Dwight Baldwin

Dwight Baldwin was born on September 29, 1798 to Seth Baldwin (1775 –1832,) (a framer) 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.)

The image shows Dwight Baldwin.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Kapalua

The traditional district (moku) of Kāʻanapali consisted of five major stream valleys (Honokōwai, Kahana, Honokahua, Honolua and Honokōhau), all of which were extensively terraced for wet taro (loʻi) in early historic and later times.

Honokahua Valley has been described as having wet taro (loʻi) lands, although not in great abundance; sweet potatoes were reportedly grown between Honokōhau and Kahakuloa Ahupuaʻa, presumably on lower kula lands.  The Kahana Ahupuaʻa was known as a place of salt gathering for the people of Lāhainā.

The Kāʻanapali District is noted for an alaloa (a path or trail) that reportedly encircled the entire island. Walker wrote: "The north end of Maui also is traversed by a paved trail. Sections of it can be seen from Honolua to Honokōhau to Kahakuloa. It is paved with beach rocks and has a width of four to six feet."  (PBR)

There are six bays located on Maui’s west shore whose names begin with the word Hono. These bays and coves are collectively known as Hono a Piʻilani.  From South to North, six of the identified bays are Honokōwai (bay drawing fresh water), Honokeana (cave bay), Honokahua (sites bay,) Honolua (two bays), Honokōhau (bay drawing dew) and Hononana (animated bay).

Kapalua Resort is situated along this coast between Honokeana and Honolua.  (Kapalua loosely translates as “arms embracing the sea”.)

After seventeen years of service, Dr Dwight Baldwin was granted 2,675-acres, the lands of the Mahinahina and Kahana ahupuaʻa, for farming and grazing. From that base, new lands were acquired until the holdings, known as Honolua Ranch, reached 24,500 acres in 1902.

First starting as Honolua Ranch (1912,) then Baldwin Packers (1914,) this area was home to the largest producer of private label pineapple and pineapple juice in the nation.

After mergers and other name changes, in 1969, Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc (ML&P) was created; then, the largest employer on the island of Maui.

In 1974, ML&P carved out 1,650-acres of its nearly 22,000-acres to form a wholly-owned subsidiary, Kapalua Land Company.  That year, the master-planned community that makes up the Kapalua Resort (with five white sand beaches) was approved by Maui County.

In 1978, the Kapalua Bay Hotel opened, beginning the change of the former ranch and pineapple lands at Honokahua into a world-class destination resort complex.

In 1987, during the excavation and construction of the Ritz Carlton hotel within the Kapalua Resort, hundreds of native Hawaiian burials were discovered on the planned hotel site.

The scope of the burial site, combined with growing Native Hawaiian consciousness, mobilized protesters.  Native Hawaiians and supporters rallied at Honokahua, and in late-1988 at the state Capitol, finally halting the burial disturbance. The hotel was built farther inland.  (Honolulu Advertiser)

The Hui Alanui O Makena filed for a contested case hearing; eventually a plan was devised in September 1989 for the proper reburial of more than 900-native Hawaiian bodies disinterred.  (Aoude)

Associated with that, the state paid $6-million for a perpetual preservation easement and restoration of the burial site.  A 14-acre site is now a historical and cultural landmark.

In addition, as a result of this, Hawaiʻi's burial treatment law, passed in 1990, gives unmarked burials, most of which are Native Hawaiian, the same protection as modern cemeteries.

In 1988, Kapalua began management programs, under a management agreement with The Nature Conservancy of Hawaiʻi, for the protection of the Pu‘u Kukui Preserve in the West Maui Mountains.  (Access to the Preserve is restricted by ML&P.)

Now, Kapalua includes The Ritz-Carlton, the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay, the Kapalua Spa, eight residential subdivisions, two championship golf courses (The Bay and The Plantation,) ten-court tennis facilities, several restaurants, and over 800 condominiums, single-family homes and residential lots.  (In 2006, the Kapalua Bay Hotel was taken down.)

