Sugar | Page 15 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 4, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waikapū

Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, and covers about 730 square miles. Maui consists of two separate volcanoes with a combining isthmus between the two.

The Mauna Kahālāwai (West Maui Mountain) is probably the older of the two; Haleakala (East Maui) was last active about 1790, whereas activity on West Maui is wholly pre-historic.

The island of Maui is comprised of 12-moku (districts,) that are made up of a number of ahupuaʻa. The moku of Wailuku makes up an area known as Nā Wai ʻEhā (“The Four Great Waters”) – Waiheʻe River, Waiehu Stream, Wailuku (ʻĪao) Stream and Waikapū Stream. (Waikapū Stream is the only Nā Wai ‘Ehā stream that drains to the southern coast of Maui.)

“From Waiheʻe to Waikapū there is much good land below and bounding the ancient terrace area on the kula and in the lower valleys which would be ideal for sweet potato culture, but it is said that little was grown in this section because there was so much taro.” (Handy; Hana Pono)

“For generations the small, slowly growing population clustered around shore sites near streams that supplied them with water. Such sites are best for inshore fishing.”

“When they acquired taro, they no doubt rapidly cleared away the jungle along the streams to make room for taro patches, and there was a beginning of terraced flats that could be irrigated directly from the stream.” (Handy; Hana Pono)

The fertile kalo terraces, complex system of irrigation ʻauwai (ditches) and abundant fresh water from this area sustained Hawaiian culture for 1,000-years. Due to abundant water and fertile lands, there was substantial settlement between the 300- and 600-foot elevation at Waikapū.

The terraces were irrigated with water brought in ditches from springs and streams high in the valleys, allowing extensive areas of the valleys to be cultivated. The irrigation ditches and pondfields were engineered to allow the cool water to circulate among the taro plants and from terrace to terrace, avoiding stagnation and overheating by the sun, which would rot the taro tubers.

An acre of irrigated pondfields produced as much as five times the amount of taro as an acre of dryland cultivation. Over a period of several years, irrigated pondfields could be as much as 10 or 15 times more productive than unirrigated taro gardens, as dryland gardens need to lie fallow for greater lengths of time than irrigated gardens. (Kelly)

In Waikapū, there are different stories associated with the name of this valley and ahupuaʻa; the story of Puapualenalena and the conch shell may be the earliest known.

It was said that in ancient times a conch shell would ring out from the valley, heard around the island it was so loud and resounding. On the opposite, northern side of the stream a dog named Puapualenalena was infatuated with this conch and wanted it for himself.

One day, the owners of the conch had been careless and Puapualenalena gained entrance to the cave on the southern side of the stream that hid the conch, and from that point on it no longer sounded through the valley. The area was so named for the conch (Pu), The Water (Wai) of the Conch (Ka Pu.) (Nupepa Kuokoa, 1872; Hana Pono)

Some say the name comes from Kamehameha after the famous battle of Kepaniwai, when the defeated the forces of Kalanikūpule. Two versions are told.

One is Wai-ka-pu (the Water of the Conch,) for the place where Kamehameha sounded the Pu to begin the battle for Maui. The second is Wai-Kapu (the Sacred Water.) “Kamehameha landed at Kalepolepo, and a kapu was put upon the nearest stream. It became sacred to royalty, as was the custom and is known as Wai-kapu to this hour-that is, the forbidden water”. (Stoddard; Hana Pono)

The lower isthmus (between Mauna Kahālāwai and Haleakala) was sandy. “We passed through Waikapū in the middle of the isthmus …. Between this place and the northern shore, we walked over a bed of sand (a part of an extensive plain).” (Bingham)

In more modern times, the Waikapū ahupuaʻa and surrounding lowlands were given to Henry Cornwall for a sugar plantation, Waikapū Sugar Company, which eventually merged with others to become Wailuku Sugar Company (and later consolidated into the Alexander & Baldwin lands.).

Starting in about the 1850s, sugar cultivation destroyed the extensive terracing; by the mid-1900s, only remnant representations remained.

