Maryknoll | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

“Broad spreading trees and wide lawns gave Punahou St an air of quiet and peace and dignity. And not the least dignified of the buildings which line the street is the MacDonald hotel, which for more than 50 years has stood as a landmark in the district.” (Star Bulletin, July 21, 1934)

“The MacDonald Hotel is a stately mansion surrounded by cottages amid sub-tropical foliage. It is located at 1402 Punahou Street in the great residence district of Honolulu.”

“There are tennis courts on the grounds, and the transient as well as the permanent resident has here all the comforts of home at the reasonable rates of $3 a day or $65 a month. The guests enjoy delicious home-cooked meals, which are also served to outsiders. This hotel is near Central Union Church and Oahu College. (Mid-Pacific Magazine, July 1927)

“Two prominent island families called this building ‘home’ before it was converted into a hotel. They were the families of Col and Mrs Charles H Judd and Judge and Mrs HA Widemann.” (Star Bulletin, July 21, 1934)

Charles Hastings Judd, born at Kawaiaha‘o on September 8, 1835 to missionaries Gerrit and Laura Judd, was Chamberlain to King Kalākaua from 1878 until 1886, and an official in various responsible capacities during the reigns of three rulers, Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and Kalākaua.

In 1860, Judd and his brother-in-law, SG Wilder, had purchased the lands of Kualoa and Ka‘a‘awa from Judd’s father and Jacob Fox and started diversified farming with tobacco, cotton and rice were planted and the possibility of vanilla beans was discussed.

He entered into a partnership with his father and Wilder in 1863 for the growing and grinding of sugar cane at Kualoa, and in 1864, the first on the Island of O‘ahu.

In 1866 the Charles and his family settled at “Rosebank,” Nu‘uanu Valley, which had been bought from the estate of Robert C Wyllie, famous in Hawaiian history as a minister of foreign affairs. During these years Judd was engaged in ranching with John Cummins at Waimanalo. Production of sugar at Kualoa having failed for various reasons, the enterprise was abandoned in 1871. (Nellist)

Hermann Adam Widemann was born in Hanover, Germany on December 24, 1822. “After he left school where he received an excellent training he was destined for the army. His ‘pull’ was not sufficient in those days for promotion when ‘birth’ was everything and he went to sea in a merchant vessel.”

“In 1843 he arrived in Honolulu and he liked the place well and made up his mind to return to the Islands. In 1846 he landed again in Honolulu and made his home here and became a leading citizen of this little place. During the ‘gold fever’ in 1848-9 he made a trip to California but struck no ‘ore’ there.”

He later made a great success, through his ambition energy and sterling qualities, he rose to the high position in the community. He served at one time Sheriff of Kauai, then Circuit Judge, Minister of the Interior, a Privy Councilor, a member of the Board of Health, Minister of Finance and a Noble.

“The main record of Mr Widemann will go down to posterity however as a leading and successful coffee and sugar planter. … Although Widemann was not a trained lawyer he was a natural born jurist and at the time of his death was the oldest member of the Hawaiian Bar and for a while he occupied the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.” (The Independent, Feb 7, 1899)

Back to the MacDonald Hotel property … “It was built in 1880 for Col Judd, then court chamberlain to King Kalakaua and long active in affairs of the monarchy. Beautlful walnut and other fine woods were used in its construction, and it stands today as substantial as it was 50 years ago. The handsome stairway is of walnut, and so are the five pairs of thick folding doors.”

“The Judd family moved in late in 1880, but Col Judd left his home on January 20, 1881, to accompany King Kalakaua on his famous trip around the world. Unable to go direct from here to Japan, the party went first to San Francisco, then directly across the Pacific and on around the world. Col Judd was away from his home most of the year.”

“In 1886, following his withdrawal from the service of the king, Col Judd moved to his Leilehua ranch home, although keeping his Punahou St home for occasions when he was in the city. …” Later the house was sold.

“The new owners of the house were Judge HA Widemann, also a prominent figure in governmental affairs, and Mrs Widemann. Here the Widemann family, with its household of children lived, and even after the marriage of the younger generatlon the house remained a center of their activities.

Following the death of Widemann … “the house became the property of his daughter, Mrs Henry Macfarlane. She sold it after a few years and it became a hotel, managed by Mrs M MacDonald for many years.”

“It came under the present ownership in 1928 when Mrs Polly Ward was appointed manager. At this time its name was temporarily changed to Kalaniloohia (The Beautiful Attainment), an early name for the district; but the name MacDonald hotel was so firmly ingrained on people’s consciousness that it stuck, and later the Hawaiian name was dropped.”

“Although improvements have been made in the interior of the building it still retains the atmosphere of the hospitable old home. The Manoa breeze sweeps through its high ceilinged rooms just as it did a half century ago.”

“The exterior remains without change, and so do most of the four and a half acres of spacious grounds. Five cottages are now in the yard, two of them dating back to the Widemann’s occupancy.”

“Another of these cottages known as ‘Little Arcadia’ has an interesting history of its own. It was built about 1893 or 1894 by Mr and Mrs. John G Rothwell and stood, not where it is now, but on the adjoining lot mauka, just a trifle makai and Waikiki of Arcadia, the present home of Judge and Mrs. Walter F Frear.” (It was moved to make room for the driveway to Arcadia.) (Star Bulletin, July 21, 1934)

Things changed again … “MacDonald Hotel Sold to Church for School Use .., The MacDonald hotel and property [about 3.6 acres] at 1402-1406 Punahou Street will be converted to use as an addition to the Maryknoll School.” (Star Bulletin, Dec 16, 1947)

Maryknoll was founded by a young priest and six Maryknoll Sisters. When it was blessed in 1927, there were only 93 boys and 77 girls who made up the student body. The school was a one-story, wooden-frame building containing four classrooms on Dole Street.

Within four years, the Sisters knew that expansion was necessary. In 1931, the first freshman class was enrolled and, in 1935, the first 13 graduates of the only Catholic co-educational high school in Hawaii received diplomas.

The high school division continued to operate at Dole Street until 1948, when it was moved to the former MacDonald Hotel on Punahou Street. In August 1953, the present high school facility was dedicated. Today, Maryknoll is Hawai‘i’s largest co-ed Catholic school serving grades K-12. Fifty percent of the students are non-Catholics. (Maryknoll)

It was 15 x 20 foot, at 1523 Alexander Street, just makai of Wilder; it was called Alexander Grocery – most called it the Chink Store – at least for me, without derogatory meaning, without thinking of the connotation of the name. It is simply what we called it. (Even the owner’s obituary also called it the same.)

About 100-youngsters were at its door before school in the mornings and between three to four hundred in the afternoon. It was the favorite of Punahou and Maryknoll students. It also served basic grocery needs of the surrounding neighborhood.

It was built by Ah Chong Liu in 1912; later, Albert and Esther Lau took it over. The Laus previously lived in Wahiawa, where Albert founded Albert’s Cleaners.

Esther, early on, also sold the World Book Encyclopedia door-to-door just to earn a set for her own family, and worked as an employee of the State Legislature when it was located at ʻIolani Palace.

The Laus leased and operated the store for 22-years. “It’s the relationship we’ve had with the children, without them and the store, we couldn’t have brought up our own children as well. We’ve learned as much from them as they’ve learned from us.” (Star-Advertiser Obituary)

“(C)hildren are my weakness,’ says Esther Lau, amazing memories not only for hundreds of names and faces but also for personalities, a real interest in all the youngsters”. (Advertiser, 1963)

The Laus had three children of their own, Linda, Michael and Richard. “Mr. Lau sent all his kids to college on profits from shave ice!” (Piper)

It was “one of my favorite places to walk from school in the 1960s & 70s. The Laus were always so friendly! I never dreamed they and their store wouldn’t be there someday, but I’m happy it afforded the Laus a good life and then some!” (Clark)

“The Laus truly loved that little store and their patrons, remembering numerous by name and countless more by face. A true ‘Mom & Pop store – I trust you, you trust me’ existence, good ol’ face-to-face communication with all, just a ‘plain vanilla’ work ethic which succeeded as they intended.” (Star-Advertiser Obituary)

“When the troops arrive they automatically form two lines … one leading to Mr Lau who presides over the shave ice machine, and another wends its way to Mrs Lau behind the candy, sushi and manapua counter.” (Advertiser, 1963)

“Three ground rules at the store are no smoking, no fighting and no profanity, and the Laus make this all stick by ‘keeping a strong eye on the kids, keeping our ears open,’ and asking offenders to leave.” (Advertiser, 1963)

“I’ve given more lectures in here. Sometimes when I hear the older ones talking about dropping out of school I tell them ‘You’re in a competitive world and it’s not easy.’ I see some of them who left school and I don’t think they are very happy.” (Esther Lau, Advertiser, 1963)

A news article upon the store’s closing in the mid-1970s states, “The Laus are a special kind of people they offered advice, philosophy, encouragement and help where needed, kept athletes on training diets, bucked up potential drop-outs …”

“… clamped down on fighting, profanity, smoking, and corrected sloppy English, a year-round lost and found department, (conveyed) messages between parents and children, made hundreds of small loans for phone calls, bus fares, and food.” (Star-Advertiser Obituary)

“‘If they yell “Hey!” we tell them we don’t ‘Hey!’ then either, and we never use pidgin English. If they say ‘da kine’ I say ‘Da kine! What are your getting in English, C?’” (Esther Lau, Advertiser, 1963)

“During the hours the store is bulging with the young and very young, out front there’s a collection of bicycles, book bags, violin cases, school folders and flight bags bulging with athletic equipment or ballet togs.”

“Then, when they’ve all gone home, the Laus pick up what’s been left behind … rain coats, bands for teeth, glasses, bathing suits, umbrellas, bags and books”. (Advertiser, 1963)

“But no spot would have been so anticipated to visit if it had not been manned by Mr and Mrs Lau. Not only were they both kind and friendly to me, I often thought how pretty Mrs Lau was and wondered why she wasn’t a model or something!” (Denison)

“We’ve learned as much from them as they’ve learned from us. We’re really going to miss this.” (Esther Lau speaking of the store’s closing; Star-Advertiser Obituary) There are a lot of former Punahou and Marynoll students that miss them, too.

Albert died in 1997; Esther died in 2014. They had multiple grandchildren, great grandchildren – and a whole lot of others who became better people due to their attention to and care for others. (Esther Lau’s obituary noted ‘Alexander Grocery’ the way we did, ‘The Chink Store.’)

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Alexander Grocery-Chink Store-Chuck Weldon