When the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries first stopped at Kawaihae, an emissary was sent into the village to learn the whereabouts of the king. Lucy G. Thurston, wife of Reverend Asa Thurston, recounted the event …
“Approaching Kawaihae, Hopu went ashore to invite some of the highest chiefs of the nation. Kalanimōku was the first person of distinction that came. In dress and manner he appeared with the dignity of a man of culture.”
Obviously familiar with western customs, the chief gallantly bowed and shook the hands of the ladies. Mrs. Thurston continued, “The effects of that first warm appreciating clasp I feel even now. To be met by such a specimen of heathen humanity on the borders of their land, was to stay us with flagons, and comfort us with apples.”
After sending gifts of hogs and sweet potatoes, Kalanimōku appeared and Bingham comments on ‘his great civility.’ “His appearance was much more interesting than we expected. His dress was a neat dimity jacket, black silk vest, mankin pantaloons, white cotton stockings, and shoes, plaid cravat, and a neat English hat.” (Bingham)
After a brief stop at Kawaihae, where they learned of the death of Kamehameha and the abolition of the old religion, they proceeded down the coast to Kailua with the chiefs on board to meet with the new king and hopefully gain permission to remain in the islands to establish a mission. (Del Piano)
Kamehameha had granted Kawaihae Komohana ahupua‘a (present Kawaihae 1) to Kalanimōku, his ‘prime minister’:
“As his principal executive officer (his kalaimoku according to the traditional scheme of government), Kamehameha appointed a young chief named (in modern writings) Kalanimōku …”
“… in his own lifetime, this chief was usually called Karaimoku by the Hawaiians, sometimes Kalaimoku; foreigners rendered his name Crymoku or Crimoku or gave it some similar form …”
“… he himself adopted the name of his contemporary, the great English prime minister, William Pitt, and he was frequently referred to and addressed by foreigners as Mr. Pitt or Billy Pitt.”
“Kalanimōku was Kamehameha’s prime minister and treasurer, the advisor on whom the king leaned most heavily. He was a man of great natural ability, both in purely governmental and in business matters. He was liked and respected by foreigners, who learned from experience that they could rely on his word.” (Kuykendall)
Kalanimōku maintained a residence at Kawaihae and was there when the first company of Protestant missionaries reached the Hawaiian Islands in 1820. (Cultural Surveys)
At Kawaihae, the missionaries took aboard a number of chiefs who sailed with them south to Kailua, Kona where they anchored on April 4, 1820. (Cultural Surveys)
“Thus to facilitate the diffusion of light over these islands, we were quickly and widely scattered’. (Bingham) They quickly set about establishing mission stations.
Reverend Asa Thurston; Mrs. Lucy Goodale Thurston; Thomas Holman, MD; and Mrs. Lucia Holman, accompanied by Hawaiian converts Thomas Hopu and William Kanui, were sent to Kailua to minister to the people of that district — teaching them literature, the arts, and most importantly, Christianity (“training them for heaven”). (NPS)
“Arrangements were made by the 23d of July, for Messrs. W(hitney) and R(uggles). and their wives to take up their residence at Waimea, on Kauai.”
“On the eve of their departure from Honolulu, eleven of our number united in celebrating the dying love of our exalted Redeemer, for the first time on the shores of the Sandwich Islands, and found the season happy.” (Bingham)
Among their first pupils were the new king and his younger brother, two of his wives, and some other youths. The king was particularly interested in having Holman present to provide medical care for the royal family. (NPS)
“Mr. Loomis hastened to Kawaihae and engaged in teaching Kalanimōku and his wife, and a class of favorite youths whom he wished to have instructed.” (Bingham)
“The first resident missionary at Kawaihae was Elisha Loomis, a 21-year old printer, who was supported by Kalanimōku. In the summer of 1820, Loomis was given two buildings (a schoolhouse and a dwelling place) and 10 youths to educate”. (Marion Kelly)
Kawaihae was the site of one of the first mission stations in the Hawaiian Islands, although it was only briefly looked after by Elisha Loomis beginning in 1821. (NPS)
Though Loomis and his pupils were moved to Honolulu in November, the schoolhouse at Kawaihae may represent the first missionary-run school in the Hawaiian Islands. (Cultural Surveys)
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