By 1866, a letter published in the Hawaiian language newspaper Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa lamented “the current condition of once cultivated taro patches being dried up by the foreigners, where they are now planting sugar cane”.

“A permanent railroad was laid to Waiheʻe and to Waikapū connecting at Wailuku, from whence the cane was carried to a mill above Kahului. Another permanent line connected the other plantations. From these portable lines were laid into the fields, and it was thus possible to dispense with hundreds of mules and cattle and drivers heretofore used.” (Girvin)

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Waikapu Valley-1888

Waikapu-GoogleEarth

Historic_Moku_of_Maui-(WC)-Map

June 27, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

West Maui

Maui captured “Best Island in the World” honors in the annual Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards Poll nearly twenty-years in a row. Readers rave about this “veritable paradise,” calling it a “combination of tropical ambience and American comforts.”

Maui is known for its beaches and water activities, and the west side boasts some of the most beautiful shores in Hawaiʻi, and it also has the distinction of having some of the most beautiful sunset views on the planet.

West Maui is the second most visited place in Maui – (behind the beaches) – a combination of natural scenic beauty, white sandy beaches, lush green uplands, and near-perfect weather, rich culture and a good serving of Hawaiian history in its sunny shores.

In West Maui, you can head to the beach, be captivated by the beauty of its natural scenes and marine life, visit the different historical attractions, and immerse yourself in the local art and culture.

West Maui has experienced six major historical eras, from its days as an ancient Hawaiian Royal Center, capital and home of the Hawaiian Monarchy, home to Missionaries, Landing/Provisioning for Whalers, the Sugar and Pineapple Plantation era and now Tourism.

All of these historical eras are still visible in West Maui today.

West Maui has played an important role in the history of Maui and the neighboring islands of Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, with West Maui serving as the Royal Center, selected for its abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

Probably there is no portion of the Valley Isle, around which gathers so much historic value as West Maui. It was the former capital and favorite residence of kings and chiefs.

After serving for centuries as home to ruling chiefs, West Maui was selected by Kamehameha III and his chiefs to be the seat of government; here the first Hawaiian constitution was drafted and the first legislature was convened.

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 when two New England ships became the first whaling ships to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands. Over the next two decades, the Pacific whaling fleet nearly quadrupled in size and in the record year of 1846, 736-whaling ships arrived in Hawai’i.

West Maui was the port of choice for whaling ships. Central among the islands, West Maui was a convenient spot from which to administer the affairs of both Hawaiian and foreigner.

Since the anchorage was an open roadstead, vessels could always approach or leave it with any wind that blew. No pilot was needed here. Vessels generally approached through the channel between Maui and Moloka‘i, standing well over to Lanai, as far as the trade would carry them, then take the sea breeze, which would set in during the forenoon, and head for the town.

In November 1822, the 2nd Company from the New England missionaries set sail on the ‘Thames’ from New Haven, Connecticut for the Hawaiian Islands; they arrived on April 23, 1823 (included in this Company were missionaries Charles Stewart, William Richards and Betsey Stockton – they were the first to settle and set up a mission in West Maui.)

The Christian religion really caught on when High Chiefess Keōpūolani (widow of Kamehameha I and mother of future kings) is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the islands, receiving baptism from Rev. William Ellis in West Maui on September 16, 1823, just before her death.

In 1831, classes at the new Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (‘Upper Lahaina’)) began. The school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents” (training preachers and teachers.) It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

Per the requests of the chiefs, the American Protestant missionaries began teaching the makaʻāinana (commoners.) Literacy levels exploded.

From 1820 to 1832, in which Hawaiian literacy grew by 91 percent, the literacy rate on the US continent grew by only 6 percent and did not exceed the 90 percent level until 1902 – three hundred years after the first settlers landed in Jamestown – overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not been much above 50 percent.

Centuries ago, the early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully.

It was not until 1823 that several members of the West Maui Mission Station began to process sugar from native sugarcanes for their tables. By the 1840s, efforts were underway in West Maui to develop a means for making sugar as a commodity.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for a contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

It is not likely anyone then foresaw the impact this would have on the cultural and social structure of the islands. The sugar industry is at the center of Hawaiʻi’s modern diversity of races and ethnic cultures.

Of the nearly 385,000-workers that came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix. Hawai‘i continues to be one of the most culturally-diverse and racially-integrated places.

Historically Maui’s second largest industry, pineapple cultivation has also played a large role in forming Maui’s modern day landscape. The pineapple industry began on Maui in 1890 with Dwight D. Baldwin’s Haiku Fruit and Packing Company on the northeast side of the island.

One of the first hotels in West Maui was the Pioneer Hotel – founded in 1901. George Freeland arrived in the Lahaina roadstead on a ship that had just come from a long voyage through the south seas; he noted a need for a hotel.

It remained the only place for visitors to stay on Maui’s west side until the early-1960s. Tourism exploded; West Maui is a full-fledged tourist destination second only to Waikīkī.

Lahaina’s Front Street, offering an incredible oceanfront setting, people of diverse cultures, architecture and incredible stories of Hawaiʻi’s past, was recognized as one of the American Planning Association’s 2011 “Great Streets in America.”

For many, it’s more simply stated … Maui No Ka Oi (Maui is the best)

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Whales from McGregor Point-(cphamrah)

Olowalu-Petroglyphs

Port-of-Lahaina-Maui-1848

Lahaina,_Maui,_c._1831

Bathing scene, Lahaina, Maui, watercolor, by James Gay Sawkins-1855

Lahaina,_West_Maui,_Sandwich_Islands2,_watercolor_and_pencil,_by_James_Gay_Sawkins-1855

Whale-ships at Lahaina-(vintagehawaii)-1848

Lahaina as seen from Lahainaluna

Edward_T._Perkins,_Rear_View_of_Lahaina,_1854

Lahaina Courthouse-fronting beach-(now Lahaina Small Boat Harbor)

Lahaina_from_offshore_in-1885

Lahaina_Boat_Landing

Lahaina Harbor before harbor perimeter retaining wall built-ca 1940

Pioneer Mill

Baldwin Packers Cannery (kapalua)

Lahaina, Front Street 1942

Lahaina Roads

McGregor_Point-Norwegian-Monument

Lahaina Tunnel Dedication (1951)

Banyan Tree located in courthouse square in the center of Lahaina

Humpback_Whale-Maui-(Stan_Butler-NOAA)-WC

1837 Map of the Islands; made by students at Lahainaluna School (Mission Houses)

April 11, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Benjamin Douglas Baldwin

Benjamin Douglas Baldwin (grandson of the Rev Dwight Baldwin) was born at Kohala, Hawaii, April 12, 1868, son of David D and Lois M Baldwin. He attended Fort Street School and Oʻahu College (Punahou.)

He married Louise Theresa Voss in Honolulu on April 11, 1893; they had three sons, Douglas Elmer, Paul Frederick and Cedric Benjamin. (Nellist)

Baldwin began his career in the sugar cane industry on Haiku Sugar Co plantation, Hamakuapoko, Maui, on January 1, 1889.

Then, “Mr Benjamin D Baldwin, head luna of Hamakuapoko plantation has accepted the position of assistant manager of the Hawaiian Commercial Company, thus filling the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. David Center.”

“Mr. Baldwin and family will remove to Spreckelsville during the first part of April upon the return of Manager HA Baldwin from California.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 26, 1901)

Then on January 15, 1903, he headed to Kauai. “Benjamin D Baldwin, formerly assistant manager of Puʻunene, is now permanently settled as manager of Makaweli plantation of Kauai. Mr and Mrs Baldwin will be much missed by Maui friends.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 19, 1903)

“Makaweli is the banner plantation of Kauai since the Olokele ditch system enabled it to put a large additional area under cultivation.”

The Hawaiian Sugar Company, Ltd was headquartered at Makaweli, where the first cane was planted. The total land area was 7,000-acres held under lease from Gay & Robinson, extending from Waimea gulch to Hanapepe valley, a distance of several miles.

