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August 15, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mokuʻaikaua Church

This stone and mortar building, completed in 1837, is the oldest surviving Christian church in the state of Hawaiʻi, started by the first Protestant missionaries to land in Hawaiʻi.

With the permission of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), the missionaries built a grass house for worship in 1823 and, later, a large thatched meeting house.

Missionary Asa Thurston directed the construction of the present Mokuʻaikaua Church, then the largest building in Kailua-Kona. Its massive size indicates the large Hawaiian population living in or near Kailua at that time.

Mokuʻaikaua, with its 112-foot-tall steeple, is a reminder of the enthusiasm and energy of the first American missionaries and their Hawaiian converts.

Built of stones taken from a nearby heiau and lime made of burned coral, it represents the new western architecture of early 19th-century Hawaiʻi and became an example that other missionaries would imitate.

The original thatch church which was built in 1823 but was destroyed by fire in 1835, the present structure was completed in 1837. Mokuʻaikaua takes its name from a forest area above Kailua from which timbers were cut and dragged by hand to construct the ceiling and interior.

Mokuʻaikaua Church is centered in a small level lot near the center of Kailua. Its high steeple stands out conspicuously and has become a landmark from both land and sea.

Huge corner stones, said to have been hewn by order of King ʻUmi in the 16th century for a heiau, were set in place and offers evidence of the heavy labor which contributed to the Church’s construction.

The central core of the steeple is polygonal with alternating sections of wide and narrow clapboard.  The wider sections are articulated with louvered arches. The 48 by 120 feet lava rock and coral mortared church is capped with a gable roof.

Construction beams are made from ʻōhiʻa wood. Pieces of the wooden structure were joined with ʻōhiʻa pins.  The spanning beams are fifty feet long and are made from ʻōhiʻa timbers. Corner stones were set in place 20 to 30 feet above the ground.

Mokuʻaikaua Church is the first and one of the largest stone churches in Hawaiʻi, outstanding for its simple, well-proportioned mass and construction.

The interior open timber structure with high galleries is a fine architectural and engineering design. The architectural interest is further enhanced by the church’s historical significance (it is on the Register of Historic Places.)

In 1910, a memorial arch was erected at the entrance to the church grounds to commemorate the arrival of the first missionaries.

Congregationalist missionaries from Boston crossed the Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, aboard the Brig Thaddeus.   A replica of the Thaddeus is in Mokuʻaikaua Church.

On the morning of April 4, 1820, 163 days from Boston, the Congregational Protestant missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, aboard the Thaddeus, came to anchor off the village of Kailua.

They came ashore at the “Plymouth Rock” of Hawaiʻi, where Kailua Pier now stands.  Christian worship has taken place near this site since 1820.  Mokuʻaikaua is known as the “First Christian Church of Hawaiʻi.”

Inspired by the dream of Hawaiian Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia, seven couples were sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.

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.

The Thurstons remained in Kailua, while their fellow missionaries went to establish stations on other Hawaiian islands.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Hiram Bingham, Henry Opukahaia, Kailua-Kona, Liholiho, Asa Thurston, Mokuaikaua

July 25, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Surfing Gives Life and Interest to the Scenery

Did the Missionaries Really Stop Surfing in Hawaiʻi?

Open any book or read any article about surfing in Hawaiʻi and invariably there is a definitive statement that the missionaries “banned” and/or “abolished” surfing in Hawaiʻi.

OK, I am not being overly sensitive, here (being a descendent of Hiram Bingham, the leader of the first missionary group to Hawaiʻi;) actually, I believed the premise in the first line for a long time.

However, in taking a closer look into the matter, I am coming to a different conclusion.

First of all, the missionaries were guests in the Hawaiian Kingdom; they didn’t have the power to ban or abolish anything – that was the prerogative of the King and Chiefs.

Anyway, I agree; the missionaries despised the fact that Hawaiians typically surfed in the nude.  They also didn’t like the commingling between the sexes.

