Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Ōpūkaha‘ia – The Inspiration for the Hawaiian Mission

In 1808, a young Hawaiian boy, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, swam out to the ‘Triumph’, a trading ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay. Both of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents and his younger brother had been slain during the battles on the island.

Also on board was Hopu, another young Hawaiian, as well as Russell Hubbard. They eventually headed for New York. “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ.… Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

They landed at New York and remained there until the Captain sold out all the Chinese goods. Then, they made their way to New England.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn. He “was sitting on the steps of a Yale building, weeping. A solicitous student stopped to inquire what was wrong, and Obookiah (the spelling of his name, based on its sound) said, ‘No one will give me learning.’”

The student was Edwin Dwight. “(W)hen the question was put him, ‘Do you wish to learn?’ his countenance began to brighten. And when the proposal was made that he should come the next day to the college for that purpose, he served it with great eagerness.” (Dwight)

Later, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) formed the Foreign Mission School; ʻŌpūkahaʻia was one of its first students. He yearned “with great earnestness that he would (return to Hawaiʻi) and preach the Gospel to his poor countrymen.” Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died on February 17, 1818.

Dwight put together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation). It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men and women with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

In giving instructions to the first missionaries, the ABCFM, noted: “You will never forget ʻŌpūkahaʻia. You will never forget his fervent love, his affectionate counsels, his many prayers and tears for you, and for his and your nation.”

“You saw him die; saw how the Christian could triumph over death and the grave; saw the radient glory in which he left this world for heaven. You will remember it always, and you will tell it to your kindred and countrymen who are dying without hope.”

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) set sail on the ‘Thaddeus’ for the Hawaiian Islands. Their 164-day voyage ended They landed at Kailua-Kona April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM.

On August 15, 1993, ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s remains were returned to Hawai‘i from Cornwall and laid in a vault facing the ocean at Kahikolu Church, overlooking Kealakekua Bay.

Click HERE to view/download Background Information on ʻŌpūkahaʻia

Planning ahead … ʻŌpūkahaʻia Celebrations – the Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial is approaching; the following are some of the planned activities (it starts in about a year):

Hawaiian Mission Houses – February 17, 2018 – Free Open House marking the start of the Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial, Reflection and Rejuvenation 1820 – 2020 celebrations – activities follow services at adjoining Kawaiaha‘o Church commemorating ʻŌpūkahaʻia (details to follow).

Kahikolu Church (Napo‘opo‘o (Kealakekua Bay)) – 10 am, February 17, 2018
Kawaiaha‘o Church (Honolulu) – 10 am, February 17, 2018
Cornwall, Connecticut – 3 pm (EST) February 17, 2018

ʻAhahui O ʻŌpūkahaʻia is proposing three simultaneous services/celebrations at the above churches on February 17, 2018 (the bicentennial of his death) to honor ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia.

Anticipated activities at Kahikolu Church include a church service, gravesite commemoration and pa‘ina (food). ʻAhahui O ʻŌpūkahaʻia will be coordinating the activities at Kahikolu Church; Woman’s Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands will be coordinating services at Kawaiaha‘o Church.

This replicates the celebrations in 1968, when 3 events were held. The intent is to hold the Hawai‘i events at 10 am (HST), so the Connecticut event would be at 3 pm (EST). Related to this, each site would be on video, then combined into a single video.

Missionary Period

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

Collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the
• Introduction of Christianity;
• Development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• Promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• Combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine; and
• Evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing)

If you would like to get on a separate e-mail distribution on Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial activities, please use the following link:  Click HERE to Subscribe to Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial Updates

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Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Poisoned

“Scrawls on a hand-drawn map by Brintnall told of the murder of his officer Elihu Mix, who died aboard the Triumph in Honolulu Harbor after allegedly eating a poisoned fish dinner sent to the ship.” (Cook)

Family tradition suggests Mix was not the target – rather, the Triumph’s ship captain, Brintnall was intended to be killed; “Luckily for Brintnall, he was ashore and missed the dinner.” (Cook)

Let’s take a closer look …

“My father traced his descent back to Caleb Mix, one of the founders, or at least earliest settlers, of New Haven. Caleb, the second, born 1687, had a son Thomas, who in 1770 married Mehitable Beecher.”

“They had six children, the eldest being Elisha. He was, I judge, a man of means and a merchant, trader, etc. His eldest son, Elihu, was my grandfather; he married Nancy Atwater, of New Haven.”

“They had three children: Edward H, Elihu L Mix, and Margaret M Mix; Mr Elihu Mix, of Westville, only surviving at this time.”

“My grandfather (Elihu) was engaged in the shipping business at early part of this century and sailed from New Haven in the little ships of those days, circumnavigating the globe.”

“In one of these adventurous voyages, in the seal fishery and China trade interest, in 1808, his ship touched for stores at the Sandwich Islands, and while there he was poisoned by the Queen of the Islands (Kaʻahumanu.)”

“The king (Kamehameha I) wished his young sons to come and it was understood the queen, to defeat their object, caused the baked fish she had sent to the officers to be poisoned. Accidentally the others were absent and Captain Mix only partook of the fatal dish.” (Jonathan Mix of New Haven, 1886-Appendix)

It seems, in January 1808, Kamehameha made arrangements with Captain Caleb Brintnall, Master of the Triumph out of New Haven, to take his 12-year old son and heir apparent, Liholiho, to New England for his education.

A few years earlier, Kaumuali‘i of Kauai had sent his son Humehume to New England for school and Kamehameha wanted his heir to equal to his rival’s in Western education.

However, Kaʻahumanu saw Kamehameha’s plan for the boy as a threat to her influence and political hold. So she sent an outrigger canoe with a mullet dinner out to Brintnall’s ship in Honolulu Harbor – a gift for the Captain and his officers.

In the Hawaiian tradition of ‘apu koheoheo (the poison cup) the fish had been basted with the deadly toxins of the keke (puffer fish.) However, Brintnall and most of his officers were on shore at Honolulu. Mix was the only officer on board who had dinner and then died from the poisoning. (Wehrheim)

This may have changed the course of history in the Islands.

Following this, Brintnall sailed on to Kealakekua, the same place where Captain Cook landed on the Island of Hawaiʻi; across the bay from Hikiʻau Heiau is where Cook was later killed.

Brintnall met ʻŌpūkahaʻia. Both of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents had been slain during the battles on the island. The only surviving member of the family, besides himself, was an infant brother he hoped to save from the fate of his parents, and carried him on his back and fled from the enemy.

But he was pursued, and his little brother, while on his back, was killed by a spear from the enemy. Taken prisoner, because he was not young enough to give them trouble, nor old enough to excite their fears, ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not killed.

He was later turned over to his uncle, Pahua, who took him into his own family and treated him as his child. Pahua was a kahuna at Hikiʻau Heiau in Kealakekua Bay.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s uncle, wanting his nephew to follow him as a kahuna, taught ʻŌpūkahaʻia long prayers and trained him to the task of repeating them daily in the temple of the idol. This ceremony he sometimes commenced before sunrise in the morning, and at other times was employed in it during the whole or the greater part of the night.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not destined to be a kahuna. He made a life-changing decision – not only which affected his life, but had a profound effect on the future of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

He boarded Brintnall’s ‘Triumph’ in Kealakekua Bay; also on Board was Hopu. They set sail for New York, stopping first in China (selling seal-skins and loading the ship with Chinese goods.)

Russell Hubbard, a son of Gen. Hubbard of New Haven, Connecticut was also on board. “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ. Christ was with him when I saw him, but I knew it not. ‘Happy is the man that put his trust in God!’ Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

In 1809, they landed at New York and remained there until the Captain sold out all the Chinese goods. Then, they made their way to New England. “In this place I become acquainted with many students belonging to the College.”

“By these pious students I was told more about God than what I had heard before … Many times I wished to hear more about God, but find no body to interpret it to me. I attended many meetings on the sabbath, but find difficulty to understand the minister. I could understand or speak, but very little of the English language. Friend Thomas (Hopu) went to school to one of the students in the College before I thought of going to school.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was taken into the family of the Rev. Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College, for a season; where he was treated with kindness, and taught the first principles of Christianity. At length, Mr. Samuel J. Mills, took him under his particular patronage, and sent him to live with his father, the Rev. Mr. Mills of Torringford.

By 1817, a dozen students, six of them Hawaiians, were training at the Foreign Mission School to become missionaries to teach the Christian faith to people around the world.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia improved his English by writing the story of his life in a book called “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet, based on its sound.) ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly of typhus fever in 1818. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired 14-missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaiʻi.)

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

There were seven couples sent to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity. These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

Among the other Hawaiian students at the Foreign Mission School were Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauai’s Kaumuali‘i.)

After 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Hawai‘i’s “Plymouth Rock” is about where the Kailua pier is today.

By the time the Pioneer Company arrived, Kamehameha I had died and the centuries-old kapu system had been abolished; through the actions of King Kamehameha II (Liholiho,) with encouragement by former Queens Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani (Liholiho’s mother,) the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau and had rejected their religious beliefs.

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Mullet-cooked
Mullet-cooked

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1800s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1800s – horses arrive, sandalwood economy and Henry ‘Ōpūkaha’ia sails to New England. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s Grammar Book

Noah Webster (1758-1843) was the man of words in early 19th-century America. He compiled a dictionary which became the standard for American English; he also compiled The American Spelling Book, which was the basic textbook for young readers in early 19th-century America.

In 1809, ʻŌpūkahaʻia boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. ʻŌpūkahaʻia latched upon the Christian religion, converted to Christianity in 1815 and studied at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut (founded in 1817) – he wanted to become a missionary and teach the Christian faith to people back home in Hawaiʻi.

A story of his life was written (“Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet, based on its sound.)) This book was put together by Edwin Dwight (after ʻŌpūkahaʻia died.) It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries.

This book inspired the New England missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands.

On October 23, 1819, the pioneer Company of missionaries from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i) – they first landed at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820. (Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly (of typhus fever on February 17, 1818) and never made it back to Hawaiʻi.)

It turns out that a manuscript was found among Queen Emma’s private papers (titled, “A Short Elementary Grammar of the Owhihe Language;”) a note written on the manuscript said, “Believed to be Obookiah’s grammar”.

Some believe this manuscript is the first grammar book on the Hawaiian language. However, when reading the document, many of the words are not recognizable. Here’s a sampling of a few of the words: 3-o-le; k3-n3-k3; l8-n3 and; 8-8-k8.

No these aren’t typos, either. … Let’s look a little closer.

In his journal, ʻŌpūkahaʻia first mentions grammar in his account of the summer of 1813: “A part of the time (I) was trying to translate a few verses of the Scriptures into my own language, and in making a kind of spelling-book, taking the English alphabet and giving different names and different sounds. I spent time in making a kind of spelling-book, dictionary, grammar.” (Schutz)

So, where does Noah Webster fit into this picture?

As initially noted, Webster’s works were the standard for American English. References to his “Spelling” book appear in the accounts by folks at the New England mission school.

As you know, English letters have different sounds for the same letter. For instance, the letter “a” has a different sound when used in words like: late, hall and father.

Noah Webster devised a method to help differentiate between the sounds and assigned numbers to various letter sounds – and used these in his Speller. (Webster did not substitute the numbers corresponding to a letter’s sound into words in his spelling or dictionary book; it was used as an explanation of the difference in the sounds of letters.)

The following is a chart for some of the letters related to the numbers assigned, depending on the sound they represent.

Long Vowels in English (Webster)
..1…..2…..3……4…….5……6……..7…….8
..a…..a…..a……e…….i…….o……..o…….u
late, ask, hall, here, sight, note, move, truth

Using ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s odd-looking words mentioned above, we can decipher what they represent by substituting the code and pronounce the words accordingly (for the “3,” substitute with “a” (that sounds like “hall”) and replace the “8” with “u,” (that sounds like “truth”) – so, 3-o-le transforms to ʻaʻole (no;) k3-n3-k3 transforms to kanaka (man;); l8-n3 transforms to luna (upper) and 8-8-k8 transforms to ʻuʻuku (small.)

It seems Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia used Webster’s Speller in his writings and substituted the numbers assigned to the various sounds and incorporated them into the words of his grammar book (essentially putting the corresponding number into the spelling of the word.)

“Once we know how the vowel letters and numbers were used, ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s short grammar becomes more than just a curiosity; it is a serious work that is probably the first example of the Hawaiian language recorded in a systematic way. Its alphabet is a good deal more consistent than those used by any of the explorers who attempted to record Hawaiian words.” (Schutz)

“It might be said that the first formal writing system for the Hawaiian language, meaning alphabet, spelling rules and grammar, was created in Connecticut by a Hawaiian named Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia. He began work as early as 1814 and left much unfinished at his death in 1818.” (Rumford)

“His work served as the basis for the foreign language materials prepared by American and Hawaiian students at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut, in the months prior to the departure of the first company of missionaries to Hawai’i in October 1819.” (Rumford)

It is believed ʻŌpūkahaʻia classmates (and future missionaries,) Samuel Ruggles and James Ely, after ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s death, went over his papers and began to prepare material on the Hawaiian language to be taken to Hawaiʻi and used in missionary work (the work was written by Ruggles and assembled into a book – by Herman Daggett, principal of the Foreign Mission School – and credit for the work goes to ʻŌpūkahaʻia.)

Lots of information here from Rumford (Hawaiian Historical Society) and Schutz (Honolulu and The Voices of Eden: A History of Hawaiian Language Studies.)

I encourage you to review the images in the album; I had the opportunity to review and photograph the several pages of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s grammar book. (Special thanks to the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives and the Hawaiian Historical Society.)

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Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-(HHS)_Spelling
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-(HHS)_Spelling
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
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Noah_Webster_pre-1843
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Webster’s_The_American_Spelling_Book-Number_assignment_to_vowel_sounds-(page_13)-1800
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Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-(HHS)-Adverbs-Prepositions
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-(HHS)-Adverbs-Prepositions

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Edwin Welles Dwight

Edwin Welles Dwight was born on November 17, 1789 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the second son and child of Henry Williams Dwight and Abigail (daughter of Ashbel and Abigail (Kellogg) Welles, of West Hartford, Connecticut.)

His grandmother was a half-sister of Colonel Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams College, and he spent the first three years of College there. He then attended Yale, and graduated from Yale in 1809.

He remained in New Haven, Connecticut after graduation; it was then that he met ʻŌpūkahaʻia, a Hawaiian who was orphaned by war on Hawaiʻi and “thought to (him)self that if (he) should get away, and go to some other country, probably (he) may find some comfort;” he escaped the Islands on a trading ship.

On board, he started to learn English from Russell Hubbard of New Haven. After travelling to the American North West, then to China, they landed in New York in 1809. They continued to New Haven, Connecticut. ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn – seeking to be a student at Yale.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia “was sitting on the steps of a Yale building, weeping. A solicitous student stopped to inquire what was wrong, and Obookiah (the spelling of his name, based on its sound) said, ‘No one will give me learning.’”

The student was Dwight, distant cousin of the college president. “(W)hen the question was put him, ‘Do you wish to learn?’ his countenance began to brighten and … he served it with eagerness.” (Haley) Dwight helped him.

Dwight began to study theology over the following years and on October 17, 1815 was licensed to preach by the South Association of Litchfield County ministers, and then made Schenectady his headquarters for further study.

In 1816 he did some missionary service in Western New York, and later was preaching in Woodbury, Connecticut, where the North Church was organized in December.

In October, 1816, it was decided to establish the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, for the instruction of youth like ʻŌpūkahaʻia; initially lacking a principal. Dwight filled that role from May 1817 to May 1818.

Later in 1818 Dwight was called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church in Richmond, Massachusetts, in the immediate vicinity of his birthplace and he was ordained and installed there on January 13, 1819.

He married Mary, daughter of Henry and Lois (Chidsey) Sherrill, of Richmond, on April 24, 1821. They had four daughters and three sons. The eldest son died in infancy, and the eldest daughter in early womanhood.

In April, 1837, on account of poor health, he had to resign his pastoral charge, and they moved to Stockbridge (where his wife died of a malarial fever on October 11, 1838, at the age of 37.)

In these last years he preached with some regularity at Housatonic village, in the northern part of Great Barrington, where a Congregational church was organized shortly after his death.

Dwight died in Stockbridge, on February 25, 1841, in his 52nd year. Mr. Dwight was a man of tender and refined feelings, and a solemn and earnest preacher. (Yale)

Dwight is remembered for putting together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation.)

Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died in 1818; the book was put together after ʻŌpūkahaʻia died. It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries.

It inspired the New England missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiʻi.) In giving instructions to the first missionaries, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) noted:

“You will never forget ʻŌpūkahaʻia. You will never forget his fervent love, his affectionate counsels, his many prayers and tears for you, and for his and your nation.”

“You saw him die; saw how the Christian could triumph over death and the grave; saw the radient glory in which he left this world for heaven. You will remember it always, and you will tell it to your kindred and countrymen who are dying without hope.”

On October 23, 1819, a group of northeast missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i.)

When the Pioneer Company of missionaries arrived, the kapu system had been abolished; the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau and had rejected their religious beliefs – and effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

Christianity and the western law brought order and were the only answers to keeping order with a growing foreign population and dying race.

Kamehameha III incorporated traditional customary practices within the western laws – by maintaining the “land division of his father with his uncles” – which secured the heirship of lands and succession of the throne, as best he could outside of “politics, trade and commerce.” (Yardley)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863) (the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

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Memoirs_of_Henry_Obookiah