Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands - Kamehameha lV --- (Part 1) 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 lV -- part 1 Growth of a Nation-- Medical Charter -- Dr. William Hillebrand by Darlene E. Kelley December 9, 2000 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As told by the ancients Kamehameha lV -- Part 1. Alexander Liholiho Born; Febuary 9, 1834 Father ; Mataio Kekuanaoa - governor of Oahu [ 1839-1868 ] Mother ; Kinau, - daughter of Kamehameha l ; kuhina nui and governor of Oahu [ 1832-1839 ] Ruled ; Jan 11, 1855 until his death on Nov 30, 1863. Married; Emma Naea Rooke - June 19,1856 [ granddaughter of John Young and a great-grandniece of Kamehameha l. Born ; January 2,1836 Father ; George Naea, a chief. Mother ; Fanny Kekelaokalani Young Adopted ; by her maternal aunt, Grace Kamaikui Young and her husband Dr. Thomas C.B. Rooke Died ; April 25, 1885 ****************************************************** The funeral for Kamehameha lll. last son of Kamehameha the Great. was held on January 10, 1855 with pomp and pageantry, tears and chants befitting the noblest of Hawaiian kings. On the following day. Alexander Liholiho, the adopted son of the former king, took the oath of office in his formal inauguration as Kamehameha lV. During the ceremony, held before an immense crowd of both natives and foreigners in Kawaiahao Church, the new King gave his coronation address first in Hawaian and then in English. He swore to uphold the constitution and increase civilization and its good virtues, and he sought to preserve the independence of his kingdom. His nearly three years of serving as a member of the Privy Council had provided Liholiho with valuable political experience, and he stood ready to accept the serious responsibilities of his high position. At the age of fifteen, Liholiho and his brother, Prince Lot, had accompanied Dr. Gerrit P. Judd on a diplomatic mission to France. Their journey, which occurred in 1849 and 1850, also included stops in England and the United States. This trip had instilled in the young Prince a great admiration for English institutions,and his ideas and tastes became more European than Hawaiian. In this regard Kamehameha lV firmly believed in the aristocracy's right and duty to rule over the lower classes. While in the United States, Prince Alexander had experienced color prejudice when he was mistaken for a servat by a train conductor and was ordered to leave the compartment. While the mistake was quickly corrected, it nevertheless left the young Prince with a lasting bitterness toward anything American. The new king's cabinet remained essentially the same as the previous cabinet since Liholiho reappointed all the previous ministers. While John Young ll continued as minister of the interior, his position as kuhina nui was not renewed. Instead, the king appointed his sister, Princess Victoria Kamamalu, to this position. Prince Lot was appointed a general to command the armed forces, and he also became an important member of the government, taking part in deliberations of the Cabinet, the Privy Council, and thehouse of Nobles. A severe epidemic of measles, brought to the islands from California, had so depleted the Hawaiian population, with thousandsof natives dying from the disease, that the King presented the matter to the Legislature, recommending that a hospital be at once established to care for the many dependant sick. Because of the decrease of native laborers, experiments had been made in bringing coolie labor from China. This did not prove as sucessful as had been anticipated, and the King, in his adress to the legislature, suggested that they try bringing another group of people from the South Seas. Polynesians, he believed, might adapt themselves to life in the Hawaiian Islands. There was no point of concern connected with the welfare of the Kingdom that Kamehaeha lV did not touch upon with farseeing understanding. Particularly in addressing the fact that the hospital was in dire need as well as good doctors to care for his people's needs. He closed his address calling for a medical society to bring in the best of doctors. A twenty-one gun salute was given as a tribute from the leaders of the nation. In May 1856, there was a petition filed to form a Hawaiian Medical Society and presented to the Privy council on May 19th. It reads as follows; To His Excellancy The Minister of the Interior Of the Hawaaian Kingdom. Whereas the undersigned petitioners have formed a society in Honolulu for the encouragement and cultivation of medical science under the name of the "Hawaiian Medical Society" as a society devoted to the collection and diffusion of medical knowledge, the advancement of the interests and usefulness of the medical proffession, and the cultivation of harmony and good feeling among its members; and Whereas, under the authority of the Act relating to corporations approved by the King on the 17th day of April, 1856, the Minister of the Interior has power, subject to the provisions and conditions of said act, in his discretion, by and with the advice and consent of the King, in Privy Council, to grant charters of incorporation to associations other than for Banking and Municipal Corporations. And whereas. the Hawaiian Medical Society does not seek or ask, for itself, a monopoly of any business or occupation whatsoever, Now, therefore, your petitioners, the undersigned, do ask and petition that you may, in your discretion, be pleased to grant to them a perpetual Chapter for the " Hawaiian Medical Society' whose objects are stated in this Petitin, to have and to enjoy, for the prosecution of their legitimate purposes, the powers and prvileges specified in the Act named, subject to the limitations and restrictions therein mentioned. And, that the Society may be authorized to hold real and personal estate for the herein specified purposes of the Society, provided that the annual income of such estates shall not exceed one thousand dollars each. And , your Petitioners remain Respectfully Wm Hillebrand G.P Judd Geo. A Lathrop Robert McKibbin T. Chas. Bishop Rooke R. W. Wood Ed. Hoffmann Chas. F. Guillou Seth Porter Ford Thomas Welsh This 19th day of May, 1856. The Council immediately approved the petition with the following words; Resolved; That the Petition of Dr. Hillebrand and nine others, medical men, for a charter are immediately granted, and the Ministers of the Interior is directed to grant the same, taking care that it be properly drawn up. After the organization held its first meeting on August 13th, the Charter was publihed in The Pacfic Commercial Advertiser on August 21st and in The Polynesian on August 30th, 1856. ****************************************************** Doctor William Hillebrand -- Wilhelm [ or William, as he was known in this country] Hillebrand was born in Nieheim, Westphalia, a province of Prussa, on November 13, 1821. He was the son of Judge Franz Joseph and Louise Pauline [ Koening ] Hillebrand. Completing his early education at Nieheim, William studied in Goettingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. After receiving his medical degree in Berlin, Dr. Hillebrand began his practice in Paderborn, Germany. A few years later illness, presumably. pulmonary tuberculosis, forced him to look for a more healthful climate. In this search he sailed to Australia and then to the Philippines. In Manilla he resumed the practice of medicine until poor health again induced him to travel, this time to San Francisco. From San Francisco he came to Hawaii, arriving December 28, 1850. on the bark " Elizabeth, " and soon found his health much improved. By the fall of 1852, he was in practice with Dr. Wesley Newcomb. On Novemeber 16, 1852, Dr. Hillebrand married Miss Anna Post, the stepdaughter of Dr. Newcomb. Two sons were born to the Doctor and his wife, Willam Francis and Henry Thomas. Before long Dr. Hillebrand had established a successful practice and numbered the royal family among his patients. He was named Head physician in 1860 of the new hospital named for Queen Emma and stayed on its staff until he left the islands in 1871. He became a member of the Board of Health in 1863 and for period was physician at the Insane Asylum, taking the place of Dr. Edward Hoffman when he resigned in May, 1868. In partnership with J. Mott-Smith, he owned a drug store at Hotel and Fort streets. He was one of the signers of the charter of incorporation of the Hawaiian Medical Society in 1856 and served as its first Vice-President. In April, 1865, the doctor and his family started on a leisurely world tour by way of the Orient and Southwest Asia. Before leaving he was commissioned by various boards and societies to perform numerous tasks. The Privy council appointed Dr. Hillebrand Commissioner of Immigration in April and directed him to look into the matter of getting workers from the Orient to replace native workers. Much later ( 1877 ) he arraigned for emigration of workers from Madeira, where he was then living, and from the Azores. This pioneer group of 180 Portuguese reach Honolulu in September, 1878. At the request of the Board of Health, he investigated methods for the control of leprosy during his trip. In 1883, he wrote an artcle on the " Investigation of Contagium of Leprosy." One of his foremost tasks while on his tour was the collection of plants and animals which he felt would make a valuable addition to those species already in the islands. The Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Socety, with which he had long been associated and had served as its corresponding secretary, together with the Planter's Association jointly raised a sum of $500 to finance these purchases. The "Hawaiian Gazette" for July 28, 1866, reported that the doctor had forwarded ten Wardian cases from Singapore, nine from Calcutta, one from Ceylon, eight from Java, and two from China. Included in the collection were camphor, cinnamon, jak fruit, litchi, mandrin orange, Chinese plum, Java plum, several kinds of eugenias and banyans and a considerable number of other useful or ornamental plants. He also imported carrion crows, goldfinches, Japanese finches, linnets, mynah birds, Chinese quail, rice birds, Indian sparrows, golden, silver and Mongolian pheasants and a pair of deer from China and a pair from Java. Dr. Hilebrand returned from his tour on July 21,1866, aboard the " D.C. Murray" having been gone over a year. In over almost 20 years of residence in the Islands, Dr Hillebrand visited all the larger islands, botonizing whenever possible. he carefully preserved and studied these plants as well as those which correspondants sent to him. Many rare trees, planted by the doctor himself, are still to be seen on the grounds of the Queen's Hospital. Foster Gardens on Nuuanu Avenue, which was Dr. Hillebrand's former home, has another coleection of exotic trees and flowers planted by the doctor. A lovely native begonia is named Hillebrandia in his honor. Dr. Hillebrand and his family left Hawaii for the last time on June 27th, 1871. The winter of 1871-1872 was spent in Cambrige, Massachusetts, where he began with Proffessor Asa Gray's assistance the manuscript of his monumental " Flora of The Hawaiian Islands." In this work some 250 species of rare plants, then unknown to the botanical world are described. Following his stay in Cambridge, he traveled extensively in Germany, Switzerland, Madeira, and Tenerife. Finally he returned to Heidelberg where he had spent such happy student years to end his days. Though painfully ill fo his last two years, he managed to complete writing much of the manuscript of " Flora of The Hawaiian Islands" and he died on July 13,1886, in Heidelberg at the age of 64. His son, Dr.Willaim F. Hillebrand, a chemist with the help of Professor E. Askernasy of Heidelberg, carefully and expertly edited the work, publishing it posthumously in 1888. Dr. Hillebrand was a quiet, sober, practical man of medium height and weight, complexion fair, eyes gray and possed an abundance of rather dark hair. He was a linguist, being fluent in German, French, English, Latin, and Hawaiian. He was an excellant doctor, revered by all his patients, loved his music and was described as a capable pianist, who enjoyed playing at social gatherings. Honored by the King for " All his good works" and a "compliment of the Hawaiian people."