So, before we go on, we need to agree, the issue at hand is surfing – not nudity and interactions between the sexes.  In keeping this discussion on the sport and not sexuality, let’s see what the missionaries had to say about surfing.

I first looked to see what my great-great-great-grandfather, Hiram Bingham, had to say.  He wrote a book, A Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands, about his experiences in Hawaiʻi.

I word-searched “surf” (figuring I could get all word variations on the subject.)  Here is what Bingham had to say about surfing (Bingham was leader of the 1st Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi, arriving in 1820 – these are his words:)

“(T)hey resorted to the favorite amusement of all classes – sporting on the surf, in which they distinguish themselves from most other nations. In this exercise, they generally avail themselves of the surf-board, an instrument manufactured by themselves for the purpose.”   (Bingham – page 136)

“The inhabitants of these islands, both male and female, are distinguished by their fondness for the water, their powers of diving and swimming, and the dexterity and ease with which they manage themselves, their surf-boards and canoes, in that element.”  (Bingham – pages 136-137)

“The adoption of our costume greatly diminishes their practice of swimming and sporting in the surf, for it is less convenient to wear it in the water than the native girdle, and less decorous and safe to lay it entirely off on every occasion they find for a plunge or swim or surf-board race.”  (Bingham – page 137)

“The decline or discontinuance of the use of the surf-board, as civilization advances, may be accounted for by the increase of modesty, industry or religion, without supposing, as some have affected to believe, that missionaries caused oppressive enactments against it.  These considerations are in part applicable to many other amusements. Indeed, the purchase of foreign vessels, at this time, required attention to the collecting and delivering of 450,000 Ibs. of sandal-wood, which those who were waiting for it might naturally suppose would, for a time, supersede their amusements.” (Bingham – page 137)

Most people cite the first sentence in the above paragraph as admission by Bingham that the missionaries were the cause, but fail to quote the rest of the paragraph.  In the remaining sentences of the same paragraph Bingham notes that with the growing demand to harvest sandalwood, there is less time for the Hawaiians to attend to their “amusements,” including surfing.  These later words change the context of the prior.

Here is a bit of poetic support Bingham shows for the sport, “On a calm and bright summer’s day, the wide ocean and foaming surf, the peaceful river, with verdant banks, the bold cliff, and forest covered mountains, the level and fertile vale, the pleasant shade-trees, the green tufts of elegant fronds on the tall cocoanut trunks, nodding and waving, like graceful plumes, in the refreshing breeze; birds flitting, chirping, and singing among them, goats grazing and bleating, and their kids frisking on the rocky cliff, the natives at their work, carrying burdens, or sailing up and down the river, or along the sea-shore, in their canoes, propelled by their polished paddles that glitter in the sun-beam, or by a small sail well trimmed, or riding more rapidly and proudly on their surf-boards, on the front of foaming surges, as they hasten to the sandy shore, all give life and interest to the scenery.”  (Bingham – pages 217-218)

Likewise, I did a word search for “surf” in the Levi Chamberlain journals and found the following (Chamberlain was the mission quartermaster in the 1830s:)

“The situation of Waititi (Waikīkī) is pleasant, & enjoys the shade of a large number of cocoanut & kou trees. The kou has large spreading branches & affords a very beautiful shade. There is a considerable extension of beach and when the surf comes in high the natives amuse themselves in riding on the surf-board.”  (Chamberlain – Vol 2, page 18)

“The Chiefs amused themselves by playing on surfboards in the heart of Lahaina.”  (Chamberlain – Vol 5, page 36)

Another set of Journals, belonging to Amos S. Cooke, also notes references to surfing (Cooke was in the 8th Company of missionaries arriving in 1837:)

“After dinner Auhea went with me, & the boys to bathe in the sea, & I tried riding on the surf.  To day I have felt quite lame from it.”  (Cooke – Vol 6, page 237)  (Missionaries and their children also surfed.)

