Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oʻahunui

Robert Louis Stevenson suggested, “Cannibalism is traced from end to end of the Pacific, from the Marquesas to New Guinea, from New Zealand to Hawaii” (although he does state “Hawaiʻi is the most doubtful” and notes only a possible single circumstance.)

Beckwith, in forceful language, noted, “there is no proof that cannibalism was ever practised in the Hawaiian group.”  In addition, the story of Oʻahunui, by Mrs. EM Nakuina, which appeared in Thrum’s Hawaiian Folk Tales, attributes the introduction of cannibalism to a foreign source (“chiefs from the South Seas”) and recounts the rejection of the practice.

A few miles mauka of Kūkaniloko, to the east of Helemano, is Oʻahunui (“Great O’ahu,”) another historical place. This was the residence of the kings of the island.

When the Lo ʻAi-kanaka (“The people-eaters,”) as the last of the cannibal chiefs were called, were forced to take up residence in upper Helemano, a district just outside of the boundaries of those reserved for the royal and priestly residence, a young man called Oʻahunui was king.

They had been driven from Mokuleʻia and Waialua by the inhabitants of those districts; for the people had been exasperated by the frequent requisitions on the kamaʻāina (original inhabitants) by the stranger chiefs to furnish material for their cannibal feasts.

Oʻahunui was captivated by the suave manners of the ingratiating southern chief and his immediate retainers, and he invited them to a feast.  The southern chief returned this civility, and the King dined with the strangers. Here it was strongly suspected that the dish of honor placed before the King was human flesh, served under the guise of pork.

The King found the dish very much to his liking.  This went on for some time, until the unaccountable disappearance of so many people began to be connected with the frequent entertainments by the southern chief.

Oʻahunui’s subjects began to hint that their young King had acquired the taste for human flesh at these feasts, and that it was to gratify his unnatural appetite for the horrid dish that, contrary to all royal precedent, he paid his frequent visits to those who were his inferiors.

The people disapproved more and more openly of the relationship of Oʻahunui with his new friends. His chiefs and high priest became alarmed and begged him to discontinue his visits, or they would not be answerable for the consequences. The King, forced to heed their warnings, promised to keep away from the Lo ʻAi-kanaka, and did so for quite a while.  Then, things changed.

Since the king had been prevented from partaking of human flesh, he had compelled his servants to kill, cook and serve up his own nephews. In satisfying his depraved appetite, he had also gotten rid of two formidable rivals; for it was quite possible that the priests and chiefs might have deposed him and proclaimed one of the two young nephews his successor.

In retaliation, the boys’ father, Lehuanui, secured a stone adze and went to the King’s sleeping-house.  Lehuanui stood over Oʻahunui, adze in hand, and called him three times.  Enraged Lehuanui struck at Oʻahunui’s neck with his stone adze and severed the head from the body with a single blow.

Lehuanui avenged the death of his children by killing Oʻahunui and his wife, Kilikiliʻula, who had it within her power to save her children. It is said that Oʻahunui and Kilikiliʻula, and the attendants that participated in the killing and cooking of the children, were turned into stone and are still to be seen.

Oʻahunui, located a few miles east of Kūkaniloko, was the former residence of the ruling chiefs of Oʻahu. A stone in the shape of the island of Oʻahu is said to rest there. According to Nakuina’s story, the last Aliʻi to live at Oʻahunui was named Oʻahunui.

Oʻahunui and is described as a stone “whose outline is said to resemble that of O`ahu”. The location of the Oʻahunui stone is reportedly in the gulch near the Ewa-Waialua District boundary, presumably Waikakalaua Gulch.

The stone was formerly visited by the Hawaiians, for no one could say that he had been entirely around the island of Oahu, unless he had been around this stone. (Cultural Surveys)

While most reports note the stone’s specific location is unknown, general descriptions note its approximate location.  The stone, generally resembling the shape of Oʻahu, is said to be located in Waikakalaua Gulch, near the border of the ʻEwa/Waialua Moku boundaries and is within the approximate distance of other points noted by archaeologists.

The image shows what one has suggested may be the Oʻahunui Stone or one of the stones near it (Yee.)  (The indicated location is according to the general description noted above – however, I am not sure if this is the Oʻahunui stone.)

