Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands - Kamehameha lll --- (Part 4) The US GenWeb Archives provide genealogical and historical data to the general public without fee or charge of any kind. It is intended that this material not be used in a commercial manner. All submissions become part of the permanent collection. Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands " Keepers of the Culture " A study in time of the Hawaiian Islands As told by the ancients-- Kamehameha lll --- Part 4 Kekauluohi [ Auhea ] --kuhina-nui Amos Starr Cooke Daniel Dole William Richards by Darlene E. Kelley December 3, 2000 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As told by the ancients-- Kamehameha lll-- part 4. Miriam Auhea Kekauluohi -- [ 1794 -- 1845 ] Miriam was a daughter of Hoapili and Kalakua and a sister of Queen Kamamalu and Kinau. Brought up at Kahuluu, Oahu, by her grandparents, Keeaumoku and Namahana, in 1809 she became one of the five wives of Kamehameha l and at his death became a wife of his son, Kamehameha ll. She married Kanaina in 1834 and bore a male child, the future King Lunalilo. Miriam was a stern chiefess but, according to the Rev. Amos Starr Cooke, an over-indulgent mother. She loyally supported the Royal School of the Protestant missionaries but was equally tolerant of other faiths. She suceeded Kinau as kuhina nui from 1839 to 1845. ****************************************************** Amos Starr Cooke -- [ 1810 -- 1871 ]. Born in Danbury, Connecticut, Cooke married Juliette Monague in 1836 and the couple arrived in Hawaii with the Eighth Company of American Missionaries in 1837. Shipmates on the voyage were Samuel Northrup Castle and his wife. The Cookes, as early teachers, pioneered the educational system in the islands. They took charge in 1838 of the Chiefs Children's School [ Later called Royal School ], attended by prominent young Hawaiians, including all five of the future monarchs of the Kingdom. Juliette Cooke [ 1812 - 1896 ] was especially gifted music teacher; by 1843 the royal students were performing as an orchestra. Instruction was not limited to church hymns, and Mrs. Cooke"s efforts blossemed into a form new to the world. Hawaiian Music. The Cookes spent a decade in this exhausting work, in addiion to rearing their own five children. Cooke in 1849, at the death of Levi Chamberlain, became assistant superintendent of secular affairs for the mission. Released from service after fourteen unremitting years, Cooke became Castle's partner and began an association that resulted in the development of Castle & Cooke, who founded a prominent island family, included Joseph Platt Cooke, Martha Eliza Cooke, Juliette Montague Cooke Atherton, Amos Frank Cooke, and Clarence Warren Cooke. ****************************************************** Daniel Dole [ 1808 --1878 ] Born in Bloomfield, Maine, Dole graduated from Bowdoin College in 1836 and Bangor Theological Seminary in 1839. He was ordained in 1840 and with his wife, Emily Hoyt Ballard Dole, arrived with the Ninth Company of Missionries at Hawaii the following year. In 1841 Dole was the first principal of an academy built on the outskirts of Honolulu for the education of the children of Protestant missionaries; in 1853 it was granted a government charter under the title of " Punahou School and Oahu College." It is still thriving. known as the oldest high school west of the Rockies. Dole resigned as principal in 1853 and became pastor of a congregation at Koloa, Kauai, and although released from the mission worked at Koloa until his death. by his first marriage Dole had two children; George Hatawa Dole and Sanford Ballard Dole, who later headed the government of the islands for a decade. When his first wife died in 1844, Daniel Dole married Mrs. Charlotte Close Knapp. widow of missionary Horton Owen Knapp. ****************************************************** William Richards [ 1793 --1847 ] Born in Plainfield, Massachustts, Richards was educated at Williams College and was ordained in 1822 after studing at Andover Theological Seminary. He married Clarissa Lyman in 1822 and the couple sailed for Hawaii the same year year as members of the Second Company of American missionaries. Richards and C.S. Stewart were the pioneer ministers at the port of Lahaina, Maui. Their efforts were not appreciated by visiting seamen in 1825 a mob from the whale ship Daniel besieiged the Richards house but was driven away by friendly Hawaiians. Three years later Richards performed no fewer than six hundred wedding ceremonies within a few months; the grooms of the port often loudy responded " Aye, aye!" in place of " I do ". The need of the chiefs for tutelage in foreign customs was recognized in 1838 when