Kapalua serves as the home of two of Maui’s longest running signature events, the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival and the PGA Tour’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

The intent of the Kapalua Resort was to provide a luxurious resort atmosphere removed from the Lāhainā-Kāʻanapali area.  With that, it serves as an example of a low-key, low-density destination resort community.

Recently a public coastal trail was incorporated into the Resort; eventually, the trail will be approximately 3.5-miles in length, running from Lower Honoapiʻilani Road through the Kapalua Resort to Honolua Bay.

Future components of the Kapalua Land Company in and around Kapalua Resort include Kapalua Mauka (640- residential units, commercial space and up to 27 holes of golf on a total of 800 acres;) the Village at Kapalua (a central commercial component;) and Pulelehua (a new traditional community for working families in West Maui.)

The image shows Kapalua in 1976.  In addition, I have added related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Kaluanui - Maui

Henry (Harry) Alexander Baldwin, eldest son of Henry Perrine Baldwin and grandson of missionary Dwight Baldwin, was born in Pāʻia, Maui on January 12, 1871.

Baldwin was educated in Honolulu at Punahou School. His parents later sent him to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts from which he graduated in 1889. In 1894, Baldwin obtained a degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He returned to work for his father and uncle on the Haiku sugarcane plantation; from 1897 to 1904 he became manager.  In addition to extensive business interests (including Baldwin Bank, Haleakala Ranch Co, Maui Agricultural Co, Grove Ranch, Kahoʻolawe Ranch, Maui Telephone Co, and Maui Publishing Co,) Harry dabbled in politics.  He was elected to represent Maui in the territorial senate and served several terms.

Then, in 1922, following the death of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (Hawaiʻi’s congressman,) Baldwin was elected to the sixty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy and Kūhiō’s unexpired term (Baldwin declined to be a candidate for a subsequent term.)

He resumed his former business pursuits and later got back into politics, first as a State representative in 1933 and then member of the Hawaii senate 1934-1937, serving as president during the 1937 session.

Harry married Ethel Frances Smith (1879–1967), daughter of lawyer William Owen Smith in Honolulu — Harry’s younger brother Samuel later married Ethel’s sister Katherine Smith.  Harry and Ethel had one daughter, Frances Hobron (1904–1996,) who married J Walter Cameron (1895–1976.)

In 1917, Harry and Ethel Baldwin had a home designed (by a relative, architect CW Dickey) and built in 1917 – the property was known as “Kaluanui.”

Horses were Harry’s passion, and riding was his respite. He kept a private stable at Kaluanui; occasionally, racing some of his favorites at the Maui County Fair and joining his brothers on the polo field, beginning a Baldwin Family tradition that continues today.

Baldwin Beach Park is named after Harry A Baldwin.  The park was originally developed as a company recreation facility by Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company, but in 1963 it became a public beach park.  (Clark)

Back in 1850, Robert Wood and AH Spencer started East Maui Plantation at Kaluanui.  It was eventually bought by C Brewer & Co and closed in 1885. The land sold to Haiku Sugar Co.  It became part of the Maui Agriculture Co and later Maui Land & Pineapple Co (run by son-in-law J Walter Cameron and grandson Colin.)

In 1934, Ethel Baldwin, a community leader, founded the Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Society.  She invited artists from around the world to stay at Kaluanui in exchange for art lessons that she and her friends attended.

When the family stopped using Kaluanui as a home in the 1950s, the estate became the property of Maui Land & Pineapple Company.

In 1976, Maui Land & Pine granted the Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Society use of Kaluanui property for a school of the visual arts.  It has since under gone extensive historic restoration and repair.  In June 2005, the Hui purchased the 25-acre property from Maui Land & Pine.

The Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center is a non-profit organization that now owns the Kaluanui property and supports lifelong learning in the arts including public workshops and classes, lectures, exhibitions, art events, historical tours and educational outreach programs. The “Hui” has been a gathering place for some of the greatest artistic minds contributing to Maui arts and culture.

