College of St Louis | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 24, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Certificate of Hawaiian Birth

Sun Yat-sen, the Founding Father of modern China, the Republic of China (Nationalist China) and the forerunner of democratic revolution in the People’s Republic of China, was born November 12, 1866, to an ordinary farmer’s family in Cuiheng Village, Xiangshan, in the south of the Pearl River Delta of the South China province of Guangdong.

In 1879, then 13 years of age, he journeyed to Hawaiʻi to join his older brother, Sun Mei, a successful rice farmer, rancher and merchant. He entered ʻIolani at age 14. With long hair pulled back in a traditional queue, he was enrolled in 1879 without knowing any English. (ʻIolani)

In Sun Yat-sen’s four years in Hawai’i (1879-1883), he is said to have attended three Christian educational institutions: ʻIolani College, Oʻahu College (Punahou School) and St Louis College.

He came to Hawaiʻi on six different occasions, initially for schooling and to support his brother’s businesses on Maui. Later, his trips were geared to gain support for revolutionizing China and fundraising for that end.

He was known by a lot of names. As a young student, he was called Tai Cheong or Tai Chu. His official name is Sun Wen; when he signed letters and documents in Chinese, he used the name Sun Wen. When he signed letters and documents in English, he used the name Sun Yat-sen. (Lum)

In 1897, when he was in Tokyo, he picked up a Japanese name, Nakayama, from a nameplate on a house he passed. In Chinese, Nakayama is read as Chung-Shan. This is how his name Sun Chung-shan came about. (Lum)

The place of his birth, previously known as Xiāngshān, had been renamed Zhōngshān – Sun Yat-sen was known in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan.

Let’s look a little closer at his birth place – while officially (and factually) Sun was born in China, he was able to later obtain a birth certificate that claimed he was a “native born Hawaiian.”

Sun needed to travel to get backing for his revolutionary plans, as well as raise funds to support it. With the US Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) severely limiting Chinese immigration, Sun had difficulty entering the US and was even detained by US authorities at one point.

To top it off, the Manchu Government first put a prize of $35,000 on his head and later, raised it to $75,000. Realizing his danger, Sun cut off his queue, raised a moustache, dressed himself in foreign style and look passage for Japan, where he preached his doctrine to the Chinese students in the Japanese universities. (In Young, 1911)

Sun’s detention prompted an overseas Chinese to say that if Sun wanted to promote a Chinese revolution on US soil, it would be best if he had US citizenship.

Sun’s friends in San Francisco set in motion plans for him to obtain US citizenship by faking a birth certificate showing that he was born in Honolulu. (Taipei Times)

In 1900, the Hawaiian Organic Act was passed stating that any person that was a citizen of the Republic of Hawaiʻi on or before August 12, 1898 would also become a citizen of the United States.

In various statements and affidavits, Sun and others set the foundation for a claim of his birth in Hawaiʻi. It was a makeshift plan for the good of the revolution. (Taipei Times)

“I was born in Honolulu and went to China came back from Hong Kong to Honolulu in the early part of 1896 or the last part of 1895, I staid at Honolulu for 4 or 5 months and then came on to San Francisco … I came in on Student and Travelers Sect. 6 certificate … as a subject of China.” (Sun Yat-sen April 14, 1904)

“Some time after the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, there was a registration taken of all the residents for the purpose of ascertaining the nationality and birth of each resident.”

“I was registered in the Kula district, in the Island of Maui, as a Hawaiian-born Chinese, about March or April in the year 1901. That is the first thing that I did after the annexation of the Islands to show that I still claimed citizenship there … .” (Sun Yat-sen, April 21, 1904)

Supporting Sun’s birth place claims, Wong Kwai signed a sworn statement noting, “He (Sun) was born at Ewa (Waimano) Oahu.” Benjamin Starr Kapu further supported this noting, “Sun Yat-sen, a full Chinese person, who was born at Waimano Oahu … in the year 1870.”

His Punahou teacher, Francis Damon, certified to his good character but did not swear on the issue of birth. (Smyser)

As a “citizen of Hawaiʻi” Sun could travel to the US continent in the early-1900s to rally both support and funds for his revolutionary efforts.

In March 1904, while residing in Kula, Maui, Sun Yat-sen obtained a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, issued by the Territory of Hawaiʻi, stating that “he was born in the Hawaiian Islands on the 24th day of November, AD 1870.”

Rather than using his own birth date, Sun selected November 24, 1870 to reflect the founding date of the Hsing Chung Hui to establish a connection with his revolutionary activities. (Taipei Times)

(On his third trip in Hawaiʻi (on November 24, 1894) Sun established the Hsing Chung Hui (Revive China Society,) his first revolutionary society. Among its founders were many Christians, one of them being Chung Ku Ai, his fellow student at ʻIolani (and later founder of City Mill.))

Although not born in the Islands, Sun Yat-sen apparently felt at home in Hawaiʻi. “This is my Hawai‘i … here I was brought up and educated, and it was here that I came to know what modern, civilized governments are like and what they mean.” (Sun Yat-sen, 1910)

When the birth certificate was no longer needed, he renounced it.

The revolutionary movement in China grew stronger and stronger. Tung Meng Hui members staged many armed uprisings, culminating in the October 10, 1911 Wuhan (Wuchang) Uprising which succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu dynasty and established the Republic of China.

That date is now celebrated annually as the Republic of China’s national day, also known as the “Double Ten Day”. On December 29, 1911, Sun Yat-sen was elected the interim president. After Sun’s death on March 12, 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the Kuomintang (KMT.)

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Admit Sun Yat-sen and persons in his party. Avoid Publicity-02-04-1914

Sun Yat-sen-Denial_to_Land-Deportation_Order-04-15-1904-1

Sun Yat-sen-Denial_to_Land-Deportation_Order-04-15-1904-2

Sun Yat-sen-Denial_to_Land-Deportation_Order-04-15-1904-3

Sun Yat-sen-'Incite_Chinese'-Deny_Landing-01-23-1914

Sun_Yat-sen_Hawaii_Birth_Certificate-letter

September 20, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Saint Louis School

On June 17, 1839, King Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.

In 1841, Father Louis Maigret, the Vicar delegate, divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Father Martial Jan was assigned to supervise the Koʻolau district. By the early 1850s, the windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels.

The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded on the Windward side of Oʻahu in 1846 by the Catholic Mission under the direction of the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

One of its students, Damien (born as Jozef de Veuster,) arrived in Hawaiʻi on March 9, 1864, at the time a 24-year-old choirboy. Determined to become a priest, he had the remainder of his schooling the College of Ahuimanu.

On May 21, Damien was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu; he spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi. In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The College of Ahuimanu flourished; as reported by the Bishop in 1865, “The college and the schools are doing well. But as the number of pupils is continually on the increase, it has become necessary to enlarge the college. First we have added a story and a top floor with an attic; then we have been obliged to construct a new building. And yet we are lacking room.”

In 1881, the school moved to its second location in former Rev. Richard Armstrong’s home, ”Stonehouse” (named after the residence of Admiral Richard Thomas in England,) on 91 Beretania Street adjoining Washington Place. At that time, the name “College of St. Louis” was given to the institution in honor of Bishop Louis Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX.

Pacific Commercial Advertiser noted that “The College of St. Louis, an Hawaiian Commercial and Business Academy, offering Classical, Scientific and Commercial courses,” also offered in its curriculum courses in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. An evening session offered adults “theoretical and, practical knowledge of commercial and business transactions.” (Soong)

Growing enrollment soon required the Mission Fathers to relocate the school, again; this time, they found a site on the banks of Nuʻuanu Stream. The College at Aʻala was placed under the direction of five pioneer Brothers of Mary who arrived from Dayton, Ohio in 1883.

St Louis continued to be affiliated with the Society of Mary, a religious order of brothers and priests called Marianists. The Society was founded by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, a priest who survived the anti-clerical persecution during the French Revolution.

The Nuʻuanu Stream front campus was accessed via “College Walk” street; it’s now a linear mall/park fronting the stream (however, no school or college is there anymore.)

In the years following, it became evident that the elementary and high school departments were in need of still larger quarters. Encouraged by parents and alumni, the Marianists laid plans for a greater St. Louis College.

In 1923, they purchased 205 acres at Kalaepōhaku in Kaimuki; classes began there in 1928.

December 8, 1941 the US Government commandeered the campus for the use of the 147th General Hospital. Elementary students attended classes at Saint Patrick School and high school classes co-located 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.)

After sixty-seven-years of providing education at grade levels one through twelve, the elementary and intermediate grades were withdrawn one-grade-a-year, beginning in 1950.

In 1955, the Marianists established Chaminade College on the east end of the Kalaepōhaku campus (it was initially named the Saint Louis Junior College; with it, Saint Louis College was renamed to Saint Louis High School.)

In 1957, Saint Louis Junior College became co-educational and a four-year college and the school was renamed to Chaminade College of Honolulu (named after the Society of Mary (Marianists) founder.)

St. Louis’ high school classes continued on campus until 1979, when the school’s Board of Trustees voted to re-incorporate intermediate grades seven and eight, beginning in fall, 1980. A sixth grade was added and the intermediate grades were then converted to a middle school beginning with the fall semester of 1990.

Today, Saint Louis is an all-boys private Catholic school, grades six through twelve; they note it is a school “Where Boys Who Want to Change the World Become the Men Who Do.”

November 25, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Louis Désiré Maigret, SS.CC.

In 1819, Kalanimōkū was the first Hawaiian Chief to be formally baptized a Catholic, aboard the French ship Uranie.

“The captain and the clergyman asked Young what Ka-lani-moku’s rank was, and upon being told that he was the chief counselor (kuhina nui) and a wise, kind, and careful man, they baptized him into the Catholic Church” (Kamakau). Shortly thereafter, Boki, Kalanimoku’s brother (and Governor of Oʻahu) was baptized.

It wasn’t until July 7, 1827, however, that the pioneer French Catholic mission arrived in Honolulu. It consisted of three priests of the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Father Alexis Bachelot, Abraham Armand and Patrick Short. They were supported by a half dozen other Frenchmen.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is a Roman Catholic religious institute of brothers, priests and nuns. (The letters following their names, SS.CC., are the Latin initials for Sacrorum Cordium, “of the Sacred Hearts”.)

Their first mass was celebrated a week later on Bastille Day, July 14, and a baptism was given on November 30, to a child of Don Francisco de Paula Marin.

The American Congregationalists encouraged a policy preventing the establishment of a Catholic presence in Hawaiʻi. Catholic priests were forcibly expelled from the Islands in 1831.

In 1837, two other Catholic priests arrived. However the Hawaiian government forced them back onto a ship. American, British and French officials in Hawaii intervened and persuaded the king to allow the priests to return to shore.

One of the priests expelled in 1837 was Rev. Louis Désiré Maigret. Born September 14, 1804 in Maille, France, at the age of 24, Maigret was ordained to the priesthood as a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on September 23, 1828.

“Governor Kekūanāoʻa, in charge of harbor traffic and of immigration, questions the new arrivals. The English consul vouches for Columban Murphy, and he is allowed to land.”

“Maigret, however, must stay on board and is to sail away at the first opportunity. And, together with Maigret, Kekūanāoʻa plans to get rid of another undesirable, the patient Father Bachelot, who, as it happens, is not only a priest but a very sick man.” (Charlot)

On June 17, 1839, King Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics.

Maigret sailed to Pohnpei in Micronesia to set up a mission there; he was the first missionary they had seen. He later departed for Valparaiso (Chile.)

However, when the Vicar Apostolic of Oriental Oceania was lost at sea, Father Maigret was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.) They sought to expand the Catholic presence.

At the end of the year 1840, Maigret jots down this balance sheet: Vicariate of Oceania: Catholics: 3,000; Heretics: 30,000 and Unbelievers: 100,000. (Charlot)

Maigret oversaw the construction of what would become his most lasting legacy, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, still standing and in use in downtown Honolulu.

Maigret was officially ordained as a Bishop on November 28, 1847.

Maigret divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Shortly after, the Windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels. The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded by the Catholic mission on the Windward side of Oʻahu in 1846.

“Outside the city, at Ahuimanu, Maigret has now a country retreat that he refers to by the Hawaiian word māla. It is a combination garden, orchard and kitchen garden. Nuhou describes it, “The venerable bishop has built his own vineyard and planted his own orchard …”

“His retreat in the mountain, his ‘garden in the air’ as he terms it, is a pleasant and profitable sight … with a small stone-walled cottage about fifteen feet by ten.” When the pressure of events allows it, Maigret takes refuge there.” (Charlot)

Although the College of Ahuimanu flourished, as apparently reported by the Bishop in 1865, “The college and the schools are doing well. But as the number of pupils is continually on the increase, it has become necessary to enlarge the college. First we have added a story and a top floor with an attic; then we have been obliged to construct a new building. And yet we are lacking room.”

Bishop Maigret ordained Father Damien de Veuster at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, on May 21, 1864; in 1873, Maigret assigned him to Molokaʻi. Damien spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi. In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The College of Ahuimanu changed locations and also changed its name a couple of times. In 1881, it was renamed “College of St. Louis” in honor of Bishop Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX. It was the forerunner for Chaminade College and St Louis High School.

Bishop Maigret died on June 11, 1882, after 42 years of service in Hawaiʻi, 35 of those years as a Bishop. He is buried in a crypt below the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.

March 23, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Stone House

In 1840, a land dispute between Mr. Richard Charlton, the first British ambassador to Hawaiʻi, and the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi would spark the infamous “Paulet episode” which led to the forced cession of the Hawaiian Islands to Britain in 1843. (KSBE)

“The restoration of the Hawaiian Monarchy in July 1843 – ending the five-months-long illegal seizure and occupation by the Englishman, Lord George Paulet – created the chief, and indeed the only, notable site in Kulaokahu‘a.”

“The exact locale – the future Thomas Square – leaped into history with, literally, a bang. On the morning of July 31, two pavilions decorated with greens and a flagstaff stood on the plain east of town.”

“On the street line to the west, tents from warships in port punctuated their arid surroundings. A thick mat of rushes paved the line of march. Thousands waited for the ceremonies of the day.”

“At 9:30, Rear Admiral Richard Thomas of the British navy called on the King to sign official documents. A half hour later, several companies of English sailors and marines were drawn up on a line facing the sea, with an artillery corps on their right.”

“Admiral Thomas and his staff arrived in the King’s state carriage, while the Monarch himself came on horseback, accompanied by the household troops. The artillery honored His Majesty with a 21-gun salute.”

“At a given signal, the British flag officer bowed his colors; the British flag was then lowered and the Hawaiian flag raised amid salvos, first from Thomas’s HMS Carysfort, then from English and American warships, merchantmen and whalers, and finally from the Honolulu fort and the Punchbowl battery.”

“A great cheer arose as the wind caught the folds of the Hawaiian flag. Admiral Thomas read a long declaration, after which marines, sailors, and artillery passed in a review witnessed by Commodore Lawrence Kearney and officers of the USS Constellation.”

“Hawaii’s sovereignty had been restored.” (Greer)

“‘Her Majesty’s Government,’ we learn in a letter from the Earl of Aberdeen, ‘viewed with the highest approbation, the whole of his proceedings at the Sandwich Islands, as marked by a great propriety and an admirable judgment throughout …’”

“‘… and as calculated to raise the character of British authorities for justice, moderation, and courtesy of demeanor, in the estimation of the natives of those remote countries, and of the world.’” (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

“Richard (Darton) Thomas was born at Saltash, county of Cornwall. … This officer entered the navy the 26th of May, 1790, on board the Cumberland 74, Captain John M. Brule, and sailed in the course of the same year with a squadron under Rear Admiral Cornish, for the West Indies”. (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

“The King too, Kamehameha III, moved by gratitude, intimated a wish that the Rear Admiral would sit for his portrait in full uniform, that His Majesty ‘might have and preserve in his palace the likeness of a British officer who …’”

“‘… in restoring to him his kingdom, dared to act on his own sense of right, counting upon the approval of his magnanimous, Queen, in which he was not disappointed.’” (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

“No nobler men ever touched those Islands, than some of the officers of the American and English navies.” (Richard Armstrong) Admiral Thomas died in Stonehouse, Devon on August 21, 1857.

“Our home ‘Stone House’ was named after the English residence of Admiral Thomas, of the British Navy, who restored the national flag which his subordinate, Lord George Paulet, had, in his absence, hauled down, taking possession of the Islands in the name of the Queen.”

“Lord George was compelled by the Admiral to restore the flag and salute it with his own guns. The day was thereafter kept as a national holiday, and the name of Admiral Thomas is held in grateful remembrance.” (Richard Armstrong)

Later, in 1881, the Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu moved from the windward side into the former Rev. Richard Armstrong’s home, “Stonehouse” on 91 Beretania Street adjoining Washington Place.

At that time, the name ‘College of St. Louis’ was given to the institution in honor of Bishop Louis Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX.

Then, on September 19, 1883, the Punahou Preparatory School was opened for the full term at Stone House “Three of the trustees were present at the opening exercises, together with many parents of the pupils, of whom there were 85 present, with a prospect of a larger attendance …”

“It is the design of the trustees to have no pupils at Punahou proper, except such as are qualified to proceed with the regular academic course.” (The Friend, October 4, 1883)

By the 1898-1899 school year, there were 247 students in grades 1-8 in the Punahou Preparatory School. Later, in 1902, the Preparatory School was moved to what is now known as the Punahou campus, where it occupied Charles R Bishop Hall.

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