Voyage Of The Thaddeus
When the missionaries arrived on O‘ahu in April 1820 they lived in houses provided by foreigners in an area just mauka of the fort (mauka of what is now the Aloha Tower area). The king controlled all construction in the Kingdom and had given orders to Boki (the Governor of Oʻahu) to construct a group of houses for the new foreigners. Boki delayed building any hale pili [grass house] for the missionaries. Boki rejected the mission’s requested location just inland of the main village, arguing that his farmers already used the land for growing kalo (taro). Boki suggested a spot “three quarters of a mile from H[onolulu] on the high road to Witeti [Waikīkī] on an extensive plain with a view of the open sea in front & lofty mountains & fertile valleys in the rear.” This was at a place called Kawaiaha‘o.
It was “on the arid plain, about half a mile east of the landing, then some distance from the village, … After a few months, he erected three temporary habitations for the mission family, residing on that island.” In late September the mission family finally moved from the houses of the ship captains to the new hale pili on the plain; this line of buildings became known as Missionary Row – it is now where Hawaiian Mission Houses is located. To help remember and learn from the past, Hawaiian Mission Houses built a Hale Pili on their grounds.
Tomorrow, a new page will start that chronicles the voyage of the Thaddeus – a map noting its daily progress, and text from journals of the occupants.
The image here shows the overall route (deciphered from daily entries from the journals) – go to: https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/voyage-of-the-thaddeus/.
Day 001 – October 23, 1819.
The Thaddeus sets sail from Boston.
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On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of ABCFM missionaries from the northeast US, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands.
These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife Jerusha and their five children; and four young Hawaiians: Hopu; Kanui; Honoli‘i and Humehume (the son of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i).
This page notes their daily progress from Boston to Hawai‘i and shares some of their letters and journal entries on their voyage.
They first sighted the Islands and arrived at Kawaihae on March 30, 1820, and finally anchored at Kailua-Kona, April 4, 1820. On April 11, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) gave the missionaries permission to stay. They set up a mission station in Kailua-Kona, the Honolulu contingent arrived on Oʻahu on April 19, 1820. Finally, Ruggles and Whitney took Humehume home to Kauai on May 2, 1820.