Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands - Kamehameha V --- (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 V -- Part 4 First Sugar Mill Bernice Pauahi [ Bishop ] Charles R. Bishop John Adams Cummins by Darlene E. Kelley December 28, 2000 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As told by the Ancients; Kamehameha V -- Part 4. The first sugar mill to be made in Hawaii is credited to a man from China. The newspaper Polynesian, in its issue of January 31,1852, carried this item attributed to a prominent sugar planter on Maui. L.L. Torbert; " Mr. John White, who came to these islands in 1797, and is now living with me, says that in 1802, sugar was first made at these islands by a native of China, on the island of Lana'i. He came here in one of the vessels trading for sandelwood, and brought a stone mill and boilers, and after grinding off one small crop and making it into sugar, went back the next year with his fixtures, to China." Itinerant sugar millers were the custom in China in the late 18th and 19th century, so the account was plausable. Native Hawaiians planted sugar cane on the banks of Taro patches as part of their food supply. As an Itinerant sugar maker, the sugar miller set up his works, ground cane, made sugar from the juice, and divided the products, sugar and molasses, equally with the suppliers of the cane. From this elemental beginning, the Hawaiian sugar industry came into being, expanded to become the dominant segment of the Hawaiian economy by the time of the Civil War in the United States. Lot Kamehameha was known as the Bachelor King of Hawaiian history. The status, apparently, was not of his own choosing. It is said that, in his youth, he was in love with, and expected to marry, Bernice Pauahi, herself a descendant of Kamehameha the Great. Princess Bernice Pauani. was bon in Honolulu in 1831. Her parents were Paki and Konia. She was named Pauahi after an aunt whose daughter was Princess Ruth. At the age of eight Bernice began attending the Royal School along with other young people of the ruling group. She was married at the school in 1850 to Charles Reed Bishop. On the deathbed of Kamehameha V in 1872, he offered to name Bernice his successor to the throne, but she declined. She received in 1875 the Grand Cross of the Order of Kamehameha from King Kalakaua. At the death of Ruth in 1883, Bernice inherited the bulk of her estate and thus became heiress to most of the Kamehameha lands, totalling close to nine percent of the area of the Hawaiian Islands. Her will at her death in 1884, established the endowed Kamehameha Schools, to educate young people of Hawaiian blood, which opened the boy's division in 1887 and the girl's division in 1894. Charles Reed Bishop was born in 1822 at Glens Falls, New York, of New England stock. He was orphaned in early childhood and was reared by grandparents. He left home at the age of fifteen, and after holding several small jobs, sailed in 1846 to Oregon to seek fortune in the West. He stopped off at Honolulu, obtained his first position in the Islands, and began to contribute to the economic history of Hawaii. His first task was posting government books. He became a naturalized citizen in 1849. Soon, he became Collector General of Customs at Honolulu and then opened a mercantile business in partnership with W.A. Aldrich. The firm of Aldrich & Bishop was formed in 1858. Through Bishop's insight into the need for a bank in the city, the company later became the Bank of Bishop & Co., Ltd. Today it has the name of First Hawaiian Bank. Bishop gave strong financial support to the growing sugar industry and his influence grew. It was augmented by his marriage in 1850 to Princess Bernice Pauahi, who inherited from Princess Ruth the bulk of the Kaehameha landed property. In 1860 Bishop was made a noble of the Kingdom and life member of the upper house of the Legislature. He was a member of the privy council during the reigns of four kings and one queen, and was throughout his life an adviser to royalty. He and his Princess traveled abroad in 1876; they were presented at the court of Queen Victoria and received by Pope Pius lX. Widely known for his philanthropy, Bishop built as a memorial to his wife the world renowned Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu and in his will left funds for its support through the Bishop Trust Co. After the death of Princess Bernice in 1884, he made frequent trips to the mainland and in 1894 he moved to San Francisco, where he died in 1915. His body was returned to Honolulu and he was given and impressive State funeral. In the late seventies, Daniel Bandman, an English actor visited the islands, where he was entertained by Kamehameha V at the plantation of his dearest friend, John Adams Cummins. at Waimanalo. Mr. Bandman described the dangerous ride over the Pali trail. which each moment seemed an eternty and every inch of the way a jeopardy of life and limb. The party of gentlemen and ladies rode horseback. When they reached the plantation, they were royally received. Musicians had gone before them and greeted them in Hawaiian fashion. At three o'clock the King arrived. Kamehmea V was a large, heavy person, and found it difficult to get around. He purchased a small steamboat in which he had often visited the plantation at Waimanalo. He also had a bit of railroad laid for his special use, traveling with ease from the boat to the plantation. Mr. Bandman wrote that the King wore a navy blue suit and a crimson sash and welcomed all his friends. During the dinner hula dancers entertained the guests. It can be assumed that the dancers had been duly licensed by the King. Mr. Bandman was requested to give a recitation, in which he did do, as to the Kings requests. The idea of building a Pali tunnel first appeared in 1852. The Polynesian, a popular newspaper of the day, stated, " Oahu residents will never be satisfied till a tunnel is dug through the Pali, suitable for the passage of carts and wagons." What the dissatified public wanted was an upgrading of the ancient steep and winding trail that served as a passage though the Ko'olau Mountains between Nu'uanu Valley on the Honolulu side and the fertile windward side of O'ahu. The trail was used by farmers for bringing produce for sale to the growing port city and for carrying purchases back. The Pali trail was widened to a road for horses and small vehicles in 1862, but there were continuing complaints. In 1896 the legislature authorized dynamiting and paving the road. Johnny Wilson, a young engineer, headed up the sucessful project. [ Wilson would later serve as the mayor of Honolulu. ] Another widening after 1900 allowed for automobiles and trucks to transverse the road. Today there is a tunnel built which was dedicated by Mrs. Jenny Wilson. the Mayor's widow in 1961. The King's appointment of a Frenchman to his cabinet had convinced many Americans living in Hawaii that Lot had adopted an anti-American policy. Actually, the King's foreign policy was much the same as had been under his brother's reign. Basically, its prime objective continued to be the safe guarding of the Kingdom's independence. Yet feelings of mistrust between Americans, Frenchmen, and Englishmen, living in the islands continued to grow and were strengthened by France's and Great Britians unfriendly stance toward the United States during the Civil War. Following the Civil War, the United States Navy assigned the USS Lackawanna to the islands for an indefinate stay. She arrived in Honolulu on February 9, 1867. In addition to strengthening America's position in the islands, the Lackawanna was under the orders to protect American interests. Undoubtedly, the presence of the American warship would also have a calming effect should a serious political crisis develop. The growth of steamship travel between Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States, Australia, and New Zealand caused a large increase in the number of visitors to the islands. These visitors included Mark Twain who came to Hawaii in March of 1866 as a correspondant for the Sacramento Union. Intending to stay only one month, Twain [ traveling under his real name of Samuel Clemmens ] stayed four months, and in the process, wrote twenty-five letters to the Sacramento Union describing wth caustic humor and wit, his experiences in Hawaii and his impressions of her people. Another famous visitor of that time was Alfred Ernest Albert, the Duke of Edinburgh, who came to Hawaii on a state visit in 1869. The arrival and departure of Twain, the Duke of Edinburgh, and others included envoys, politicians, merchants, and opportunists, created the need of good hotel accomodations to lodge simular visitors.. Thus the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which was completed, was formally opened with a subscription ball on February 29, 1872, in all its splender and befitting any visiting dignitary. John Adams Cummins, as mentioned above, was one of Kamehameha V's best and favored friends. John was born on Oahu and was a son of an English settler in Hawaii with wide sugar, cattle, and agricultural holdings, and a Hawaiian mother; through her he was distantly related to Kamehameha l. After attending the Royal School, Cummins worked on his father's ranch, becoming manager in 1855. He married a lady named Kahalewai in 1863, and after her death married Kapeka Mersburg in 1902. He founded the lucrative Waimanalo Sugar Plantation on the east side of Oahu. where he was often visited by royalty, his close freiends. Cummins was appointed minister of foreign affairs by King Kalakuana in 1890. He took part in the counter-revolution of 1895 and was fined for conspiracy to overthow the Republic. He was a promoter of horse racing and introduced some blooded stock to the islands. He was a Charter member of the Hawaiian Jockey Club in 1885. Cummins was given a ten-ton pilot boat by friends in Boston, in which he cruised from his dock at Waimanalo to every port and inlet in the islands. It was from his dock that portly King Kamehameha V had a short railway line laid from the boat landing.