American Protestant Missionaries | Page 4

Bingham-Thurston

December 14, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Samuel Whitney’s Death

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of the American Protestant missionaries set sail on the Thaddeus for Hawai‘i – (two Ordained Preachers, Hiram & Sybil Bingham and Asa and Lucy Thurston; two Teachers, Samuel & Mercy Whitney and Samuel & Mary Ruggles; a Doctor, Thomas & Lucia Holman; a Printer, Elisha & Maria Loomis; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain (and his family.)

On the boat was Humehume, son of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i. On May 3, 1820, Ruggles and Whitney took Humehume home to Kauai. Whitney primarily stayed on Kauai as a missionary teacher.

Then, “(Samuel Whitney) was taken ill on the island of Kauai, on the 21st of September last (1845). His symptoms, from the first, indicated a disordered liver.”

“After trying a change of air at his summer retreat at Hanapepeluna and employing various remedies, he, with his family, sailed on the 21st of October for Honolulu, where he arrived in three days, very much exhausted by bilious vomiting and diarrhoea, which continued for several weeks to pull down his strength.”

“It then received a temporary check, and for a little while he was better; but soon a renewed attack of vomiting and diarrhoea prostrated him again. From this, however, he partially recovered, and he was induced, by an earnest invitation, to come to Maui, to try the effects of a residence at the cool and elevated retreat of Mount Ball, above Lahainaluna.”

“He and his family (wife and daughter) accordingly sailed for Maui, Dec. 1st, and in less than twenty-two hours were at anchor at Lahaina.”

“When he arrived, he was quite fatigued, and he was ever afterwards confined mostly to his bed. He now rapidly wasted away under the influence of disease, though his friends generally hoped he would soon begin to mend. He seems to have understood better than they the serious nature of his disorder.”

“Almost a week before his death, he said one morning, ‘I am sinking, and if you have anything more to do for me, you must do it during the few remaining days of this week.’”

“On Friday morning, he was distinctly informed that his physician did not think he would recover, and when Mr. Baldwin, who had watched with him the night previous, came to take his leave, he said, ‘I am sinking,’ to which Mr. B. replied, ‘Well, perhaps your work is done, the Lord only knows.’”

“In the course of the day, he sent for his domestics (a man and woman, who had lived with him nineteen years) and said to them in the Hawaiian tongue, ‘The physicians have just told me that I am about to die. Here is my dying charge to you. Take care of her (pointing to his wife); she will act as my successor; obey her as you have obeyed me.’”

“At another time, he requested his dying, affectionate farewell to be given to all his flock, among whom he had labored and over whom he had been placed as a shepherd, to feed and guide them, naming with much tenderness various individuals.”

“Being asked by his wife whether he had any message to send to his surviving brothers and sisters, and to his own dear children in America, he answered, ‘Yes,’ and lying for a few moments apparently in deep thought, he said, …”

“‘Those dear children of Mr. Chamberlain, remember me affectionately to them. I little thought, when I parted with them, that it would be the last time I should ever see them. Dear children! – how I love them!’”

“He had lodged in Mr. Chamberlain’s family, while at Honolulu, and had ever manifested a deep interest in his children. It would seem that the tender recollection of these dear little ones made him forget his own children, or perhaps he was exhausted by the effort he had made.”

“In the evening, his wife said to him, ‘I have often thought that you I would outlive me, but you are about to go first and leave me behind.’ He replied, ‘Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.’”

“She added, she thought it would not be long before she should follow him, and I hoped they should have a happy meeting in heaven.”

“Saturday night, the night previous to his death, the north-east storm, which had been blowing for several days, increased to a gale and filled the air with dense clouds of dust, which added much to his suffering. But within, all was calm and peaceful.”

“After midnight, as the storm was raging, he was told that the Sabbath had arrived. ‘Blessed Sabbath,’ he said, ‘type of the rest above! Here it is dark and stormy; how sweet the contrast there! Peace and joy are there, and no pain, and there I will soon be. Yesterday I had some clouds, but now all clouds are brushed away. All is light and peace.’”

“Towards morning, on receiving some little attention, he said, ‘How kind you all are! I am under great obligation to you all.’ To which was replied, ‘We esteem it a great privilege to take care of you, on your way to your Father’s house,’ when he said with much energy, ‘Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’”

“After getting relief from a severe fit of vomiting, he said, ‘It is hard work to die. This close union of soul and body, which has so long existed, is hard to dissolve.’”

“He bid farewell to his native man, enjoining upon him to prepare to meet him in heaven, saying he wished all his domestics and all the people of his charge to meet him there, that he was going soon, and it had been his desire all night to depart and be with Christ.”

“When his physician, who had attended him with tender solicitude, went to bid him farewell, he grasped his hand and said, ‘Doctor, Jesus Christ is the star of the universe; He is my hope, my life, my all.”

“Thirty-six years ago I set my affections on Him, and nothing has ever made me I swerve. Nothing can separate me from Him. The devil has tried to baffle me, but Jesus Christ is near to help me, Jesus Christ is here.’”

“About an hour before his death, his wife went to his bedside, but as his sight seemed to have failed, he did not at first notice her; but when told who she was, he raised his arms, and clasped them around her neck, and pressed her to his bosom.”

“Our departed friend and brother was blessed with a robust constitution and generally enjoyed good health, which enabled him so constantly to perform the great amount of labor which he kept up during more than a quarter of a century.”

“He also possessed a strong intellect, a well-balanced mind, and a sound judgment, united with firmness of purpose. He never engaged in visionary schemes; his projects were generally wise and well-digested, and with steadiness of purpose carried into execution.”

“He had a warm heart. His friendship was ardent. He was a whole soul man. In whatever he engaged, all his energies were summoned. What his hands found to do, he did with all his might. No trait in his character was more prominent than that of enlarged benevolence – a benevolence bounded only by his ability to confer happiness.”

“It was this that prompted him to abandon friends and country, and all the blessings of Christian society, and cast in his lot with a little band, who purposed to carry the Gospel of Jesus to the darkened savages of Hawaii. It was this which led him so often to strip himself of comforts and bestow them on his friends whom he thought more needy than himself.”

“Few have become acquainted with him, who have not received substantial tokens of his kindness and friendship. Most of the permanent houses of public worship on the islands contain a deposit from his benevolence. Few have been found more ready than he, to deny themselves, in order to do good to others.”

“He embarked in the missionary work as a work of self-denial, and cheerfully adopted the resolution that he would engage in no business for the purpose of private gain.”

“His whole life was an illustration of this resolution, and on his dying bed he charged his wife, saying, ‘You will remember, we own nothing at Waimea. The house, herd, &c., are, all, the property of the American Board.’”

“Confidence in God sustained him amid all the trials through which he passed. He was calm and unmoved, however dark the clouds that overhung the horizon. This confidence was the legitimate fruit of walking with God.”

“He told his daughter, on his dying bed, that from the time that he first covenanted to be the Lord’s, he had never, for a single day, I neglected prayer. That God whom he had honored in secret, rewarded him openly, and took him up from us in triumph to His rest above.” (Alexander; The Friend, January 15, 1846)

Samuel Whitney died in Lahaina on December 15, 1845; he was buried in the Lahainaluna School cemetery.

Samuel_Whitney,_1819,_by_Samuel_F.B._Morse

December 12, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Early Church Buildings

“In an old journal of the writer’s father, the Rev. A. Bishop, then missionary at Kailua, is the following: ‘January 18, 1826 – Gov. Adams (Kuakini) and all the other chiefs, together with all the men of the place, left here this morning’ for Keauhou, to cut wood for a new church.’”

“This well illustrates the immense labor and activity with which the chiefs and people zealously united in church-building. The writer, then a child, well remembers in the thirties that immense thatched structure, with its lofty posts and huge rafters.”

“These were all cut by the Governor and his people in the great inland forest, probably six miles from the sea, to which the timbers were hauled by men.”

“That church was probably 100 feet by 50, holding 1,000 people. It was burned in 1835, and replaced the next year by a stone structure still standing.”

“That also was built by the chiefs and people. Men dived for bunch coral to burn for lime with ohia logs carried on their shoulders from the mountain.”

“When we removed in 1836 to Ewa, the adobe walls of a large church were already partly erected by the people under the direction of their chiefs and of Rev. Lowell Smith, our predecessor.”

“Rev. A. Bishop continued the work, and frequently went up several miles into the mountains with the native gangs after roofing timbers, which were hauled to the hilltop with great shoutings. That old church stood until about twenty years ago, when it was replaced by the present wooden edifice and steeple.”

“In 1837, Rev. Lowell Smith induced the building of the old Kaumakapili church with adobe walls and a steep thatched roof, with overhanging lanai, very similar to the old Ewa church. The walls of both churches were well plastered, inside and out.”

“A fine brick church with two steeples, some fifteen or twenty years ago, replaced the old adobes of Kaumakapili. (Adobes are large brick of dried mud and straw.)”

“The great Kawaiahaʻo stone church, still in use after much renovation, was a labor of pride and love by King Kauikeaouli and his royal chiefs, who felt an ownership in it. The corner-stone was laid in 1839. It was dedicated two or three years later.”

The earliest stone church in the Islands was the Waine‘e structure at Lahaina, built by Gov. Hoapili, advised by Rev. Wm. Richards, in 1833.”

“Many other stone churches were erected by chiefs and people during the succeeding fifteen years, at all of the mission stations, replacing the decayed thatched structures. Many of these are still in use.”

“In the work of church-building, the chiefs led the way, both by use of authority and by contributions of money. But the common people eagerly co-operated, both with money, materials and labor.”

“They felt a peculiar pride in creating a fine meeting-house. It has always been easy to raise contributions for church-building, when for nothing else.”

“From 1850 on, the plain square white houses of worship became conspicuous in the larger country villages, long before any dwellings of civilized form were visible.”

“Steeples were not common during the first forty years of the Mission. Lahaina, Kawaiahaʻo, and Kailua stone churches were perhaps the only ones with tower or steeple.”

“Bells began to be procured in the early thirties, and were objects of great ambition to the people. Before they came, the sonorous note of the great conch shell resounded over the hills, calling the people to worship.” (All here is from Sereno Bishop; The Friend)

First Kawaiahao Church Building-TheFriend-Oct 1925

Mission_House and First_Christian_Church-Honolulu-1822

Fourth_Kawaiahao_Church-1840

Fourth_Kawaiahao_Church-1832

Kinau_returning_from_church_1837

Kawaiahao_Church_illustration,_c._1870s

Kaumakapili-1stChurch-(TheFriend)

Wainee_Church-1840

Mokuaikaua_Church,_ca._1890

November 25, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Early Recollections of Missionary Life in Kailua, Hawaii

“As a settlement of some 4000 people crowded along one third mile of sea-shore, Kailua was the only place in Hawaii worthy the name of town, except perhaps the one at Hilo Bay.”

“Kailua consisted of native houses thatched either with pili or lauhala, the majority in various stages of decay. The aspect of the people was sordid, evincing ignorance, degredation, poverty and much ill health.”

“Here and there were dwellings of petty chiefs in whose yards were, cocoanut and kou trees of great luxuriance, as well as an occasional puhala.”

“When the pioneer missionaries in 1820 made their first landing at Kailua, it had recently been the chief residence of the aged Kamehameha, and was still in some degree the capital city of the group.”

“It was the permanent residence of Kuakini, the imperious Governor of the island, whose stone house stood at the north end beyond the little bay, which has always been the principal landing.”

“Beyond the Governor’s house, was Kamehameha’s old habitation where he died. Seaward still was a platform upon which stood five gigantic and hideous wooden idols, elaborately carved.”

“(These) had ceased to be worshipped but for some reason, probably respect for the deceased monarch, had escaped the general destruction of the idols in 1819.”

“I recall few names or faces of the native people. Very distinct in memory is the benevable face of a line old Christian lady Kekupuohi.”

“She had been a young wife of King Kalaniopuu, and had personally witnessed the death of the unfortunate Capt. James Cook, on the 4th of February, 1779, when he rashly attempted to force the King on board of his ship as a hostage.”

“I also well remember the immense and portly form of Governor Kuakini, who used to make a periodical foreonn visitation at our home, some times sitting at our table.”

“This royal chief was estimated to weigh not less than 500 pounds. The Governess Keoua, somewhat less ponderous, also of royal lineage frequently visited us.”

“Kuakini used to occupy my father’s large arm-chair into which he could hardly squeeze.”

“Missionary Work – I remember the Thurstons and Bishops as very busy in labors among the people. The two ministers held meetings twice on Sabbath in the immense thatched tabernacle at Kailua as well as every Wednesday afternoon.”

“The congregations in Kailua church were large, often over a thousand present. Sunday school was held after morning service, the natives having many copies of portions of scripture which they commit to memory quite diligently.”

“Much time was spent by Messrs. Thurston and Bishop in school work. They occupied many hours a week in personally teaching, and many more in superintending the work of the very incompetent native teachers whom they had trained and located in various districts.”

“Very great occasions indeed were the quarterly hoikes or school exhibitions, when, the schools and teachers assembled from the districts and displayed their proficiency in the presence of the Governor and the missionaries.” (Sereno Bishop; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 23, 1897)

View of Kailua-Thurston

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.)