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February 3, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lucy Peabody

Lucy Peabody was the daughter of a prominent island family, Dr and Mrs Parker Peabody, who settled on the island of Maui early in the last century. (Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 10, 1928) She was born January 1, 1840 at Luaehu, Lahaina, Maui.

“Miss Lucy Peabody (was) a Hawaiian of rank revered by us all, and one deeply learned in the lore of her native country.” (Damon) She was from a high ali‘i family and descendants of Isaac Davis, the British seaman, who along with John Young served as an adviser to Kamehameha I, in his attempts to unite the Hawaiian Islands. (NPS)

Davis and Young became great favorites of King Kamehameha, “especially when he had become apprised of the fact that they were experts in the handling of firearms, the use of which was unknown in Hawaii at that period. The day was fast approaching when the fate of two young people would be a matter of great importance.”

Davis “gained the sanction of the sovereign to wed a Hawaiian lady of rank. They had two daughters and a son. The elder daughter became the wife of an Englishman of later arrival, Captain Adams, owner of valuable properties in Honolulu and adjacent districts. Her sister was married into the royal family of Kauai, but unfortunately died without issue.”

“Hueu, the son, married the high chiefess Kaanapilo of the Waimea line of chiefs, who raised a large family of eight sons and daughters, from which Miss Lucy Peabody (is) descended.”

“So the adventures of these enterprising Englishmen ensued not only in distinction and affluence for themselves, but in highest positions for some of their posterity – notably, one as Queen Emma of revered memory, and another as daughter-in-law of a king.” (Pratt) Peabody’s mother was Elizabeth K Davis, a granddaughter of Isaac Davis. (Kanahele)

“Peabody herself was prominent among the entourage that accompanied Queen Emma on the latter’s well documented sojourn to Kauai in 1871, shortly after the queen inherited the Lāwa‘i ahupua‘a from her uncle, James Kanehoa Young, and his third wife, Kinoni.” (Griffin)

Peabody, “four years Emma’s junior, was a high chiefess who served as one of Emma’s maids-of-honor” (Kanahele) and was the queen’s life companion. (NPS)

Peabody was active in the Hui Hawaii Aloha ‘Āina (Hawaiian Patriotic League). “The object of this association is to preserve and maintain, by all legal and peaceful means and measures, the independent autonomy of the islands of Hawai‘i nei …”

“… and if the preservation of our independence be rendered impossible, our object shall then be to exert all peaceful and legal efforts to secure for the Hawaiian people and citizens the continuance of their civil rights.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 21, 1893)

“Invited are the Men, the Women, and all the young people of the Hawaiian Patriotic League (Hui Aloha ‘Āina,) and all friends, to go immediately with great enthusiasm and festivity to fill the meeting with numbers of Twenty and more thousand people.”

“(T)he Woman’s Hawaiian Patriotic League and the Hawaiian Patriotic League (sent) out by special messengers to every district in the Hawaiian Islands petitions against annexation for signature by Hawaiian citizens in order that the people’s will may be accurately ascertained as a plebiscite is not at present to be permitted by the Annexation Oligarchy.” (The Independent, September 13, 1897)

Their 556-page petition totaled 21,269-names, 10,378-male and 10,891-female. Of these 16,331 adults were adults and 4,938-minors. (The petition is now stored at the US National Archives.)

Lucy Peabody, resurrected and re-chartered the ‘Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu on June 14, 1905 at Kawaiaha‘o Church. “The ‘Ahahui was originally chartered on August 8, 1864 by Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, Chiefess Lydia Kamaka‘eha Dominis, crowned Queen Lili‘uokalani in 1891, and Chiefess Bernice Pauahi, who later became Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.”

“The society was named ‘Ka‘ahumanu Society’ after Princess Victoria’s aunt, Ka‘ahumanu, Kūhina Nui of the Hawaiian Kingdom under Kamehameha the Great. … Unfortunately the group disbanded two years later in the fall of 1866 after the unexpected passing of the young Princess Kamāmalu.” (Ka‘ahumanu Society)

“Edgar Henriques and Miss (Lucy) Kalani Davis (Peabody’s niece) were quietly married at the home of Miss Lucy Peabody, Vineyard street, last evening [June 10, 1898], the Rev. Alex. Mackintosh officiating. Only the relatives were present. The newly married couple have gone to Waikiki for their honeymoon.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 24, 1898)

Lucy Peabody shared the vision with her niece of improving healthcare in North Hawaii. “When Lucy Peabody died (August 9) 1928, she left a 12-acre parcel of land in Waimea – Makahikilu – to … Lucy Henriques. Upon her death in 1932, Lucy Davis Henriques left Makahikilua and $100,000 in her will to fulfill the dream the two cousins had shared during their lifetimes.”

“Throughout the years, the trust funds, administered by Bishop Trust Company, grew significantly. When probate was completed in the 1960s, funds were appropriated for feasibility studies. Preliminary plans were drawn up for a 120-bed acute-care facility, the Northern Hawaii Hospital, but the timing was not right.”

“The population of the Big Island was not large enough to support a full-service acute-care facility in Waimea. So in 1969, Lucy Henriques Medical Center, Inc (LHMC), was chartered as a non-profit corporation responsible for ensuring outpatient medical care for the communities of North Hawaii – the place and its people that were so loved by Lucy Peabody and Lucy Henriques.”

When North Hawaii Community Hospital (NHCH) opened in 1996, the adjoining Medical Center simultaneously opened a brand new nine-bed renal dialysis unit to complement the new array of inpatient and outpatient services available to the community. In 1999, NHCH and LHMC merged to create the entity we see today. (NHCH)

Click HERE for a performance of ‘Lucy Peabody’ (Portrayed by Karen Kaulana) at Mission Houses Cemetery Pupu Theatre (sorry it is dark.)

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Grace_Kamaikui_Kahoalii,_Lucy_Peabody_and_unidentified_woman-400
Grace_Kamaikui_Kahoalii,_Lucy_Peabody_and_unidentified_woman-400
Grace_Kamaikui_Kahoalii,_Lucy_Peabody_and_unidentified_woman
Grace_Kamaikui_Kahoalii,_Lucy_Peabody_and_unidentified_woman
Kamehameha_V_with_family_and_court
Kamehameha_V_with_family_and_court
Lucy Peabody headstone
Lucy Peabody headstone

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Prominent People Tagged With: Queen Emma, Ahahui Kaahumanu, Cemetery Pupu Theatre, Lucy Peabody, North Hawaii Community Hospital, Hawaiian Patriotic League, Hawaii, Isaac Davis

August 8, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu

The ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu (Kaʻahumanu Society) is named after Queen Kaʻahumanu; it “was established to assist each other member of this Association when they are in need (in sickness, poverty, and death)”. (Constitution, noted in Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke III, Helu 34, Aoao 4. Augate 20, 1864)

It is one of four royal benevolent societies in Hawaiʻi, which include, Royal Order of Kamehameha I, ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu, Hale O Na Aliʻi O Hawaiʻi, and Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors – Māmakakaua.

Its mission statement notes it is “to commemorate important historical figures of Hawaiian heritage. The organization provides its members financial assistance for medical needs, death benefits. And operates a cemetery for its members. The organization also renders assistance to the Lunalilo home.” (GuideStar)

This aspect is reflected in the group’s signature regalia of black holoku, complemented by gold lei hulu, or feather neck lei, to symbolize royalty. (Maui Now) (During her day, Queen Kaʻahumanu adopted the black dress worn by the women missionaries.)

It was first formed at Kawaiahaʻo on August 8, 1864 by Princess Victoria Kamāmalu (granddaughter of King Kamehameha I) and named after her aunt, Queen Kaʻahumanu, for the relief of the elderly and the ill. The club celebrates the life of Queen Kaʻahumanu and the preservation of the monarchy in Hawaiʻi.

“The Princess was distinguished as the founder and Perpetual President of a benevolent association called ‘Aha Hui Kaahumanu’ – an organization partaking of the benevolent character of Freemasonry, but without its secrecy.”

“It was composed of her countrywomen, and supported by their subscriptions; its membership was exceedingly numerous, and its ramifications extended all over the several islands of the group. Its objects were to secure careful nursing of its members when sick, and their decent burial after death.”

“The society always formed in procession and followed deceased members to the grave, arrayed in a uniform composed of a white robe and a scarf, which indicated the official rank of the wearer by its color.” Later Twain notes, “They were dressed in black, and wore sashes of different colors.” (Twain)

After Kamāmalu died in 1866, the ʻAhahui was discontinued, and then revived some forty years later under the leadership of Lady Lucy Kaheiheimālie Peabody on June 14, 1905.

Today, the ʻAhahui celebrates Queen Kaʻahumanu’s birthday with public programs, participate in Aliʻi Sunday church services, march on Kamehameha Day with the Royal Order of Kamehameha, feed the homeless, fund scholarships, and support the Lunalilo Home for elderly Hawaiians on Oʻahu.

It also sponsors programs that promote and preserve the Hawaiian language and culture, while practicing the Hawaiian and Christian values that were embraced by Queen Kaʻahumanu.

Members are women of Native Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian ancestry, from the ages of 18 and older, who are sponsored into the organization by a member in good standing. (Fong; Lindsey)

Kaʻahumanu was born about the year 1768, near Hāna, Maui. Her siblings include Governor John Adams Kuakini of Hawaiʻi Island, Queen Kalākaua Kaheiheimālie (another wife of Kamehameha I) and Governor George Cox Keʻeaumoku II of Maui.

By birth, Kaʻahumanu ranked high among the Hawaiians. Her father was Keʻeaumoku, a distinguished warrior and counselor of Kamehameha the Great. Her mother Namahana was a former wife of the king of Maui, and the daughter of Kekaulike (a great king of that island.)

Kaʻahumanu was one of the most powerful people in the Islands at the time of the arrival of the missionaries. There were those who were higher by birth, and there were those who were higher by title, but there was probably none who held greater influence.

Generally ambivalent through 1824, it is generally accepted that Kamehameha’s widowed Queen, from 1825 until her death in 1832, was one of the staunchest friends of the missionaries and one of the foremost supporters of their cause.

She was described to have a kindly and generous disposition and usually had as pleasant relations with foreigners who respected her royal rights. She was cautious and slow in deciding – more business-like in here decision-making – but once her mind was made up, she never wavered.

She had requested baptism for Keōpūolani and Keʻeaumoku when they were dying, but she waited until April, 1824, before requesting the same for herself.

On December 5, 1825, Kaʻahumanu, six other chiefs, and one commoner were baptized and received holy communion. The widowed queen took the Christian name of Elizabeth, which she added to her official signature.

In December, 1827, laws against murder, stealing and adultery were adopted by the chiefs and proclaimed by Kaʻahumanu, who addressed the people, “demanding their attention to the laws of the land … and to others which were to be taught and explained more fully to the people, before their establishment.” The ceremonies, planned by Kaʻahumanu, included hymns and prayers.

Then, in mid-1832, Kaʻahumanu became ill and was taken to her house in Mānoa, where a bed of maile and leaves of ginger was prepared. “Her strength failed daily. She was gentle as a lamb, and treated her attendants with great tenderness. She would say to her waiting women, ‘Do sit down; you are very tired; I make you weary.’”

Hiram Bingham’s account of her last hours is, in part, as follows: “On the third instant, Sabbath night, about midnight, Dr. Judd sent down to me to say he thought her dying. I hastened to Manoa and remained there until the fifth …”

“About the last words she used of a religious character were two lines of a hymn designed to express the feelings of a self-condemned penitent coining and submitting to Christ: ‘Here, here am I, O Jesus, oh – Grant me a gracious smile.’”

“A little after this she called me to her and as I took her hand, she asked. ‘Is this Bingham?’ I replied. ‘It is I’—She looked upon me & added ‘I am going now’ I replied: ’Ehele pu Jesu me oe, Ehele pomaikai aku.’ ‘May Jesus go with you, go in peace.’ She said no more. Her last conflict was then soon over, – in 10 or 15 minutes she ceased to breathe.”

Her death took place at ten minutes past 3 o’clock on the morning of June 5, 1832, “after an illness of about 3 weeks in which she exhibited her unabated attachment to the Christian teachers and reliance on Christ, her Saviour.”

Kaʻahumanu was buried at Pohukaina at ʻIolani Place and later transferred to Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu Valley.

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Ladies of the Ahahui Kaahumanu-HerbKane
Ladies of the Ahahui Kaahumanu-HerbKane

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Kaahumanu Society, Ahahui Kaahumanu

Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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