The art studios at Hui Noʻeau offer year-round access to fine art equipment and technical supervision for all who choose to participate. The exhibition program and galleries of Hui Noʻeau play an important role in Maui’s growing art community, showing work from on and off island artists.

The unique gallery shop features the work of Hui Noʻeau member artists and a wide variety of handcrafted items, books, jewelry, cards, posters and prints.

The organization offers classes in printmaking, pottery, woodcarving and other visual arts. Folks are welcome to visit the gallery, which exhibits topnotch local artists, and walk around the grounds, which include stables turned into art studios. The gift shop sells quality ceramics, glassware and original prints.

The Hui provides an array of programs that support lifelong learning in the visual arts including public workshops and classes, free lecture series, monthly exhibitions, art events, historical house tours and educational outreach programs with schools and community partner organizations.

Harry Baldwin died at Pāʻia, Maui County, Hawaii, October 8, 1946, Ethel Baldwin died September 20, 1967 they are buried in Makawao Cemetery, Makawao, Hawaiʻi.

The image shows the restored Kaluanui property.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Lorenzo Lyons (Makua Laiana – Father Lyons)

The family name was originally Lyon, to which his grandfather, David Lyon, arbitrarily added an ‘s.’ The Lyon or Lyons family traces its descent back to the time of the Norman Conquest and William the Conqueror.  The first of the family to immigrate to America was William Lyon, who went from London to Boston in 1635.

General Nathaniel Lyon, who lost his life in the Civil War, was of the same stock, as also was Mary Lyon, the founder of Mt. Holyoke Seminary.  A tradition in the Lyons family says that some of its members took part in the celebrated "Boston Tea Party," returning home with some of the tea in their shoes. (Williams College)

Lorenzo and Betsy Lyons arrived in the Hawaiian Islands as missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) arriving on the ‘Averick’ on May 17, 1832.  They were part of the large Fifth Company, including the Alexanders, Armstrongs, Emersons, Forbes, Hitchcocks, Lymans and others.

On July 16 1832, Missionary Lorenzo Lyons replaced Reverend Dwight Baldwin as minister at Waimea, South Kohala, Hawai‘i. Lyons’ “Church Field” was centered in Waimea, at what is now the historic church ‘Imiola.

In a May 8, 1835 letter to the ABCFM, Lyons notes:
“Mr. Baldwin in consequence of ill health is removed from Waimea, and never expects to return. Hence 15,000 souls are thrown upon me, a burden greater than I can bear. Waimea is the most central station. A man located there can do something - not much - for Kohala and Hāmākua.”

“It is my conviction and the conviction of many others that Waimea, including its outposts, is the most difficult and uninviting of all stations now occupied. No one who is acquainted with it wishes to be located there. Perhaps I am mistaken. But I shall sink unless I am speedily aided. “

“To be alone in this wide, desolate and lone region, 40 or 50 miles from any missionary brother, and no physician nearer than Oahu, is unpleasant. But to have the care of so many thousands weighing upon me is unsupportable. Pray for me”.

He stayed, stuck to it, succeeded and spent the rest of his life in Waimea.

Father Lyons was eminently popular with Hawaiians and with all men.  His nature was guileless, cordial, enthusiastic, cheering. He was remarkable for hospitality to Hawaiians always seeing that his visitors passing through Waimea had something to eat.  (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1886)

His base was at ʻImiola Church in Waimea.  The first ʻImiola Church was a grass hut built and dedicated sometime before 1832 by King Kamehameha III.  Lyons wrote in his journal that at least one hundred little grass schoolhouses were scattered around the immediate Waimea area at that time.

His first wife, Betsy, died in 1837.  From that time on Lyons continued the tireless and devoted worker wholly thoughtless of self, joyous, enthusiastic, ardent and kindly to others.  His constant tours extended from near Laupāhoehoe to Waimanu in Hāmākua and to Kawaihae and Puako in Kohala South. He always went on foot, unsparing of his slight and wiry frame.  (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1886)

On July 14, 1838, he married Lucia G. Smith of Truxton, New York.

By February of 1843, the first ʻImiola Church had been torn down and was replaced by a stone structure with thatched roof and windows.  Hundreds of Hawaiians helped in the collection of stones, often carrying them miles to the construction site.  However, it ran into disrepair.

On August 29, 1855, the cornerstone of a new church was laid. “Under the cornerstone (SW corner) was deposited a tin box wrapped in mamaki kapa – Hawaiian Bible, hymn books, newspapers, laws, etc.” (Lyons) By 1857, the church was completed and dedicated. The ceiling rafters, floor and exterior clapboard are made of koa.

As was the practice, the early missionaries learned the Hawaiian language and taught their lessons in Hawaiian, rather than English.  In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians.  In later years, the instruction, ultimately, was in English.

Lyons was an avid supporter of the Hawaiian language.  He wrote a letter to the editor in The Friend newspaper (September 2, 1878) that, in part noted:
“An interminable language...it is one of the oldest living languages of the earth, as some conjecture, and may well be classed among the best...the thought to displace it, or to doom it to oblivion by substituting the English language, ought not for a moment to be indulged. … Long live the grand old, sonorous, poetical Hawaiian language.”

He was lovingly known to Hawaiians as Ka Makua Laiana, Haku Mele o ka Aina Mauna – Father Lyons, Lyric Poet of the Mountain County.

Lyons was fluent in the Hawaiian language and composed many poems and hymns; his best known and beloved work is the hymn "Hawaiʻi Aloha" sung to the tune of "I Left It All With Jesus" (circa 1852.)  The song was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Widely regarded as Hawaiʻi's second anthem, this hymn is sung in both churches and public gatherings. It is performed at important government and social functions to bring people together in unity, and at the closing of Hawaiʻi Legislative sessions. The first appearance of "Hawaiʻi Aloha" in a Protestant hymnal was in 1953, nearly 100 years after it was written. Today, people automatically stand when this song is played extolling the virtues of ‘beloved Hawaiʻi.’” (Hawaiian Music Museum).

Hawaiʻi Aloha - Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmbueDbJh1o

“In 1872, he published Buke Himeni Hawaii containing over 600 hymns two thirds his own composition. Some years later he prepared the Sabbath School Hymn and Tune Book Lei Aliʻi … The Hawaiians owe entirely to his exertions their introduction to modern enlivening styles of popular sacred music.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1886)

After leaving the mission, he stayed in Waimea.

He was known in the town as the man who carried out many functions.  In October, 1854 Father Lyons became the first official Postmaster of Waimea, a post he held until he was very old. The Honolulu Directory of 1884 listed him as pastor of ʻImiola Church, postmaster, school agent and government physician.

His love for his native country was all that might be expected in such a deeply affectionate and idealistic nature. … But it was to another flag that Laiana affectionately and unreservedly dedicated his allegiance and his life.  (Doyle)

It was the desire of Laiana’s heart that when laid in his last resting place he be wrapped in his dearest flag, the flag of Hawaiʻi Nei. Kalākaua himself sent the flag and the frail little body was encased in its soft silken folds.  (Doyle)

Lorenzo Lyons died October 6, 1886.  He was buried some distance from the church on the grounds of his old homestead.  In April, 1939, his remains were moved to the grounds of ʻImiola Church, Waimea, South Kohala, Hawaiʻi.

The image shows Lorenzo Lyons, Makua Laiana.  In addition, I have included other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Baldwin Packers

The history of Baldwin Packers dates back to 1836 when Dwight Baldwin, a doctor with the fourth company of American missionaries to Hawaii, settled on Maui.

After seventeen years of service, Doctor Baldwin was granted 2,675-acres, the lands of the Mahinahina and Kahana ahupua'a, for farming and grazing. From that base, new lands were acquired until the holdings, known as Honolua Ranch, reached 24,500 acres in 1902.

The business of Honolua Ranch included fishing, raising cattle and farming crops of taro, mango, aloe and coffee bean. Its ranch manager, David Fleming, was from Scotland.

First, after careful study of resources, water was directed from streams and gulches, providing water and electricity to the new headquarters of Honolua Ranch which was moved from Honolua Bay to Kapalua, an area more suitable for agriculture.  Likewise, Fleming reforested watershed land with sandalwood and koa.

West Maui's roots in the historic pineapple industry began in 1912, when Fleming began growing pineapple there; almost overnight the pineapple industry boomed.  Honolua Ranch was soon renamed Baldwin Packers; at one time they were the largest producer of private label pineapple and pineapple juice in the nation.

Baldwin Packers started pineapple canning in 1914 and at first its cannery was located close to its pineapple fields in the Honolua section.  Difficulty in securing labor in the busiest seasons of packing and the distance of the haul from the cannery to Kaʻānapali, which was then its shipping point, made it advisable to secure a location nearer town.

Baldwin Packers Pineapple cannery was eventually located at Lāhainā, this addressed transportation (proximity to Mala Wharf) and labor concerns.  At Mala, the cannery was eight or ten miles from the fields and the fruit is transported to the plant by rail and truck.

In 1922, Mala Wharf was built and it was hoped that this new pier would facilitate transporting the pineapple, however, it was discovered that the ocean currents at Mala Wharf were too treacherous for the ships to navigate safely. Produce had to be taken by barge to awaiting ships.

By 1924, the Baldwin Packers Ltd. Cannery was producing 4,500 cases of canned pineapple per day. The pineapples were transported from the fields to the cannery by the Pioneer Mill Co. Railroad Line.  By 1932, the roads have been improved enough to transport the fruit by truck to Kahului Harbor.

The Baldwins became one of the Big Five families who dominated Hawaiʻi’s business community in the century before World War II, establishing a far-reaching business empire with holdings in agriculture, ranching, coffee, canning and other activities.

The Baldwins' growing and canning operations in Lāhainā continued for many decades. However, in 1962 the Baldwins' east and west Maui holdings and pineapple operations were united when Baldwin Packers merged with Maui Pineapple Company. It was around that time that the Baldwin Packers pineapple cannery in west Maui was closed.

One of the businesses spawned from the varied interests of the Baldwins was Maui Pine's earliest direct predecessor, the Keahua Ranch Co., which was incorporated in December 1909 to control a portion of the family's pineapple operations.

In 1929 the Keahua Ranch Co. was renamed the Haleakala Pineapple Co., Ltd., three years before the pineapple operations of Haleakalā and Maui Agricultural Company were consolidated to create Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd.

J. Walter Cameron, a descendant of the Baldwin family, was appointed manager of the new company, presiding over its development for the next 30 years until a flurry of corporate maneuvers created the Maui Pine that existed during the 1990s.

In August 1962, Alexander & Baldwin, a principal Baldwin family concern, merged three of its pineapple operations, Baldwin Packers, Ltd., Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd., and the old Haleakala Pineapple Company, to create what four months later became the Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd.

In 1969, it became Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (ML&P), the largest employer on the island of Maui. The company's president was Colin C. Cameron, a fifth-generation descendant of the Baldwin family.

All operations were moved to the Kahului plant and the Lāhainā cannery plant was closed soon after. The idea of utilizing the old cannery site as a mall was first conceived in 1972.

However, by 1985, the original cannery building had fallen to such disrepair that any hopes of renovation had to be abandoned, along with the original structure.

In 1987, the Lāhainā Cannery Mall was built on the same site where the original plant once stood; it was designed to look like a pineapple cannery with the corrugated style and factory-like open conduits inside were adopted for the design.

The image shows pineapples in the cannery (kapalua-com.)   In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Lāhainā Historic District

The first capital of the kingdom of Hawai‘i, Lāhainā, was also once a bustling whaling town and plantation settlement. To recognize and preserve its rich history, two sets of historic districts have been created in Lāhainā.

The first, the Lāhainā Historic District encompassing about 1,665 acres, was added to the National Park Service’s (NPS) National Historic Landmarks Program in December 1962.  Maui County Historic District Boundaries 1 and 2 cover about 65 acres in Lāhainā.

This summary highlights the nine structures that were identified in the Lāhainā Historic District (NPS;) the principal historic structures and sites still visible include the following.

Because these are also part of the Lāhainā Historic Trail, I am using the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation numbering for each - I will be adding to these sites over time and will end up with 62-Lahaina sites (these are the sites noted in the National Landmark Nomination form:)

14 - Court House
This solid, two-story stone building stands on Wharf Street, in the square bounded by Wharf, Hotel, Front and Canal Streets (on the site of the old stone fort.)  The Court House Square is famed today for its banyan tree, planted by the sheriff of Lāhainā in 1873 and proclaimed today as 'Hawaii's largest.'

After an 1858 violent windstorm damaged government buildings here, a new 'Lahaina Court and Custom House and Government Offices,' was completes by December, 1859.  In addition to the offices mentioned above, it contained the Governor’s office, post office and 'a room in which to starve the jury into unanimity.’

16 - Pioneer Hotel
Built in 1901 and therefore not strictly connected with Lāhainā's most significant era, this well-known hotel is nevertheless a key part of the Lāhainā scene (corner of Wharf and Hotel Streets.)

The description of the hotel in one guide book – ‘a large box of a building … with a wide balcony and decorative wooden railing’ - may be accurate, but it fails to convey the tropical atmosphere of Lāhainā’s first hotel.

18 - Old Spring House
The Old Spring House is said to have been built by the Rev. William Richards in 1823 to enclose a spring to supply water not only for his own dwelling nearby, but for the entire community and for ships anchored off the town.

According to local tradition, a hand pump here was visited by crews of sailors who 'constantly rolled huge casks for water.'  The Spring House apparently is thus one of the few remaining physical links with the whaling era.

21 - Baldwin House
Completed early in 1835, Dr. Dwight Baldwin and his family occupied this two-story home, built of coral blocks, it until Dr. Baldwin was transferred to Honolulu in 1868 (some sources say the Baldwins lived in the house until 1871.)  It is one of the oldest and best preserved missionary dwellings.

Dr. Baldwin, in addition to serving as pastor of the Hawaiian church at Lāhainā and, for a time, as seamen's chaplain, was a medical doctor; and he was government physician for the islands of Maui, Moloka‘i, and Lāna‘i.  Dr. Baldwin's son, Henry P. Baldwin, was born in this house.

44 - United States Marine Hospital
Around 1842, this hospital was established for sick and injured American merchant seamen.  The hospital could accommodate about 60 men; it’s on the landward side of Front Street, between Kenui and Baker Streets, about 0.6 mile north of the Baldwin House.

In 1865, the structure was sold to the Episcopal Church and became a school for girls, and during the 1870s it was turned into a vicarage and served as such for more than 30 years.

48 - Maria Lanakila First Catholic Church
The first resident Roman Catholic priests arrived at Lahaina on April 21, 1846.  A church was built on the present site that same year, but it was replaced by a new structure in 1858 (Waine‘e and Dickenson Streets.)

The present concrete church, erected in 1927-1928, was built on the same foundation and is almost a replica of the older frame structure, it is said that the original ceiling was retained in the new building.

50 - Hale Aloha
The predecessor of this building, known as the Hale Halewai, or Hale Lai, is sometimes said to have been built as early as 1823; and it, instead of the Waine‘e Church, is occasionally claimed as the first stone church in the island (behind the Episcopal Cemetery in about the center of the large block bounded by Waine‘e, Hale and Chapel Streets and Prison Road.)

The meetinghouse was in bad condition by 1855 and the church voted to rebuild completely, the walls being 'too old fashioned to be tolerated in these go-ahead days.’  The present building, called 'Hale Aloha,' was completed in 1858 and was 'the largest sectional meeting house of its time.'  In 1860, the government fitted it out for use as an English Church.

53 - Old Prison (Hale Pa‘ahao)
In addition to ordinary criminals, the authorities at Lāhainā generally had on their hands a number of boisterous seamen who had run afoul of the law in one way or another during their periods of 'refreshment' ashore.  During the 1830s and 1840s prisoners usually were confined in the fort which stood on the seaward side of the present square (see the Court House above.)

A new prison was started in 1852.  The main cell block, built of planks, was constructed in that year, but the wall around the grounds, built of coral blocks from the old fort, was not erected until about 1854 (at the corner of Waine‘e Street and Prison Road.)  Prisoners performed much of the labor.

56 -57 -Waine‘e Church and Cemetery (Waiola Cemetery and Church)
For several years after the American Board missionaries reached Lāhainā in 1823, services were held in temporary structures. In 1828 the chiefs, led by Hoapili, proposed to build a new stone church, and the present site was selected (on Waine‘e Street, between Chapel and Shaw Streets.)

The cornerstone was laid on September 14, 1828, for this “first stone meeting-house built at the Islands.”  Dedicated on March 4, 1832, this large, two-story, galleried Waine‘e Church was twice destroyed by Kauaula winds and once, in 1894, by a fire of incendiary origin.  The present church structure was dedicated in 1953, at which time the name was changed to Waiola.

The adjoining cemetery is said to date from 1823. It contains the body of Keōpūolani, wife of Kamehameha the Great and mother of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III.  Other prominent Hawaiian nobles interred here include Governor Hoapili, King Kaumuali‘i, Princess Nahi‘ena‘ena, Queen Kalākua and Governess Liliha.

I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Waiola Church – (Waineʻe Church) Lāhainā, Maui

For several years after the American Board missionaries reached Lāhainā 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 here 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.

The image shows Waiola Church; in addition, I have added similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Baldwin House – Lāhainā, Maui

The oldest house in Lāhainā, construction on the Baldwin House began on this coral-and-rock structure in 1834 and was completed in 1835.

The thick walls were made of coral and stone.  The structure was sturdy consisting of hand-hewn timbers.  In 1840, a bedroom and study was added, and in 1849, an entire second story was completed.

The home itself, the household furniture, the aged photographs and artifacts, the displays and library present a picture of the missionary who was both a physician and a constructive community force.

The faithful restoration of the Baldwin Home by the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation is based on careful documentary and archeological research.

It is part of the Lāhainā National Historical American Buildings Survey.  It was deeded to the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation by the HP Baldwin Estate in 1967.  It can never be sold and will remain in the Public Domain in perpetuity.

The owner, the Reverend Dwight Baldwin had his medical training at Harvard College prior to his theological studies.  He was one of the early missionaries to Hawai‘i.

 

On December 3, 1830, he married Charlotte Fowler (1805–1873), the daughter of Deacon Solomon Fowler of North Branford, Connecticut.

Shortly thereafter, on December 28, 1830, they sailed on the ship New England from New Bedford, Massachusetts with the Fourth Company of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; they arrived in Hawai‘i on June 21, 1831.

His educational background coupled with many natural abilities guided him to be helpful in the establishment of a system of just and democratic laws and most importantly the education of the Hawaiian people who learned much besides religion.

They were taught reading and writing in Hawaiian and English trained in agriculture and mechanics, studied the practical arts in the high school above Lāhainā; and finally learned to understand constitutional government, diplomacy and finance.

As a practicing physician, Rev. Baldwin treated and helped save the people of Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i.

A series of epidemics swept through the Hawaiian Islands, 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.

Dwight Baldwin was patriarch of a family that founded some of the largest businesses in the islands.  His son, Henry Perrine Baldwin (1842–1911) and Samuel Thomas Alexander (1836–1904; also son of a missionary) met in Lāhainā, Maui.

They grew up together, became close friends and went on to develop a sugar-growing partnership that spanned generations and left an indelible mark on Hawai‘i – Alexander & Baldwin (one of Hawai‘i’s Big Five companies.)

In addition, sons Henry Perrine Baldwin and David Dwight Baldwin laid the foundation for what is now known as Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc in the late 1800s through the acquisition of land and formation of associated companies.

In 1870 Dwight and Charlotte moved to Honolulu as their health deteriorated and lived with their daughter Harriet (called "Hattie").  Charlotte died October 2, 1873, and Dwight died on January 3, 1886; they are buried at the Kawaiahaʻo Church cemetery.

Lāhainā Restoration Foundation oversees and maintains 11 major historic structures in Lāhainā and provides tours of the Baldwin House.  Hours of Operation: Open Daily from 10 am – 4 pm ($5 Kama‘āina admission); Candlelit Tours Fridays 6 pm - 8:30 pm ($6 Kama‘āina admission)

Image shows the Baldwin House.  In addition, more images of the Baldwin House are in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

Smallpox Epidemic - 1853

Smallpox was introduced to Hawai‘i by an American merchant ship, the Charles Mallory, sailing from San Francisco and arriving at Honolulu Harbor on February 10, 1853.

Displaying a yellow flag indicating a serious infection on board, the ship berthed in isolation on a reef off Kalihi.

One of the passengers had smallpox.

When the period of quarantine ended in late-March, no new cases had been reported, the smallpox patient was recovering and the ship set sail and left.

In May 1853, the disease reappeared.

Two native women were stricken; their homes and the adjacent properties were cordoned off and their infected clothing and grass huts were burned.

This time smallpox spread rapidly; cases were reported from most of Honolulu’s districts.

In response to the growing impacts, June 15, 1853 was declared a national day of mourning, prayer and fasting.

The epidemic was at its worst in July – August with the island of O‘ahu recording more than 4,000-cases and 1,500-deaths.

Despite efforts to contain it, smallpox spread to Kaua‘i, Maui and Hawai‘i, killing at least 450-people.

The people on Ni‘ihau, Moloka‘i and Lāna’i remained protected because of their remoteness, stricter quarantine and better vaccine quality.

Missionary Dr. Dwight Baldwin was the government physician for Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna’i during the smallpox epidemic.  Due to his vigilance, the number of smallpox deaths on these islands was only 200 deaths.

Statewide, during an eight-month period, about 8% of Hawai‘i’s population died of the disease.

When the epidemic ended late in January 1854, the estimated number of statewide cases was 6,400 – 9,100 and an estimated 2,500 – 5,750 deaths.

The intensity of the epidemic led the Hawaiian legislature to make vaccination mandatory for both residents and visitors in 1854.

Smallpox is a serious and contagious disease due to a virus, causing illness and death wherever it occurred.  It mainly affected children and young adults.  Family members often infected each other.

Smallpox localizes in small blood vessels of the skin and in the mouth and throat.  In the skin, this results in a characteristic rash, and later, raised fluid-filled blisters.

After a twelve-day incubation period, patients developed severe headaches and backaches, a high fever, and chills, followed by a severe rash, a return of the fever, and bacterial infection.  Death came by infection of the lungs, heart, or brain. The entire course from infection to death usually took five or six weeks.

Smallpox spreads easily from one person to another from saliva droplets.  It may also be spread from bed sheets and clothing.  It is most contagious during the first week of the infection.  It may continue to be contagious until the scabs from the rash fall off.

It is reported that the Honuakaha Smallpox Cemetery (near South Street and Quinn Lane in Kakaʻako) has more than 1,000 burials from the 1853-1854 smallpox epidemic.

This is near the present Honolulu Fire Department Headquarters stands, adjoining the former Kakaʻako Fire Station.  (Some suggest, because of this, the Kakaʻako firehouse is haunted.)

Because of the smallpox epidemics a Small-Pox Hospital opened.  Likewise, over the years a small island in the reef across from Downtown Honolulu was used as a quarantine site.

The image is of the Smallpox Hospital, drawn by Paul Emmert (ca 1853-1859.)  In addition, I have included some other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii