Waiola | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 13, 2022 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Dwight Baldwin

Dwight Baldwin was born on September 29, 1798 to Seth Baldwin (1775 –1832,) (a farmer) and Rhoda Hull Baldwin in Durham, Connecticut, and moved to Durham, New York, in 1804. His father, He was the second of 12 children. (Baldwin Genealogy)

He was employed with his father on the farm, enjoying the benefits of the common school, and generally in winter of a select school, till the age of sixteen. In the fall of 1814, he commenced the study of Latin, with a view to prepare for College.

The last of his teachers being a graduate of Williams College, he was induced to enter at Williams, where he spent two years; and then he left Williams and entered Yale College, where he graduated in September, 1821.

By the recommendation of President Day, the next two years he was employed as Principal of the Academy in Kingston, Ulster County, NY. A third year was spent in teaching a select school in Catskill, Greene county. He then devoted himself to the study of medicine, at the same time teaching a select school in Durham, NY.

Then, he got caught in the religious fervor; about the first of March, 1826, he found relief in believing in an Almighty Redeemer, a hope which has never forsaken him. Religion became the all-absorbing subject of his thought by day and by night. (Baldwin Genealogy)

He soon came to the decision to join a mission, and September 3, of that year, he united with the Congregational Church in Durham, NY, and soon after he entered the Theological Seminary at Auburn, where he spent three years, offering his services into the American Board of Boston for a Foreign Mission … and they were accepted.

He did not have time to await official recognition of his medical degree so at direction of the Prudential Committee he took his diploma as Master of Science. He was ordained at Utica, NY on October 6, 1830.

He was introduced by a friend to Charlotte Fowler, daughter of Deacon Solomon Fowler of North Branford, Connecticut, and a few weeks later was married to her on December 3, 1830. Twenty-five days later they set sail with the Fourth Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi on the ship ‘New England;’ he arrived at Honolulu, June 7, 1831. (Baldwin)

Soon after their arrival, the Missionaries were assigned to different stations over the group, wherever there seemed to be the greatest opportunity of doing good. After a few months in Honolulu he was assigned to help Lorenzo Lyons in Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island. He remained there three years, from 1832 to 1835. (The Friend, December 1922)

In 1835, ill health caused Baldwin to leave Waimea and seek recovery in the Society Islands. “Such was the opinion of all I consulted at Honolulu, & though I could preach & attend to other duties, & it was trying to part with my dear family, yet I was afraid I might hereafter repent, should I not go; so I came to the conclusion to go.” (Baldwin, November 20, 1835)

“We sailed from Honolulu the 14th of July (1835) … We anchored at Papeete bay, on the NW side of Tahiti, in just one month from the time we sailed. … During the ten days we were at Tahiti, I did all I could, to visit the several stations”. (Baldwin)

“From Tahiti we sailed to Huahine, (then) we set sail for these islands. We were favored with good winds & in 20 days saw Hawaii … I landed Sept. 20th thankful at finding wife & little ones safe & well.” (While he was in Tahiti, his family had settled into their new home at Lāhainā.) (Baldwin, November 20, 1835)

The Lāhainā mission was started in 1823; William Richards had been pastor for 13-years. Lāhainā was then the favorite Royal Center of the King, and nearly all the high Chiefs of the Islands; it was the Kingdom’s capital (from the 1820s through the mid-1840s.)

It was also a thriving harbor in those days, being a port of call for the whale ships which sometimes filled the bay so full that one could jump from one deck to another.

Father and Mother Baldwin as they were often called, opened their home to all. Officers and masters of ships were the recipients of their wholehearted hospitality. Dr. Baldwin was physician for the mission families, and the government physician for Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi. (The Friend, December 1922)

“A barrel of whale oil furnished light for a year. The flour brought by the missionary steamer Morning Star came once a year and several times it had been so wetted in the storms off Cape Horn that it had hardened and it was necessary to chisel off the daily measure for cooking.”

“Vegetables, however, grew in their own garden and there was an abundance of fruit, such as bananas, grapes, and watermelons, and one does not hear that they suffered from their poverty.” (Baldwin)

Baldwin preached at the Waine‘e Church (“Moving Water;”) the cornerstone was laid on September 14, 1828, for this ‘first stone meeting-house built at the Islands,’ It was dedicated on March 4, 1832. The Hawaiian royalty attended services there.

(After fire destroyed the church in 1894, Baldwin’s son, Henry Perrine Baldwin, helped fund its restoration. Damaged and restored several times, the Church finally changed its name from Waine‘e Church, to Waiola Church (“Water of Life”) in 1954, and has safely-stood since.)

A series of epidemics swept through the Hawaiian Islands in the 1840s, whooping cough and measles, soon after followed by waves of dysentery and influenza; then, in 1853, a terrible smallpox epidemic. Although precise counts are not known, there were thousands of smallpox deaths on O‘ahu; Baldwin is credited with keeping the toll to only a few hundred on Maui.

“My journal has been long laid aside – not because I have not had thousands of things to record but mainly because press of cares has left little leisure to record what is passing in & what we are engaged. … 1853 was wonderfully taken up with our war with small pox on the islands.” (Baldwin, October 8, 1854)

“(Baldwin) was constant in his ministrations, taxing his strength almost to its limit. He was obliged to cross the channel to Molokai and Lanai often when the weather was very stormy, and too, very dangerous.”

“He never hesitated for a moment when the call came, night or day, but hurried on with his little bag, stepped into a double canoe and was off to Lanai and from there he took a whaleboat to Molokai. It was not unusual for Dr. Baldwin to take a trip of 80 or 90 miles on horseback to visit patients in Hana.” (The Friend, December 1922)

In 1856 the health of Father Baldwin, who had worked thirty-six years without a vacation, failed and the “American Board” granted him a year’s leave of absence. He and his wife left the Islands for a year’s visit in “the states.” (Baldwin)

In 1859 Baldwin belatedly received an honorary medical degree from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. Without having this he had suffered much embarrassment at the hands of the medical society of Honolulu who, despite the fact that he had been combining an exhausting medical practice for 27-years with his ministry, would not recognize him with a medical license unless he could produce documentary evidence of his medical degree. (HMCS)

It was with regret that Baldwin resigned his pastorate at Lāhainā, in September, 1868. That year Father Baldwin became associated with Reverend Benjamin Parker in the conduct of the native Theological Seminary at Honolulu; the Baldwins moved to Honolulu in 1870.

Mother Baldwin died on October 2, 1873; the inscription on her tombstone reads, “A life of work, love and prayer;” Dwight Baldwin died on January 3, 1886.

The Baldwins had eight children: David Dwight (1831–1912), Abigail Charlotte (1833–1913), Charles Fowler (1837–1891), Henry Perrine (1842–1911), Emily Sophronia (1844–1891) and Harriet Melinda (1846–1932). A daughter, Mary Clark died at about 2½ years of age in 1838; a son, Douglas Hoapili, died at almost 3 in 1843.

The Baldwin’s coral and stone Lāhainā Home, Baldwin House, is the oldest house in Lāhainā (completed in 1835.) It is now home to Lāhainā Restoration Foundation; they oversee and maintain 11 major historic structures in Lāhainā and provide tours of the Baldwin House. (Lots of information here from Baldwin Journals, Baldwin Genealogy and Mission Houses.)

December 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kaumualiʻi

Kaumuali‘i was the only son of Queen Kamakahelei and her husband, Aliʻi Kāʻeokūlani (Kā‘eo;) he was born in 1778 at Holoholokū, a royal birthing heiau specifically designated for the birth of high ranking children.

When Vancouver was anchored off Waimea, Kauai, he became interested in Kaumuali‘i, who was then about twelve years old. Vancouver found the child quiet and polite and good-tempered. He was interested in the new things which he saw, and asked intelligent questions.

When Vancouver made his second visit, he brought sheep as a present to the young chief. Kaumuali‘i entertained him with a dance of six-hundred women.

Kaumuali‘i kept up his interest in foreigners. They were his friends and taught him to read and write. Kaumuali‘i sent his son Humehume (Prince George) to America to be educated. (The young Prince later returned to the islands with the first party of American missionaries, in 1820.)

Kaumuali‘i became ruling chief of Kauai upon the death of his father Kā‘eo.