(This summary is from the story by Emma M Nakuina, that first appeared in Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual in 1897 (noted in hawaii-edu)) (The photos are not to suggest they are of the Oahunui Stone; a suspicion by others.)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

The Mess

Early Honolulu was not a city of Clubs; although residents of various nationalities had started several, their existence has not been of long duration. The British, Germans and Americans each had their respective club houses.

In 1852, the British first opened their “Mess” rooms (it was not called a “Club” back then;) it started in a one-story wooden building off of Maunakea street, which was reached by a lane leading to the rear of the premises known as Liberty Hall (also known as Bugle Alley.)

The original Mess consisted of fourteen members; they were Stephen Spencer, WA Cooper, SH Cooper, Robert Moffitt, Dr Richard H Smythe, James E Chapman, JK Dallison, William Webster, John Janion, Charles Gordon Hopkins, H Fosbrooke, James Almon and Thomas Harding.

William L Green was the head of the Mess; he was prominent in official, civic and social life, and was for a time acting British Commissioner and Consul General, and President of the Chamber of Commerce of Honolulu.

The Mess was what might have been termed “movable” property; about 2-years after its Maunakea Street location, it moved to an old building on Alakea Street, and moved again to a building on Adams Lane.

In 1861, the Mess moved from Adams Lane further up the road to a 2-story building (that had been originally built for a club house) facing on Union street.

Mess membership declined down to only 4 in 1865; through the persistent efforts of two of these four members, the Mess was kept together and in a few months later had regained its strength.

By July 1867, the Mess had more members and was renamed “The British Club.”  Member subscriptions were sought, so the club could purchase its own premises.

Fifteen members (some of Honolulu’s notables of the day) subscribed to the purchase fund: Stephen Spencer, Archibald S Cleghorn, H Prendergast, Robert Moffitt, J Bollman, Thomas Cummins, James I Dowsett, Wm L Green, John Ritson, HA Widemann, John Montgomery, Robert Stirling, John O Dominis, Dr FW Hutchinson and Dr Robert McKibbin.

A charter of incorporation under the name of “The British Club” was granted in 1879; charter members were Thomas Cummins, Henry May and Archibald S Cleghorn.

Club life in the earlier days was somewhat different to what it is now; the club house was used as a home where members spent their evenings in a social manner and receiving their friends.

This club has had the honor of entertaining several distinguished and prominent visitors during its existence; among them was the Duke of Edinburgh, who visited Hawaii in 1869.

Kings Kamehameha IV & V were frequent visitors to the club; Kalākaua and his brother Leleiōhoku, were reportedly members, as were members of the diplomatic corps.

At one time, a faction of Club members considered selling their property and leasing the “Paki” premises, formerly the home of Bernice Pauahi Bishop and Charles R Bishop (also known as the Arlington Hotel.)  The move was overruled.

Later, the Club purchased the former Cleghorn property on Emma Street (Princess Kaʻiulani, daughter of the Cleghorns, was born there in 1875.)  Another prior owner was James Campbell, who bought the home from the Cleghorns and lived there for a number of years.

The Club later merged with the University Club (1930.)  Organized in 1905, the University Club was an exclusive association that admitted members who had graduated from recognized Universities, including military academies.

The club was “an organization that would tend to cement the business interests of Hawaiʻi,” it soon evolved into a business center that provided meeting, reading, entertainment and dining room facilities to its members and to groups with business connections.  (ASCE)

In 1961, a new club house was built; it was designed by Vladimir Ossipoff (he received a Hawaiʻi Society AIA award for its design.)

To keep the Club going, while at the same time constructing the new structure, they built the new around the old (losing only one day of Club operations during the final construction/move.  The lawn and terrace mark where the old club house once stood.)

Starting as a Gentlemen’s club (for whites,) the racial policy was scrapped in 1968 (Philip Ching and Asa Akinaka joined the club;) in 1983 (under a threat of legislative action,) the Club voted to admit women (in 1984, Andrea L Simpson was the first woman member.)

Oh, in 1892, “British” in the club’s name was changed to “Pacific.” At that time, the older members of the club were outvoted by the newer and later members. (The members at the time of the renaming it “The Pacific Club” had representatives of several nationalities.)  The Pacific Club is the oldest organization of its kind in the United States west of the Mississippi River. (Lots of info here from Thrum.)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Sliver of a Building

In 1841, on the makai side of the road (Merchant Street,) from Nuʻuanu to Kaʻahumanu Street (now the breezeway through the Harbor Court,) were empty lots, with blocks of coral for fences near the corner of Merchant and Fort streets, on the makai side of the street, were the premises of Mr. William French.  (Maly)

French first came to Hawaiʻi in 1819.  He settled in Honolulu and established himself as a leading trader. Financial success during the next decade made French known as “the merchant prince.”  He also had property in Kawaihae, on the Island of Hawaiʻi.  There, in 1835, French hired John Parker as bookkeeper, cattle hunter and in other capacities.  (Wellmon)

John Parker later purchased 640-acres (1850,) then another 1,000-acres (1851) and leased land in the Waikoloa region from Kamehameha III – these formed the foundation for the future Parker Ranch.

By 1840, French made numerous shipments of live cattle to Honolulu. These cattle were fattened in the pasture close to Waimea then driven to Kawaihae and transported to Honolulu to supply the numerous whaling ships that visited the port each fall.  (Wellmon)

French’s Honolulu premises extended from Kaʻahumanu to Fort Street, surrounded by a high picket fence with some hau trees standing just within the line of the fence. The building was quite a sizable one of wood, with a high basement and large trading rooms above. Mr. French was one of the oldest residents and a person of considerable influence.  (Maly)

The property was sold to James Austin, who sold it in 1882 to James Campbell, who owned the adjacent land on the Diamond Head side (fronting Fort Street.)  He built the “Campbell Block,” a large building that included uses such as storage, shops and offices.

Merchant Street was once the main street of the financial and governmental functions in the city, and was Honolulu’s earliest commercial center.  Dating from 1854, the remaining historic buildings along this road help tell the story of the growth and development of Honolulu’s professional and business community.

A great deal of the economic and political history of Hawaiʻi was created and written by the previous occupants of these buildings. Ranging from banks to bars and post office to newspapers, they have paid silent witness to the creation of present day Hawaiʻi.  (NPS)

Today, we still see these remnants of the past:  Melchers (1854,) the oldest commercial building in Honolulu; Kamehameha V Post Office (1871;) Bishop Bank (1878,) now known as the Harriet Bouslog Building; The Friend Building (1887 and 1900,) the site of the Oʻahu Bethel Church established in 1837; Royal Saloon (1890,) now Murphy’s; TR Foster Building (1891,) forerunner to Hawaiian Airlines;  Bishop Estate Building (1896;) Stangenwald Building (1901,) the tallest structure in Hawaiʻi until 1950; Judd Building (1898;) Yokohama Specie Bank (1909) and Honolulu Police Station (1931,) one of the earliest police forces in the world, dating to 1834.

Then, in 1902, near tragedy struck when “One of the hardest fights in the history of the Honolulu Fire Department was experienced Saturday afternoon, when a fire broke out in the middle of the Hawaiian Hardware Company’s warehouse.  For two hours the whole block bounded by Merchant and Queen, Fort and Kaahumanu streets, was in danger.” (Hawaiian Star, August 25, 1902)

“The fire is said to have been caused by an accident with gasoline in the warehouse. An order for gasoline for Young Bros. launch had been received and was being filled.”  (Hawaiian Star, August 25, 1902)

The Campbell Block survived (at least that fire.)

Then, on October 11, 1964, the Sunday Star-Bulletin and Advertiser noted, “Office-Parking Building Planned by Campbell Estate on Fort Street.”

Plans called for a combined office and parking structure to replace the 2-story Campbell Block on Fort and Merchants Streets; this new building was considered an important part of the redevelopment of downtown Honolulu.  (Adamson)   The new building was completed in May 1967.

So, the Campbell Block is gone … well, sort of.

You see, a fragment of the Campbell Block remains.  It was interconnected with the adjoining Bishop Estate Building and removing it all would harm its neighbor; so, a part was retained in-place.

As you walk down Merchant Street, between Fort and Bethel (across from the Pioneer Plaza loading and parking structure access,) take a look at the (now obvious) sliver of a building; it was once the Campbell Block (and the area of the former establishment of merchant William French.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

John (Johnny) Henry Wilson

His story starts in 1820, when his great grandfather, Andrew Henri Blanchard (captain of the brig Thaddeus that brought the first company of Protestant missionaries to Hawaiʻi) married Koloa, a Molokaʻi chiefess.

Fast forward a couple generations and John “Johnny” Henry Wilson was born December 15, 1871 to Charles Burnett (CB) Wilson and Eveline (Townsend) Wilson.

His parents’ friends included the John and Lydia Dominus and Kalākaua.  “We had known Mr. Wilson quite well as a young man when he was courting his wife. My husband and myself had warmly favored his suit; and, with his wife, he naturally became a retainer of the household, and from time to time they took up their residence with us.”  (Liliʻuokalani)

During her imprisonment, Queen Liliʻuokalani was denied any visitors other than one lady in waiting (Mrs. Eveline Wilson – Johnny’s mother.)  Johnny would bring newspapers hidden in flowers from the Queen’s garden; reportedly, Liliʻuokalani’s famous song Kuʻu Pua I Paoakalani (written while imprisoned,) was dedicated to him (it speaks of the flowers at her Waikiki home, Paoakalani.).

Johnny Wilson attended Fort Street School and St. Alban’s College (forerunners to the present McKinley and ʻIolani High Schools.)

He had a short stint working for Dillingham’s Oʻahu Railway and Land Company – there he had interest in being a civil engineer.  In 1891, with financial support from Liliʻuokalani, Wilson was in the first class of Stanford University – there, he was known as “Kanaka” Wilson.

Back in Hawaiʻi, in 1897, Johnny and fellow Stanford student Louis Whitehouse won the bid to expand and construct a ‘carriage road’ over the Pali.  Ground was broken on May 26, 1897 and the road was opened for carriages on January 19, 1898.  (Later, the Pali tunnels were completed and the old road abandoned – on August 1, 1961, Mrs. Jennie Wilson (his wife) led the dedication ceremonies.)

Wilson and Whitehouse also won the contract to extend Benjamin Dillingham’s railroad around Kaʻena Point.  To keep the bid low, they carried laborers, equipment and supplies to the site and freight back by boat – on October 14, 1897, the place where the first Japanese laborers landed for this job is known to this day as “Yokohama Beach.”  (ascehawaii)

He and his wife, Jennie “Kini” Kapahu (previously a court dancer) toured the continent in 1900 with their Hawaiian Village hula troupe.  (Kini Kapahu claimed that she was the ‘first girl to leave Hawai‘i to go as a dancer in the mainland’.)

Wilson got involved with politics and is credited as being the most important Democrat in the first half of 20th-century Hawaiʻi; his name is used with Jack Burns in the party movement.  He was in a meeting on April 30, 1900 that organized the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.

His initial political campaign in 1918 met with failure.  Mayor Joe Fern, Honolulu’s first Mayor, appointed his good friend Wilson as road supervisor for the Honolulu district.  Later, Wilson succeeded Fern as Mayor, following the illness and death of Fern.

Fern died on February 20, 1920; the Honolulu Board of Supervisors voted in Wilson on February 25, and he was sworn in as Mayor on February 29.  He would serve three stints as mayor: 1920 to 1927, 1929 to 1931 and 1946 to 1954.  (From 1941 to 1946, he was Director of Public Works.)

Honolulu Hale was an idea started by Joseph J Fern, but he died before it came to fruition.  Mayor Wilson carried on Fern’s dream; Honolulu Hale was finally completed in 1928.

Wilson foresaw the growth on the windward side and excavation commenced on January 8, 1954 on the “Kalihi Tunnel.”  Near the end of May 1954 tunnel excavation transitioned from rock to “earth” – in the summer of 1954, several tunnel collapses and surface sinkholes subsequently led to a large collapse on August 14 that killed five construction workers.

Construction ceased while they considered alternative methods of completion.  Tunnel excavation restarted in February 1956 and the first half-mile tunnel was open to two-way traffic in 1958; both tunnels were fully operational by November 1960.

Initially known as the ‘Kalihi Tunnel,’ and often called the Likelike Tunnels, they are named in honor of John H Wilson.  (1998 brought the completion of H-3 (and the Tetsuo Harano Tunnels – named after a longtime state highways administrator.))

In addition to the John H Wilson Tunnels, the John H Wilson Elementary School on Kilauea Avenue and the adjoining Wilson Playground at Papakōlea in Waiʻalae Nui Valley are named for Wilson.

Johnny Wilson passed away on July 2, 1956 at the age of 84.

