William Herbert Shipman | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

Within what is now called Hilo Bay is a small bay referred to as ‘Reed’s Bay.’ It is named after William H Reed. Born in 1814 Belfast, Ireland, Reed was a businessman. He created Reed’s Landing, which he used to moor boats carrying lumber for one of his businesses. (Hawaiʻi County)

Reed arrived in the Islands in the 1840s and set up a contracting concern specializing in the construction of wharfs, landings, bridges and roads. Other interests included ranching, trading and retailing. (Clark)

Across Hilo Bay, on January 1, 1856, Reed leased a 26-acre island – originally known as ‘Koloiki’ (‘little crawling,’) – it was once surrounded by the Wailuku River and Waikapu Stream.

Reed cleared a portion of the site and had a cattle pasture; he then purchased the island for $200 on February 18, 1861, and it became known as Reed’s Island. (Warshauer)

Reed married Jane Stobie Shipman on July 8, 1868 (she was a widow, previously married to William Cornelius Shipman, a missionary assigned to Waiʻōhinu in the district of Kaʻū. Shipman died in 1861, leaving Jane with her three children, William Herbert, Oliver Taylor and Margaret Clarissa.)

(Son William Herbert (1854-1943) was an important businessman on the Island of Hawaii; son Oliver Taylor (1857-1942) became a tax assessor and county supervisor, and daughter Margaret Clarissa (1859-1891) married politician Lorrin Thurston who organized the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Jane was born in Scotland. At an early age she came to the US with her parents, lived in Quincy, Illinois, and was educated to be a teacher; and in 1853 was married to Reverend Shipman. (The Friend, December, 1902)

Following his death, Jane moved to Hilo, with her three children and maintained the family by keeping a boarding school until 1868 (when she was married to Reed.) (The Friend, December, 1902)

William Reed died on November 11, 1880 with no children of his own; Jane inherited the Reed land holdings. (In 1881, Reed’s stepson William Herbert Shipman and two partners (Captain J. E. Eldarts and Samuel M Damon) purchased the entire ahupuaʻa of Keaʻau, about 70,000-acres from the King Lunalilo estate.)

“[B]efore Reed’s Island was in demand for residence sites DH Hitchcock grew a crop of pineapples there that was sufficient to supply the demand in Hilo.” (Hawaii Herald, June 29, 1899)

Apparently, upon the death of Reed, the land was under the control of his stepson, WH Shipman, who sold the island to AB Loebenstein. (Warshauer)

The November 6, 1897 Hilo Daily Tribune reported that “Mr CS Desky has purchased Reed’s Island, in the Wailuku River, and the same will be subdivided and sold. It is proposed to construct a fine bridge to span the stream, and lay out streets and otherwise make this pretty spot an ideal one for homes.” For a while the development was renamed Riverside Park.

JR Wilson, owner/operator of the Volcano Stables, who operated a daily stage between Hilo and Volcano, “purchased of Bruce Waring & Co the celebrated lot on the Riverside Park, on the point near the bridge”. (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 11, 1899)

The April 6, 1899 Hawai‘i Herald reported, “The handsome steel bridge over the Wailuku was finished last week.” It goes on to report, “JR Wilson was the first person to drive over the bridge at Riverside Park and the around the Island. In spite of this Mr Pratt felt that it is necessary to test the bridge by running the steam roller over it.”

On April 20, 1899, the Hawaii Herald reported, “The recent improvements made by Bruce Waring & Co upon the Riverside Park property, commonly called Reed’s Island, makes this by far the most attractive residence property in Hilo.”

“The plans for the Wilson residence are to be placed in the hands of local contractors this week … a representative of this paper was permitted to see the plans drawn by a local architect [KL Kerr] and which Mr Wilson took with him to Honolulu for revision, and they show a residence unique and attractive in every way designed especially for the lot, which commands a view extending over the harbor on the east, and the mountains westward.”

“It promises to be the handsomest residence in town at present, and the interior plans show it to be as commodious and convenient as it is handsome.” (Hilo Daily Tribune, May 27, 1899)

Wilson’s was the first house to be built in the new subdivision. They moved into the house in mid-April, 1900. (Hawaii Heald) “The Wilson residence built where it commands a view of all Hilo and the country from the sea to mountain is completed and Mr Wilson and family are enjoying ‘all the comforts of a home.’” (Hawaii Herald, April 19, 1900)

Then, on March 1, 1901, the newspaper reported, “Mr WH Shipman has purchased the Wilson residence at Riverside Park, for $12,000.” (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 1, 1901)

The newspaper further noted, “Mr Shipman had previously been contemplating the erection of a new home on the site of is present dwelling, at Waiakea, but for various reasons has decided to make a home nearer town.” (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 1, 1901)

The ‘Big House,’ as the early Shipmans called it, stands at the lower end of Reed’s Island, a landlocked area within walking distance of downtown Hilo but cut off by the deep gulches of the Wailuku River and the Waikapu Stream. (Thompson)

Around this time, Wilson was formulating and developing the Ho‘olulu Race Track. “Hilo is going to have a race track and base ball grounds. … Mr Wilson selected a site at Waiakea … The track will be almost circular in form”. (Hawaii Herald, March 1, 1900) The baseball field was located inside the race track. (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 17, 1900) That venture was considered a success.

A possible motivation for selling the home after only 1-year was noted in the newspaper, “JR Wilson has disposed of his interests in the Volcano Stables Co and will retire from the management of the corporation on April 1 next. The change on the part of Me Wilson was made solely on account of his health which has not been good since his return from the Coast.” (Hawaii Herald, January 17, 1901)

Several April 1901 notices in the paper noted, “During my absence from the islands WS Wise will act for me under full pwer of attorney.” (Dated April 3, 1901) (Hawaii Herald) In 1902, the paper reported, “JR Wilson formerly of this city, now in Nevada …” (Hilo Tribune, March 7, 1902)

(So, the land that had once been owned by his stepfather and, then, at the stepfather’s death transferred to his mother and WH Shipman sold it in 1897 to Loebenstein and Wilson built a house on the best part of it, returned back to WH Shipman and became his home. The house is still owned by members of the Shipman family.)

Hawai’i Island was the birthplace and stronghold of Hawai’i’s ranching industry and paniolo (cowboy) culture. The first cattle were brought by Captain George Vancouver in 1793 and 1794 as a gift to Kamehameha I who turned them loose and placed a kapu (taboo) on their slaughter until 1830.

By that time, a dozen cattle had proliferated into a numerous and feral population, which was wreaking havoc on native ecosystems and seemed impossible to control.

Kamehameha III then sent an ambassador to Mexico to bring back some vaqueros (Mexican cowboys) to teach local people to ride horses, rope cattle, and tame wild cattle.

Between 1850 and 1900 many different breeds of cattle were imported throughout the Hawaiian Islands and large-scale ranching operations emerged, particularly on Hawai‘i Island – the chief industries elsewhere in the state were sugarcane and pineapple.

The entire ahupua‘a of Keauhou (at Volcano) was awarded to Victoria Kamāmalu, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I. Between 1866 and 1884, the ownership of Keauhou was successively inherited by members of the Kamehameha lineage upon the deaths of previous heirs until the death of Princess Bernice Pauahi.

At that time, her husband Charles Bishop established BP Bishop Estate to administer Keauhou and other properties in Pauahi’s inheritance. Congress purchased the lower portion of Keauhou from BP Bishop Estate and established Hawai‘i National Park in 1916.

In 1921, Bishop Estate leased other portions of Keauhou to May K and Arthur W Brown and they established Keauhou Ranch. In August 1937, the lease was transferred to the Brown heirs. In November 1937, William H Shipman, Ltd purchased the Brown heirs’ Keauhou Ranch lease as well as all animals, structures and land improvements on the property.

Herbert Cornelius Shipman sought the property as a safe retreat in case of a Japanese invasion for himself, his sisters and his father. He renamed it ‘Āinahou (new land) Ranch.

Herbert C Shipman was the only son of William Herbert Shipman, one of East Hawai‘i’s best known ranchers and businessmen. (Herbert Shipman took over the business after his father’s death in 1943.)

Herbert C Shipman was a locally renowned businessman, cattle rancher, wildlife conservationist, philanthropist, and descendant of one of the oldest missionary families in Hawai’i.

The ‘Āinahou Ranch is located within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, approximately four miles south and down slope from Kilauea Caldera, the world’s most active volcano.

Construction of the ‘Āinahou Ranch House began in 1940 and ended in July of the following year, just before the World War II broke out.

During and after the war, the ranch house was also used as a base of operations for ‘Āinahou Ranch, which supplied beef to military and domestic outlets. After World War II, the ranch supplied meat to Hilo outlets for approximately 20 years.

After the war, ‘Āinahou was used as his personal retreat and a place to entertain friends. An ‘Āinahou guest book contains the signatures of several hundreds of people who were invited by Shipman between 1945-1965.

Among his guest were actresses Joan Crawford and Janet Gaynor, Sir Peter Buck and well known Pacific archaeologists Kenneth Emory and Marian Kelly.

Over the years, elaborate gardens surrounded the ranch house. Shipman moved a surviving flock of nene (Hawaiian goose and State bird) from his coastal residence in Kea‘au to ‘Āinahou Ranch after a tsunami hit the Island of Hawai’i on April 1, 1946, devastating the local nene population. The ranch was used as a nene sanctuary.

Shipman is credited with the saving of the nene from the brink of extinction by initiating a controlled breeding program. At that
time, the total population of the species had been reduced to a few dozen birds.

In 1969, when Kilauea Volcano became active, threatening Shipman’s property, Shipman decided to evacuate all personnel, but left the nene.

In 1971-72, as the lava approached the property within 2/3 of a mile, an agreement was reached where Shipman received payment from the Park Service for the improvements, Bishop Estate terminated Shipman’s lease due to an imminent danger clause and sold the land fee simple to the National Park Service.

The property was purchased by the National Park Service under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, requiring that part of the land be set aside for activities related to preserving endangered species and a portion is currently being used to care for the nene.

Since the National Park Service acquired the property, the house has been used intermittently as a retreat, hostel for visiting work crews and overnight lodging for social groups.

Herbert, who never married, died childless in 1976. In accordance with his will, most of his assets went to establish a philanthropic foundation.

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