In 1784 Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kauai.

King Kamehameha I launched his first invasion attempt on Kauai in April of 1796, having already conquered the other Hawaiian Islands, and having fought his last major battle at Nu‘uanu on O‘ahu in 1795.

Kauai’s opposing factions (Kaumuali‘i versus Keawe) were extremely vulnerable as they had been weakened by fighting each other (Keawe died and Kaumuali‘i was, ultimately, ruler of Kauai and Ni‘ihau.)

About one-fourth of the way across the ocean channel between O‘ahu and Kauai, a storm thwarted Kamehameha’s warriors when many of their canoes were swamped in the rough seas and stormy winds, and then were forced to turn back.

Kamehameha’s second attempt was thwarted, again, when an epidemic, thought to be typhoid or dysentery, swept through the population, killing thousands. The sickness delayed for a second time Kamehameha’s goal of conquering Kauai.

In a renewed effort for a large-scale attack on Kauai, Kamehameha began assembling a formidable armada of sailing ships in Waikīkī, using foreigners to construct the vessels. The invasion never took place.

In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, at Pākākā on Oʻahu, negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha I took place and Kaumualiʻi yielded to Kamehameha.

The agreement marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the islands. Although Kaumuali‘i had ceded Kaua‘i and Niʻihau to Kamehameha I, he generally maintained de facto independence and control of the island following his agreement with Kamehameha.

It is believed that in 1816 Kaumuali‘i considered it possible for him to claim rule over Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau, O‘ahu, Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i, if he had Russian support. The Russians meanwhile were searching compensation for lost trade goods, as well as expanded trading opportunities.

Kaumuali‘i and Russian representative Georg Anton Schäffer had several agreements to bring Kauai under the protection of Russia, as well as weapons and ammunition from Schäffer, in exchange for trade in sandalwood. While agreements were made, subsequent battles never took place.

After King Kamehameha I died in 1819, Kaumuali‘i pledged his allegiance to Liholiho, Kamehameha’s son and successor. In 1821, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II) anchored his royal ship Ha‘aheo o Hawai‘i (Pride of Hawai‘i) in Waimea Bay, and invited Kaumuali‘i aboard.

After boarding the ship Kaumuali‘i was effectively taken as a prisoner and the ship sailed for O‘ahu. Kaumuali‘i settled in Honolulu and became a husband of Ka‘ahumanu, widow of Kamehameha I.

Hiram Bingham was on a preaching tour of the island of Kauai in 1824, shortly before King Kaumuali‘i died. Kaumuali‘i had been living on Oahu for three years. Bingham spoke to him just before coming to Kauai.

Bingham writes: “We found Kaumuali‘i seated at his desk, writing a letter of business. We were forcible and pleasantly struck with the dignity and gravity, courteousness, freedom and affection with which he rose and gave us his hand, his hearty aloha, and friendly parting smile, so much like a cultivated Christian brother.”

When the king died, Bingham said a gloom fell over Kauai. Kaumuali‘i was buried at Waine‘e Church (Wai‘ola Church,) on Maui.

After Kaumuali‘i’s death his son Humehume tried to seize the throne by leading a rebellion on Kauai, but he was defeated and sent to O‘ahu, where he could be watched.

King Kaumuali‘i’s granddaughter Kapiʻolani (1834–1899) married King Kalākaua.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Mahiole (feather helmet) reportedly to be the gift from Kamehameha I to King Kaumualii-400
Mahiole_of_Kaumualii,_1899- Kaumualiʻi (c. 1778 – May 26, 1824) was the last independent Aliʻi Aimoku (King of the islands) of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau
Maui-Lahaina-Waiola_Cemetery-Kaumualii
George_Prince_Kaumualii-Morse-1816

October 4, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Nāhiʻenaʻena

The only daughter of Kamehameha the Great and Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena was born in 1815; her brothers were Liholiho (Kamehameha II – born circa 1797) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III – born 1813.)

Her mother refused to follow the custom of the period and hānai her baby daughter to the rearing of another chief. Keōpūolani wanted to keep the last of her children at her side.

This decision tells us much about the mother’s force of character and meant that Nāhiʻenaʻena was in the very center of the stage during the crucial period in 1819: the illness and death of Kamehameha I, the assumption of the throne by Liholiho as Kamehameha II and the abolition of the kapu (initiated by her mother and Kaʻahumanu.) The princess was four years old when these great changes occurred. (Sinclair)

Toward the end of 1820, the decision was made to move the king’s official residence from Kailua-Kona to Honolulu. In early-1821, Liholiho, with his family, including Keōpūolani, Kauikeaouli and Nāhiʻenaʻena, and the important chiefs, established the seat of government on Oʻahu.

In the spring of 1823, Keōpūolani established a residence away from Honolulu in a grove at the foot of Diamond Head; there she hoped to find a quiet place to restore her health and to hear the new gospel without interruption.

“She, at this time, expressed her earnest desire that her two children, the prince and princess, then able to read and write, might be well educated, and particularly that Nahienaena might be trained up in the habits of Christian and civilized females, like the wives of the missionaries. She wished, too, that the missionaries would pray for Liholiho.” (Bingham)

“The missionaries and their wives earnestly desired to withdraw her (Nāhiʻenaʻena) from the scenes of heathen corruption, and throw around her daily the protecting shield of Christian families. But this could be accomplished only in part, as in that state of the nation she could not well be detached from the native community. She is said to be very amiable and kind, and is universally beloved and respected by her people.” (Bingham)

At the end of May in 1823, Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Hoapili (Keōpūolani’s husband) moved to Maui and took up residence in Lāhainā. Missionaries Charles Stewart and William Richards were assigned to establish a church and teach “letters and religion”.

The princess and her mother spent warm peaceful days in the study of letters and religion, interrupted occasionally when people came to celebrate their affection for the chiefesses by dancing and singing. Usually a great crowd assembled to watch.

Later that year, Keōpūolani became very ill and died. After Keōpūolani’s death, Nāhiʻenaʻena was placed in the care of Hoapili, her mother’s husband and governor of Maui, and of the two missionary teachers, Stewart and Richards, to whom she was already devoted.

In accordance with Hawaiian custom, Hoapili soon remarried. Nāhiʻenaʻena’s mother had been the first chief to be baptized a Protestant; her stepfather became the first chief to be married in a Christian ceremony. Richards conducted the service which united Hoapili to Kalākua, one of Kamehameha’s former queens.

In 1825, Nāhiʻenaʻena’s brother – King Kamehameha II – traveled to England. To celebrate his return, a yellow feather pāʻū was made for Nāhiʻenaʻena.

A pāʻū was a women’s garment that was typically a rectangular piece of kapa (tapa) wrapped several times around the waist and extended from beneath the bust (for royalty) or the waistline (for commoners) to the knee.

This special pāʻū was about 9-yards long, made of feathers, instead of kapa (it is the largest Hawaiian feather piece ever recorded.) Due to the unfortunate death of Liholiho and his wife Kamāmalu, the pāʻū was worn in grief, rather than celebration.

Hiram Bingham described the occasion, “The young princess had partly wrapped round her waist, above her black silk dress, a splendid yellow feather pau, or robe, nine yards in length and one in breadth, manufactured with skill and taste, at great expense, and designed for her anticipated reception of her brother Liholiho. In its fabrication, the small bright feathers were ingeniously fastened upon a fine netting, spun without wheels or spindles, and wrought by native hands, from the flaxen bark of their olona, and the whole being lined with crimson satin made a beautiful article of “costly array,” for a princess of eight years.”

The problem of a suitable marriage for Nāhiʻenaʻena had been in the minds of the chiefs from the time of her childhood. Before she was ten years old, a possible union between her and her brother was discussed. The purpose of such brother-sister marriages was to concentrate the royal blood so that the issue would have the highest possible rank. (Sinclair)

Queen Keōpūolani had been the issue of a brother-sister marriage, a naha mating of niʻaupiʻo chiefs; her parents had had the same mother but different fathers, both descended from the chiefly lines of Maui and Hawaiʻi. Liholiho had half-sisters among his five wives. They consulted the missionaries, who pointed out that such a marriage was forbidden in the eyes of God. (Sinclair)

There were repeated claims of incestuous behavior between Nāhiʻenaʻena and her brother, Kauikeaouli. On November 25, 1835, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Leleiōhoku (son of Kalanimōku) were married in Waine’e Church; the ceremony was performed by Richards.

She became pregnant the next year and on September 17 she had a son, who lived only a few hours. Nāhiʻenaʻena had been ill and continued to be gravely ill after the childbirth. She died shortly thereafter, December 30, 1836.

On February 14, 1837, Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, was married to Kalama Kapakuhaili. Leleiōhoku married a second time to Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani; he had a son William Pitt Kīnaʻu from his second wife.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

'Nahienaena_Soeur_germaine_du_Roi_des_iles_Sandwich_Tamehameha_III',_Barthélémy_Lauvergne-(WC)-1836

June 6, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiola Church

For several years after the American Board missionaries reached Lahaina in 1823, church services were held in temporary structures.

The first mission to Maui was founded by Reverend William Richards at that time. For a few years, temporary structures made from wooden poles with a thatched roof were used.

The church started under the name Waine‘e Church (“Moving Water.”) In 1826, it was blown down by wind and replaced by stone and wood.

In 1828, the chiefs, led by Ulumāheihei Hoapili, proposed to build a new stone church. The cornerstone was laid on September 14, 1828, for this ‘first stone meeting-house built at the Islands’; it was dedicated on March 4, 1832.

Waine‘e served as the church for Hawaiian royalty during the time when Lāhainā was effectively the Kingdom’s capital, from the 1820s through the mid-1840s.

In 1858, a whirlwind ravaged the roof and church steeple, but was repaired without too much trouble. The church stood safely for another 36 years, until it was destroyed by fire in 1894.

A new church building was built, a gift from Henry P. Baldwin, and that lasted another 50 years until it was partially destroyed by fire again. It was restored and re-dedicated only to be completely destroyed by a Kaua‘ula wind (a strong wind, especially in Lāhainā, that shifted from one point to another) three years later.

The Church finally changed its name from Waine‘e Church, to Waiola Church (“Water of Life”) in 1954, and has been safely and well taken care of since. The materials changed over time from grass, to coral, then to stone and wood, and then to the stronger materials such as brick.

The present church structure and the old cemetery occupy a tract of 2.45-acres on Waine‘e Street, between Chapel and Shaw Streets. The property is owned by the Waiola Protestant Church.

The priesthood at the church has changed multiple times since the original establishing of the church, and some reputable and well-known priests and preachers including, Dwight Baldwin, who preached from 1837 to 1868.

Waiola Church has extremely strong cultural ties to the people and land of Hawaiʻi. Waiola church served royalty for years, as Lāhainā was the capital of the Kingdom.

Waiola Church is one of the few still-standing buildings and monuments of the Hawaiian royalty long ago, and the great changes that Hawai‘i and its people went through in the 19th century.

Rev. Ephraim Spaulding joined with his wife Juliet Brooks from 1832 to 1836. Missionary Rev. Dwight Baldwin transferred here in 1836, and served as physician. The Baldwins rebuilt the house of the Spaulding’s.

Reportedly, the church is immortalized in James Michener’s Hawai‘i (as Reverend Abner Hale’s church in Lāhainā.)

The adjoining cemetery is said to date from 1823. Several members of the royal family were buried in the cemetery. A notable aspect of the cemetery is that the missionaries and native Hawaiians were buried side by side.

It contains the body of Keōpūolani (“Gathering of the Clouds of Heaven”), wife of Kamehameha the Great and mother of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III.

She and Ka‘ahumanu were largely responsible for the abolition of the kapu system. Keōpūolani is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the islands, receiving baptism from Rev. William Ellis in Lāhainā on September 16, 1823.

Other prominent Hawaiian nobles interred there include King Kaumuali‘i, Queen Kalākua, Princess Nahiʻenaʻena, Governor Hoapili and Governess Liliha. Here, too, is buried the Rev. William Richards, a pioneer missionary and advisor to the Hawaiian monarchy.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Wainee_Church-Mokuula in foeground-1851

Wainee_Church-1840

Coral_Tomb_of_Keopuolani-Wainee-Waiola_Church-Lahaina_Maui-(EngravedAtLahainaluna)

Wainee_Church-1859

ATTACHMENT DETAILS Brick-tomb-Waineʻe-now-Waiola-Church-Cemetery

Wainee_Church-1893-after-fire

Wainee_Church-1909

Wainee_Church-destroyed by winds-1951

Waiola Church (formerly Waineʻe Church), Lahaina Historic District, Lahaina

September 16, 2014 by Peter T Young 5 Comments

Tauʻā

William Ellis (August 24, 1794 – 1872) applied to train as a Christian missionary for the London Missionary Society and was accepted to the school. After attending Homerton College he was ordained in 1815; later that year, he married Mary Mercy Moor (November 9, 1815.) He served the London Mission in the Society Islands, Hawaiian Islands and Madagascar.

From 1816, when he first entered on his missionary career, until 1825, he devoted himself to “service of the Lord as a missionary” among the South Pacific Islands.

“It was the morning of the Sabbath when we embarked. Our friends in Gosport were preparing to attend public worship, when we heard the report of a signal-gun. The sound excited a train of feeling, which can be understood only by those who have been placed in similar circumstances. It was a report announcing the arrival of that moment which was to separate, perhaps for ever, from home and all its endearments, and rend asunder every band which friendship and affection had entwined around the heart.” (Ellis on departing for the South Pacific)

First landing in Eimeo (Moorea,) and travelling throughout the area, he served the London Mission for the next 6-years in the Society Islands (so named by Captain James Cook in honor of the ‘Royal Society,’ “as they lay contiguous to one another.”)

After an initial brief visit in 1822 to Hawaiʻi, arrangement were made between the American Board of Commissions for Foreign Mission, London Missionary Society and local chiefs, Ellis returned to Hawaiʻi to join the American mission there.

On April 16, 1822, the schooner Mermaid, arrived at Honolulu from Tahiti; on board were Ellis, other English missionaries and Auna and Matatore, Tahitian chiefs and teachers. After providing support for a few months to the American missionaries in the Islands, they returned to Tahiti, giving up their original plan of visiting the Marquesas Islands.

February 4, 1823, Ellis returned to the Islands, bringing his wife with him as well as Tahitian teachers, including Tauʻā. (Ellis remained at this time for about eighteen months; then returned to England, with his family.)

Tauʻā, originally known as Matapuupuu, was born in about 1792 and was by birth a raʻatira or landowner. He had been a principal Arioi (secret religious order of the Society Islands,) and succeeded his elder brother as chief priest of Huahine. (Gunson)

In August 1813 he joined John Davies’s school at Papetoʻai, and later accompanied Ellis to Huahine, where he became a prominent church member and was appointed deacon. He was also appointed first Secretary of the Huahinean Missionary Society. His speeches at prayer meetings and May meetings were reported with some pride. (Gunson)

Shortly after Ellis and Tauʻā arrived in Hawaiʻi, the Second Company of American missionaries arrived, bringing the Reverend William Richards and the Reverend Charles Stewart (April 1823.)

About this time, Queen Mother Keōpūolani (mother of Kamehameha II and III) began to accept many western ways. She wore western clothes, she introduced western furniture into her house and she took instruction in Christianity.

But her health began to fail, and she decided to move her household from the pressures of the court circle in Honolulu to the tranquility of Waikīkī. With her she took Hoapili (her husband) and Nahiʻenaʻena (her daughter.)

Each Sunday the missionaries walked across the hot plain from Honolulu to Waikīkī to hold divine service and to instruct the Queen Mother in Christian doctrine. Keōpūolani decided, however, that these Sunday meetings did not suffice; she asked that a religious instructor be attached to her household. Her choice was Tauʻā; the mission approved. (Sinclair)

In May of 1823, Keōpūolani decided to make her last move, this time back to the island of her birth, Maui. She chose Lāhainā, with its warm and sunny climate – another place traditionally a favorite with the chiefs. (Sinclair)

Before leaving, Keōpūolani requested the Americans to assign teachers to go with her. She wanted a mission established in Lāhainā, and further instruction in reading and writing for herself; she also wished to have a man of God to pray with her. The Honolulu mission selected Charles Stewart and William Richards to accompany the queen. (Sinclair)

Immediately on their arrival in Lāhainā, she requested them to commence teaching, and also said, “It is very proper that my sons (meaning the missionaries) be present with me at morning and evening prayers.”

They were always present, and sung a hymn in the Hawaiian language. Often in conversation she would introduce the subject which had been discussed, and ask important questions respecting it. (Memoir of Keōpūolani)

She became more attentive to the Gospel as she was resting. It was Tauʻā who became the teacher she relied on as perhaps they were able to converse with each other in the Polynesian language. (Mookini)

Tauʻā proved a faithful teacher, and he did much to establish her in the Christian faith. He answered several of her questions on the subject of Christianity.

She said to Tauʻā, “My heart is much afraid I shall never become a Christian.” He replied, “Why, what is in the way?” She said, “I think I am likely to die soon.” He replied, “Do you not love God?” She answered, “O yes, I love – I love him very much.” Tauʻā then communicated farther instruction to her. At the close of the conversation she said, “Your word, I know, is true. It is a good word; and now I have found, I have obtained a Saviour, and a good King, Jesus Christ.”

She asked him for advice about her having two husbands (at the time she was married to Kalanimōku and Hoapili.) Tauʻā answered: “It is proper for a woman to have one husband, man to have one wife.” She then said: “I have followed the custom of Hawaiʻi, in taking two husbands in the time of our dark hearts. I wish now to obey Christ and to walk in the right way. It is wrong to have two husbands and I desire but one. Hoapili is my husband, hereafter my only husband.” (Memoir of Keōpūolani)

To Kalanimōku she said: “I have renounced our ancient customs, the religion of wooden images, and have turned to the new religion of Jesus Christ. He is my King and my Savior, and him I desire to obey. I can have but one husband. Your living with me is at an end. No more are you to eat with my people or lodge in my house.” (Mookini)

She was asked, “How do you feel, as you are about leaving the world?” She answered, “I remember what my teachers told me. I pray much to Jesus Christ to be with me and take me to himself. I am now about to leave my three children, my people and my teachers. But it is not dark now. It would have been, had I died before these good times. You must pray for me, and all the missionaries must pray for me. I love you. I love them. I think I love Jesus Christ, and I trust he will receive me.” (Memoir of Keōpūolani)

In Keōpūolani’s earnest inquiries after truth, and the increasing experience of its power on the heart, Mrs. Ellis had, in common with other members of the Mission, ever taken a lively interest, and she shared with her companions at Lāhainā in the hallowed joy which was felt by the growing meetness for heaven which the first convert in Hawaiʻi had manifested, as the signs of her approaching dissolution became more frequent and decisive. (Mary Mercy Ellis Memoir)

In the presence of the royal family and the chiefs, Ellis delivered a short address to explain the meaning of baptism; he sprinkled Keōpūolani with water in the name of God – Ellis administered the rite of baptism to Keōpūolani. She had earlier chosen Harriet, the name of Mrs. Stewart, to be her baptismal name. (Sinclair)

The King (Liholiho, her son) and all the heads of the nation listened with the most profound attention, and when they saw that water was sprinkled on her in the name of God, they said, “Surely she is no longer ours, she formerly gave herself to Jesus Christ. We believe she is his, and will go to dwell with him.” (Memoir of Keōpūolani)

The ceremony was performed at five in the afternoon of September 16, 1823; at six o’clock the Queen was dead.

The funeral ceremonies, after the Christian manner, were held two days later with chiefs, missionaries and foreigners surrounding the corpse. (Mookini)

It was a season of much spiritual enjoyment to all present, it was peculiarly solemn and impressive; especially from the number of native chiefs and others who were present, some of whom were among the most earnest inquirers after truth, and all of whom seemed much affected, and anxious to ask the meaning of an observance to them so new and strange. (Mary Mercy Ellis Memoir)

After her death, Tauʻā joined the household of Hoapilikane and remained with that chief until his death in 1840. He then joined the household of Hoapiliwahine. (Tauʻā died in about 1885.)

The image shows the initial burial tomb for Keōpūolani; she was later reburied there in Waineʻe Church cemetery (now known as Waiola Church) in Lāhainā.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn