several recommendations from shipmasters of his efficiency of clearing the ship of natives when troublesome. One day I think there must have been more than two hundred on board, when they became much excited, making a great noise.”

“I was somewhat alarmed, stamped on the deck and called on the shipkeeper to clear the ship of Kanakas. He accordingly drove them from the deck in five minutes into the sea. I then suffered but few to come at a time.”

“The next day a native who had been in Boston came on board and he spoke good English. I desired him to make inquiry what was the difficulty with the natives the previous day.”

“He soon came and informed me that the natives of the district where the ship lay wanted to have all our trade and would not suffer others from other districts to interfere. Their intention was to monopolize all the trade with us. I then found that the Sandwich Islanders possessed the same feelings as ourselves and ready to contend for their supposed rights.”

“After being there a week I was on deck early in the morning when one of the Kanakas called in an animated manner ‘mokee, mokee.’”

“In looking to the westward, I saw a large sperm Whale spouting. I immediately called to Captain Folger of the Equator and told him there was a large sperm whale, that I would send two boats if he would send two, and we would divide what we obtained.”

“He agreed to the same and our boats left at 7 am in pursuit and were soon out of sight north of the harbor. I did not like to send all my boats, not having full confidence in the natives of that place.”

“We saw nothing nor heard anything until 4 pm, when two canoes arrived in the bay paddling very fast and came to my ship. The Kanakas wiped the perspiration and talked very fast, being much excited. I could understand nothing. One of them shut his eyes and laid his head on one side in his hand.”

“I then called to Capt Folger and told him our boats had killed the whale (for we had remained on board our ships in the absence of our boats.)”

“He asked me how I knew. I answered him the natives had told me so. I immediately sent another boat to help tow the whale to the ship. In two hours they made their appearance, with fifty canoes helping tow. Our boats were absent the whole day, reaching the ship after sunset.”

“The next day we commenced cutting in our fish, and I have no doubt there were as many natives around our ship as Capt Cook had around his ship when first he visited those Islands. All the canoes were called into requisition far and near, and hundreds came swimming, not having any conveyance.”

“While cutting in, we had to be careful to prevent cutting the Kanakas for as soon as we had taken off the blubber they commenced (with our leave) to tear off the lean from the carcass and fill their canoes as fast as they could tear it off. They had a great festival from what they got from the whale.”

“There was a little incident which occurred while at Kealakekua when we were boiling through the night which I will relate. Both ships were making much light from the tryworks, so at times to light the whole bay; it was a natural conclusion with the natives that we must want fuel.”

“In the morning canoes came to my ship bringing wood for sale. They were somewhat surprised to find we were not in want of wood. The oil obtained from the whale was one hundred and two barrels.”

“After laying till 1st of 10 Mo left for Rahina (Lahaina) Mowee (Maui) for water, where we found Butler a resident, formerly from Martha’s Vineyard.”

“Also a Chief called Governor and sometimes John Adams (Kuakini.) He seemed to be principal man at Maui. After taking in our water went to Woahoo (Oahu) to leave letters to be sent Via Canton. The ship Paragon, Wilds and Ship Eagle, Meek were nearly ready to sail for China.”

“Left Oahu 10th of 10 Mo 1819 for Coast of California. I shipped two Kanakas from Maui and had them the remainder of the Voyage and took them to New Bedford. Their names were Joe Bal and Jack Ena, the two names comprising that of my ship Balaena.” (Gardner Journal)

A year later, Captain Joseph Allen discovered large concentrations of sperm whales off the coast of Japan. His find was widely publicized in New England, setting off an exodus of whalers to this area.

These ships might have sought provisions in Japan, except that Japanese ports were closed to foreign ships. So when Captain Allen befriended the missionaries at Honolulu and Lahaina, he helped establish these areas as the major ports of call for whalers. (NPS)

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Kealakekua Bay in the 1820s, from Hiram Bingham I’s book

George_Vancouver-arriving_at_Kealakekua_Bay

View_of_Houses_at_Kealakekua,_William_Ellis-1779

Masked_Paddlers_at_Kealakekua-(HerbKane)

John_Webber_-_’Kealakekua_Bay_and_the_village_Kaawaloa’,_1779

Kaawaloa, Kealakekua Bay. A copperplate engraving from a drawing by Lucy or Persis Thurston about 1835

KealakekuaBay

May 5, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Libelle

Oral traditions claim that the Marshallese knew of Wake Atoll prior to contact with European navigators. The Marshallese name for the atoll was Eneen-Kio or Ane-en Kio, “Island of the kio flower.”

The atoll was a source of feathers and plumes of seabirds. Prized were the wing bones of albatross, from which tattooing chisels could be made. In addition, the rare kio flower grew on the atoll.

Bringing these items to the home atolls implied that the navigators had been able to complete the feat of finding the atoll using traditional navigation skills of stars, wave patterns and other ocean markers. (Spennemann)

Today, it is more commonly referred to as ‘Wake Island’ or ‘Wake Atoll’ (rediscovery of Wake and its naming is usually credited to Captain William Wake of the British trading schooner Prince William Henry, enroute from Port Jackson, Australia to Canton in China in 1792.) (NPS)

Wake Island, to the west of Honolulu, Hawaii, is the northernmost atoll in the Marshall Islands geological ridge and perhaps the oldest living atoll in the world.

Though it was substantially modified by the United States to create a military base before and after World War II, its major habitats are the three low coral islands consisting of shells, coral skeletons, and sand, supporting atoll vegetation adapted to arid climate. (FWS)

On the evening of March 5, 1866 under the leadership of captain Anton Tobias, Bremer Bark Libelle (Dragonfly,) bound for Hong Kong from San Francisco having last stopped in Honolulu, shipwrecked on Wake Island, one of the most remote, uninhabited atolls of the Central Pacific.

On board 16 passengers, men, women and children; also on board was a cargo valued at $300,000, including silver coins and quicksilver. (Quicksilver is otherwise known as mercury, the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure.)

Passengers included some famous people: Anna Bishop, one of the most famous singers and adventurous women of the time; Eugene Van Reed Miller, an American diplomat and pioneering the development of the Asian markets; Yabe Kisaboro, a Japanese officer. (Drechsler)

They were stranded on the atoll for approximately three weeks. On the futile search for drinking water, the fear of the impending end comes on. Should we really trust a tiny lifeboat and the attempt to reach the 1,300-nautical miles distant Marianas Islands? (Drechsler)

On March 27, twenty-two people crammed themselves about Libelle’s twenty-two foot longboat, piloted by Tobias’ first mate. The captain took four sailors and three Chinese on a twenty-foot gig. (Urwin)

The first mate and passengers travelled 1,300-miles and made it to Guam in 18-days. The Captains boat was never hear from again.

Salvage crews faced a similar fate as the Libelle.

“The wrecking party of the second expedition to Wake’s Island, returned by the British brig Clio last month. They sailed from Honolulu last September, in the schooner Moi Wahine, and landed on Wake’s Island, after a pleasant passage down of a month.”

“Capt English, Mr Thos Foster and nine Hawaiian divers’ were landed, with a part of their stores, and apparatus for distilling water.”

“The next day, towards night, the wind shifting, the schooner took her anchor and put out to sea, to avoid a lee shore. The vessel was never seen again afterwards.”

“The wind on the third day veered suddenly to the westward, and blew a living gale. On the Island its force was terrific, trees on ihe windward side were torn up, and carried quite across the lagoon and branches strewed the whole island. Captain Zenas Bent, the mate Mr. White, and seven Hawaiian seamen perished with the schooner.”

“The weather at Wake’s Island during the five months that the party were there, with the exception of the typhoon Thursday was pleasant and fair.”

“The lagoon abounds with fish, and from the middle of February, the birds made their appearance, and there was plenty of eggs. On these natural resources of the Island the wreckers managed to live without serious Inconvenience, while by distillation they procured as much water as they required.”

“Though it lies in the track of the China bound vessels, it is incorrectly laid down, and therefore they give it a wide berth, especially when passed on the windward side.”

“During the four months, only one vessel was communicated with – a brig that touched within two weeks after the party landed, and before they had given up hope for the return of their schooner. Several sail were seen at intervals, but they passed on without noticing the island, or the signals on the shore.”

“At length the Clio appeared, bound thither for wrecking purposes, not being aware that the Honolulu party were there. Near the Island the Clio spoke a bark, which was probably the vessel which had agreed, when leaving Honolulu for China, to touch at the Island and report upon the fate of the party, for whose safety, on account of long absence, serious fears were entertained here.”

“The Clio was chartered for Honolulu, and taking on board the party, the quicksilver and other material of the wrecked Libelle, arrived after a pleasant run of thirty days.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 27, 1868)

“Two hundred and forty-six flasks of quicksilver, a quantity of copper, chains, anchors, &e, have been secured, which will repay the adventurers well for their enterprise.”

“The brig went there for the same purpose as the schooner, and was chartered by Mr Foster to bring the wrecked goods to this port.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 2, 1868)

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Similar Ship to the Libelle

February 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Thomas R Foster

He was born May 19, 1835 at Fisher’s Grant, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada; he later went to work with for his brother, Daniel Foster, in his shipbuilding business in Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island in the 1850s.

In 1857, Thomas R Foster and his brother Daniel decided to move to Hawaiʻi to try the shipbuilding business in the Pacific. It appears that Thomas Foster was the main brother involved in the Shipbuilding business in Hawaiʻi.

Foster met and married Mary Elizabeth Mikahala Robinson, the eldest daughter of James Robinson, the prominent local ship builder in 1861 (they did not have any children.)

With financial help from Mary’s father, the Fosters bought property near the intersection of Nuʻuanu Avenue and School Street. There, they built a modest residence and settled down. (Wallworth)

(Later (1880,) the Fosters purchased the neighboring property owned by Dr William Hillebrand, a German physician and botanist who built his home here and planted trees and a variety of other plants. Upon Mary’s death (December 19, 1930,) the property was bequeathed to the City of Honolulu, to be known as Foster Park (now known as Foster Botanical Garden.))

On March 4, 1866, the German barque Libelle, on voyage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, grounded on the east reef off Wake Island. Several vessels went to Wake Island to salvage the cargo, which included several hundred flasks of quicksilver.

The sloop Hokulele, with a party headed by Foster, left Honolulu May 9, 1867, reached Wake on May 31st, left there June 22, and returned to Honolulu July 29, 1867 with 247 flasks of quicksilver. (Quicksilver is otherwise known as mercury, the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure.)

Steamship companies played an important role in the Kingdom of Hawai`i, even though steam navigation actually got off to a slow start; the first steamer was the American twin-screw steamer Constitution that arrived at Honolulu on January 24, 1852. (NOAA)

Then, the legislature passed ‘an Act to Promote Inter-Island Steam Communication,’ approved by the king on September 18, 1876. This law authorized the minister of the interior to contract with responsible parties “to maintain a suitable steamer of not less than 500 tons register … in the inner-island service … for a period not to exceed ten years.” (Kuykendall)

Foster began his company in 1878, two years after the signing of the Reciprocity Treaty with the United States by the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Incorporated as the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company in 1883, Foster’s firm followed that of Samuel Gardner Wilder, Sr., who began the similar Wilder Steamship Company in 1877. (Chinatown)

In response to increased needs, three local steamship companies soon emerged as corporations: Wilder Steamship Company (Wilder,) Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company (Foster) and Pacific Navigation Company (Amos F Cooke.) (Pacific Navigation experienced costly setbacks due to a number of shipwrecks and folded in 1888.) (NOAA)

Inter-Island operated the Kauai and Oʻahu ports plus the Kona, Kaʻū, Kukuihaele, Honokaʻa and Kūkaʻiau ports on Hawaiʻi. Wilder took Molokai, Lānaʻi and Maui plus all ports on Hawaii, including Hilo, not served by Inter-Island.

Both companies stopped at Lahaina plus Maalaea Bay and Makena on Maui’s leeward coast once. Inter-Island’s service to Lahaina started in 1886. Both fleets were enlarged over time. (Hawaiian Stamps)

In 1905, the two companies, under the leadership of John Ena (1843-1906), a former clerk of Chinese-Hawaiian parentage, merged under the Inter-Island name. (Chinatown)

When airplanes came to the Hawaiian Islands, the Inter-Island Navigation Company founded a subsidiary, Inter-Island Airways. Hawaiʻi’s first interisland passenger service was launched on November 11, 1929.

In the late-1940s, Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co became the target of a federal anti-trust suit. The government won its case and broke the company into four companies: Inter-Island Steam, Overseas Terminals, Hawaiian Airlines and Inter-Island Resorts. (GardenIsland)

Foster died in 1889; the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company built their headquarters on Merchant Street in 1891 and inscribed their building with Foster’s name in his memory.

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Thomas R Foster-C&CHnl

SS Waialeale-(HallBrothers)

Menu-SS_Hualalai-(gdm-hi)-Jan_6,_1949

Routes of the Steamship companies Wilder’s_routes-(green lines) and Inter-Island-(blue lines) -1890

Inter-Island Airways planes on the runway at John Rodgers Field, Honolulu, c1936-1939

TR Foster Building-corner of Nuuanu and Marin-(NPS)

Perspective_view_of_southeast_elevation,_including_the_Irwin_Block_(The_Nippu_Jiji)_(HABS_HI-55-M)_-_Merchant_and_Nuuanu_Streets,_T._R._Foster_Building

TR_Foster_Bldg-Plaque-600

Foster_Botanical_Garden-sign

Foster_Botanical_Garden-Map