Missionaries | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 11, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Foreign Mission School

On October 29, 1816, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) established the Foreign Mission School as a seminary.

Classes began in 1817 “for the purpose of educating youths of Heathen nations, with a view to their being useful in their respective countries.”

Its object was to educate the youth of promising talent and of hopeful demeanor to return, in due time, to their respective lands in the character of husbandmen, school-masters, or preachers of the gospel.

The first four destinations chosen were (1) the Bombay region of India (1813,) (2) Ceylon (1816,) (3) the Cherokee Indian Nation in the State of Tennessee (1817) and (4) Hawai‘i (1820). (Brumaghim)

The Foreign Mission School connects the town of Cornwall, Connecticut to a larger, national religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening.

The Second Great Awakening spread from its origins in Connecticut to Williamstown, Massachusetts; enlightenment ideals from France were gradually being countered by an increase in religious fervor, first in the town, and then in Williams College.

In the summer of 1806, in a grove of trees, in what was then known as Sloan’s Meadow, Samuel John Mills, James Richards, Francis L Robbins, Harvey Loomis and Byram Green debated the theology of missionary service. Their meeting was interrupted by a thunderstorm and they took shelter under a haystack until the sky cleared.

That event has since been referred to as the “Haystack Prayer Meeting” and is viewed by many scholars as the pivotal event for the development of Protestant missions in the subsequent decades and century.

The first American student missionary society began in September 1808, when Mills and others called themselves “The Brethren,” whose object was “to effect, in the person of its members, a mission or missions to the heathen.” (Smith) Milla graduated Williams College in 1809 and later Andover Theological Seminary.

In June 1810, Mills and James Richards petitioned the General Association of the Congregational Church to establish the foreign missions. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formed with a Board of members from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School exemplified evangelical efforts to recruit young men from indigenous cultures around the world, convert them to Christianity, educate them and train them to become preachers, health workers, translators and teachers back in their native lands.

Initially lacking a principal, Edwin Welles Dwight filled that role from May 1817 to May 1818; he was replaced the next year by the Reverend Herman Daggett. In its first year, the Foreign Mission School had 12 students, seven Hawaiians, one Hindu, one Bengalese, an Indian and two Anglo-Americans.

The school’s first student was Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia (Obookiah,) a native Hawaiian from the Island of Hawaiʻi who in 1807 (after his parents had been killed) boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. In its first year, the Foreign Mission School had 12 students, more than half of whom were Hawaiian.

The school increased its number of pupils the second year to twenty-four; four Cherokee, two Choctaw, one Abenaki, two Chinese, two Malays, a Bengalese, one Hindu, six Hawaiians and two Marquesans as well as three American. By 1820, Native Americans from six different tribes made up half of the school’s students.

Once enrolled, students spent seven hours a day in study. Subjects included chemistry, geography, calculus and theology, as well as Greek, French and Latin.

They were also taught special skills like coopering (the making of barrels and other storage casks), blacksmithing, navigation and surveying. When not in class, students attended mandatory church and prayer sessions and also worked on making improvements to the school’s lands. (Cornwall)

In due time, Reverend Hiram Bingham visited the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall but that wasn’t until May 1819, one year after ʻŌpūkahaʻia died.

Then, from Andover Theological Seminary, Bingham wrote in a letter dated July 18, 1819, to Reverend Samuel Worcester that “the unexpected and afflictive death of Obookiah, roused my attention to the subject, & perhaps by writing and delivering some thoughts occasioned by his death I became more deeply interested than before in that cause for which he desired to live …”

“… & from that time it seemed by no means impossible that I should be employed in the field which Henry had intended to occupy…the possibility that this little field in the vast Pacific would be mine, was the greatest, in my own view.” (Brumaghim)

Subsequently, in the summer of 1819, Bingham and his classmate at Andover Theological Seminary, Reverend Asa Thurston, volunteered to go with the first group of missionaries to Hawai‘i.