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Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola

 

Hiʻiaka, looking towards the uplands, where she saw Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola – “I do not want you to say I did not acknowledge you, so here are the chanted regards from the traveler.” Then Hiʻiaka offered up this kanaenae (chant of praise.)

O Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola
O women who dwell on the Koʻolau range
Residing upon the pathway
I offer this chant for those who pass that way.

Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola were supernatural grandmothers of Piʻikea, wife of ʻUmi-a-Līloa.  They wanted to have a grandchild to take back to Oʻahu to raise, because the mother of Piʻikea, Laieloheloheikawai, belonged to Oʻahu. (Laieloheloheikawai sent Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola to the Island of Hawaiʻi to bring back one of Piʻikea’s children.)  ʻUmi refused.

Then, people in the village started to die at night; the supernatural personages of Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola murdered the people … this continued every night, the people dying without cause.

Piʻikea then said to ʻUmi-a-Līloa: “There is no other cause of death. My grandmothers, Hāpuʻu and Kalaihauola, did the killing. They were sent by my mother to bring one of our children, but you have withheld it, and that is why the people are murdered.”

Then, when Hāpuʻu and Kalaihauola were at the house with Piʻikea, the latter being pregnant with child, the old women slapped on Piʻikea’s knees and the child was delivered in front of one of the old women.

The child being a girl, it was taken away by the deities and lived in Oahu. Thus the child Kahaiaonui-a-Piʻikea, or Kahaiaonui-a-ʻUmi, became the adopted of Laielohelohekawai.  (Fornander)

“Within a few yards of the upper edge of the pass, under the shade of surrounding bushes and trees, two rude and shapeless stone idols are fixed, one on each side of the path, which the natives call ‘Akua no ka pali,’ gods of the precipice”.

“They are usually covered with pieces of white tapa, native cloth; and every native who passes by to the precipice, if he intends to descend, lays a green bough before these idols, encircles them with a garland of flowers, or wraps a piece of tapa round them, to render them propitious to his descent”.

“All who ascend from the opposite side make a similar acknowledgment for the supposed protection of the deities, whom they imagine to preside over the fearful pass. This practice appears universal for in our travels among the islands, we have seldom passed any steep or dangerous paths, at the commencement or termination of which we have not seen these images, with heaps of offerings lying before them.”  (Ellis, 1834)

“At the bottom of the Parre … offerings of flowers and fruit are laid to propitiate the Akua Wahini, or goddesses, who are supposed to have the power of granting a safe passage.” (Bloxam, 1826)

“… the old people said that their ancestors had been accustomed to bring the navel cords of their children and bury them under these stones to insure protection of the little ones from evil, and that these were the stone women …”  (Westerfelt)

The two stones, believed to embody two kupua goddesses, Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola, on each side of Kalihi Stream, are also associated with the ‘E‘epa (small folks related to the Menehune,) that would cause rain if the proper offerings were not left near these stone.

“They (Hāpuʻu and Kalaʻihauola) were said to be mysterious people from this side of the valley of Nuʻuanu. They left Nuʻuanu with others of their kind because there was a war in Nuʻuanu and some fled.  Some settled in the uplands of Kalihi.”  (Joseph Poepoe; Cultural Surveys)

Mary Kawena Pukui states that the latter should be pronounced “Kala‘iola,” because of the word ola (‘life’) reflects that those who placed navel cords here were seeking life for their babies.   (pacificworlds)

The stones stood in an area of pools of spring water. One pool was icy cold, others warm, Hawaiian mothers brought their newborn babes to the spot and bathed them in the warm spring.  (Clarice Taylor, Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 18, 1954)

Travelers to the area placed lei and flowers upon the stones, at the same time asking the ʻEʻepa not to play tricks on them.  A favorite lei offering was made of the sweet smelling pala palai fern.

The pools marked the spot where the great god Kane struck the earth and brought forth water. It is called Ka puka wai o Kalihi, the water door of Kalihi.

The two famous stones were destroyed by bulldozers in October 1953 when the men first cleared the area for the approach road for the Wilson Tunnel.

“Their destruction was probably the cause of the drought which gripped this Island during the Fall months and the heavy rains which have been falling this summer (1954) and caused the Wilson Tunnel cave-in, the Hawaiians say.”  (Clarice Taylor, SB, August 18, 1954)

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