Abraham Lincoln | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 12, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiʻi and the American Civil War

When the first shot of the American Civil War was fired at Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina on April 12, 1861, nearly six thousand miles away, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was a sovereign nation.

On August 26, 1861, five months after the outbreak of hostilities and four months after the news of Civil War arrived in Honolulu, Kamehameha IV issued a Proclamation that, in part, stated, “hostilities are now unhappily pending between the Government of the United States, and certain States thereof styling themselves “The Confederate States of America”.”

With the Proclamation, the King also stated “Our neutrality between said contending parties.”

The discussion of neutrality versus partisanship had to include the reality that the Hawaiian kingdom had no standing army, and most importantly, no navy to protect its harbors if supporting either the Union or Confederacy brought the other side’s vessels to threaten the principal cities of Honolulu or Lāhainā. (Illinois-edu)

Likewise, while the majority of foreigners in Hawaiʻi were Americans from New England who supported the Union cause with great fervor, leadership and advisors to the King included European ties who believed that the Confederacy would succeed in securing its independence.

King Kamehameha IV declared a neutral stance but held largely Unionist sympathies – as did the majority of people living in Hawaiʻi. (NPS)

Although neutrality was declared, Hawaiʻi’s close relationship economically, diplomatically and socially with the United States ensured that the wake of the American Civil War reached the Hawaiian Islands.

Slavery was prohibited by Hawaiʻi’s Constitution of 1852; however, there was considerable debate comparing it to the contact labor system that brought workers from Asia to fill the growing need for labor on the sugar plantations.

This was a kind of indentured servitude, some in Hawaiʻi argued, that was little better than American slavery, a position that tended to fuel opposition to the American slaveholding South.

Prior to the Civil War, whaling and related activities were the primary economic engine of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The war enabled Hawaiʻi to fill part of the void left by the absence of then-blockaded southern exports, including sugar.

Hawaiian-grown sugar soon replaced much of this southern sugar through the duration of the conflict. By the end of the war, over thirty extremely prosperous plantations were in operation and expanded to new levels previously unheard of before the war’s commencement.

In part, because of this boom in business, the majority of Americans living and working on the islands were devoutly pro-Unionist. In fact, many living in Hawaiʻi had an ardent desire to serve in the armed forces.

Hawaiʻi’s neutrality did not prevent many of its citizens from enlisting in either Union or Confederate forces. One, a Hawaiian from Hilo, was Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman, son of Kinoʻole O Liliha, a Hawaiian high chiefess of Hilo. He enlisted in the Union Army and later died of disease in Richmond, Virginia’s infamous Libby Prison.

A dozen Hawaiians (possibly from captured ships) also served as Confederate sailors aboard the famous raider CSS Shenandoah which circumnavigated the globe and sank or captured nearly forty Union and merchant vessels throughout the Pacific. (Captured sailors could be put in chains below deck, marooned on an island or be given the chance to join the crew of the Southern vessel – many chose the latter.)

About 40 individuals who were born and raised in Hawaiʻi served in the Civil War. As many as 200 immigrants to Hawaiʻi who were living here at the outbreak of the war in 1861 may have served in the conflict.

To honor these men, the Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War Memorial Committee installed a bronze and stone memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. It is dedicated to those from Hawai’i who served in the war.

Oʻahu Cemetery has thirty Union veterans who rest in a Grand Army of the Republic section of the burial ground (it is identified with four cannons at each corner.) (The Grand Army of the Republic was founded by Union veterans in Decatur, Illinois, in 1866.)

The war lasted from 1861 to 1865. Immediately following the war, many of the once prosperous sugar plantations collapsed as a result of the northern states reestablishing trade with their southern counterparts.

On May 11, 1865, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa (noting the death of Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865) noted “No words of ours can do justice to our grief. … All over the world the friends of liberty and justice, the poor, the oppressed everywhere, will weep for him, the Savior of his country, the Liberator of four million slaves, the People’s friend. … His name will forever be revered … The Nation still lives.”

In 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, a group of Union veterans established “Decoration Day” on May 30 as a time to remember and decorate the graves of service members with flowers, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation.

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November 26, 2019 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

President William McKinley High School

McKinley High School (Oʻahu’s oldest public high school) was officially established in 1865, as the Fort Street English Day School by Maurice B. Beckwith. In November 1869, the English Day School moved from the basement of the old Fort Street Church to a new stone building on the corner of Fort and School Streets.

The Fort Street School was split in 1895 into Kaʻiulani Elementary School and Honolulu High School (the high school moved into Keōua Hale – former residence of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani.)

In 1907, Honolulu High School moved to the corner of Beretania and Victoria Streets. The school’s name was then changed to President William McKinley High School, after President William McKinley, whose influence brought about the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States.

McKinley High School enjoyed the use of an “imposing” building opened in 1908. In an article which appeared in Thrum’s “Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1909” (published in 1908), CE King said:

“A very marked improvement has been attained in the architecture of buildings recently erected in Hawaii … This is notably true of the imposing McKinley High School, a building which compares most favorably with any of its kind in the world. …”

“In addition there is a principal’s office, ladies’ retiring room, each provided with all conveniences, two hat rooms for the use of students, a specimen and apparatus room for the physics laboratory, a private chemistry laboratory and a dark room connected with the chemical laboratory.”

That former McKinley High School building is still there. McKinley was later relocated, the old site (Beretania and Victoria) was occupied by the Linekona (“Lincoln”) Elementary School (that later relocated to the Makiki District.) In 1990, the building was renovated as the “Academy Art Center,” the largest art private school in Hawaiʻi, under the administration of the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

With growing enrollment, the school quickly outgrew its new building and a new and bigger school was necessary. In 1921, the present site on King Street was acquired through territorial condemnation. In 1923, the school was moved from the Beretania/ Victoria site to its present location, nearby on King Street.

At that time, McKinley had no auditorium; however, in 1927 the Marion McCarrell Scott Auditorium was dedicated. This new auditorium was then the largest theater in Hawaiʻi with a seating capacity of 1,114 (it served not only the students but the community at large.)

The school’s swimming pool was the students’ pride of the 1920s because they played an active part in its construction. Armed with picks, shovels and determination, the students began the excavation for a pool in 1923. The pool was completed in 1926 and named in honor of the late Honolulu Mayor Fred Wright.

Through the 1920s, more than half of the high school students in Hawaiʻi attended McKinley.

December 8, 1941 the US Government commandeered the nearby St Louis campus for the use of the 147th General Hospital. Elementary students attended classes at Saint Patrick School and St Louis high school classes shared classes at McKinley High School.

Sharing a campus by the high schools led to a fierce rivalry. To ease some of the tension, reportedly, Saint Louis football coach (later Honolulu Mayor) Neal Blaisdell created the “poi pounder trophy,” to go to the winner of the annual Saint Louis/McKinley football game (this continued from 1942 to 1969.)

The Second World War proved to bring other challenges to the students of McKinley. They wanted to do their part in the nation’s war effort. A savings bond drive was conducted, and the students responded by buying over $200,000 in bonds and stamps.

The overwhelming success of the bond drive instigated a new project; the goal was to purchase a fighter bomber for the US Air Force. Students raised an additional $333,000 in war bonds to cover the cost of a Liberator bomber. In February 1944, the plane, christened “Madame Pele,” was presented to the US Air Force.

With the ending of WW II, Veterans’ School was begun on campus to help the McKinley young men who had left school for the war. One hundred and five veterans came back to McKinley and finished their education.

In the 1960s, the students had an opportunity to choose from a wider range of subjects in preparation for their post-high school education. McKinley continued to be a comprehensive public high school in Hawaiʻi.

Comprehensive high schools are meant to serve the needs of all students; typical comprehensive high schools offer more than one course of specialization in its program and usually have a college preparatory course and one or more scientific or vocational courses.

The school colors, black and gold, were selected when McKinley High School was very young. Gold was chosen for McKinley’s close association with Hawaiian royalty. Not only was the school started during the reign of Kamehameha V, but also Honolulu High School, the predecessor of McKinley High School, used the home of Princess Ruth for a school house.

In searching for a color to compliment the gold, black was agreed upon. Part of the reason for the selection was that many McKinley graduates continued their education at Princeton University, whose colors are also black and gold. The nickname, “Tigers”, was possibly derived from the close association with Princeton.

Another proud aspect of McKinley’s history is the Code of Honor written in 1927 by student Mun Chee Chun. The code expressed the high standard of behavior which McKinley students tried to maintain. The original plaque of the code is proudly displayed in the main foyer of the Administration building.

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Fort Street Church-(HSA)-the_beginning_of_McKinley_School-started_in_the_basement

Fort Street Church-(WC)-the_beginning_of_McKinley_School-started_in_the_basement

Keoua Hale

Keōua Hale,f Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani at 1302 Queen Emma Street - site of Central Intermediate School

McKinley High School-Linekona-Academy_Art_Center-(ksbe)

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'Madame Pele'-Consolidated_B-24-Liberator_bomber

'Madame Pele'-over_Truk (just missed by bombs from higher elevation bomber)

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November 7, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

A Gold Watch From President Abraham Lincoln

While there were several other participants, this story really relates to two people – James Kekela and Jonathan Whalon … and because of the meeting between these two, President Abraham Lincoln stepped into the picture.

James Kekela was born in 1824 at Mokuleia, in Waialua. After public schooling, he was selected as a promising candidate to attend the mission school at Lahainaluna.

“Here he acquired what that center of light had to give; some knowledge of life, of the world in which we live, and of the divine revelation made in the Sacred Scriptures. And more than all else, he acquired a firm faith in a personal Savior and Redeemer.” (The Friend)

Mr. Kekela was the first Native Hawaiian to be ordained as a minister in Hawaiʻi, ordained at Kahuku on December 21, 1849 and settled as pastor of the Hauʻula church.

He served as pastor for two or three years until he was called to foreign missionary work – in 1853, the Hawaiian churches decided to unite to support a mission to the Marquesas Islands, sending out missionaries from among their own ranks.

Rev. James Kekela and Rev. Samuel Kauwealoha, and their wives, were accompanied by New England missionary Benjamin Parker of Kāneʻohe Mission Station; these native couples were the first Hawaiian families to serve as missionaries in the Marquesas, 1853-1909.

They settled on the island of Hiva-Oa in Puamau, a large valley with 500 inhabitants – the valley rises two miles inland, where it terminates in an abrupt precipice 2,000 feet high.

Kekela’s counterpart in this story, Jonathan Whalon, was born at Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1822. On July 13, 1841, he applied for and was granted Seaman’s Protection Certificate #58 at Fall River, Massachusetts.

He served on whaling ships and made a total of seven whaling voyages, working his way up the chain of command, from green-hand to captain on his fifth and sixth voyages.

His seventh and final voyage (in 1864) was on board the whaling ship Congress 2, as first mate. Evidently everything went smoothly until he decided to visit the natives on the island of Hiva-Oa.

Unbeknownst to all, previously, a Peruvian vessel had stolen men from Hiva-Oa, and the Marquesans were waiting for an opportunity to revenge the deed.

Mr. Whalon went on shore to trade for pigs, fowls, etc, and the natives, under the presence of hunting pigs, decoyed him into the woods, where, at a concerted signal, large numbers of men had been collected. Mr. Whalon was seized, bound, stripped of his clothing, and taken to be cooked and eaten.

“Kekela and others made haste to rescue the mate. At first the wrathful chief refused to give up his victim; but he yielded at length to Kekela’s entreaties, and offered to receive as a ransom his new six-oared boat, given him by his benefactor in Boston, which he greatly prized, and greatly needed in his missionary work. But the good man did not hesitate a moment to accept the hard terms.” (Hiram Bingham Jr.)

The dramatic circumstances of Jonathan Whalon’s capture and rescue were reported when his ship reached America, and the incident eventually came to the attention of President Abraham Lincoln.

Although the President was engrossed in the ‘War Between the States,’ he was so moved that he sent $500 in gold to Dr. McBride, US Minister resident in Honolulu, for the purchase of suitable gifts that would express his gratitude to those who had participated in the rescue.

The President presented a total of 10-gifts: two gold hunting case watches; two double-barreled guns (one to the Marquesan chief who rescued Mr. Whalon and the other to B. Nagel, the German who assisted the chief;) a silver medal to the girl who hailed the whaleboat and told the men to “pull away”; and, lastly, a spy-glass, two quadrants and two charts to the Marquesan Mission. All were inscribed in Hawaiian. (The Friend)

“This act of the President, in rewarding these persons, will have a good effect all through the ocean, for it will be circulated far and near, and will show them that the President not only hears of the good deeds of Polynesian islanders, but stands ready to reward them.” (The Friend)

Most interesting among the gifts was a large gold watch the President gave to Kekela (a similar watch was given to Kaukau, Kekela’s associate in the rescue.)

The inscription on it is translated from Hawaiian as follows:
“From the President of the United States to Rev. J. Kekela For His Noble Conduct in Rescuing An American Citizen from Death
On the Island of Hiva Oa January 14, 1864.”

Rev. Kekela sent a thank you letter, in response. In part, it stated: “Greetings to you, great and good Friend! … When I saw one of your countrymen, a citizen of your great nation, ill-treated, and about to be baked and eaten, as a pig is eaten, I ran to save him, full of pity and grief at the evil deed of these benighted people.”

“As to this friendly deed of mine in saving Mr. Whalon, its seed came from your great land, and was brought by certain of your countrymen, who had received the love of God. It was planted in Hawaii, and I brought it to plant in this land and in these dark regions, that they might receive the root of all that is good and true, which is love.”

“I gave my boat for the stranger’s life. This boat came from James Hunnewell, a gift of friendship. It became the ransom of this countryman of yours, that he might not be eaten by the savages who knew not Jehovah. This was Mr. Whalon, and the date, Jan. 14, 1864.” (Kekela as quoted by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Unfortunately, President Lincoln never received the thank you note; Lincoln was assassinated shortly before the note’s arrival.

After forty-seven years of foreign missionary service in the Marquesas, Rev. and Mrs. Kekela returned to their native islands. Kekela died in 1904. He is buried in Mission Houses cemetery a few steps from where his gold watch and letters are kept at the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

The story is depicted in a recent Mysteries at the Museum – here is a link to the full program, the Kekela Watch sequence is within this video (go to 20:44):

https://www.travelchannel.com/content/travel-com/en/shows/m/mysteries-at-the-museum/episodes/1700/fleeing-fidel-murder-by-shark-and-inflated-feud.html

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James Hunnewell Kekela (1824–1904) and wife Naomi Kaenaokane Maka Kekela (1826–1902)-PP-74-8a-014

November 13, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hanks

Nancy Hanks was born on February 5, 1784 in Hampshire County, Virginia (now Mineral County, West Virginia). By the time she was nine years old, she was orphaned and living in what would become the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

As Nancy grew into womanhood she was employed as a seamstress. It was there that she came to know Thomas Lincoln who was employed as a carpenter.

Thomas lived on a neighboring farm, and, over the years, their friendship grew into something more; they eventually married on June 12, 1806.

The union would produce three children, Sarah, born on February 10, 1807, Abraham, born on February 12, 1809, and Thomas Jr., who died in infancy.

During the first ten years of their marriage, Thomas and Nancy occupied three different farms in Kentucky, but boundary disputes caused them to lose all three.

Thomas finally decided to move his family to Indiana. In the winter of 1816, they settled in present-day Spencer County in what became known as the Little Pigeon community.

After spending the winter in a temporary shelter, Thomas and young Abraham built a sturdy log cabin. In addition to the hard work, life on the frontier often included tragedy as well. They were not immune to the many hazards that threatened all pioneers in the 19th century.

The autumn frosts of 1818 had already colored the foliage of the huge trees of oak, hickory and walnut when neighbors became desperately ill, stricken with the dreaded milk sickness.

The disease resulted when cows ate the white snakeroot plant and the poison from the plant contaminated the milk. People who drank this poisoned milk or ate its products faced death. On October 5, 1818, within two weeks of the first symptoms, Nancy died (Abraham was nine).

Death in a one-room log cabin was a grim experience for the survivors. Nancy’s body was prepared for burial in the very room in which the family lived. Thomas and nine-year old Abraham whipsawed logs into planks, and with wooden pegs they fastened the boards together into a coffin. (NPS)

Abraham married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation.

He won the Republican nomination for President in 1860 and swept the north and was elected president. He was sworn in as the 16th President of the US on March 4, 1861.

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. (White House)

Relatives of Abraham Lincoln, on his mother’s side (Nancy Hanks), made it to the Islands.

Frederick Leslie Hanks, a New Yorker, was a sailor in the Pacific who recorded some of the important state relations between Japan and the United States in the 1840s. (Iaukea) He became active in Hawaiian affairs during the 1850s. (Hawaiian Church Chronicle, 1939)

His daughter was Charlotte Kahaloipua Hanks. “Her maternal grandfather was Kekualaula and her grand uncle Keawaaua, high chiefs of the islands of Hawai‘i and O‘ahu. Her mother was Akini Wahinekapuokaahumanu.”

Charlotte “was a prominent figure in the picturesque era of the monarchy of Hawai‘i. … On April 7, 1877, she was married to Col. Iaukea, then in the office of the chamberlain of the kingdom.”

“Col Iaukea became adjutant general of King Kalakaua’s army and later become chamberlain and special envoy from the kingdom of Hawai‘i to various European and oriental countries.”

“She naturally spent most of her time at court and was a lady in waiting to Queen Kapiolani, consort of Kalakaua. She was created a knight companion of Kapiolani and also received the Royal Order of Takovo of Serbia.”

“She was closely associated with Queen Lili‘uokalani and after the dethronement and until the death of the former queen was her loyal and devoted friend.”

“She was a member of the Daughters of Hawai‘i and one of her many interests was the Kapiolani maternity hospital.” (Hawaiian Church Chronicle, 1939) Charlotte Kahaloipua Hanks Iaukea, related to Abraham Lincoln, died November 17, 1939.

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Charlotte_K._Hanks_(PP-73-3-022)

Iaukea Headstone

January 31, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Great and Good Friend”

“I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families – second families, perhaps I should say.”

“My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks…. My father … removed from Kentucky to … Indiana, in my eighth year…. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up….” (Abraham Lincoln; White House)

He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the US, becoming the first Republican President to win the presidency. It was a time when the country was divided.

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.”

“The government will not assail you…. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.” (White House)

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven states had seceded, and the Confederate States of America had been formally established, with Jefferson Davis as its elected president.

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy. Later that year, at 5:30 am on the morning of July 1, the first skirmish of the Battle of Gettysburg took place.

After three days of fighting, while both armies were badly impacted (with an estimated 51,112 casualties (23,049 Union and 28,063 Confederate,)) it was considered a decisive victory for the Union. On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered what is now referred to as the Gettysburg Address.

The Civil War continued until the spring of 1865 when the North won the war. Throughout 1864 and 1865, President Lincoln worked to pass the 13th Amendment, which declared that slavery and involuntary servitude were no longer allowed in the US and gave Congress the power to enforce this law.

In the Islands, a little over a week after the Gettysburg Address (November 30, 1863,) Kamehameha IV, after serving approximately 9-years as King, died of chronic asthma in Honolulu at the age of 29. His brother, Lot Kapuāiwa, became King Kamehameha V.

Shortly thereafter, King Kamehameha V received a letter from President Abraham Lincoln, addressed to “Great and Good Friend,” expressing his “feelings of profound sorrow” of his brother’s death.

“Not only I, but the whole American People are deeply moved by the intelligence of the event with which God in His infinite wisdom has afflicted your Majesty and the Hawaiian Nation; for whom this Government and people have ever entertained sentiments of almost paternal regard, as well as of sincere friendship and unchanging interest.”

“It is gratifying to know that His Majesty’s place on the Throne and in the hearts of the Hawaiian people is occupied by one who was allied to him by the closest ties of blood, and by a long participation in the affairs of the Kingdom.”

“Your Majesty may ever firmly rely upon my sincere sympathy and cordial support and upon the abiding friendship of the people of the United States in the execution of the lofty mission entrusts to you by Providence.” (Lincoln, February 2, 1864)

Lincoln closed the letter noting, “I remain Your Majesty’s Good Friend.” (Lincoln, February 2, 1864)

About 40 individuals who were born and raised in Hawaiʻi served in the Civil War. As many as 200-immigrants to Hawaiʻi who were living here at the outbreak of the war in 1861 may have served in the conflict.

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs signaled an end to the war. On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15, 1865, at the age of 56.

On May 11, 1865, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa (noting the death of Abraham Lincoln) noted “No words of ours can do justice to our grief. … “

“All over the world the friends of liberty and justice, the poor, the oppressed everywhere, will weep for him, the Savior of his country, the Liberator of four million slaves, the People’s friend. … His name will forever be revered … The Nation still lives.”

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