Konia | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 16, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘I must own to one great disappointment’

“I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents. Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted.”

“Konia, my foster-mother, was a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and was married to Paki, also a high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi, afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister.”

“In speaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily used in the English language, but there was no such modification recognized in my native land. I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.”

“I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child; while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs’ families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage.”

“This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain its origin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us.”

“As intelligible a reason as can be given is that this alliance by adoption cemented the ties of friendship between the chiefs. It spread to the common people, and it has doubtless fostered a community of interest and harmony.”

“The house she lived in, ‘Haleakala,’ “was completed in 1851, and occupied by Paki until 1855, when he died. … It was there that the years of my girlhood were passed, after school-days were over, and the pleasant company we often had in that house will never cease to give interest to the spot.”

It was “one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu. To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“In the course of time Mr. and Mrs. Bishop were induced to take up their abode at ‘Haleakala,’ which, with other property, became hers as an inheritance from Paki.”

“This charming home, which immediately became the centre of all that was best, most cultivated, and refined in Hawaiian social life, has been graphically described by a cousin of Mr. Bishop, Mrs. Allen, who arrived in Honolulu in 1864 from California, on a visit.”

“It may be said that a warm and enduring friendship was formed at that time between the two, which continued unbroken during the lifetime of Mrs. Bishop. Of ‘Haleakala,’ as the house was called, and its picturesque life Mrs. Allen wrote:”

“‘At that time her home was the most beautiful in Honolulu, the house large and pleasant, the grounds full of beautiful trees, shrubs, and vines and so well cared-for. I shall never forget my first night’s rest in the home, and the satisfaction of waking in such pleasant surroundings.’”

“‘At that time there were at each end of the premises large yards with long low buildings on two sides, which were divided into rooms and occupied by numerous families attached to her as their chiefess to whom they looked for counsel in all their affairs—joys and sorrows.’”

“‘I was always interested to see her out under a large tamarind tree surrounded by her people, many of whom had come in from the country to advise with her. She would sit for hours with the utmost patience listening to them .’” (Allen; Krout)

Pauahi died October 16, 1884. “When the will of Mrs. Bernice Pauahi Bishop was read, in which she disposed of her own estate, I did not happen to be present …”

“… but her husband, Hon. Charles R. Bishop, informed me that I had been duly remembered, that his wife had bequeathed to me the lands of Kahala, island of Oahu, Lumahai on Kauai, Kealia in Kona, Hawaii …”

“… besides which he sent to me a pair of diamond wristlets, a diamond pin with crown which had once belonged to the Princess Ruth, and a necklace of pearls beautifully chased and set in tigers’ claws.”

“But nevertheless I must own to one great disappointment. The estate which had been so dear to us both in my childhood, the house built by my father, Paki, where I had lived as a girl …”

“… which was connected with many happy memories of my early life, from whence I had been married to Governor Dominis, when he took me to Washington Place, I could not help feeling ought to have been left to me.”

“The estate was called Haleakala, or House of the Sun, and the residence received the name of Aikupika; but both these are forgotten now in that of the Arlington Hotel.”

“This wish of my heart was not gratified, and, at the present day strangers stroll through the grounds or lounge on the piazzas of that home once so dear to me.”

“Yet memories of my adopted parents still cling to that homestead, and rise before me not only when I pass its walls, but I recall in a foreign land the days of my youth.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“The place was maintained as a chief’s residence for many years. It can only have been turned to other uses during the past fifteen years; at the outside. Mrs. Bernice Pauahi Bishop left the estate to her husband, who turned the property over to the Kamehameha estates.” (Bishop, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

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Haleakala-Bishop_Property-on_King_Street-1855

September 2, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Liliʻuokalani

At that time she was born, children often were named in commemoration of an event. She was given the name Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha.

Kuhina Nui Kīnaʻu had developed an eye infection at the time of Liliʻu’s birth. She gave the child the names Liliʻu (smarting,) Loloku (tearful,) Walania (a burning pain) and Kamakaʻeha (sore eyes.)

“Very near to (the site of Queen’s Hospital,) on Sept. 2, 1838, I was born. My father’s name was Kapaʻakea, and my mother was Keohokālole; the latter was one of the fifteen counsellors of the king, Kamehameha III., who in 1840 gave the first written constitution to the Hawaiian people.”

“My great-grandfather, Keawe-a-Heulu, the founder of the dynasty of the Kamehamehas, and Keōua, father of Kamehameha I., were own cousins, and my great-grandaunt was the celebrated Queen Kapiʻolani, one of the first converts to Christianity. “

“She plucked the sacred berries from the borders of the volcano, descended to the boiling lava, and there, while singing Christian hymns, threw them into the lake of fire.”

“This was the act which broke forever the power of Pele, the fire-goddess, over the hearts of her people. Those interested in genealogies are referred to the tables at the close of this volume, which show the descent of our family from the highest chiefs of ancient days.”

“But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents.” (Lili‘uokalani)

As was the custom, Liliʻu was hānai (adopted) to Abner Pākī and his wife Laura Kōnia (granddaughter of Kamehameha I), who reared her with their birth daughter, Pauahi (born December 19, 1831).

“When I was taken from my own parents and adopted by Paki and Konia, or about two months thereafter, a child was born to Kīna‘u. That little babe was the Princess Victoria, two of whose brothers became sovereigns of the Hawaiian people.”

“While the infant was at its mother’s breast, Kīna‘u always preferred to take me into her arms to nurse, and would hand her own child to the woman attendant who was there for that purpose.”

“I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice. I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child …”

“… while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.”

Lili‘uokalani lived on the property called Haleʻākala, in the house that Pākī built on King Street. It was the ‘Pink House,’ made from coral (the house was name ʻAikupika (Egypt.)) (It is not clear where the ʻAikupika name came from.)

The two-story coral house was built by Pākī himself, from the original grass hut complex of the same name at the same site; he financed the construction through the sale of Mākaha Valley (ʻAikupika would later become the primary residence of his daughter Bernice Pauahi and her husband, Charles Reed Bishop.)

“At the age of four years I was sent to what was then known as the Royal School, because its pupils were exclusively persons whose claims to the throne were acknowledged. It was founded and conducted by Mr Amos S Cooke, who was assisted by his wife.”

“It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.”

“I was a studious girl; and the acquisition of knowledge has been a passion with me during my whole life, one which has not lost its charm to the present day. In this respect I was quite different from my sister Bernice.” (Lili‘uokalani)

Founded in 1839 during the reign of King Kamehameha III, the original Chief’s Children’s School was in the area where the ʻIolani barracks now stand.

Mr. and Mrs. Amos Cooke, missionaries from New England, were commissioned to teach the 16 royal children (others who joined the Pākī sisters were Lot Kapuāiwa (later Kamehameha V), Queen Emma, King William Lunalilo and Liliʻu’s brother, David (later King Kalākaua.)

In 1846 the school’s name was officially changed to Royal School; attendance was restricted to descendants of the royal line and heirs of the chiefs. In 1850, a second school was built on the site of the present Royal School; it was opened to the general public in 1851.

The comments in quotes are from Liliʻuokalani from her book “Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen, Liliʻuokalani.”

Fast forward … on the afternoon of January 16, 1893, 162 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore. The home that Liliʻuokalani was raised in (later known as Arlington Hotel) served as the headquarters for the USS Boston’s landing force (Camp Boston) at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 17, 1893.

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Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, the future Queen Liliuokalani, in her youth possibly at Royal School.

Caesar-Kapaakea-and-Analea-Keohokālole-parents-of-King-Kalakaua-and-Queen-Liliuokalani-1.jpg

Abner-Pākī-c.-1808–1855-was-a-member-of-Hawaiian-nobility.-He-was-a-legislator-and-judge-and-the-father-of-Bernice-Pauahi-Bishop-1855-2.jpg

Laura Kōnia (c. 1808–1857) was a member of the Hawaiian royal family. She was grandaughter of King Kamehameha I

Paki_sisters-Bernice Pauahi Paki and Lydia Kamakaeha Paki (Liliuokalani)-1859

Liliuokalani,-1860s_or_1870s

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Haleakala_front-(DMY)

Royal_School,_probably_after_1848

View_toward-Diamond_Head-of_Honolulu_down_King_from_Fort_Street_in_1855-(Paki_(Bishop)_house-2)

Wedding_portrait_of_Mr._and_Mrs._Charles_Reed_Bishop,_June_4,_1850

US Marines and sailors from the USS Boston during overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani-PP-36-3-003

USS Boston officers at Camp Boston, Arlington Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1893

USS_Boston_landing_force,_Arlington_Hotel-1893_(PP-36-3-002)

Downtown and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 3-Map-1891-Location_of_Haleakala_noted

December 19, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Lāʻau Wī

He kapu ka Lāʻau Wī
Kanu kūikawā ia no ka ‘iewe

Ka Tamarind Tree, kapa ia Lāʻau Wī
Ka Lāʻau Wī, he Tamarind Tree
Noho ilalo ka ʻiewe
Ka ‘iewe o ka lani

He mana nui kēia lāʻau haole
Ka Lāʻau Wī kau ma wahi Kou

Ua hoʻolako ka malu
No ka Lani me kona mau poʻe

Aloha na poʻe i kēia lāʻau
A like me ko lākou aloha i ke aliʻi

Haʻina mai ana kapuana
O ka Lāʻau kaulana ma Kou

Kapu was the Tamarind Tree
Planted for the storing of the umbilical cord

Tamarind Tree called the Lāʻau Wī
The Lāʻau Wī is the Tamarind Tree
Below is the cord
The cord of Pauahi

Much power in the tree
The Tamarind Tree plant at Kou

The tree provided much shade
For the sacred one and her people

Her people loved the tree
Like they loved their chiefess

Thus is the Tamarind Tree story
Of the famous tree at Kou

(Ka Lāʻau Wī, Keliʻi Tauʻā & David Kauahikaua

“On the mauka Waikiki corner of King street and Fort were some native buildings which afterwards gave place to a wooden building … The next premises were the large property, well walled in, of the high chiefs, Paki and Konia, parents of Mrs. Pauahi Bishop.”

“There was a fine large straw house with wide veranda, ample grounds, and a long row of servant’s house. One of the beautiful ornaments of the place was a fine large tamarind tree …” (Streets of Honolulu in the Early Forties, Gilman)

“When Pauahi was born, her father, Abner Paki planted a Tamarind tree in the yard, but placed Pauahi’s ʻiewe (afterbirth) in the ground first to supply nourishment to that tree. This was located in the center of downtown Honolulu at (what is now) the corner of King St. and Bishop St.”

“This is where the family home was located, and when the city wanted to build the road into downtown, they asked Mr. Bishop for part of his yard, and named the street after them – Bishop St.”

“Across the street is Tamarind Park (all the trees in the park) and across the street is First Hawaiian Bank, the bank that Charles Reed Bishop founded.” (KSBE)

Born to Paki and Konia, “Bernice lived with Kīna‘u until she was eight years old, when she was sent to the Royal School. Paki and Konia were very desirous of retaining her as their own.”

“After the death of Kīna‘u, Governor Kekūanāoʻa yielded reluctantly to this wish, for he and the other chiefs had become very proud of the promising child.”

“At the urgent request of Konia and Paki, regular, official, and legal papers were made out, and, much to their satisfaction, the child was restored to them.”

“I doubt if she ever made any lengthened stay with her parents; probably nothing more than a call, and then with her old kahu [attendant] returning at once to the school.” (Gilman; Krout)

“At the birth of the much desired daughter, Victoria, who was born November 1, 1838, Bernice Pauahi was returned to her parents.”

“She was then eight years of age, and was one of the first pupils to enter the Family School for Young Chiefs, or the Royal School as it was more commonly known. It is not believed by those who knew Paki well, that he ever meant to surrender Bernice permanently to her foster mother.” (Krout)

“(in school, she) loved music, painting, gardening, horseback riding, reading, history and was an excellent writer, too. On Sundays they would attend Kawaiahaʻo church, which eventually became the home church of Princess Pauahi.”

“Not only did she sing in the choir, she also led it for a while. She was not only a student in the Sunday School, but she was a teacher as well. … She was a true servant of God.”

“The Will of Princess Pauahi is very important to the school. It gives us our marching orders and gives us direction. Pauahi actually named the school as printed in the Will, ‘to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.’”

“‘I desire my trustees to provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women; and I desire instruction in the higher branches to be subsidiary to the foregoing objects.’”

“‘I also direct that the teachers of said schools shall forever be persons of the Protestant religion, but I do not intend that the choice should be restricted to persons of any particular sect of Protestants.’”

“The first headmaster of the Schools was an ordained minister, the Reverend William B. Oleson (he had previously run the Hilo Boarding School – Protestant mission feeder school to Lahainaluna.)” (KSBE)

“I was always interested to see her out under a large tamarind tree surrounded by her people, many of whom had come in from the country to advise with her. She would sit for hours with the utmost patience listening to them.” (Krout)

The tamarind tree grew to ‘noble proportions,’ but was finally cut down to make way for modern buildings.” (Krout) A remnant of the tree is in the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Memorial Chapel. Today is ‘Founder’s Day’, birthday (December 19, 1831) of Pauahi.

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Tamarind Tree Trunk-Pauahi-KSBE

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Tamarind Park

Bernice Pauahi’s residence at Haleʻākala build by her father Abner Paki. The building itself is called Aikupika-1855

September 2, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lili‘uokalani Childhood

“She plucked the sacred berries from the borders of the volcano, descended to the boiling lava, and there, while singing Christian hymns, threw them into the lake of fire.”

“Naihe, the husband of Kapiʻolani, was the great orator of the king’s reign; his father, Keawe-a-Heulu, was chief counsellor to Kamehameha I; while had it not been for the aid of the two chiefs, Keʻeaumoku and Kameʻeiamoku, cousins of the chief counsellor, the Hawaiian Islands must have remained for a long time”.

My grandfather, ʻAikanaka, had charge of the guns of the fort on Punch-Bowl Hill, which had been brought from the larger island of Hawaii; as the chiefs, their families, and followers had settled here from the time of the final battle, when all the forces contending against Kamehameha I were driven over the Pali.”

“But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents.”

“Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted. Konia, my foster-mother, was a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and was married to Paki, also a high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi, afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister.”

“In speaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily used in the English language, but there was no such modification recognized in my native land.”

“While the infant was at its mother’s breast, Kīna‘u always preferred to take me into her arms to nurse, and would hand her own child to the woman attendant who was there for that purpose.”

“So she frequently declared in the presence of my adopted mother, Konia, that a bond of the closest friendship must always exist between her own baby girl and myself as aikane or foster-children of the same mother …”

“… and that all she had would also appertain to me just as if I had been her own child; and that although in the future I might be her child’s rival, yet whatever would belong to Victoria should be mine.”

“This insistence on the part of the mother was never forgotten; it remained in the history of Victoria’s girlhood and mine until her death, although Kīna‘u herself never lived to see her prophetic predictions fulfilled. Kīna‘u died on the 4th of April, 1839, not long after the birth of her youngest child, Victoria.”

“… while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.”

“This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain its origin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us.”

“It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.”

“The family life was made agreeable to us, and our instructors were especially particular to teach us the proper use of the English language; but when I recall the instances in which we were sent hungry to bed, it seems to me that they failed to remember that we were growing children.”

“A thick slice of bread covered with molasses was usually the sole article of our supper, and we were sometimes ingenious, if not over honest, in our search for food …”

“… if we could beg something of the cook it was the easier way; but if not, anything eatable left within our reach was surely confiscated.”

“As a last resort, we were not above searching the gardens for any esculent root or leaf, which (having inherited the art of igniting a fire from the friction of sticks), we could cook and consume without the knowledge of our preceptors.”

“I can remember now my emotions on entering this the first school I ever attended. I can recall that I was carried there on the shoulders of a tall, stout, very large woman, whose name was Kaikai (she was the sister of Governor Kanoa, and they were of a family of chiefs of inferior rank, living under the control and direction of the higher chiefs).”

“As she put me down at the entrance to the schoolhouse, I shrank from its doors, with that immediate and strange dread of the unknown so common to childhood.”

“Crying bitterly, I turned to my faithful attendant, clasping her with my arms and clinging closely to her neck. She tenderly expostulated with me …”

“… and as the children, moved by curiosity to meet the new-comer, crowded about me, I was soon attracted by their friendly faces, and was induced to go into the old courtyard with them. Then my fears began to vanish, and comforted and consoled, I soon found myself at home amongst my playmates.”

“We never failed to go to church in a procession every Sunday in charge of our teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, and occupied seats in the immediate vicinity of the pew where the king was seated.”

“The custom was for a boy and girl to march side by side, the lead being taken by the eldest scholars. Moses and Jane had this distinction, next Lot and Bernice, then Liholiho with Abigail, followed by Lunalilo and Emma (after the latter had joined the school), James and Elizabeth, David and Victoria, and so on, John Kīna’u and I being the last.”

“From the school of Mr. and Mrs. Cooke I was sent to that of Rev. Mr. Beckwith, also one of the American missionaries. This was a day-school, and with it I was better satisfied than with a boarding-school.” (Lili‘uokalani)

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Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, the future Queen Liliuokalani, in her youth possibly at Royal School.

June 13, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Pauahi

Pauahi was born on December 19, 1831, the daughter of Abner Kaʻehu Paki and Kanaholo Konia; she is great-granddaughter of King Kamehameha.

She was born in the house known as ʻAikupika (Egypt,) a native-style house, not large, with a grass-roof. (It was situated just mauka of what is now known as the corner of Bishop and King Streets in the heart of the downtown area.)

Inoa (a name) was a ritual of power. Hawaiians believed that every name had mana, a force of its own, that could influence and shape the character, personality and even destiny of the bearer. A good name could bring good fortune while a bad inoa could bring a person bad luck. (Kanahele)

Paki and Konia gave her the name Pauahi (‘the fire is out.’) It was the name of Konia’s half-sister, the child’s aunt and mother of Ruth Keʻelikolani. The original Pauahi was nearly burned to death as a child through an accidental explosion of gunpowder; to commemorate her lucky escape, she was given the name: pau or finished and ahi or fire. (Kanahele)

Pauahi was hanai (adopted) to her aunt, Kinaʻu (the eldest daughter of Kamehameha, who later served as Kuhina Nui as Kaʻahumanu II, a position similar to a Prime Minister.)

Later, on September 2, 1838, Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha was born to Caesar Kaluaiku Kapaʻakea and Analeʻa Keohokālole; Liliʻu was hānai to Pākī and Kōnia (she later became Queen Liliʻuokalani.)

In Liliʻu’s own words, “…their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi … was therefore my foster-sister. … I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.”

“She was one of the most beautiful girls I ever saw; the vision of her loveliness at that time can never be effaced from remembrance; like a striking picture once seen, it is stamped upon memory’s page forever.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Pauahi lived with Kīnaʻu for nearly eight years, then Kinaʻu died suddenly of mumps (April 4, 1839.) It was shortly after this Pauahi entered the Chief’s Childrens’ School (Royal School – created by King Kamehameha III to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chief’s children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaii’s Kingdom.)

Seven families were eligible under succession laws stated in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i; Kamehameha III called on seven boys and seven girls of his family to attend the school. On the morning of June 13, 1839, Pauahi began her first day at school.

“It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.” (Liliʻuokalani) Pauahi was a student there for about 10-years; this is where she and Liliʻu directly interacted – they were not raised in the same household.

“(B)y the time she left the school, Pauahi had largely formed her Christian commitment. She was deeply spiritual, but not fanatical; a believer in the wisdom of the church, but not a doctrinaire fundamentalist; a woman of faith, but not of blind, unquestioning, and unreasoning conformity.” (Kanahele)

“Amongst the young men who began to visit the school was Mr. Charles R Bishop. He came of good New England stock, inheriting from his ancestry the intelligence, industry and perseverance”. (Memoirs of Bernice Pauahi Bishop)

Pauahi “married in her eighteenth year (May 4, 1850 – in the parlor of the Royal School,) She was betrothed to Prince Lot, a grandchild of Kamehameha the Great; but when Mr Charles R Bishop pressed his suit, my sister smiled on him, and they were married. It was a happy marriage. … Mr. Bishop was a popular and hospitable man, and his wife was as good as she was beautiful.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Immediately after their marriage, the Bishops spent several weeks on Kauai, then returned to Honolulu and lived for some months with the family of Judge Andrews in Nuʻuanu Valley. They later moved into a home built by her father Pākī. (This new home replaced Pākī’s thatched-roof home.)

The name Paki gave his new home has been translated by some as ‘House of the Sun’ or Haleakala, but he probably meant it to be Haleʻakala or the ‘Pink House,’ after the color of the stone used in its construction. (Kanahele)

It immediately became the center of all that was best, most cultivated, and refined in Hawaiian social life, has been graphically described by a cousin of Mr Bishop (Mrs. Allen) as “the most beautiful in Honolulu, the house large and pleasant, the grounds full of beautiful trees, shrubs, and vines and so well cared-for.” (Memoirs of Bernice Pauahi Bishop)

Liliʻuokalani and John Dominis were married at Haleʻākala; much later (August 24, 1890,) Duke Kahanamoku was born at Haleʻakala. (On the afternoon of January 16, 1893, US Sailors and Marines established ‘Camp Boston’ in the home (then known as the Arlington Hotel,) at the time of the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani and the Hawaiian monarchy, January 17, 1893.)

Daughter of Pauahi’s namesake, Princess Ruth Keʻelikolani, inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa; she became the largest landowner in the islands.

At her death (May 24, 1883,) Keʻelikolani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauai, all of said property to be hers.” (about 353,000 acres)

Shortly thereafter, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, in the last days of her battle with breast cancer, wrote the final codicils (amendments) of her will at Helumoa in Waikīkī (former home of her great-grandfather and others in the Kamehameha line.) She died at Keōua Hale, former home of Ruth Keʻelikōlani on October 16, 1884.

Pauahi’s will formed and funded the Kamehameha Schools; “I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate real and personal … to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.” (KSBE)

Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s will (Clause 13) states her desire that her trustees “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”.

Because Pauahi’s estate was basically land rich and cash poor, Charles Reed Bishop contributed his own funds for the construction of several of the schools’ initial buildings on the original Kalihi campus: the Preparatory Department facilities (1888,) Bishop Hall (1891) and Bernice Pauahi Bishop Memorial Chapel (1897.)

On November 4, 1887, three years after her death, the Kamehameha School for Boys, originally established as an all-boys school on the grounds of the present Bishop Museum, opened with 37-students and four teachers. A year later, the Preparatory Department, for boys 6 to 12 years of age, opened in adjacent facilities. In 1894 the Kamehameha School for Girls opened on its own campus nearby.

Next to her royal lineage, no other aspect of Pauahi’s life was as important to her fulfillment as a woman – and as the founder of the Kamehameha Schools – as her marriage to Charles Reed Bishop. He brought her the love and esteem she needed as a woman and the organizational and financial acumen she needed to ensure the successful founding of her estate. (Kanahele) (Lots of information here is from KSBE, Kanahele and Memoirs of Bernice Pauahi Bishop.)

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