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

The Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said:

“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.” (The Friend)

The points of special and essential importance to all missionaries, and all persons engaged in the missionary work are four:
• Devotedness to Christ;
• Subordination to rightful direction;
• Unity one with another; and
• Benevolence towards the objects of their mission

Between 1820 and 1848, the ABCFM sent “eighty-four men and one hundred women to Hawai‘i to preach and teach, to translate and publish, to advise and counsel – and win the hearts of the Hawaiian people.” (Dwight; Brumaghim)

December 31, 2025 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

North Pacific Missionary Institute

On October 1, 1872, the Hawaiian Evangelical Association Theological School opened its doors for men interested in a life of Christian ministry.

In its infancy, Rev John D Paris became the head of the institution, accompanied by Rev Dwight Baldwin and Rev Benjamin W Parker as instructors.

Recruitment of Native Hawaiian students was an ongoing problem. A year after the school opened Rev. Paris wrote, “Aka, auhea la ka nani o ke aupuni kanaka ole?! Auhea hoi ka pono o ke Kula Kahuna haumana ole?” (But where is the glory of the Kingdom without men? Where indeed is the value of the ministers’ school without students?) (Williams)

Beginning with 13 students, the school endeavored to graduate these men as ministers in order to send them on to more missionary work around the world, paying special attention to the Pacific.

The school’s three-year program curriculum included Bible History, Sacred Geography, Church History, Natural Theology, Evidences of Christianity, Christian Theology, Composition and Delivery of Sermons, and Pastoral Theology.

The Theological School took up residence within an older structure, previously used as a Marine Hospital, owned and operated by Dr. Gerrit P. Judd. It was located at the corner of what is today Punchbowl and South Beretania Streets in Honolulu (presently, where the Kalanimōku Building (DLNR & DAGS) is situated.) (In 1874, Paris retired and moved back to Kona.)

In 1877, Rev. Charles McEwen Hyde was sent to Hawaiʻi from Massachusetts to reorganize the school as the North Pacific Missionary Institute.

Hyde was former valedictorian at Williams College and graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary; he envisioned “a grand opportunity to do important service for Christ and for the world.” (Williams)

He quickly picked up the Hawaiian language in order to converse with the indigenous population, and began delivering his sermons in Hawaiian.

“With great skill and patience and energy he has conducted its affairs, and the Institute has been one of the most effective agencies for the support of Christian institutions at the Islands.”

“But Dr. Hyde’s energies were by no means confronted to this one seminary. He sought in every way to upbuild the native Hawaiian churches, and to promote the work of education in schools of all grades.”

“’From this institution has gone forth, under the training of Dr. Hyde, the whole circle of younger men who today fill the pastorate of the Hawaiian churches.’ And after referring to several of these pastors by name, it is well added: ‘These men are the best of witnesses to the faithful and painstaking service of this most indefatigable of teachers.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 13, 1899)

Hyde served as Principal until 1883, until resigning his position to the temporary care of Rev. Henry H. Parker.

In 1889, it was decided by the Hawaiian Board that a new building was to be erected that would accommodate the seminary’s students with better living and learning quarters. A wooden structure was built in 1890.

The building had 16-dormitories and several large lecture rooms for instruction. During construction, the students attended classes at Kawaiahaʻo Church.

“Eleven students had been under instruction, three of these having entered this year. Instruction is now given in the afternoons as well as the mornings. Friday afternoon and Saturday are the only times available for such work as may be available as a means of self-support.”

“It has been necessary therefor to supplement the meagre weekly cash allowance, granted by the Hawaiian Board, by the distribution of weekly rations of rice, bread, salmon and kerosene to each student. The students are not pampered children of ease by any means, but learn from the very first to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 7, 1895)

“In the training which it furnishes to these leaders of the churches, the theological school affects the moral and religious life of the country. It holds the same relation to the ministerial profession that the law school does to the legal profession, or the medical college to the practice of medicine.”

“A well trained ministry is peculiarly necessary at the present time for the Hawaiian Islands. Everything is in a transition state, and a strong ministry is needed, which can hold to the good which has been achieved in the past and make it effective in the new order of things which is to come.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 6, 1896)

“The work of the Institute in training Hawaiians for pastoral and missionary service has been carried on as heretofore. It has also been enlarged in its scope, so as to furnish more instruction through the use of the English language.”

“Rev. John Leadingham, formerly instructor in the Slavic department of the Oberlin Theological Seminary, has been appointed by the ABCFM Associate Instructor in the NPM Institute and began his work in November, 1894.” (Board of Education Report, 1896)

“Professor Leadingham’s lessons in English have not been confined to the students, but he has kindly consented to teach English to a class of young Hawaiian lawyers. Two Portuguese young men also, who wish to enter the gospel ministry, have been under instruction for the last three months.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 7, 1895)

“The privileges of the Institute are now opened to other nationalities, and in addition to the 8 Hawaiian students, one Portuguese and one Chinese are taking the prescribed course of study. This extends over three years. In some instances, a fourth year is added for special study.”

“Of the thirty-six pastors now serving the fifty-five Hawaiian Evangelical churches, twenty-five are graduates of the NPM Institute. Besides these there are six graduates engaged in foreign missionary work in the Gilbert Islands.” (Board of Education Report, 1896)

In 1900, Leadingham became the Principal (he left the islands in 1904.) The Hawaiian Board later redirected its efforts into the consolidation of Kawaiahaʻo Seminary, Mills Institute and the Japanese Boarding School into the Mid-Pacific Institute.

The “first great step in the development of its higher educational work by purchasing between thirty-six and thirty-seven acres of land in Mānoa Valley – the Kidwell estate. Upon this it is proposed to locate the Mid-Pacific Institute”.

“In making this purchase the Board has parted with the premises of the North Pacific Missionary Institute on Punchbowl street to the Methodist church” (and, in between, the Korean School.) (Hawaiian Star, May 18, 1907) (Lots of information here is from Williams and Mission Houses.)

October 14, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Adventures of a University Lecturer

Hiram Bingham III was born in Honolulu, on November 19, 1875, to Hiram Bingham II, an early Protestant missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

He was the grandson of Hiram Bingham I, who in 1820 was the leader of the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi.

He attended Punahou School and ultimately earned degrees from Yale University, University of California-Berkeley and Harvard University.

In 1900 at the age of 25, Hiram III married Alfreda Mitchell, heiress of the Tiffany and Co fortune through her maternal grandfather Charles L Tiffany. With this financial stability he was able to focus on his future explorations.

He taught history and politics at Harvard and then was a lecturer and subsequently professor in South American history at Yale University.

In 1908, he served as delegate to the First Pan American Scientific Congress at Santiago, Chile. On his way home via Peru, a local prefect convinced him to visit the pre-Columbian city of Choquequirao.

Hiram III was not a trained archaeologist, but was thrilled by the prospect of unexplored cities. He returned to the Andes with the Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911.

“The first day out from Cuzco saw us in Urubamba, the capital of a province, a modern town charmingly located a few miles below Yucay, which was famous for being the most highly prized winter resort of the Cuzco Incas.”

“Its ancient fortress, perched on a rocky eminence that commands a magnificent view up and down the valley, is still one of the most attractive ancient monuments in America.”

Continuing on down the valley over a newly constructed government trail, we found ourselves in a wonderful cañon. So lofty are the peaks on either side that although the trail was frequently shadowed by dense tropical jungle, many of the mountains were capped with snow, and some of them had glaciers. There is no valley in South America that has such varied beauties and so many charms.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

“We camped a few rods away from the owner’s grass-thatched hut, and it was not long before he came to visit us and to inquire our business. He turned out to be an Indian rather better than the average, but overfond of ‘fire-water.’”

“His occupation consisted in selling grass and pasturage to passing travelers and in occasionally providing them with ardent spirits. He said that on top of the magnificent precipices nearby there were some ruins at a place called Machu Picchu”.

“He offered to show me the ruins, which he had once visited, if I would pay him well for his services. His idea of proper payment was 50 cents for his day’s labor. This did not seem unreasonable, although it was two and one-half times his usual day’s wage.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

On July 24, 1911, Hiram Bingham III rediscovered the ‘Lost City’ of Machu Picchu (which had been largely forgotten by everybody except the small number of people living in the immediate valley.)

“(W)e found ourselves in the midst of a tropical forest, beneath the shade of whose trees we could make out a maze of ancient walls, the ruins of buildings made of blocks of granite, some of which were beautifully fitted together in the most refined style of Inca architecture.”

“A few rods farther along we came to a little open space, on which were two splendid temples or palaces. The superior character of the stone work, the presence of these splendid edifices, and of what appeared to be an unusually large number of finely constructed stone dwellings, led me to believe that Machu Picchu might prove to be the largest and most important ruin discovered in South America since the days of the Spanish conquest.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

His book “Lost City of the Incas” became a bestseller upon its publication in 1948; he also wrote “Across South America” (an account of his journey from Buenos Aires to Lima, with notes on Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.)

After his return to the United States, he attained the rank of Captain in the Connecticut National Guard.

He eventually became an aviator and organized the United States Schools of Military Aeronautics to provide ground school training for aviation cadets, as well as commanded an aviator school in France.

Hiram III was elected governor of Connecticut in 1924; he was also a US Senator.

‘Lost City of the Incas’ and Hiram III have been noted as a source of inspiration for the story and ‘Indiana Jones’ character.

Hiram Bingham I (reportedly a basis for James Michener’s Abner Hale character in ‘Hawaii’) is my great-great-great grandfather and Hiram III is my great-great uncle.

September 17, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

New Wives, New Mothers

The Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) announced that all overseas missionaries were required to have a wife before departure; their reason, the temptations for inappropriate relations were too great on the Polynesian islands.

Stories circulated about failed London Missionary Society stations where single male missionaries “went native” among South Sea islanders. (Brown)

Of the seven men in the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawai‘i, only Daniel Chamberlain was married, the other six men had a little over a month to find brides before the October departure date. Here are the newlyweds wedding dates:

Hiram and Sybil Bingham – October 11, 1819
Asa and Lucy Thurston – October 12, 1819
Samuel and Mercy Whitney – October 4, 1819
Samuel and Mary Ruggles – September 22, 1819
Thomas and Lucia Holman – September 26, 1819
Elisha and Maria Loomis – September 27, 1819

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), the ABCFM sent twelve companies of missionaries, support staff, and teachers – about 184-men and women – to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

The ABCFM included Doctors/Physicians with the missionaries. “[P]hysicians, ordained and unordained, were all expected to be missionary physicians, that is, to make their medical practice subservient to the grand object of the missions. The employing of missionary physicians grows mainly out of the practice of employing married missionaries.”

“Their first care is of the mission families; but they are expected to exert a conciliating influence among the natives by the kindly offices of their profession. Missionary physicians have not been sent where the needful medical attendance was believed to be otherwise attainable.” (First Fifty Years of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions)

After 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The first missionaries to the Islands needed to receive permission to land and stay. Discussions and negotiations to allow the missionaries to stay went on for days. On April 10, “All the brethren went on shore to make one more united effort to obtain what appeared to all to be truly desirable.”

They sought and received assistance from some of the other foreigners. “After many inquiries with respect to our designs and to the number of arts which we were able to teach, they seemed to be satisfied that our intentions were good, and that we might be of some service to them.”

“To obviate what had seemed to be an objection, the fear of displeasing G. Britain, they concluded that Mr. Young should write to England to inform the people that American missionaries had come to settle here, not to do any harm but to teach the people of these Islands all good things.”

“They added that we must not send for any more missionaries, from fear that we might be burdensome or dangerous to the government. When we had finished our propositions and made all the statements which we thought proper, we left them to have a general consultation tonight, and to give us their result tomorrow. We believe ‘the Lord is on our side’ and that our wishes will be gratified.” (Thaddeus Journal)

Then, the decision was made …

April 11, 1820, “The king and chiefs held a consultation last night. Today Bro T [Thurston’ and Dr H [Holman] went on shore to hear the result. It was this – that two of the missionaries with their wives should be stationed at Kairooa [Kailua-Kona] together with two of the native youths [Hopu and Kanui].”

“We are to proceed to Hoahoo [O‘ahu] to make the principal establishment, leaving two of our brethren and sisters in this place. (Sybil Bingham Journal)

This raised initial concerns. For all, the initial anticipation was that the missionaries would be together. The king’s decision meant they missionaries would be separated …

“Such an early separation was unexpected & painful. But broad views of usefulness were to be taken, & private feelings sacrificed. At evening twilight, we surrendered ourselves from close family ties, from the dear old Brig, & from civilization.” (Lucy Thurston Journal)

“The separation is painful. – If nature might be allowed to speak, we should say our dear brother and sister Thurston we must have with us. She is a lovely sister. But the Lord’s will be done. We hope we are enabled to say if from the heart. Our physician is the other to be left.” (Sybil Bingham Journal)

“It is indeed trying to be separated from our dear brethren & sisters, & especially from our Physician. But is seems to be the will of the God & we ought cheerfully to submit, if in so doing, we might be more useful.” (Mercy Mhitney Journal)

“We found it very trying to separate after having been so long united, but feel comforted with the hope that we can be more extensively useful by this arrangement; than if we were all settled together.” (Loomis Journal)

“We plead earnestly that we might all go to Oahhoo … and become a little familiarized to the country before we separated – not knowing how a family could live upon a rock of Laver … Our entreaties however were unavailing.” (Lucia Ruggles Holman)

“The king had previously enquired what arts were possessed by the brethren & when he learned that we had a physician with us, it was his wish that he should remain.” (Loomis Journal, entry by Mrs Loomis)

For four of the missionary wives, there was an added (and serious) concern – four of the newlywed missionary wives were pregnant when they arrived. The king’s decision meant they would not have a doctor to assist them with childbirth and then care for the infants.

Maternal mortality was a concern. In addition, the child mortality rate in the United States, for children under the age of five, was 462.9 deaths per thousand births in 1800. This means that for every thousand babies born in 1800, over 46 percent did not make it to their fifth birthday. (Statista)

Sybil Bingam tried to calm the others (and herself, I suspect) saying, “Our physician is the other to be left. Do not be alarmed, dear sisters, GOD will be our physician. The king insists upon his remaining on account of his art.”

“As much as we may need that, some of the female part of our little band especially, yet, all things considered, I believe we are all disposed to view a kind providence in the present arrangement.” (Sybil Bingham Journal)

Starting a few short months after their arrival, the new missionary wives became new mothers.

The first child was Levi Loomis, born July 16, 1820 at Honolulu (Oʻahu), he was the first white child born in the Islands; the next was Maria Whitney, born October 19, 1820 at Waimea (Kauai), the first white girl born in the Islands; then, Sophia Bingham, on November 9, 1820 at Honolulu (Oʻahu); and then Sarah Ruggles, born December 22, 1820 at Waimea (Kauai).

(A sad side note is that Hiram and Sybil Bingham’s next two children died at early ages: Levi Parsons Bingham lived only 16 days (his was the first burial in the Kawaiaha‘o cemetery missionary plot); their next child (another son), Jeremiah Everts Bingham lived only 16-months.)

July 8, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Origin of Species

Charles Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species (1859,) introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection.

The Galapagos Islands are associated with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution; however, “(Hawaiʻi) is where modern evolution started, and people don’t know it.” (Jones, Star-Bulletin)

John Thomas Gulick did the first modern evolutionary study on Hawaiian land snails. Gulick discovered dramatic differences in snails in valleys only short distances apart and developed a theory about speciation, or new species emerging through evolution. (Altonn)

Gulick had been a collector of land snails since his teen years and became a convert to evolutionary thinking even before reading On the Origin of Species.

An acute observer, he noticed that many species and varieties of snails were often restricted to very geographically-limited ranges. (Smith)

He came “to place great emphasis upon every form of isolation or prevention of mingling, and also to emphasize the great significance for evolution of many factors that are of internal origin, such as the unknown intricacies of the process of heredity, and the effects of new choices made by the evolving creatures…” (Addison Gulick; Smith)

“In Manoa there were a number of kukui trees which were the favorite places of one species of the shells. A little beyond, in Makiki, a half mile or so, hardly that, there was a different species.”

“In Pauoa there was a still different species, while in Nuʻuanu there were landshells of allied form, but which had changed their habits, living on the hau trees in preference to the kukui trees, which were the favorites of the Manoa shells. This was in 1852 and 1853.”

“I knew that these shells didn’t come from Noah’s ark. They couldn’t have even come from the other islands. Right here in Manoa we had what you might call a special creation. In Makiki Valley we had another special creation. And yet we had every reason to believe that all were allied. (Gulick, Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

“I began to have the idea that I had found a place of creation. I found out that the shells had no ability to travel from valley to valley. Those which lived on ridges were diffused over a larger area, but would have perished in the valleys. Those in the valleys could not have lived on the ridges.”

“If heavy rains washed some down from the valleys to the plains, they died in a few hours, or a few days at the most. If they were washed out to sea, of course they did not live. We tried to keep Manoa Valley shells alive at the school, but could not do it. They were as completely isolated in each locality as if they had been on separate islands.” (Gulick, Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

Gulick was among the first to recognize the critical role for geographical separation in the diversification of ecologically similar Hawaiian land snails. His ideas were discussed by Darwin, as well as leaders in the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis who saw an important role for geographical isolation in speciation. (Rundell)

“Darwin’s book, ‘Origin of Species,’ was published in ‘59, the year I left college. My mind was ripe for it and had already got started on this subject. I accepted largely the theories of evolution. I accepted natural selection, but in addition I saw the necessity of isolation.” (Gulick, Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

Gulick’s theory of the species-differentiating effects of isolation was regarded by many as a more complete theory of speciation than Darwin’s and others as correcting a fundamental deficiency in Darwin’s theory, namely how groups of organisms diversify one from another.

With his concepts of cumulative segregation (geographical isolation), indiscriminate isolation (the Founder effect) and coincident selection (the Baldwin effect), we should recognize Gulick as one of the earliest and most original and innovative evolutionary biologists. (Hall)

Gulick extended his ideas to societal evolution in human beings. (Smith)

While a leading biologist, an interesting aspect of Gulick’s beliefs is that he was a son of a Hawaiʻi missionary, and was a missionary himself, going to China and Japan under the American Board of Commissions for Foreign Missions (ABCFM – the same organization who sponsored the Hawaiʻi missions.)

Gulick was born March 13, 1832, at Waimea, Kauai, son of Peter Johnson and Fanny (Thomas) Gulick. He first married Emily De la Cour September 3, 1864, at Hong Kong, China, who died in childbirth in 1875 (no children,) then remarried Frances A Stevens May 31, 1880, at Osaka, Japan (they had two children, Addison and Louise.)

Gulick continued a family tradition by attending theological school and then did missionary work in China and Japan for over thirty-five years. But he also carried on a parallel career as a naturalist and, somewhat strange to say, Darwinian evolutionist. (Smith)

One of the world’s foremost scientists, Gulick, peer of Darwin, whose theories he accepted and advanced, and while a missionary still espoused the cause of Darwin and added to the doctrine of evolution the theory of isolation. (Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

Later in 1905, Gulick returned to Hawaiʻi and sold his shell collection to Charles Montague Cooke, Jr the new curator of the Bernice P Bishop Museum. He remained there until his death, on April 14, 1923 in Honolulu. He and his second wife are buried in the Mission Houses cemetery.