Hawaii Island | Page 13 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 20, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pāhoa

Early settlement patterns in the Islands put people on the windward sides of the islands, typically along the shoreline. However, in Puna on the Island of Hawaiʻi, much of the district’s coastal areas have thin soils and there are no good deep water harbors. The ocean along the Puna coast is often rough and windblown.

As a result, settlement patterns in Puna tend to be dispersed and without major population centers. Villages in Puna tended to be spread out over larger areas and often are inland, and away from the coast, where the soil is better for agriculture. (Escott)

This was confirmed on William Ellis’ travel around the island in the early 1800s, “Hitherto we had travelled close to the sea-shore, in order to visit the most populous villages in the districts through which we had passed. But here receiving information that we should find more inhabitants a few miles inland, than nearer the sea, we thought it best to direct our course towards the mountains.” (Ellis, 1823)

An historic trail once ran from the modern day Lili‘uokalani Gardens area in Hilo to Hāʻena along the Puna coast. The trail is often referred to as the old Puna Trail and/or Puna Road. There is an historic trail/cart road that is also called the Puna Trail (Ala Hele Puna) and/or the Old Government Road.

This path was essentially the main thoroughfare through the Puna district before the late-1800s. Pāhoa was oʻioʻina (a resting place) on the trail. (Papakilo) Then it grew to become the principal town of lower Puna.

The evolving trail (first by foot, then by horse, cart and buggy, and finally by automobile) likely incorporated segments of the traditional Hawaiian trail system often referred to as the ala loa or ala hele. (Rechtman)

The full length of the Puna Trail, or Old Government Road, might have been constructed or improved just before 1840. The alignment was mapped by the Wilkes Expedition of 1804-41. (Escott)

People who traditionally had lived along the Puna coast were moving toward Hilo and into the more fertile upland areas of Puna in order to find paid work and to produce cash crops for local markets and for export.

The focus began to shift to the center of the Puna District and the developing sugar and related industries near ʻŌlaʻa, Hilo and the volcano region.

Before the turn of the century, railroad operations began – with lines running into Hilo. A main railroad line and several feeder lines were constructed in the early-1900s from Keaʻau to locations in lower Puna District.

The major line ran from Hilo through Keaʻau to the Kapoho area. A branch line ran from the ʻŌlaʻa Sugar Mill up past present day Glenwood. A second branch line ran to Pāhoa town.

Some suggest this is how Pāhoa received its name. “Then the train was put in from Hilo to Puna. One spur went up into Pāhoa; it was like a dagger into the forest. I‘m told this is how Pāhoa got its name. (Pāhoa means dagger.)” (Edwards; Cultural Surveys)

People began to work in the inland areas to grow sugarcane. The new road, the Pāhoa branch of the railroad, sugarcane agriculture and a logging venture all combined to create Pāhoa as a population center in the region. (Rechtman)

Macadamia nuts and papaya were introduced in 1881 and 1919; at the turn of the century, large-scale coffee cultivation was attempted. Over 6,000-acres of coffee trees were owned by approximately 200-independent coffee planters.

This fledgling industry couldn‘t compete with more successful ventures located in other districts, and after a few decades the coffee industry in Puna was abandoned. (Cultural Surveys, Rechtman)

By 1901, sugar dominated the island’s industry and landscape, and Hilo was the epicenter of production and export. Railroads connected sugar mills and sugar plantations in Hilo, the Hāmākua and Puna. The railroad also connected the mills to the wharves at Hilo Bay.

Early on, one of the major export items transported by the railroad was timber. Starting in 1907, the Hawaiian Mahogany Company began cutting trees to clear land for sugarcane. The logs were brought to Pāhoa Town to be milled, then sent to Hilo Harbor and eventually shipped to the US Mainland as railroad ties for the Santa Fe Railroad.

The lumber mill facilities and the railroad line that served them were located near the center of town where the Akebono Theater is located.

In 1909, the company was renamed Pāhoa Lumber Company. In 1913, the main mill facilities were lost in a fire; it was rebuilt that year the company was renamed the Hawaiian Hardwood Company.

