William Henry Harrison Huddy immigrated from Rhode Island and became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in 1850; he married Kahea, a Hawaiian from the island of Kauai.  Their son, George Herman Huddy – the youngest of a large family, was born in Honolulu in 1869; as a young man he lived on Kauai and was educated in Honolulu.

After distinguishing himself as a student in high school, he sought more education and professional training and moved to San Francisco and apprenticed himself to a dentist in that city.

After little more than a year, he qualified for entrance to the College of Dentistry at the University of California Medical School. After three years of study and internship, he became the first Hawaiian to earn a full Degree in Dental Surgery from a Dental School in the US.

After graduation he returned to Hawai‘i and went into practice for himself as a dental surgeon.  In February 1903, Dr George Huddy was appointed by the Governor as a Representative to the Hawai‘i Territorial Legislature from Kauai. (Dr Huddy, continued to be elected as a Territorial Representative, first from Kauai and later from Hilo, until his retirement from that office in 1917.)

On April 25, 1903, the legislature of the territory of Hawaii, at the instigation of the dental society, enacted a law to regulate the practice of dental surgery.  This statute gives the dental society a recognized standing, as the members of the state dental board are appointed by the governor upon recommendation of this society.  Huddy was an initial member.  (History of Dental Surgery, Koch)

On May 13, 1903, Huddy and his good friend, Prince Kūhio, helped reestablish the Order of Kamehameha I (originally organized in 1867 by Kamehameha V).

Kūhiō chose Huddy to preside at this initial session as a charter member where a constitution was written and adopted, and officers elected; Kūhiō was elected as the President.

“Credit for the founding of this order, which dates from May, 1903, or a little more than ten years after the close of the monarchy and a little less than five years after annexation to the United States, belongs to Dr George H Huddy, who has served the territory faithfully and well as a representative in the legislature, first from Kauai and then from Hawaiʻi”

“Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, delegate to congress, was the first aliʻi ʻaimoku, or sovereign head of the revived order.” (Star-Bulletin; June 10, 1913)

In 1905, the Order of Kamehameha brought solemnity to the holiday (Kamehameha Day) by draping a lei on the statue of Kamehameha in front of Aliʻiolani Hale and standing watch throughout the day.  (Stillman)

On July 16, 1907, they petitioned for a Charter for the Hawaiʻi Chapter No. 1, Order of Kamehameha.  “… the object for which the same is organized is as follows, 1. To inculcate the cardinal principles of Friendship, Charity and Benevolence; to provide for Sick and Funeral Benefits …”

“… to aid the widows and orphans; and to improve the social and moral conditions of its members.”  (Hawaii Chapter No. 1, Order of Kamehameha; Petition for Charter, July 16, 1907) (An announcement in the Hawaiian Star, shortly after, noted similar language for the Māmalahoa Chapter. No. 2)

In March 1915, “Mrs. Henrietta E Sullivan of Honolulu nei [the daughter of John Hassinger, the long time and well-known Chief Clerk for the Interior Ministry, during the Monarchy and into the Territorial times] and Representative George H Huddy of Hilo became one in the bond of marriage”.

“For the first time in the history of the legislature of Hawaii nei, wed were the Honorable Dr George H. Huddy in the covenant of marriage with Mrs. Henrietta E Sullivan, in the throne room [of Iolani Palace].”

“The one who bound the couple tightly together in the three-stranded cord of matrimony was Father Steven of the Catholic faith, and while the newlyweds were surrounded by their many friends, the priest spoke the words which made the two one, and it is only death that will part them.”

“After the marriage took place, hands were shook with aloha with congratulations from their friends, with prayers that they live their lives in happiness.” (Kuokoa, 03-12-1915)  Theirs is the only wedding ever to take place in the Throne Room of the Palace.

Dr Huddy continued in his dental surgery practice in Honolulu until in 1922 (at the untimely death of his wife, June 20, 1922).  On September 1, 1922, Huddy signed on with the Territorial Board of Health as the Resident Dentist at Kalaupapa, serving alongside Dr Goodhue.

“In December, 1922, Dr George Huddy, a dentist employed by the board of health, began work at the [Kalihi] hospital and spent five months attending to the dental needs of the patients.”

“The employment of this officer meets a very pressing need of the patients, as the teeth of many of the inmates were in bad condition and required the services of a competent dentist. Already a beneficial effect from this work can be noted.”

“I wish to record my unqualified approval of the inauguration of dental service for the patients and to acknowledge the full and free cooperation of the dental officer with the medical officers at Kalihi Hospital.”

“The dentist [Huddy] employed by the board of health for Kalihi Hospital and Kalaupapa settlement has given a great amount of relief to the patients.”  (Report of the Governor to Dept of Interior, 1923)

For the next 8 years, Huddy worked full time for the Board of Health. During these years he rotated between living at Kalaupapa for 2 – 3 months at a time and then back to Honolulu where he served as Dentist at the Old Prison and at the Leper Intake Hospital in Kalihi.

Huddy remarried in 1926 to a resident of Hawai‘i with German origins.  On June 30, 1929, Dr Huddy retired from the Board of Health, having worked himself into ill health and left for Europe for a two year ‘cure’ in Germany.

Returning in early 1932 in somewhat restored health, he reopened his dental surgeon offices in the Boston Building on Fort Street and practiced there until leaving for Germany again in late-1935.

This latter trip turned fatal, and Huddy died in Bremen, Germany. (His ashes were brought back to Hawai‘i and interred in Hilo at Homelani Cemetery.)  (Lots of information here is from Tatibouet.)

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