“The water supply for irrigation purposes is obtained from the Olokele and Hanapepe valley streams, the water flowing to all of the lands by gravity.”

“Work upon the Olokele ditch, which is the largest engineering scheme of the kind ever undertaken in the Islands, was begun for the Hawaiian Sugar Company by MM O’Shaughnessy and his assistants, Mr McLennan, HC Smalley and Guy P Rankin in 1902 and was completed in 1904.” (Evening Bulletin, March 25, 1909)

By the end of Baldwin’s management, in 1928, the annual yield increased to 27,057-tons of raw sugar and the company was noted as one of the most profitable and progressive in the Territory. (Faye)

“In the development of the property 2,250 skilled and unskilled laborers are employed who occupy several camps adjacent to their work. Better houses and better camps than are found on main plantations for the accommodation of men and their families have been erected.”

“The laborers receive in addition to their wages, which averages $20 per month, house room, fuel, water and medical attendance and have little patches of land where they raise vegetables.”

“The labor incident to the successful operation of this plantation is handled under two systems, one-third of the labor working under a or profit sharing system, and known as company men or contractors, the balance are day laborers, paid a regular rate per month of twenty-six working days.” (Evening Bulletin, March 25, 1909)

The Makaweli management takes much interest in the sports of the employes. A baseball diamond and land for tennis courts are provided. The Makaweli baseball team, by the way, secured the 1911 Kauai championship and in so doing gained three cups.”

“A club house for the skilled employes, which is equipped and supplied with reading matter and appliances, and a billiard and pool table, is supported by the company.” (Wright, Mid-Pacific Magazine, June 1914)

Baldwin died on April 27, 1928; a decade later, a substantial monument was erected by Makaweli Japanese sugar workers and dedicated to the memory of Baldwin, a highly respected plantation manager.

There are two circular metal medallions embedded in the column. The upper medallion has a bust of Baldwin surrounded by the words ‘Benjamin Douglas Baldwin 1867 – 1928,’ and the lower medallion has the words ‘Erected In Loving Memory by the Makaweli Japanese 1938.’ (Dorrance)

Baldwin was not just a sugar planter; he was commissioned as a major in the Hawaii National Guard (3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment) on Kauai and also commanded the Third Battalion of the Fifth Division during World War I. (Nellist) He was also postmaster at Makaweli.

A World War II ammunition magazine was located next to the monument (1942-1945.) Called ‘Battery Monument,’ it was armed with two old 7-inch/45 naval guns on pedestal mounts capable of hurling a 165-pound shell 16,500 yards (9.4 mi.) at 15° elevation. (Bennett)

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Ben D Baldwin-(EveningBulletin-1909)

Ben D Baldwin-(Men of Hawaii)

Benjamin Douglas Baldwin Monument-Faye

Managers Residence (Faye)

DE_Baldwin-(Faye)

CB_Baldwin_and_Luna-(Faye)

CB_Baldwin-(Faye)

Benjamin Douglas Baldwin Monument-Eleele

Benjamin Douglas Baldwin Monument-Dorrance; Bennett

USGS-Hanapepe-1963-portion-Baldwin Monument

USGS-Hanapepe-1996-portion-Baldwin Monument

Benjamin Douglas Baldwin grave marker

February 20, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

C Brewer

C Brewer & Co, Ltd began at a distant date under a different name, and is a result of the growth through the changes of time and circumstances rather than of any one definite act. (Thrum)

The following are the various names which the firm was known: James Hunnewell, Hunnewell & Peirce, Peirce & Hinckley, Peirce & Brewer, C Brewer & Co, SH Williams & Co, C Brewer 2d, C Brewer & Co Ltd. (The Friend, January 1, 1867)

In its early years, the following are the names of those who have been connected with this firm as partners: James Hunnewell, Thomas Hinckley, Henry A Peirce, Charles Brewer, JFB Marshall, Francis Johnson, William Baker Jr, Stephen H Williams, Benjamin F Snow, Charles Brewer 2d, Sherman Peck, CH Lunt, HAP Carter and I Bartlett. (The Friend, January 1, 1867)

If an exact date and a single act are to be assigned, it was on Monday, December 8, 1817, when James Hunnewell, officer of the brig Bordeaux Packet, agreed with Andrew Blanchard, master, to remain at Honolulu after the sale of the vessel. (Thrum)

He would dispose of the balance of her cargo and invest and forward the proceeds. This was the beginning of the long business career of Hunnewell connected with the Islands, and his first act in settling there. (Thrum)

Hunnewell first came to the Islands aboard the ‘Packet’ in October 1816. He agreed to stay (December 8, 1817) and traded his boat and cargo for sandalwood, “We were the only traders on shore at Honolulu that had any goods to sell.” There was no currency at the time, so they generally traded for sandalwood. (Hunnewell, The Friend)

At first, business was generally in small transactions and by barter. American goods of nearly all sorts were received and sold on consignment. (Thrum)

After trading sandalwood in China and then back to the northeast, Hunnewell returned to the Islands in 1820 on the ‘Thaddeus,’ “This was the memorable voyage when we carried out the first missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands.” He stayed … “it was urged by some of the chiefs that knew me on my previous voyage that I should remain instead of a stranger to trade with them.” (Hunnewell)

Later, in 1825, he negotiated with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, “to take the missionary packet out, free from any charge whatever on (his) part for sailing and navigating the vessel – provided the Board would pay and feed the crew, and allow (him) to carry out in the schooner to the amount (in bulk) of some forty to fifty barrels”. (Hunnewell)

Then in 1826, with a stock of merchandise, he then purchased the premises of John Gowen (to which he added some land by exchange in 1830.) “As soon as I secured this place, I landed my cargo, and commenced retailing it…” (Hunnewell)

In October, 1828, Captain Marcus T Peirce, an old and intimate friend of Hunnewell’s, arrived in the brig Griffin from the north-west coast. He gave up the command of his vessel to Captain MW Green, he preferring to return home.

In doing so, he requested that Hunnewell to take charge of his younger brother, Henry A Peirce, who had been a clerk with him. Young Peirce first worked for $25 per month and board until September, 1830; after that he was given a share in the profits.

Hunnewell decided to return home on the continent (November 20, 1830) and left Peirce in charge; Hunnewell thought he would come back to the Islands, but never did. Hunnewell decided to remain at home, and Peirce accepted his offer to loan him funds enough to enable him to carry on the business himself and take the establishment at an appraised value.

“The name … James Hunnewell was early associated with the commercial interests of these Islands, and his long and useful life was marked by such constant goodwill to my kingdom, that I shall always cherish his memory with sincere regard.” (Kamehameha V to Hunnewell’s son; Thrum)

Peirce took Hinckley as a partner; but Hinckley retired due to his health. Next, Charles Brewer arrived (on his third voyage to the Islands,) just before Hunnewell left for home. (Hunnewell, The Friend) For a while, Brewer commanded Peirce’s vessels on their voyages to China and the Russian possessions.

In December, 1835, a co-partnership was formed by Peirce and Brewer. Under this partnership, the firm of Peirce & Brewer conducted a general merchandise and commission business at Honolulu. (Peirce)

“Mr. Peirce had been absent from home twelve years, and was anxious to go back and visit his family. He made me an offer to join him as a partner in business, which offer I accepted, and in one month from that time, Mr. Peirce left Honolulu for Boston, where he remained a year or more, returning by the way of Mexico and South America.” (Brewer)

“When I was received as a partner in business with Mr. Henry A. Peirce, I continued the firm name of Peirce & Brewer until Mr. Peirce retired, in 1843. I then continued the business as C Brewer & Co., with my nephew C Brewer, 2d, until the year 1845.” (Brewer)

That year, there was a merger with the firm of Marshall & Johnson (established in 1841 by James B. Marshall and Francis Johnson.) Brewer returned to Boston. “We arrived in Boston on March 26, 1849, and from that time, my sea life may be said to have ended.” (Brewer)

This association ended in 1847 and the business was taken over by SH Williams & Co, composed of Stephen H Williams, James B Marshall, William Baker Jr, and, a year later, Benjamin F Snow.

It was not until 1859 that the firm again and finally resumed the name of C Brewer & Co, when in September of that year, Charles Brewer II, a nephew of Captain Brewer, engaged in partnership with Sherman Peck and took over the business. (Nellist)

The second Brewer retired in the summer of 1861, but the business was continued under the Brewer name. At about this time the sugar industry was making its first strides and C Brewer & Co became agent for a plantation at Makawao, Maui.

In 1863, it had acquired holdings in Wailuku plantation, in 1866 Brewer became agent for Waiheʻe plantation. In 1869 a son of Charles Brewer, John D Brewer, and IB Peterson were admitted as partners. A man who was destined to make C Brewer & Co. famous, Peter Cushman Jones, was admitted to partnership on Jan. 1, 1871.

C. Brewer & Co., Ltd., was incorporated on Feb. 7, 1883, with Peter Cushman Jones as president and manager; absorption of William G Irwin & Co. by C. Brewer & Co., Ltd., followed E. Faxon Bishop’s elevation to the presidency. (Nellist)

The Brewer company grew, as did a handful of others – primarily in businesses associated with the booming economy. Since the early/mid-1800s, until relatively recently, five major companies emerged and dominated the state’s economic framework. Their common trait: they were founded in agriculture – sugar and pineapple.

They became known as the Big 5: Amfac – starting as Hackfeld & Company (1849;) Alexander & Baldwin (1870;) Theo H. Davies (1845;) Castle & Cooke (1851) and C Brewer (1826.)

The decline in agricultural mono-cropping and a changing economy to the visitor industry, Brewer and the others lost their dominance. Longtime Brewer Chair, JWA ‘Doc’ Buyers, bought out the company and moved its headquarters to Hilo (2001.) The company, at the time Hawaiʻi’s oldest continuously operating company, dissolved in 2006.

A lasting legacy of the company is the C Brewer Building, constructed in 1930, the last and smallest of the ‘Big Five’ home office buildings to be built in downtown Honolulu.

C.Brewer_and_Company_Specimen_Stock_Certificate,_made_by_American_Bank_Note_Co.

March 21, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maunalei Sugar

In ancient times, the windward coast of the island of Lānaʻi was home to many native residents. Maunalei Valley had the only perennial stream on the island and a system of loʻi kalo (taro pond field terraces) supplied taro to the surrounding community.

Sheltered coves, fronted by a barrier reef, provided the residents with access to important fisheries, and allowed for the development of loko iʻa (fishponds), in which various species of fish were cultivated, and available to native tenants, even when the ocean was too rough for the canoes to venture out to sea. (Lānaʻi Culture and Heritage Center)

In 1861, Walter Murray Gibson came to Hawaiʻi after joining the Mormon Church the year before; he was to serve as a missionary and envoy of the Mormon Church to the peoples of the Pacific. He landed in Lānaʻi and eventually created the title “Chief President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Islands of the Sea.” He more regularly went by the name Kipikona.

The experience with the Church was relatively short-lived; in 1864, he was excommunicated for selling priesthood offices, defrauding the Hawaiian members and misusing his ecclesiastical authority (in part, he was using church funds to buy land in his name.)

By the 1870s, Gibson focused his interests in ranching in the area called Koele, situated in a sheltered valley in the uplands of Kamoku Ahupuaʻa. As the ranch operation was developed, Koele was transformed from an area of traditional residency and sustainable agriculture to the ranch headquarters. (Lānaʻi Culture and Heritage Center) In 1872, Gibson moved from Lānaʻi to Lāhainā and then to Honolulu.

After Gibson’s death in 1888, the ranch was turned over to his daughter and son-in-law, Talula and Frederick Hayselden. As early as 1896, the Gibson-Hayselden interests on Lānaʻi, which held nearly all the land on the island in fee-simple or leasehold title, began developing a scheme to plant and grow sugar on Lānaʻi.