Richards resigned from the mission to serve as translator and recorder. As a result of his working on a document that resulted in the Constitution of 1840, the first written embodiment of the government's functions. Richards and Timoteo Haalilio left the islands on July 18, 1842, on a mission to join Sir George Simpson to obtain recognition. American recognition was reaffirmed to Richards and when the three signed a declaration in London in Novemebr 28, 1843, granting British and French recognition. American recognition was reaffirmed to Richards and Haalilo in Washington in the summer of 1844. Richards was appointed the first minister of public instruction for the Kingdom in 1846, and was succeeded at his death the following year by Richard Armstrong. Richards translated about about one third of the entire Hawaiian Bible. The couple had eight children; one descendant was Atherton Richards. ****************************************************** as told by the ancients-- One of the first moves made by Richards was to orgaize a lecture course for the chiefs. he lectured to them every day at ten o'clock along the lines of political economy and the science of government. The question uppermost in the minds of the chiefs and to which Richards had to give immediate attention , was that relating to the land and fixed property in the possession of foreigners and the privelege, claimed by the foreigners, of transferring these things from one to another. The lecture course was a great success. The King was keenly interested. he said he wished the young chiefs to be trained in the same manner, so that when the time came for them to take their place in the council they would be prepared. After many conferences with Richards, and within the council, the King decided that there must be a decisive action in favor of the people. Up to this time the King had owned all the land. The great chiefs were his tenants, but they could sublet their lands to retainers who would also sublet to the common people. The natives were defenseless. They were often taken advantage of by the chiefs who were landholders. Because of this, large numbers roamed from place to place with no settled homes, often attaching themselves to some landlord for the sake of food. If a man wanted a piece of land to live on, plant and cultivate, he would pay a heavy rent. If he planted and raised a fine crop of taro, for instance, the landlord could take it from him without compensaton. The people often were forced to give of their time in building public roads, a temple, fish-pond or sea wall. Kamehameha lll was basically a knd man. He came to realize that some of the old customs were wrong, and determined to change matters. In 1839 he issued a declaration which is often called " The Bill of Rights." It said that every man was given by God, Liberty, the labor of his hands, and the production of his mind. The declaration announced; " Protection is hereby assured to all people, together with their lands, their building lots, and all their property, and nothing whatever shall be taken from any individual except by express provision of the law. Whatever chiefs shall perserveringly act in violation of this of this constitution, shall no longer remain a chief of the Sandwich Islands, and the same shall be true of all governors and land agents." But old habits were too strongly ingrained. Abuses of power still continued. After long consideration, advice, and council, Kamehameha lll took the most revolutionary action in Hawaiian history. He decided to divide the lands of the Kingdom between himself, the chiefs, and the people. This act is known as the Great Mahele --[ Land Division.] The first division was between the King and the chiefs, Then the King divided his share of land into three parts; Public Lands, Grants to Individuals, and lands to be retained by the King for his personal use and control. Following this, the chiefs' lands were also divided, part to the people, part to the State, and part being retained and known as " Chiefs' Estates." Small pieces of land were given to those who had lived upon the land and were deserving, these to be known as Kuleanas [ small pieces ]. This term is still in use today in real estate, the titles to which are often in dispute in the courts of the Islands. The land commision was later apponted and for ten years allotted land to those who held it as tenants. This gave a feeling of security in establishing indvidual ownership of land. Today people speak with pride of having inherited land which was a grant form the King. The gift of the Great Mahele marked the century, and marked Kamehameha lll, now settled and mature in his ways, as the first great democrat and liberal in the Kamehameha dynasty.