“This evening I have been reading to the smaller children from “Rollo at Play”–“The Freshet”. The older children are still reading “Robinson Crusoe”. Since school the boys have been to Waikiki to swim in the surf & on surf boards. They reached home at 7 o’clk. Last evening they went to Diamond Point – & did not return till 7 1/2 o’clock.”  (Cooke – Vol 7, page 385)

“After dinner about three o’clock we went to bathe & to play in the surf.  After we returned from this we paid a visit to the church which has lately been repaired with a new belfry & roof.” (Cooke – Vol 8, page 120)

James J Jarvis, in 1847, notes “Sliding down steep hills, on a smooth board, was a common amusement; but no sport afforded more delight than bathing in the surf. Young and old high and low, of both sexes, engaged in it, and in no other way could they show greater dexterity in their aquatic exercises. Multitudes could be seen when the surf was highest, pushing boldly seaward, with their surf-board in advance, diving beneath the huge combers,  as they broke in succession over them, until they reached the outer line of breakers; then laying flat upon their boards, using their arms and legs as guides, they boldly mounted the loftiest, and, borne upon its crest, rushed with the speed of a race-horse towards the shore; from being dashed upon which, seemed to a spectator impossible to be avoided.” (Jarvis – page 39)

In 1851, the Reverend Henry T. Cheever observed surfing at Lāhaina, Maui and wrote about it in his book, Life in the Hawaiian Islands, The Heart of the Pacific As it Was and Is, “It is highly amusing to a stranger to go out to the south part of this town, some day when the sea is rolling in heavily over the reef, and to observe there the evolutions and rapid career of a company of surf-players. The sport (of surfing) is so attractive and full of wild excitement to the Hawaiians, and withal so healthy, that I cannot but hope it will be many years before civilization shall look it out of countenance, or make it disreputable to indulge in this manly, though it be dangerous, exercise.”  (Cheever – pages 41-42)

Even Mark Twain notes surfing during his visit in 1866, “In one place we came upon a large company of naked natives, of both sexes and all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing. Each heathen would paddle three or four hundred yards out to sea, (taking a short board with him), then face the shore and wait for a particularly prodigious billow to come along; at the right moment he would fling his board upon its foamy crest and himself upon the board, and here he would come whizzing by like a bombshell!  It did not seem that a lightning express train could shoot along at a more hair-lifting speed.  I tried surf-bathing once, subsequently, but made a failure of it.  I got the board placed right, and at the right moment, too; but missed the connection myself.–The board struck the shore in three quarters of a second, without any cargo, and I struck the bottom about the same time, with a couple of barrels of water in me..”  (Mark Twain, Roughing It, 1880)

Obviously, surfing was never “banned” or “abolished” in Hawaiʻi.

These words from prominent missionaries and other observers note on-going surfing throughout the decades the missionaries were in Hawaiʻi (1820 – 1863.)

Likewise, their comments sound supportive of surfing, at least they were comfortable with it and they admired the Hawaiians for their surfing prowess (they are certainly not in opposition to its continued practice) – and Bingham seems to acknowledge that he realizes others may believe the missionaries curtailed/stopped it.

So, Bingham, who was in Hawaiʻi from 1820 to 1841, makes surprisingly favorable remarks by noting that Hawaiians were “sporting on the surf, in which they distinguish themselves from most other nations”.  Likewise, Chamberlain notes they “amuse themselves in riding on the surf-board.”

Missionary Amos Cooke, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1837 – and was later appointed by King Kamehameha III to teach the young royalty in the Chief’s Childrens’ School – surfed himself (with his sons) and enjoyed going to the beach in the afternoon.

In the late-1840s, Jarvis notes, “Multitudes could be seen when the surf was highest, pushing boldly seaward, with their surf-board in advance”.

In the 1850s, Reverend Cheever notes, surfing “is so attractive and full of wild excitement to the Hawaiians, and withal so healthy”.

In the mid-1860s Mark Twain notes, the Hawaiians were “amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing. Each heathen would paddle three or four hundred yards out to sea, (taking a short board with him), then face the shore and wait for a particularly prodigious billow to come along; at the right moment he would fling his board upon its foamy crest and himself upon the board, and here he would come whizzing by like a bombshell!”

Throughout the decades, Hawaiians continued to surf and, if anything, the missionaries and others at least appreciated surfing (although they vehemently opposed nudity – likewise, today, nudity is frowned upon.)

And, using Cooke as an example, it is clear some of the missionaries and their families also surfed.

Of course, not everyone tolerated or supported surfing.  Sarah Joiner Lyman notes in her book, “Sarah Joiner Lyman of Hawaii–her own story,” “You have probably heard that playing on the surf board was a favourite amusement in ancient times. It is too much practised at the present day, and is the source of much iniquity, inasmuch as it leads to intercourse with the sexes without discrimination. Today a man died on his surf board. He was seen to fall from it, but has not yet been found. I hope this will be a warning to others, and that many will be induced to leave this foolish amusement.”  (Lyman – pages 63-63 – (John Clark))

“No Ka Molowa. Ua ’kaka loa ka molowa. Eia kekahi, o ka lilo loa o na kanaka i ka heenalu a me na wahine a me na keiki i ka lelekawa i ka mio.”  (Ke Kumu Hawaii – January 31, 1838 – page 70 – (John Clark))

“Laziness. It is clear that they were lazy. The men would spend all their time surfing, and the women and children would spend all their time jumping and diving into the ocean.”

“No Ka Palaka. No ka palaka mai ka molowa, ka nanea, ka lealea, ka paani, ka heenalu,ka lelekawa, ka mio, ka heeholua, ka lelekowali; ka hoolele lupe, kela mea keia mea o ka palaka, oia ka mole o keia mau hewa he nui wale.”  (Ke Kumu Hawaii – January 31, 1838 – page 70 – (John Clark))

“Indifference. Indifference is the source of laziness, relaxation, enjoyment, play, surfing, cliff jumping, diving, sledding, swinging, kite flying, and all kinds of indifferent activities; indifference is the root of these many vices.”

Let’s look some more – could something else be a cause for the apparent reduction of surfers in the water?  What about affects the socio-economic and demographic changes may have had on the peoples’ opportunity to surf?

Remember, in 1819, prior to the arrival of the missionaries, Liholiho abolished the kapu system.  This effectively also cancelled the annual Makahiki celebrations and the athletic contests and games associated with them.

Likewise, the Chiefs were distracted by new Western goods and were directing the commoners to work at various tasks that took time away from other activities, including surfing.

Between 1805 and 1830, the common people were displaced from much of their traditional duties (farming and fishing) and labor was diverted to harvesting sandalwood.

Between 1819 and 1859, whaling was the economic mainstay in the Islands.  Ships re-provisioned in Hawaiʻi, and Hawaiians grew the crops for these needs: fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, cattle, white potatoes and sugar.

With the start of a successful sugar plantation in 1835, Hawai‘i’s economy turned toward sugar and saw tremendous expansion in the decades between 1860 and 1880.

From the time of contact (1778,) Hawaiians were transitioning from a subsistence economy to a market economy and the people were being employed to work at various industries.  (Even today’s surfers prefer to surf all the time, but in many cases obligations at work means you can’t surf all the time.)

In light of the demands these industries have in distracting people away from their recreational pursuits, let’s look at the Hawaiian population changes.

Since contact in 1778, the Hawaiian population declined rapidly after exposure to a host of diseases for which they had no immunity.  In addition, many Hawaiians moved away or worked overseas.

The Hawaiian population in 1778 is estimated to have been approximately 300,000 (estimates vary; some as high as 800,000 to 1,000,000; but many writers suggest the 300,000 estimate – a higher 1778 estimate more dramatically illustrates the change in population.)

Whatever the ‘contact’ starting point, by 1860 the Islands’ population drastically declined to approximately 69,800.  Fewer people overall means fewer people in the water and out surfing.

My immediate reaction in reading what the missionaries and others had to say is that the purported banning and/or opposition to surfing may be more urban legend, than fact.

It is easy to blame the missionaries, but there doesn’t seem to be basis to do so.

Rather, I tend to agree with what my relative, missionary Hiram Bingham, had to say (rather poetically, to my surprise,) “On a calm and bright summer’s day, the wide ocean and foaming surf … the green tufts of elegant fronds on the tall cocoanut trunks, nodding and waving, like graceful plumes, in the refreshing breeze … the natives … riding more rapidly and proudly on their surf-boards, on the front of foaming surges … give life and interest to the scenery.”

Surf’s up – let’s go surfing!

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Hiram Bingham, Missionaries, Surfing, Amos Cooke, Surf, Chamberlain, Cheever, Hawaii

May 26, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

James Kahuhu

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)  There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM in this first company.

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; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

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.

One of the first things the missionaries did was begin to learn the Hawaiian language and create an alphabet for a written format of the language.   Their emphasis was on teaching and preaching.

The first mission station was at Kailua-Kona, where they first landed in the Islands, then the residence of the King (Liholiho, Kamehameha II;) Asa and Lucy Thurston manned the mission, there.

Liholiho was Asa Thurston’s first pupil. His orders were that “none should be taught to read except those of high rank, those to whom he gave special permission, and the wives and children of white men.”

James Kahuhu and John ʻlʻi were two of his favorite courtiers, whom he placed under Mr. Thurston’s instruction in order that he might judge whether the new learning was going to be of any value.  (Alexander, The Friend, December 1902)

In 1820, Missionary Lucy Thurston noted in her Journal, “The king (Liholiho, Kamehameha II) brought two young men to Mr. Thurston, and said: ‘Teach these, my favorites, (John Papa) Ii and (James) Kahuhu. It will be the same as teaching me. Through them I shall find out what learning is.’”

“To do his part to distinguish and make them respectable scholars, he dressed them in a civilized manner. They daily came forth from the king, entered the presence of their teacher, clad in white, while his majesty and court continued to sit in their girdles.”

“Although thus distinguished from their fellows, in all the beauty and strength of ripening manhood, with what humility they drank in instruction from the lips of their teacher, even as the dry earth drinks in water!”

“After an absence of some months, the king returned, and called at our dwelling to hear the two young men, his favorites, read. He was delighted with their improvement, and shook Mr. Thurston most cordially by the hand – pressed it between both his own – then kissed it.” (Lucy Thurston)

Kahuhu was among the earliest of those associated with the chiefs to learn both spoken and written words. Kahuhu then became a teacher to the chiefs.

In April or May 1821, the King and the chiefs gathered in Honolulu and selected teachers to assist Mr Bingham.  James Kahuhu, John ʻĪʻi, Haʻalilio, Prince Kauikeaouli were among those who learned English.  (Kamakau)

On October 7, 1829, it seems that Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) set up a legislative body and council of state when he prepared a definite and authoritative declaration to foreigners and each of them signed it.  (Frear – HHS)  Kahuhu was one of the participants.

King Kamehameha III issued a Proclamation “respecting the treatment of Foreigners within his Territories.”  It was prepared in the name of the King and the Chiefs in Council:  Kauikeaouli, the King; Gov. Boki; Kaʻahumanu; Gov. Adams Kuakini; Manuia; Kekūanāoʻa; Hinau; ʻAikanaka; Paki; Kīnaʻu; John ʻIʻi and James Kahuhu.

In part, he states, “The Laws of my Country prohibit murder, theft, adultery, fornication, retailing ardent spirits at houses for selling spirits, amusements on the Sabbath Day, gambling and betting on the Sabbath Day, and at all times.  If any man shall transgress any of these Laws, he is liable to the penalty, – the same for every Foreigner and for the People of these Islands: whoever shall violate these Laws shall be punished.”

It continues with, “This is our communication to you all, ye parents from the Countries whence originate the winds; have compassion on a Nation of little Children, very small and young, who are yet in mental darkness; and help us to do right and follow with us, that which will be for the best good of this our Country.”

The Hawaiʻi State Archives is the repository of significant historic documents for Hawaiʻi; reportedly, the oldest Hawaiian language document in its possession is a letter written by James Kahuhu.

Writing to Chief John Adams Kuakini, Kahuhu’s letter was partially in English and partially Hawaiian (at that time, Kuakini was learning both English and written Hawaiian.)

Below is a transcription of Kahuhu’s letter.  (HSA)

Oahu. Makaliʻi 12, 1822.
Kawaiahaʻo.
My Dear Chief Mr. John Adams Kuakini. I love you very much. This is my communication to you. Continue praying to Jehovah our God. Keep the Sabbath which is God’s holy day. Persevere in your learning the good Gospel of Jehovah. By and by perhaps we shall know the good word of Jesus Christ. Then we shall know the good word of God.

A few begin to understand the good word of God. I am very pleased with the good word of God which has been brought here to enlighten this dark land. Who will save our souls and take them up to heaven, the place of eternal life. I am presently teaching Nahiʻenaʻena. I am teaching seven of them. Nahienaena, Kauikeaouli, Halekiʻi, Ulumāheihei Waipa, Ulumāheihei a Kapalahaole, Nakapuai and Noaʻawa are the students I am teaching. I may have more in the future. You must obey your good teacher, Hopu. Persevere with him and don’t give up.

Keliʻiahonui has learned to write quite well, he sent a letter to Oahu. Tell Hopu that Keliʻiahonui misses him. The King is learning to write from Mr. Bingham. Kalanimōku, Kīnaʻu and Kekauōnohi are learning to write Hawaiian. Mr. Thurston is their teacher. Here is another word to you, if you see Kalapauwahiole tell him to come to Oahu as I would like very much for him to come to Oahu.
James Kahuhu

(Makaliʻi was the name of a month: December on Hawai‘i, April on Moloka’i, October on Oʻahu.  (Malo))

The image shows the first page of the Kahuhu letter to Kuakini (HSA.) 

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, ABCFM, Missionaries, Kailua-Kona, Liholiho, Kamehameha II, Kauikeaouli, Hawaii, Asa Thurston, Hawaii Island, Kaiakeakua, Kuakini, Kamehameha III, Hiram Bingham

April 26, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu – 1820

In the dawn hours of January 18, 1778, on his third expedition, British explorer Captain James Cook on the HMS Resolution and Captain Charles Clerke of the HMS Discovery first sighted what Cook named the Sandwich Islands (that were later named the Hawaiian Islands.)  Hawaiian lives changed with sudden and lasting impact, when western contact changed the course of history for Hawai‘i.

Forty years after Cook’s death, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)) set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (on October 23, 1819.)  There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity in this first company.  Missionaries arrived first at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820; they then went to Honolulu and arrived there on April 14, 1820.

Captain Cook estimated the population at 400,000 in 1778. When Vancouver, who had been with Cook, returned in 1792, he was shocked at the evidences of depopulation, and when the missionaries arrived in 1820, the population did not exceed 150,000.  (The Friend, December 1902)

By the time the missionaries 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.

But how were our ears astonished to hear the voice devine proclaim, “in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”! How were our hearts agitated with new & various & unexpected emotions, to hear the interesting intelligence, “Tamahemaha is dead,” – “The Taboos are broken” – “The Idols are burnt” – “The Moreahs (heiau) are destroyed” – and the priesthood abolished.   (Hiram Bingham and others in a letter to the ABCFM)

So, what was Honolulu like forty-years after the first arrival of foreigners?  The following, from books, journals and letters, helps to paint the picture of Honolulu.

This village (Honolulu,) which contains about two hundred houses, is situated upon a level plain extending some distance back from the bay part of which forms the harbour, to the foot of the high hills which abound throughout the Island. The little straw-huts clusters of them in the midst of cocoanut groves, look like bee-hives, and the inhabitants swarming about them like bees. In passing through the midst, in our way to the open plain, it was very pleasant to hear their friendly salutation, Alloah (Aloha,) some saying, e-ho-ah, (where going?) We answered, mar-oo, up yonder. Then, as usual, they were pleased that we could num-me-num-me Owhyhee (talk Hawaiian.)  (Sybil Bingham)

Here we dropped anchor in the peaceful waters of this safe and commodious harbor, the best in this part of the world. It is sufficiently large to admit 150 sail, of the capacity of 100 to 700 tons. The depth of water at the bar, or mouth of the harbor, being little more than twenty feet, and little affected by the tide, the largest class of ships could not pass in and out with safety, without under-girders, or camels, to buoy them up.  (Hiram Bingham)

Ships lying at harbor whose officers were interesting themselves in our object, and whom we sought to entertain at our little dwelling as much after the manner of our own country as we could— a respectful attention also to the chiefs and their suite whenever they came in and spread themselves around upon our mats.  (Sybil Bingham)

Passing through the irregular village of some thousands of inhabitants, whose grass thatched habitations were mostly small and mean, while some were more spacious, we walked about a mile northwardly to the opening of the valley of Pauoa, then turning south-easterly, ascended to the top of Punchbowl Hill an extinguished crater, whose base bounds the north-east part of the village or town.  (Hiram Bingham)

On the east were the plain and grove of Waikiki, with its amphitheater of hills, the south-eastern of which is Diamond Hill, the crater of an extinct volcano, in the form of a cone, truncated, fluted, and reeded, larger, higher, and more concave than Punchbowl Hill, but of much the same model and general character.  (Hiram Bingham)

Below us (below Punchbowl,) on the south and west, spread the plain of Honolulu, having its fish-pond and salt making pools along the sea-shore, the village and fort between us and the harbor, and the valley stretching a few miles north into the interior, which presented its scattered habitation and numerous beds of kalo (taro) in it various stages of growth, with its large green leaves, beautifully embossed on the silvery water, in which it flourishes.  (Hiram Bingham)

Through this valley, several streams descending from the mountains in the interior, wind their way, some six or seven mile watering and overflowing by means of numerous artificial canal the bottom of kalo patches, and then, by one mouth, fall into the peaceful harbor.  (Hiram Bingham)

The soil is of the best kind, producing cocoanuts, bananas, and plantains, bread fruit, papia, ohia, oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, tamarinds, sweet potatoes, taro, yams, watermelons, muskmelons, cucumbers and pineapples, and I doubt not would yield fine grain of any kind.  (Ruggles, The Friend)

There are large droves of wild cattle in the mountains, and a herd of about fifty fine ones on a large plain near this village, owned by a Spaniard who neither makes any use of them himself, nor will he permit us to, yet. There are also immense numbers of goats both wild and tame. They supply us with milk, and are excellent meat. Hogs are numerous in the mountains. Dogs abound in great numbers. I have counted 250 brought in one day to King Tamoree. They are esteemed by the natives as the best food.  (Ruggles, The Friend)

From Diamond Hill, on the east, to Barber’s Point and the mountains of Waianae, on the west, lay the sea-board plain, some twenty-five miles in length, which embraces the volcanic hill of Moanalua, two or three hundred feet high, and among them, a singular little lake of seawater, abounding in salt crystalized through evaporation by the heat of the sun, the ravine of Moanalua, the lagoon of Ewa, and numerous little plantation and hamlets, scattered trees, and cocoanut groves, range of mountains, three or four thousand feet high, stretches aero the south-western part of the island, at the distance of twenty-five miles.  (Hiram Bingham)

Another range, from two to four thousand feet high stretches from the north-western to the eastern extremity of the island. Konahuanui, the highest peak, rises back of Punchbowl Hill and north by east from Honolulu, eight miles distant, and four thou and feet high, often touching or sustaining, as it were, a cloud.  (Hiram Bingham)

We were sheltered in three native-built houses, kindly offered us by Messrs. Winship, Lewis and Navarro, somewhat scattered in the midst of an irregular village or town of thatched huts, of 3,000 or 4,000 inhabitants.  (Hiram Bingham)  “(O)ur little cottage built chiefly of poles, dried grass and mats, being so peculiarly exposed to fire, beside being sufficiently filled with three couples and things for immediate use, consisting only of one room with a little partition and one door.”  (Sybil Bingham)

In addition to their homes, the missionaries had grass meeting places, and later, churches.  One of the first was on the same site as the present Kawaiahaʻo Church.  On April 28, 1820, the Protestant missionaries held a church service for chiefs, the general population, ship’s officers and sailors in the larger room in Reverend Hiram Bingham’s house.  This room was used as a school room during the weekdays and on Sunday the room was Honolulu’s first church auditorium.  (Damon)

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Hiram Bingham, American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, ABCFM, Sybil Bingham, Captain Cook, George Vancouver, 1820

March 30, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

1620 … 1820 … Today

The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620 with 102 passengers and about 25 carefully selected crew, arriving in the New World 67 days later.

She was a ‘sweet’ ship in that she had been engaged in the wine trade in the Mediterranean since 1616. She had also been engaged in fur trade with Norway and had experienced the storms of the North Sea, a most treacherous body of water.

The dimensions of the Mayflower were 90 feet in length (12 Feet more than a tennis court), 26 feet in width, with a tonnage of 180. Small as she was she was larger than the Discovery, which landed at Virginia in 1607. (NCMayflower-org)

Most of the passengers were of English origin seeking a new home free from religious persecution where they might retain their English identity and customs.

Not all the Mayflower passengers were Separatists. The Merchant Adventurers recruited a number of colonists seeking financial opportunity in the New World.

Others, such as Myles Standish, had been hired by the Separatists specifically for their expertise in certain areas. Standish was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as a military advisor for Plymouth Colony for military professional; he did not travel for religious reasons.

The roots of Congregational churches in America go back to the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in 1620 and founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The Pilgrims came from England to the New World seeking religious freedom at the time of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The churches they established in New England became known as Congregational churches. (First Congregational Church Nantucket)

The coming of Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia and other young Hawaiians to the continent had awakened a deep Christian sympathy in the churches and moved the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to establish a Foreign Mission School and a mission to the Hawaiian Islands.

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

When asked “Who will return with these boys to their native land to teach the truths of salvation?” Hiram Bingham and his classmate, Asa Thurston, were the first to respond and offer their services to the Board. (Congregational Quarterly)

“It is for no private end, for no earthly object that you go. It is wholly for the good of others, and for the glory of God our Saviour. … Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. … “

“Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.” (Instructions to the Pioneer Company)

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail from Boston on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands.

There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity in this Pioneer Company. 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; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

With the missionaries were the four Hawaiians.

After about 160 days at sea, on March 30, 1820, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries first see the Islands. Later that day, they learned the kapu was abolished, Kamehameha died and Liholiho was now King. They landed at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Bingham designed the Kawaiaha‘o Church in Honolulu; it was constructed between 1836 and 1842 in the New England style of the Hawaiian missionaries and is one of the oldest standing Christian places of worship in Hawaiʻi.

I am a direct descendant of Myles Standish from the Mayflower.

I am a direct descendant of Hiram Bingham from the Thaddeus.

So, now, another 200 years later … What’s up for today?

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

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Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, ABCFM, Henry Opukahaia, Thaddeus, Opukahaia, Mayflower, Myles Standish, Plymouth, Congregational Church, Hawaii, Hiram Bingham

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