‘The Lion of North Kona’

Born in 1828 in Hōlualoa, North Kona, George Washington Pilipō was an ordained minister and teacher.  “He was installed at Kailua over the old church where Father Thurston had labored from the landing of the missionaries in 1820 … Here Pilipō labored and preached acceptably and honored by all for six years, until he was called to, and accepted, the pastorate of Kaumakapili in Honolulu.”

He was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly and served continuously and with honor for sixteen years.  He was a powerful and effective speaker.  He earned the name The Lion of North Kona. He supported former Queen Emma over Kalākaua; later, King Kalākaua became so incensed by Pilipō’s critique of his government’s dealings that he personally intervened in the 1886 general election campaign to ensure that Pilipo was not reelected.

Click HERE for the full post and more images.

New Things on the Horizon …

The ‘regular’ post will come later in the day; we have been working on a new website and new formatting of the posts and it’s making an early debut, today.

(There are still some indexing to finish and other stuff to fix, but the gist of it is ready to share … in a few of hours.)

In the meantime, here’s a photo I haven’t shared yet.  The littlest girl near the middle is my mother; my grandparents are the couple on the right.

The others are noted as the “Scotts.” They were taking a tour around the Island of Hawaii, June 5-15, 1928.

They are sitting at the archway fronting Mokuʻaikaua Church in Kailua-Kona.  Construction of the church was started in 1835; it was dedicated in early-1837 (under the leadership of missionary Asa Thurston.)

The archway was built in 1910 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries (1820.)

My grandfather was great grandson of Hiram and Sybil Bingham; Hiram was the leader of the Pioneer Company of missionaries to the Islands.

This year marks the 195th anniversary of the arrival of the Pioneer Company.  Plans are already underway for the celebration of the bicentennial of their arrival.  I am honored and proud to serve on the Board of the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

If you haven’t recently visited the Mission Houses, I encourage you to visit – there are lots of things to see and learn there.

It’s on King and Kawaiahaʻo Streets (Diamond Head side of Kawaiahaʻo Church (designed by Hiram Bingham;) across King Street from the red brick Mission Memorial Building (dedicated in 1916 in anticipation of the centennial celebration.))

The Mission Memorial Building is on the site of the former Kawaiahaʻo Seminary; my great great aunt, Lydia Bingham, was principal of the seminary; her sister Lizzy later took over.

Kawaiahaʻo Seminary (for girls) and Mills School (for boys - started by Francis Damon) later merged and relocated to a site in Mānoa.  It’s now called Mid-Pacific Institute.

OK, back to the posts …

So, just to prepare you, the formatting of the posts will change – the full posts will be on the new website and short summaries will be posted in Facebook, Blogger, Google+ and LinkedIn – with links noted in the latter to get you directly to the website and the full posts.  (Special thanks to Jen Barrett for setting it up.)

An alternative (and preferred) way to get the posts is to subscribe on the website (no charge) – that way, you will receive an e-mail notice as soon as the post is made (with links to the full post.)  (Subscription sign-up is noted on the new website.)

Some other things are also in the works: ‘soon,’ podcasts, with imagery and reading of the full text, will be available.

Likewise, I am still looking for an economical way to get the posts noted on a web-based map – so you can see where these people, places and events took place.

I have a prototype on my computer … it is waaay cool and helps put a modern perspective (location) to the historical context.

Other ideas are in the works, as well.

So, stand by, the ‘regular’ post for today will be available soon.

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Happy Mother’s Day!

The image shows my mother and grandmother in 1928 (my mother is the little girl sitting to the left, her mother is sitting nearby, wearing a hat.)

The scene is at Kailua-Kona at a site known as Pa O ʻUmi; over the years, most of this outcrop of land has been covered over with Aliʻi Drive – a small remnant remains extending beyond today’s seawall.

Here is where Chief ʻUmi-a-Liloa (who reigned about the same time Christopher Columbus was crossing the Atlantic) landed when he first came to Kailua by canoe, moving the Island’s Royal Center from Waipiʻo to Kailua.

On this point of rock ʻUmi ordered his attendant to dry his precious feather cloak (ʻahuʻula.)  (The site is also referred to as Ka Lae O ʻAhuʻula.)

My mother was the great-great grand-daughter of Hiram Bingham, leader of first missionaries to Hawaiʻi who first landed in the Islands, here at Kailua-Kona in 1820.  (Mokuaikaua Church, built by Bingham’s fellow missionary, Asa Thurston, is in the background, as well as Huliheʻe Palace (to the right.))

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© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Mokuʻaikaua Church

This stone and mortar building, completed in 1837, is the oldest surviving Christian church in the state of Hawaiʻi, started by the first Protestant missionaries to land in Hawaiʻi.

With the permission of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), the missionaries built a grass house for worship in 1823 and, later, a large thatched meeting house.

Missionary Asa Thurston directed the construction of the present Mokuʻaikaua Church, then the largest building in Kailua-Kona. Its massive size indicates the large Hawaiian population living in or near Kailua at that time.

Mokuʻaikaua, with its 112-foot-tall steeple, is a reminder of the enthusiasm and energy of the first American missionaries and their Hawaiian converts.

Built of stones taken from a nearby heiau and lime made of burned coral, it represents the new western architecture of early 19th-century Hawaiʻi and became an example that other missionaries would imitate.

The original thatch church which was built in 1823 but was destroyed by fire in 1835, the present structure was completed in 1837. Mokuʻaikaua takes its name from a forest area above Kailua from which timbers were cut and dragged by hand to construct the ceiling and interior.

Mokuʻaikaua Church is centered in a small level lot near the center of Kailua. Its high steeple stands out conspicuously and has become a landmark from both land and sea.

Huge corner stones, said to have been hewn by order of King ʻUmi in the 16th century for a heiau, were set in place and offers evidence of the heavy labor which contributed to the Church's construction.

The central core of the steeple is polygonal with alternating sections of wide and narrow clapboard.  The wider sections are articulated with louvered arches. The 48 by 120 feet lava rock and coral mortared church is capped with a gable roof.

Construction beams are made from ʻōhiʻa wood. Pieces of the wooden structure were joined with ʻōhiʻa pins.  The spanning beams are fifty feet long and are made from ʻōhiʻa timbers. Corner stones were set in place 20 to 30 feet above the ground.

Mokuʻaikaua Church is the first and one of the largest stone churches in Hawaiʻi, outstanding for its simple, well-proportioned mass and construction.

The interior open timber structure with high galleries is a fine architectural and engineering design. The architectural interest is further enhanced by the church's historical significance (it is on the Register of Historic Places.)

In 1910, a memorial arch was erected at the entrance to the church grounds to commemorate the arrival of the first missionaries.

Congregationalist missionaries from Boston crossed the Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, aboard the Brig Thaddeus.   A replica of the Thaddeus is in Mokuʻaikaua Church.

On the morning of April 4, 1820, 163 days from Boston, the Congregational Protestant missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, aboard the Thaddeus, came to anchor off the village of Kailua.

They came ashore at the “Plymouth Rock” of Hawaiʻi, where Kailua Pier now stands.  Christian worship has taken place near this site since 1820.  Mokuʻaikaua is known as the "First Christian Church of Hawaiʻi."

Inspired by the dream of Hawaiian Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia, seven couples were sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.

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 and five children.

The Thurstons remained in Kailua, while their fellow missionaries went to establish stations on other Hawaiian islands.

The photo was taken in 1928, it shows my grandparents and mother (on the right is my grandfather, the great grandson of Hiram Bingham; the little girl (shortest-near the middle) to the right of my grandmother is my mother, the great-great granddaughter of Hiram Bingham.)

In addition to this, I have included other images of Mokuʻaikaua Church in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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

http://plus.google.com/108947657421184863425

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Ka Pā Nui o Kuakini (Great Wall of Kuakini)

Captain George Vancouver gave a few cattle to Kamehameha I in 1793; Vancouver strongly encouraged Kamehameha to place a kapu on them to allow the herd to grow.

In the decades that followed, cattle flourished and turned into a dangerous nuisance.  By 1846, 25,000 wild cattle roamed at will and an additional 10,000 semi‐domesticated cattle lived alongside humans.

John Adams Kuakini was an important adviser to Kamehameha I in the early stages of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i.

When the Kingdom's central government moved to Lāhaina in 1820, Kuakini’s influence expanded on Hawaiʻi Island, with his appointment as the Royal Governor of Hawaiʻi Island, serving from 1820 until his death in 1844.

During his tenure, Kuakini built many of the historical sites that dominate Kailua today.  The Great Wall of Kuakini, probably a major enhancement of an earlier wall, was one of these.

The Great Wall of Kuakini extends in a north-south direction for approximately 6 miles from Kailua to near Keauhou, and is generally 4 to 6-feet high and 4-feet wide.

Built between 1830 and 1840, the Great Wall of Kuakini separated the coastal lands from Kailua to Keauhou from the inland pasture lands.

The mortar-less lava-rock wall has had varying opinions regarding the purpose of its construction.

Speculation has ranged from military/defense to the confinement of grazing animals; however, most seem to agree it served as a cattle wall, keeping the troublesome cattle from wandering through the fields and houses of Kailua.

It is likely that the function of the wall changed over time, as the economic importance of cattle grew and the kinds and density of land use and settlement changed.

Kuakini was responsible for other changes and buildings in the Kona District during this era.

He gave land to Asa Thurston to build Moku‘aikaua Church.

He built Huliheʻe Palace in the American style out of native lava, coral lime mortar, koa and ‘ōhi‘a timbers.  Completed in 1838, he used the palace to entertain visiting Americans and Europeans with great feasts.

He made official visits to all ships that arrived on the island, offering them tours of sites, such as the Kīlauea volcano.

He was born about 1789 with the name Kaluaikonahale.  With the introduction of Christianity, Hawaiians were encouraged to take British or American names.

He chose the name John Adams after John Quincy Adams, the US president in office at the time.  He adopted the name, as well as other customs of the US and Europe.

Kuakini was the youngest of four important siblings: sisters Queen Kaʻahumanu, Kamehameha's favorite wife who later became the powerful Kuhina nui, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie and Namahana-o-Piʻia (also queens of Kamehameha) and brother George Cox Kahekili Keʻeaumoku.

He married Analeʻa (Ane or Annie) Keohokālole; they had no children.  (She later married Caesar Kapaʻakea.  That union produced several children (including the future King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani.))

Hulihe‘e Palace is now a museum run the Daughters of Hawaiʻi, including some of his artifacts.

A highway is named "Kuakini Highway," which runs from the Hawaii Belt Road through the town of Kailua-Kona, to the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area.

He is also the namesake of Kuakini Street in Honolulu, which is in turn the namesake of the Kuakini Medical Center on it.

The image shows a portion of the Great Wall of Kuakini; in addition, I have added a few other images and maps of the wall n a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

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

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Laniākea – Home of Missionaries Asa and Lucy Thurston

Reverend Asa and Lucy Thurston were in the first company of American Christian Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820.

They made their home in Kailua Village, in a home the Hawaiians named Laniākea.  Thurston received Laniākea, a 5.26 acre homestead parcel as a gift from Governor Kuakini.

As noted by Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop, in his book “Reminiscences Of Old Hawaii” (1916:) “In the early (1830s,) Kailua was a large native village, of about 4,000 inhabitants rather closely packed along one hundred rods of shore, and averaging twenty rods inland.”

“It had been the chief residence of King Kamehameha, who in 1819 died there in a rudely built stone house whose walls are probably still standing on the west shore of the little bay. Nearby stood a better stone house occupied by the doughty Governor Kuakini.”

“All other buildings in Kailua were thatched, until Rev. Artemas Bishop built his two-story stone dwelling in 1831 and Rev. Asa Thurston in 1833 built his wooden two-story house at Laniakea, a quarter of a mile inland.”

“Most of the native huts were thatched with the stiff pili grass. The better ones were thatched with lau-hala (pandanus leaf) or with la-i.”

The following are excerpts from letters Lucy Thurston during her time in Hawaii, from "Life and Times of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston" (1882;) her own words best describe the property (including its cave and pond:)

“Back of the village on that arid slope, a third of a mile from the shore, was an unoccupied, eligible site for a house and grounds. There we set about making such a home as circumstances would allow, and as the double responsibilities required, of molding heathen society, and of forming the characters of our children.

“Five acres were enclosed with a stone wall three feet wide and six feet high, with simply the front gate for entrance. A large thatched house was erected. Space was allowed for a yard twenty-five feet in breadth. Two close partition walls were built six feet high, running from the outer wall each side of the front gate, close up against the side of the house, each side of the front door.

“At the back side of the house is a hall which leads both from the dining room and study to a door, the only entrance into a retired yard of three acres. There stands another thatched house, built after the custom of the country. The frame is tied together with the very strong bark of a certain tree.

“Then from the ridge-pole to the ground, the frame is entirely covered with long slender poles, tied within a few inches of each other, over which the long lauhala leaves are laid, leaving the two ends to hang down on the outside.

“That house is the home of our children. There is our family sitting room, eighteen feet square, and there are our sleeping apartments. And inasmuch as I often wish to invite my native friends to that sitting room, we enclosed the further bed room in a yard sixty feet square, with a wall six feet high, coming up close to the house on both sides.

“In our kitchen yard, directly opposite and within a few feet of each other, are the two mouths of a large cave of volcanic formation.

“The larger opening gives us the novelty of a subterraneous walk one-fourth of a mile toward the sea, where we reach a pond of brackish water. Some of the rooms of this cave are quite spacious. The natives made it a place of concealment in times of war.

“The smaller mouth of the cave leads into a low cave which extends three miles up the mountain, where there is an opening, and when obliged to hide in the lower cave, the natives stole through the upper one to procure their food.

“The name of the cave is Laniakea, signifying the broad heavens. As it is enclosed in our premises, the natives were quick to give the name to our establishment, so that it has become universally known as Laniakea.

“Thatched houses are not durable, therefore, in the course of years, we had a succession of dwellings, but this was the general arrangement. In the 12th year of the Mission, a two-storied wooden house was erected in the children's yard, and the wall for their special enclosure removed, as the times no longer required such an accommodation.”

Hawaii Register of Historic Places, September 24, 2005 notes:

Laniākea: the Asa and Lucy Thurston House site is significant for its associations with Asa and Lucy Thurston and their profound involvement with the Protestant Missionary movement in Hawaii from 1820 to 1861.

With the permission of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), the missionaries built a grass house for worship in 1823 and, later, a large thatched meeting house.

Missionary Asa Thurston directed the construction of the present Mokuʻaikaua Church, then the largest building in Kailua. Its massive size indicates the large Hawaiian population living in or near Kailua at that time.

The image shows my Grandparents and my Mother in the Laniākea house ruins (in 1928) – (Great grandson and Great-great grand-daughter of Hiram Bingham, leader of missionaries to Hawai‘i, who came to Hawai‘i with Asa Thurston)

I have also added additional images of Laniākea in a folder of like name in the Photos section.  Included are two landscape scenes drawn by their daughter Persis Goodale Thurston Taylor, showing Kailua-Kona at 1836 (view up the hill noting Laniākea and a view down the hill to Kailua from Laniākea.)

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