The company closed down in 1916 when the Santa Fe Railroad ended its contract to buy lumber. The defunct company then leased its mill facilities, buildings and railroad tracks to the expanding ʻŌlaʻa Sugar Company. (Rechtman)

Today, Pāhoa Town has a main street – the former highway route before the construction of the by-pass road – that still retains much of the original street-wall of plantation-era structures, as well as some significant stand-alone buildings.

Most of the uses are commercial or civic. The County has acquired a large tract of land within Pāhoa Town, which presents a significant opportunity for community revitalization and a possible catalyst for economic activity. (Puna CDP)

October 11, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawai‘i Island (1823)

“Messrs (William) Ellis, (Asa) Thurston, (Artemas) Bishop and (Joseph) Goodrich made a tour round the island of Hawai‘i, examining its various districts, conversing with the natives, and preaching the gospel 130 different times.” (History of ABCFM)

They left Kailua-Kona heading south and circled the Island; the following are their descriptions of respective parts of the Island.

“Kairua, though healthy and populous, is destitute of fresh water, except what is found in pools, or small streams, in the mountains, four or five miles from the shore … “The houses, which are neat, are generally built on the sea-shore, shaded with cocoa-nut and kou trees, which greatly enliven the scene.”

“The environs were cultivated to a considerable extent; small gardens were seen among the barren rocks on which the houses are built, wherever soil could be found sufficient to nourish the sweet potato, the watermelon, or even a few plants of tobacco, and in many places these seemed to be growing literally in the fragments of lava, collected in small heaps around their roots.”

“The next morning, (they) walked towards the mountains … The path now lay through a beautiful part of the country, quite a garden compared with that through which they had passed on first leaving the town. It was generally divided into small fields, about fifteen rods square, fenced with low stone walls, (and) planted with bananas, sweet potatoes, mountain taro, paper mulberry plants, melons, and sugar-cane, which flourished luxuriantly in every direction.”

“After breakfast, Mssrs. Thurston and Goodrich examined the inland part of the (Honaunau) district, and found, after proceeding about two miles from the sea, that the ground was generally cultivated.”

“They passed through considerable groves of breadfruit trees, saw many cocoa-nuts, and numbers of the prickly pear (cactus) growing very large, and loaded with fruit. They also found many people residing at the distance of from two to four miles from the beach, in the midst of their plantations, who seemed to enjoy an abundance of provisions, seldom possessed by those on the sea shore,”

“The coast for twenty miles to the northward, includes not less perhaps than forty villages, either on the shore or a short distance inland, and contains probably a population of 20,000 souls, among whom a missionary might labour with facility”.

“(A)bout five in the afternoon landed at Kapua, a small and desolate-looking village, on the southwest point of Hawai‘i … At this place we hired a man to go about seven miles into the mountains for fresh water; but he returned with only one calabash full …”

“… a very inadequate supply as our whole company had suffered much from thirst, and the effects of the brackish water we had frequently drank since leaving Honaunau. … Nothing can exceed the barren and solitary appearance of this part of the island”.

“On entering (Ka‘ū,) the same gloomy and cheerless desert of rugged lava spread itself in every direction from the shore to the mountains. Here and there at distant intervals they passed a lonely house, or a few wandering fishermen’s huts, with a solitary shrub, or species of thistle, struggling for existence among the crevices in the blocks of scoriae and lava. All besides was ‘one vast desert, dreary, bleak, and wild’”

“A beautiful country now appeared before us at (Kahuku Bluff,) and we seemed all at once transported to some happier island …. The rough and desolate tract of lava, with all its distorted forms, was exchanged for the verdant plain, diversified with gently rising hills, and sloping dales, ornamented with shrubs, and gay with blooming flowers.”

Approaching Waiohinu, “The population in this part did not appear concentrated in towns and villages, as it had been along the sea-shore, but scattered over the whole face of the country, which appeared divided into farms of varied extent, and upon these houses generally stood singly, or in small clusters, seldom exceeding four or five in number.”

Toward Honuapo, “The country appeared more thickly inhabited than that over which we had travelled in the morning. The villages, along the sea shore, were near together, and some of them extensive. … we found tall rows of sugar-cane lining the path on either side”.

From Punalu‘u to Kapapala, “We now left the road by the sea-side, and directed our course towards the mountains. Our path lay over a rich yellow-looking soil of decomposed lava, or over a fine black vegetable mould, in which we occasionally saw a few masses of lava partially decomposed …”

“There was but little cultivation, though the ground appeared well adapted to the growth of all the most valuable produce of the islands. … The surface of the country was covered with a light yellow soil, and clothed with tall grass, but the sides and bed of every watercourse we passed were composed of volcanic rock….”

Toward Kilauea Volcano, “The path for several miles lay through a most fertile tract of country, covered with bushes, or tall grass and fern, frequently from three to five feet high, and … heavily laden with dew.”

“Leaving the wood, we entered a waste of dry sand, about four miles across … As we approached the sea, the soil became more generally spread over the surface, and vegetation more luxuriant.”

“The natives ran to a spot in the neighbourhood, which had formerly been a plantation, and brought a number of pieces of sugar-cane, with which we quenched our thirst, and then walked on through several plantations of sweet potato, belonging to the inhabitants of the coast.”

Continuing around, “The population of this part of Puna though somewhat numerous, did not appear to possess the means of subsistence in any great variety or abundance; and we have often been surprised to find the desolate coasts more thickly inhabited than some of the fertile tracts in the interior …”

“… a circumstance we can only account for, by supposing that the facilities which the former afford for fishing, induce the natives to prefer them as places of abode; for they find that where the coast is low, the adjacent water is generally shallow.”

Passing Kalapana, “the country began to wear a more agreeable aspect. Groves of cocoa-nuts ornamented the projecting points of land, clumps of kou-trees appeared in various directions, and the habitations of the natives were also thickly scattered over the coast”.

“Kaimu is pleasantly situated near the sea shore, on the SE side of the island, standing on a bed of lava considerably decomposed, and covered over with a light and fertile soil. It is adorned with plantations, groves of cocoanuts, and clumps of kou-trees. It has a fine sandy beach, where canoes may land with safety; and, according to the houses numbered today, contains about 725 inhabitants.”

Toward Kapoho, “A most beautiful and romantic landscape presented itself on our left, as we travelled out of Pualaa. The lava was covered with a tolerably thick layer of soil, and the verdant plain, extending several miles towards the foot of the mountains, was agreeably diversified by groups of picturesque hills, originally craters, but now clothed with grass, and ornamented with clumps of trees.”

On to Kea‘au. “The country was populous, but the houses stood singly, or in small clusters, generally on the plantations, which were scattered over the whole country. Grass and herbage were abundant, vegetation in many places luxuriant, and the soil, though shallow, was light and fertile”.

“At half-past ten we resumed our walk, and passing about two miles through a wood of pretty large timber, came to the open country in the vicinity of Waiakea (Hilo.) … The whole is covered with luxuriant vegetation, and the greater part of it formed into plantations, where plantains, bananas, sugar-cane, taro, potatoes, and melons, grow to the greatest perfection”.

“Groves of cocoa-nut and breadfruit are seen in every direction loaded with fruit, or clothed with umbrageous foliage. The houses are mostly larger and better built than those of many districts through which we had passed. We thought the people generally industrious; for in several of the less fertile parts of the district we saw small pieces of lava thrown up in heaps, and potato vines growing very well in the midst of them, though we could scarcely perceive a particle of soil”.

Then, by canoe from Hilo along the Hāmākua coast, “The country, by which we sailed, was fertile, beautiful, and apparently populous. The numerous plantations on the eminences and sides of the deep ravines or valleys, by which it was intersected, with the streams meandering through them into the sea, presented altogether a most agreeable prospect”.

“The high land over which we passed was generally woody, though the trees were not large. The places that were free from wood, were covered with long grass and luxuriant ferns. The houses mostly stood singly, and were scattered over the face of the country.”

“A rich field of potatoes or taro, five or six acres sometimes in extent, or large plantations of sugar-cane and bananas, occasionally bordered our path. But though the soil was excellent, it was only partially cultivated. The population also appeared less than what we had seen inhabiting some of the most desolate parts of the island”.

“… the inhabitants, excepting at Waiakea, did not appear better supplied with the necessaries of life than those of Kona, or the more barren parts of Hawaii. They had better houses, plenty of vegetables, some dogs, and few hogs, but hardly any fish, a principal article of food with the natives in general”.

From Kapulena to Waimea, … taking an inland direction passed over a pleasant country, gently undulated with hill and dale. The soil was fertile, the vegetation flourishing, and there was considerable cultivation, though but few inhabitants.”

“About noon they reached the valley of Waimea, lying at the foot of Mouna-Kea, on the northwest side. Here a number of villages appeared on each side of the path, surrounded with plantations in which plantains, sugar-cane, and taro were seen growing unusually large”.

“Viewed from the great elevation at which we stood, the charming (Waipio) valley, spread out beneath us like a map, with its numerous inhabitants, cottages, plantations, fishponds, and meandering streams. … The bottom of this valley was one continued garden, cultivated with taro, bananas, sugar-cane, and other productions of the islands, all growing luxuriantly.”

“Pololu is a pleasant village, situated in a small cultivated valley, having a fine stream of water flowing down its centre …. The houses stand principally on the beach. … The country was fertile, and seemed populous, though the houses were scattered, and more than three or four seldom appeared together.”

“A wide tract of country in the neighbourhood was divided into fields of considerable size, containing several acres each, which he used to keep in good order, and well stocked with potatoes and other vegetables. … The soil was fertile and vegetation abundant.”

Towarrd Mahukona, “Though we had numbered, in our journey today, 600 houses, we had not seen any thing like four hundred people, almost the whole population being employed in the mountains cutting sandal wood”.

From Mahukona to Kawaihae, “The coast was barren; the rocks volcanic; the men were all employed in fishing; and Mr. Thurston was informed that the inhabitants of the plantations, about (2-3) miles in the interior, were far more numerous than on the shore”.

Southwest of Waimea toward Kiholo, “The soil over which he had travelled was fertile, well watered, and capable of sustaining many thousand inhabitants. In his walks he had numbered 220 houses, and the present population is probably between eleven and twelve hundred.”

Then via canoe, they “landed at Kihoro, a straggling village, inhabited principally by fishermen.” Then they traveled by canoe back to Kailua. (The bulk of this is from information assembled by Newman.)

Ellis,_Waipio_Valley-1822-24

A large ruined wall near the town of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.1822-23

View of Kealakekua Bay from the village of Kaʻawaloa-Bingham-1820s

Hale_O_Keawe_by_William_Ellis-1822-24

View of Hilo, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa-Bingham-1820s

A_Missionary_Preaching_to_Hawaiians_on_the_lava_at_Kokukano,_Hawaii,_sketch_by_William_Ellis-1822-24

Palace_of_Kalanimoku-1822-24

Hawaii Island 1823-Ellis-Newman

September 8, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hilo High School

“The American Public School system comprises in most of the states twelve grades, occupying the children between the ages of 6 and 12. These grades are thus denominated: First to Fourth Primary, Fifth to Eighth Grammar, Ninth to Twelfth High.”

“A slight departure from this scheme of classification is made in the Territory. Here, though maintaining the same twelve grades, as in the states, they are divided in six grades in the Primary School, and six grades in the High School.”

“The curriculum of the grades nine to twelve inclusive corresponds to that of the same grades in the schools on the mainland.” (Hilo Tribune, Sep 10, 1907)

Without a high school on the Island of Hawai‘i, “It has been the habit of solicitous parents of this island during the past century to send their children to the schools of Honolulu, for whatever education they received beyond the grammar grades. It is needless to say that this necessity has entailed both anxiety and expense.”

“Thus it became an object with the teachers and parents of Hilo to secure in their midst sufficient advantages to return their children at home.” (Hilo Tribune, Sep 10, 1907)

A High School in Hilo had a shaky start. After passage in 1903, but failing to receive the Governor’s signature, in a February, 1905 session of the legislature, “Under suspension of the rules, Senator [John T] Brown introduced a bill (S. B. No. 23) entitled ‘An Act to Provide for a High School in Hilo, Island and Territory of Hawaii, under the Department of Public Instruction of the Territory.’”

The proposed legislation, again, passed through the legislature. When presented to Governor Carter and Carter stated, “I am unable to approve”, citing that “This bill falls within that class of absolutely unnecessary legislation.” On April 18, 1905, the legislature overrode the Governor’s veto.

“A special committee of the Board of Education … held a conference with Superintendent Davis and Normal Inspector King when the plans for putting the high school in operation were discussed.”

“The problem before the Commissioners was whether they should start the High School work of Hilo at the beginning of the next school year as a separate organization or wait until the new High School building was erected and then begin the independent organization.” (Hilo Tribune, July 18, 1905) It was decided to start sooner than later.

“In Sept. 1905 a class of twenty pupils was excellently fitted to begin their secondary studies. … Room for its reception was made in the Union School, where, despite much painful crowding, very efficient work was accomplished.” (Hilo Tribune, Sep 10, 1907)

“The Hilo High School began its career under that apellation on Sept. 6, 1905, under the direction of Mr. FA Richmond (‘a Stanford graduate and has been vice principal of the Honolulu High School’), CO Smith and Miss MP Potter.”

A site was needed. “At a meeting of the Board of Trade … it was decided to recommend the Riverside school site for the new Hilo High School, and to remove the present Riverside school to the Masonic Hall lot opposite”. (Hilo Tribune, July 18, 1905)

“There were in the schools of Hilo nine grades – the beginning with Ninth being the only grade entitled by usage in the States to be called High School. However, grades Seven, Eight and Nine were assembled under the High School teachers, and proceeded to work in two of the upstairs rooms of the Hilo Union School.”

“Since that time two new grades have entered the High School, and the original students no constitute grades Nine, Ten and Eleven. One year from now the present eleventh grade will graduate as the 1908 Twelfth Grade. And the curriculum of the school will be completely taught.” (Hilo Tribune, Sep 10, 1907)

“The first class will be given (1) what is known as ‘first year Latin,’ to prepare the students to read Caesar; (2) English, comprehending correct composition, rather than criticism; (3) History-Ancient Greek and Roman; (4) Physical Geography; (5) Algebra, through quadratics, and (6), the study of some language, either French or German.” (Hilo Tribune, Aug 29, 1905)

“The work of the High School has been shaped to fit carefully local needs. Such students as feel the need of immediately getting into business will be given a Commercial Course in book keeping, typewriting, shorthand, commercial arithmetic, court reporting, etc.”

“Such students as have expectations of colleges will be given careful preparation for entrance to the best American colleges and Universities.” (Hilo Tribune, Sep 10, 1907)

The new school building opened September 9, 1907. “The Hilo high school has four good, well-lighted and ventilated rooms downstairs, capable of accommodating 160 pupils. There are six rooms upstairs there 100 additional pupils can receive instruction … The room for the commercial class is well equipped.” (Advertiser, September 7, 1907)

Hilo High’s first graduating class consisted of seven students in 1909: Richard Kekoa, Amy Williams, Eliza Desha, Frank Arakawa, John Kennedy, Annie Napier and Herbert Westerbelt. (Mangiboyat)

Hilo High Auditorium was built in 1928. It was donated to the school by the Alumni Association. It was designed by a former student (and part of the first graduates) of Hilo High School, Frank Arakawa.

August 27, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Judd Trail

Road making as practiced in Hawaiʻi in the middle of the 19th-century was a very superficial operation, in most places consisting of little more than clearing a right of way, doing a little rough grading and supplying bridges of a sort where they could not be dispensed with. (Kuykendall)

The absence of roads in some places and the bad condition of those that did exist were common causes of complaints which found expression in the newspapers. But in spite of the complaints, it is clear that in the 1860s the kingdom had more roads and on the whole better ones than it had twenty or even ten years earlier. (Kuykendall)

At its May 23, 1849 meeting, the Privy Council of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (a private committee of the King’s closest advisors to give confidential advice on affairs of state) sought to “facilitate communication between Kailua, the seat of the local government, and Hilo, the principal port.”

They resolved “that GP Judd and Kinimaka proceed to Kailua, Hawaiʻi, to explore a route from that place to Hilo direct, and make a road, if practicable, by employing the prisoners on that island and if necessary taking the prisoners from this island (Oʻahu) to assist; the government to bear all expenses”. (Privy Council Minutes, Punawaiola)

(In 1828, Dr Gerrit Parmele Judd came with the Third Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi. A medical missionary, Judd had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician; by 1842, he left the mission and served in the Hawaiian government.)

(He first served as “translator and recorder,” then member of the “treasury board,” then secretary of state for foreign affairs, minister of the interior and minister of finance (the latter he held until 1853, when by resignation, he terminated his service with the government.))

In planning the road, the words of the Privy Council’s resolution were taken literally, and the route selected ran to the high saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on a practically straight line between the terminal points.

What became known as the “Judd Road” (or “Judd Trail”) was constructed between 1849 and 1859; construction began at the government road in Kailua (what is now known as Aliʻi Drive) and traversed through a general corridor between Hualālai and Mauna Loa. (Remnants of perimeter walls can still be seen at Aliʻi Drive.)

“This was the road that Dr. Judd … would have built from Kona in a straight line across the island of Hawaii. It was meant, of course, as a road for horsemen and pack animals. In the generation of Dr. Judd it was a great work, and the manner of its building showed that he meant it to be a monument to him for all time.” (Ford, Mid-Pacific, 1912)

When the road had been built about 12-miles from Kailua into the saddle between Hualālai and Mauna Loa, the project was abandoned – a pāhoehoe lava flow from the 11,000 foot-level of Mauna Loa crossed its path.

Though incomplete (it never reached its final destination in Hilo,) people did use the Judd Road to get into Kona’s mauka countryside.

“Up the long slope of Hualālai we ascended to Kaʻalapuali, following the old Judd trail through fields of green cane, through grass lands, through primeval forests, over fallen monarchs, finally out on that semi-arid upland which lies between Hualālai and Mauna Loa. Here we turned up the slope of Hualālai, climbing through a forest cover of ʻōhiʻa lehua and sandalwood carpeted with golden-eyed daisies – another picture of Hawaii, never to be forgotten.”

“And then the summit with its eight or more great craters and that strange, so-called bottomless pit, Hualālai, after which the mountain is named, and the battle of the Kona and trade wind clouds over the labyrinthean volcanic pits, gray-white spectres of vapor—all these linger in retrospection as we cast our mind’s eye back to that experience of one year ago.”

“Here on this weird summit, where the sun played hide and seek with the tumultuous clouds, the ʻiʻiwi, ʻelepaio, and ʻamakihi birds flitted and twittered from puʻu kiawe to mamani. Down the long southeast slope, beneath the white vapors, beautifully symmetrical cones arose from slopes, tree-clad and mottled by shifting clouds and sun.”

“Farther up the Judd trail, we came to that unique “Plain of Numbering”, where King ʻUmi built his heiau over four centuries ago and called his people together from all the Island of Hawaii. There is a romantic glamor hanging around those heaps of rocks which numbered the people who gathered at Ahua ʻUmi that will remain as a fond memory throughout eternity.” (Thrum, 1924)

(ʻUmi took a census at about 1500; for this census, each inhabitant of the Island of Hawaiʻi was instructed to come to a place called the “Plain of Numbering” to put a rock on the pile representing his own district. The result, still visible today, was a three-dimensional graphic portrayal of population size and distribution. (Schmitt))

“It is a wonderful setting up there on that arid plateau with Hualālai to the left and Mauna Loa rising majestically and deceptively to the right, with lofty Mauna Kea, snow-patched and beckoning from the distance before us. There is something sublimely massive, rugged, uplifting about that arid, wild region of the “plain of numbering-‘ hidden away from the ordinary walks of men, off to the right and near the end of the old Judd trail.” (Thrum, 1924)

This road was not the only attempt of linking East and West Hawaiʻi. About 100-years after the Privy Council’s resolution to connect East with West, the US military completed the link by building a vehicular access route to its Pōhakuloa Training Area during World War II.

Like earlier roads in Hawaiʻi it was not originally designed to State highway standards. Surfacing and nominal repairs over the subsequent decades left a roadway that island rental car companies banned its customers from use.

Today, route 200, known locally as Saddle Road, traverses the width of the Island of Hawaiʻi, from downtown Hilo to its junction with Hawaii Route 190 near Waimea. It “represent(s) both literally and symbolically … the physical bridging together of East and West Hawaii and the bridging of the bonds between people.” (SCR 43, 2013)

Saddle Road is the shortest and most direct route across the island of Hawai‘i, linking the historical main population centers of the island in East Hawai‘i with the growing West side, where the economy is anchored by tourism.

With realignment of portions and reconstruction starting in 2004, in 2013, the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (DOT) opened the last improved segment and renamed the 41-mile upgraded length of Hawaiʻi Saddle Road the Daniel K Inouye Highway (the renaming occurred on Inouye’s birthday, September 7 (Inouye died December 17, 2012.))

August 12, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

John Harvey Coney

John Harvey Coney was born in June 1820 in Litchfield, NY. He came to Hawaiʻi after participating in the 1848 Mexican-American War. He married Laura Amoy Kekuakapuokalani Ena (she was 17) on November 27, 1860.

John, supposedly through his wife’s family’s connections with King Kamehameha IV, was soon appointed Sheriff of Hilo, where Laura’s ancestral lands were located. (Williams)

“I stopped 3 days with Hon. Mr. (Coney), Deputy Marshal of the Kingdom, at Hilo, Hawaii, last week, & by a funny circumstance, he knew everybody that ever I knew in Hannibal & Palmyra. We used to sit up all night talking, & then sleep all day. He lives like a Prince.” (Twain)

The Coneys lived in a long grass thatched house on the mauka (toward the mountain) side of the courthouse lot, and later built a pretentious residence which is now (1922) the County Building….” (Williams)

Coney was “a tall handsome man, who carried himself like a soldier,” he was “titular executive head of government next to the Governess of Hawaiʻi and Lieut. Governor”. (Sanderson)

Besides being Sheriff (and later postmaster,) Coney got into a variety of business interests. An April 22, 1868 Hawaiian Gazette notes, “Wharf at Hilo. The landing of passengers and goods at the Harbor of Hilo has been facilitated by the building of a short wharf from the rocky point at the west end of the beach. It has been made by the enterprise of Mr Coney and Mr Hitchcock”.

“The wharf just built is well timbered and fastened, and carries six feet of water. Its strength was tested by the great, earthquake wave of Thursday, and by a loaded scow washing upon it, and it proved equal to the strain. Wharfage, hereafter, will be one of the charges on schooners running to Hilo.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 22, 1868)

Wife Laura was of royal descent. She was the daughter of Chinese merchant John Lawai Ena and Hawaiian chiefess Kaikilanialiiwahineopuna (a descendent of the Kamehameha line and the last high chiefess of the Puna district of the island of Hawaiʻi.) She was described as “an exceptionally fine woman of high character, gracious manner, generous instincts and kind disposition….” (Williams)

The Coneys had six children: Clarissa (Clara) Piilani Amoy Coney (lady-in-waiting to the household of Queen Kapiʻolani;) Mary Ululani Monroe Coney; John Harvey Haalalea Coney (High Sheriff on Kauaʻi, later Territorial Representative and Senator;) Elizabeth (Lizzy) Likelike Kekaekapuokulani Coney (lady in waiting to Princess Miriam Likelike Cleghorn at Coronation of Kalākaua;) Eleanor (Kaikilani) Coney (travelling companion to Queen Liliʻuokalani across US) and William Hawks Hulilaukea Coney (co-Founder with Wallace Rider Farrington of Evening Bulletin, predecessor of the Honolulu Star Bulletin.)

Laura taught her children not to speak of their aliʻi blood, to forget about high chiefs and chiefesses, and to make their own way in the world because the days of chiefs and chiefesses were gone.

A daughter-in-law once noted, “I remember a time when the king (Kalākaua) was calling on Mother Coney. He was busy at the time collecting the genealogies of the nobility and the mele (songs, chants) of the Hawaiians.”

“He said to Mother Coney, ‘Tell me, Mrs. Coney, who were your ancestors, I know that you belong to the Kamehameha line.’ ‘Adam and Eve were my ancestors,’ she replied.” (Williams)

After about 18-years in Hilo, the Coneys moved to Honolulu; their home (which they called ‘ Halelelea,’ that they translated to ‘Pleasant House’) was just mauka of ʻIolani Palace (on the mauka-Diamond Head corner of Richards and Hotel Streets.) It was often the setting for many of the city’s “brilliant entertainments” during the Kalākaua monarchy. (Williams)

In the Māhele of 1848, the property had been grant to High Chiefess Miriam Ke‘ahikuni Kekauōnohi, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I and a wife of Kamehameha II. Upon her death on June 2, 1851, all her property was passed on to her second husband, High Chief Levi Haʻalelea.

Levi Haʻalelea’s second wife was Amoe Ululani Ena Haʻalelea, sister of Laura Ena Coney. When Levi Haʻalelea died in 1864, his second wife transferred ownership of the land to her sister’s husband John Coney.

In 1889, the Coney’s home, Halelelea, played a minor role during the Wilcox rebellion to restore the rights of the monarchy, two years after the Bayonet Constitution of 1887 left King Kalākaua a mere ﬁgurehead.

The insurgents were hunkered down in a bungalow across a narrow lane from the Coney House. The plan was to throw dynamite at the bungalow.

“No attack was expected from that quarter, and there was nothing to disturb the bomb thrower. (Hay Wodehouse) stood for a moment with a bomb in his hand as though he were in the box waiting for a batsman. He had to throw over a house to reach the bungalow, which he could not see.”

“The first bomb went sailing over the wall, made a down curve and struck the side of the bungalow about a foot from the roof … The bomb had reached them and hurt a number of the insurgents. “

Wodehouse “coolly picked out another bomb. Then he took a step back, made a half turn and sent it whizzing. It landed on the roof … He threw one more bomb and Wilcox came out and surrendered.” (The Sporting Life, October 16, 1889)

Another property that had been granted to Kekauōnohi and subsequently conveyed to Coney at the same time as their home was approximately 41,000-acres of land at Honouliuli. In 1877, Coney sold that land to James Campbell, who soon started Honouliuli Ranch. After drilling Hawaiʻi’s first artesian well (1879,) by 1890 the Ewa Plantation Company was established.

John Harvey Coney died in Honolulu on October 9, 1880, at the age of 60. Laura Ena Coney died in Honolulu on February 24, 1929, at the age of 85.

In a funeral recitation for Laura given by the Reverend Akaiko Akana, pastor of Kawaiahaʻo Church, on February 24, 1929, Laura was referred to as “one of the old and prominent kamaʻāinas who has helped to build Hawaii, not only by her personal effort, but through her influence on her husband, children and influencial associates and acquaintances throughout these islands.” (Williams)

There are two marble plaques in Kawaiahaʻo Church commemorating members of the Coney family, both above the mauka royal pew. Donated by her daughters Kaikilani and Elizabeth, one reads: In Memory of Laura Kekuakapuokalani Coney 1844—1929 Always a devoted member of Kawaiahaʻo Church, she often said, “Ka wahi e nele ai, e haʻawi” Where need is, there give.

The other plaque reads: “In Memory of Levi Haʻalelea 1828-1864 His wife Ululani A. A. Haʻalelea 1824-1904 and Richard Haʻalilio 1808—1844.” (I have been told this plaque is incorrect – Levi Haʻalelea was born in 1822; the last name listed should be Timothy Haʻalilio.)

The image shows John Harvey Coney. In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC