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January 29, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila Peleioholani

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila Peleioholani (also called Peleioholani the 4th or Lehuanui, or simply, Peleioholani) (1843-1916) was the son of Peleioholani (uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) and Piikeakaluaonalani (mother.)

His great grandfather was the high chief Keʻeaumoku (father of Kaʻahumanu,) one of the ablest supporters of Kamehameha I.

Keʻeaumoku distinguished himself in the battle of Mokuʻōhai, (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 in which Kamehameha won and put the island of Hawaiʻi under his control – this led to his ultimate control of all the islands.)

Keʻeaumoku killed Kiwalaʻo in a hand-to-hand combat; however, Keʻeaumoku’s mamo ʻahuʻula (feather cape) was bloodstained in that fight.  The cape, named “Eheukani” was later passed down through generations to Peleioholani.

Solomon LK Peleioholani, one of the highest surviving Hawaiian chiefs, was the man who stood before Lunalilo when he was crowned King of the Hawaiian Islands, wearing the famous cape, helmet and necklace, and also stood before Kalākaua at his coronation.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

Unfortunately, “Eheukani” was later lost and presumed destroyed, along with other chiefly regalia and precious possessions belonging to Solomon LK Peleioholani, during the great Chinatown Fire of 1900.

As a boy, Peleioholani was the protégé of Kamehameha IV and his Queen Emma and the companion of their son Prince Albert (“Ka Haku O Hawaiʻi, “The Lord of Hawaiʻi.”)

During the short life of the little Prince, Peleioholani was his playmate, and both were treated with utmost respect by all they met. During this time, Peleioholani lived at the residence of Kekūanāo’a (hānai father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop.)  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

After the Prince’s death, Peleioholani traveled; for five years, he made voyages visiting the South Seas, Japan, Manila and the Indian Ocean.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

One day, a steamer came into port and Peleioholani was given an opportunity to go with her to Australia. He remained there, became a British subject, drilled with the Australians who were to do service for the Queen in Africa, and he went in a transport to the eastern coast of South Africa, arriving there as a sub-officer.

He was a Hawaiian Chief who fought in Africa.

“Destiny seems to have called him to become a soldier as his ancestors were warriors in the service of Kamehameha I. The blood of brave men flowed through his veins and from his infancy he had heard almost daily the tales of the deeds done by his great grandfather”.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

The blacks were on the shore that day, October 22, 1869, when the troops commenced to land. The ships opened fire upon them and attempted to land men in launches. Seven of the latter were disabled.

From one of them Peleioholani was forced to swim back to the ship, carrying nothing but his sword and belt.  He obtained another launch and thus from 2 until 5:30 o’clock in the afternoon the landing went on, the troops finally driving the enemy back.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

When they went to England, Queen Victoria (Prince Albert’s godmother) gave Peleioholani a service medal for bravery on the battlefields of Africa.

The Queen asked is nationality. “I told her I was Hawaiian. I told her my great grandfather had accompanied Kamehameha II to England. I told her Kamehameha V was my King.”  (Peleioholani, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

In 1874, he returned to Hawaiʻi and was a well-respected genealogist.  For many, Peleioholani was considered an important Hawaiian antiquarian and the final word in Hawaiian genealogy, especially of the chiefs and royal families.

He also wrote of the Hawaiian history.  One work, ‘The Ancient History of Hookumu-ka-lani Hookumu-ka-honua,’ was a commentary of the ancient Hawaiian cosmogonies (creation theories.)

One of Peleioholani’s theories in that book notes, “The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there – but from the northern direction (welau lani,) that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.”

Peleioholani was a High Chief, and in many ways both the pinnacle and terminus of the old royal blood lines from Maui, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and Kauaʻi.

His grandparents were among those who sided with Kamehameha I to achieve unity of the islands. His father was an uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V and he was himself one of the highest ranking chiefs in the Hawaiian Islands.  (kekoolani-org)

Besides being a direct lineal descendant of all the last independent ruling kings, he was also descended from what Hawaiian scholar Mary Pukui called the “chiefs of Pōkano,” chiefs of unblemished bloodline from remote times.  (kekoolani-org)

The image shows Solomon LK Peleioholani in 1903 in a holiday pageant costume.  (Lots of information here from Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902 and kekoolani-org.)

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Kalakaua, Queen Victoria, Lunalilo, Kamehameha, Kaahumanu, Keeaumoku, Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila Peleioholani, Prince Albert, Pokano, Peleioholani, Kalonakikeke, Kekuanaoa

December 11, 2013 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

December 11

December 11, 1830, Lot Kapuāiwa was born. His mother was Kīnaʻu, the daughter of Kamehameha I (she became the Kuhina nui, in 1832.) His father was Mataio Kekūanāoʻa, a descendent of the Chiefs of the Island of Oʻahu (he was governor of Oʻahu, as well as a member of the House of Nobles and the Privy Council.)

Lot Kapuāiwa was hānai to Chief Hoapili of Lāhainā and Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena.  (Kapuāiwa means mysterious kapu (taboo) or sacred one protected by supernatural powers.)

He was 9-years-old when he entered the Chiefs’ Children’s School. The aliʻi wanted their children trained in Western, as well as Hawaiian traditions and Kamehameha III asked missionaries Amos and Juliette Cooke to teach the young royals.

In 1849, Lot and Alexander Liholiho (his brother) began their year-long trip to the United States and Europe. When he returned he was appointed a member of the House of Nobles and began government service.

He ascended to the throne as Kamehameha V on November 30, 1863, on the death of his brother.  “He was a master in the beginning, & at the middle, & to the end.  The Parliament was the “figure-head,” & it never was much else in his time. … He hated Parliaments, as being a rasping & useless incumbrance upon a king, but he allowed them to exist because as an obstruction they were more ornamental than rival.”  (Twain)

“He surrounded himself with an obsequious royal Cabinet of American & other foreigners, & he dictated his measures to them &, through them, to his Parliament; & the latter institution opposed them respectfully, not to say apologetically, & passed them.”  (Twain)

Kamehameha V modeled his leadership after that of his grandfather, Kamehameha I, believing that it was the right and duty of the chiefs to lead the common people. He refused to support the Constitution of 1852. By supporting the controversial Constitution of 1864, he expected to regain some of the powers lost by previous kings.  (ksbe)

“He was not a fool.  He was a wise sovereign; he had seen something of the world; he was educated & accomplished, & he tried hard to do well for his people, & succeeded.  There was no rival nonsense about him; he dressed plainly, poked about Honolulu, night or day, on his old horse, unattended; he was popular, greatly respected, & even beloved.”  (Twain)

In 1865, a bill to repeal the law making it a penal offense to sell or give intoxicating liquor to native Hawaiians was brought before the legislature.  Strongly supported by some, Kamehameha surprised the supporters saying, “I will never sign the death warrant of my people.” The measure was defeated in the second reading.  (Alexander)

Kamehameha V founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha on April 11, 1865 in commemoration of his grandfather, Kamehameha I. The stated purpose of the order was “to cultivate and develop, among our subjects, the feelings of honour and loyalty to our dynasty and its institutions and … to confer honorary distinctions upon such of our subjects and foreigners as have rendered, or may hereafter render to our dynasty and people, important services.”  (Royal Order)

Hansen’s Disease was rapidly spreading on Oʻahu.  In response, the legislature passed “An Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy” in 1865, which King Kamehameha V approved. This law provided for setting apart land for an establishment for the isolation and seclusion of leprous persons who were thought capable of spreading the disease.  The first shipment of lepers landed at Kalaupapa January 6, 1866, the beginning of segregation and banishment of lepers to the leper settlement.

By 1866, the need for a new courthouse government building in the Hawaiian Kingdom was apparent.  The legislature appropriated funds towards a new palace and a new government building. Delays ensued.  Plans for a new palace were postponed, but the new courthouse moved forward.  On February 19, 1872, Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for Aliʻiolani Hale (now home to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.)

King Kamehameha V encouraged the revival of native practices. On Maui, a group of eight Hawaiians founded the ʻAhahui Laʻau Lapaʻau.  In 1868, the Legislature established a Hawaiian Board of Health to license kahuna laʻau lapaʻau. Kahuna practices including lomilomi massage and laʻau kahea healing remained legal for the next twenty years.  (princeton-edu)

Later, his summer home in Moanalua Gardens became the home of the annual Prince Lot Hula Festival, the largest non-competitive hula event in Hawai‘i.  It honors Lot Kapuāiwa who helped to revive hula by staging pāʻina (parties) at his summer home.  (Save the date, July 19, 2014, for the 37th annual event at Moanalua Gardens.)

The Kamehameha V Post Office (built in 1871, one of the oldest remaining public buildings in Hawaiʻi, and so named because it was built at the direction of Kamehameha V) was the first post office building in Hawaiʻi. For many years, it also housed the publishing and printing office of the Hawaiian Gazette and other small companies and organizations needing office space.  (NPS)

December 11, Lot Kapuāiwa celebrated the first Kamehameha Day in 1871 as a day to honor his grandfather; the first celebration fell on Lot’s birthday.  Because the weather was better in the summer, the decision was made to move the Kamehameha I celebration six months from the King Kamehameha V’s birthday (so it was moved to June 11 – the date has no direct significance to Kamehameha I.)  The 1896 legislature declared it a national holiday.  (Kamehameha Day continues to be celebrated on June 11.)

He had a law passed by the Legislative Assembly in 1872 that funded and authorized the acquisition of the hotel on the corner of Hotel Street and Richards Street by the Hawaiian government, which he named the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  (The “Pink Palace” in Waikīkī was a different/subsequent Royal Hawaiian, built in 1927.)

Bernice Pauahi was betrothed to Lot Kapuāiwa; but when Mr Charles R Bishop pressed his suit, Pauahi “smiled on him, and they were married. It was a happy marriage.”  (Liliʻuokalani)  Lot Kapuāiwa never married.

“On the 10th (of December, 1872,) (Liliʻuokalani and her husband) were summoned to the palace to attend the dying monarch; one by one other chiefs of the Hawaiian people, with a few of their trusted retainers, also arrived to be present at the final scene; we spent that night watching in silence near the king’s bedside. The disease was pronounced by the medical men to be dropsy on the chest (hydrothorax, accumulation of fluid in the chest.”)  (Liliʻuokalani)

“Although nearing the end, the mind of the king was still clear; and his thoughts, like our own, were evidently on the selection of a future ruler for the island kingdom, for, turning to Mrs. Bishop, he asked her to assume the reins of government and become queen at his death.”  She declined. “… he relapsed into unconsciousness, and passed away without having named his successor to the throne.”  (Liliʻuokalani) (Lunalilo was shortly after elected King of Hawaiʻi.)

December 11, 1872, Lot Kapuāiwa died; it was his 42 birthday.

The image shows Lot Kapuaiwa, Kamehameha V.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Lot Kapuaiwa, Kamehameha V, Aliiolani Hale, Nahienaena, Hoapili, Chief's Children's School, Mataio Kekuanaoa, Kekuanaoa, Kinau, Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Kamehameha Day, Kamehameha V Post Office

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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