They chose the ancient fishing community of Keōmoku for the base of operations, and in early-1899, the Maunalei Sugar Company was formally incorporated. Gear, Lansing & Co was the largest stockholder (Gear was President, Lansing was Treasurer – W Stodart was the plantation manager)

“The plan is that a sugar company will be incorporated at once with a capital of $1,000,000 and that 1,000 acres will be put into cane without delay. There will be no “wildcat” business in the enterprise and all persons signing for shares will be obliged to put down 10 percent of the amount desired. It is the intention of the promoters to avoid gambling in Lanai stocks as much as possible.” (Gear & Lansing, The Independent, February 28, 1899)

They developed larger support communities along the coast, cleared the lands, developed a narrow gauge railroad between Keōmoku Village and Kahalepalaoa (where the boat landing was situated,) and planted sugar cane, irrigated by water from Maunalei Valley.

“At the landing a very substantial wharf has been built, and a railroad to the camp two miles distant is in operation with a rolling stock of a locomotive and nineteen cars. Including the laborers quarters we have at the plantation fifty buildings, and the new buildings in contemplation are the pumping plants and the mill, a very respectable town and a very busy one.” (Stodart in Evening Bulletin, October 13, 1899)

Work on the plantation was largely done by immigrant Japanese laborers. “We have 400 laborers … and will have 200 more in a few weeks. The first crop will be ready to grind in 1901 and I have no doubt the yield per acre will be entirely satisfactory. The land is proving all that was promised and I have no doubt of the substantial returns to the stockholders.” (Stodart in Evening Bulletin, October 13, 1899)

Both men and women were brought from Japan, and a finder’s fee of $27- $36 per male employee, and $23 – $30 per female employee was paid to the immigration companies. Laborers were typically paid around $0.70 to $0.75 per day, with expenses for merchandise and board deducted from pay at the end of the month.

All did not go as planned.

Before completing the construction of the mill and associated facilities, and prior to the first harvest being collected for processing, the Maunalei Sugar Company went bankrupt. Sugar is a thirsty crop and the necessary water resources for the plantation were never realized.

Additional hardships arose following an outbreak of the bubonic plague in Honolulu, which led to a devastating fire and the closure of many Chinatown businesses (many of whom had invested in the Lānaʻi sugar operation.)

But those were not the major shareholders’ only financial concerns. A heading “Business Concern is in Difficulties” called attention to the financial problems of Gear, Lansing & Company; a sub-heading notes, “Failure of Maunalei Sugar Co. a Leading Factor in the Corporation’s Trouble Kaimukī and Other Large Real Estate Transactions”. (Honolulu Republican, June 19, 1901)

The story noted, “The corporation has, since its organization a few years ago, dealt heavily in real estate, besides participating largely in the boom of general stocks that two years ago strained the entire financial situation.”

“Gear, Lansing & Co.’s largest real estate deal was the exploitation of the Kaimukī residence tract. They laid out streets and installed a modern water works plant. A large proportion of the lots sold readily, but the hope deferred of rapid transit communication prevented a full measure of, success to the enterprise.”

Plantation records during the three year period of the plantation’s operation, some 70 employees (most of Japanese origin) died and were buried on Lānaʻi. In 1932, members of the Lānaʻi Hongwanji Mission built a memorial for Japanese employees of the sugar plantation near the grave sites.

Some other unfortunate consequences resulted from the Lānaʻi sugar endeavor. A part of the plantation’s work resulted in the introduction of the algarroba (kiawe) tree – the hardwood was to have been used as fuel for the furnaces, and the seeds as feed for the livestock. Left untended, the trees became an invasive pest on the island.

Following the sugar failure, Keōmoku was used as ranchland until 1954. The nearly 3,000 acres of cleared land led to significant erosion and siltation that spread from the uplands to the shore, burying sites and the reef under as much as nine feet of silt. (Lānaʻi Culture and Heritage Center)

The image shows a map of Maunalei Sugar (Lanai Culture and Heritage Center.) Here is a link to more images.

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