Statewide County HI Archives Biographies.....Judd, Dr. Gerrit P. April 23, 1803 - July 12, 1873
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
J. Orr orr@hawaii.com September 9, 2009, 5:04 pm

Source: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders. Published by Honolulu Star Bulletin, Ltd., Territory of Hawaii, 1925
Author: Edited by George F. Nellist

DR. GERRIT P. JUDD, Statesman of Early Hawaii.  For almost one hundred years, 
dating back to that historic decade in which Hawaii emerged from idolatry and 
accepted Christianity, the name of Judd has been written on the tablets of 
Hawaiian history, a synonym for unselfish service and high devotion to the 
ideals of honest government.
  The Judd family of Hawaii was founded by Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, who arrived in 
Honolulu on the “Parthian,” March 30, 1828, as a surgeon and physician of the 
American Board of Missions and served actively in that capacity until he 
resigned to enter the service of King Kamehameha III. As adviser to that 
monarch from 1842 to 1853, Dr. Judd had a prominent part in many history-
making events. 
  At one time, as related in history, when the British had seized control of 
the government, with forcible annexation of the islands apparently imminent, 
Dr. Judd was forced to use as his secret headquarters the mausoleum in the 
palace yard where rested the coffins of former Hawaiian rulers. There at 
night, alone, by the light of a ship’s lantern, he secretly carried on 
government business, with the coffin of Queen Kaahumanu as his desk. His 
letters to the king were hurried to Waikiki by native runners and carried by 
canoes to King Kamehameha III, then at Lahaina, Maui. Largely due to Dr. 
Judd’s diplomacy, a crisis was averted. The British finally withdrew.
  Dr. Judd was the first to realize that the white people who made Hawaii 
their home must become subjects and supporters of the Hawaiian king if the 
Hawaiian state was to be saved from absorption by France, England or some 
other power. On March 9, 1844, Dr. Judd and John Ricord, the king’s attorney 
general, were the first to forswear allegiance to their native lands and 
become Hawaiian subjects. Dr. Judd’s entire life was devoted to the creation 
of strong constitutional government for Hawaii.
  Successively he occupied virtually every important government post, serving, 
in Kamehameha III’s cabinet, as president of the Treasury Board, Recorder, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Interior, a period of service 
extending from 1842 to 1853. In 1849-50 he went on a diplomatic mission abroad 
to negotiate treaties with France, England, Belgium and the United States 
guaranteeing the independence of the Hawaiian Islands. Accompanying him were 
the two princes, who later became King Kamehameha IV and King Kamehameha V. 
Indicative of the third Kamehameha’s close friendship with Dr. Judd is the 
fact that these two princes asked for and were refused the hands of two of his 
daughters, both of whom would have become queens of Hawaii had Dr. Judd 
consented to the marriages. A coat-of-arms, originally designed for Haalilio 
was, on the death of that native statesman, presented to Dr. Judd by 
Kamehameha III.
  Dr. Judd represented the king and handled all of the money for the building 
of Kawaiahao church, aiding in the planning of the structure and the 
supervision of its construction. He was one of the founders of Punahou School, 
in 1841 personally supervising the erection of the first building, and he 
served as one of the first trustees. He was intensely interested in 
agriculture and was one of the backers of the Royal Agricultural Society.
  A master of the Hawaiian language, Dr. Judd translated from English into 
Hawaiian books on hygiene and the life of Abraham Lincoln. He also assisted in 
the translation of the Scriptures. He conceived the idea of the independent 
ownership of land by the Hawaiian people and persuaded the king to make the 
great division of lands.
  As Dr. Judd’s efforts were all devoted to aiding the Hawaiian government, he 
incurred the enmity of that faction who desired a weak government as an end 
toward annexation by the United States. In 1853, during the great smallpox 
epidemic, this faction forced Dr. Judd’s retirement from government service. 
During the remainder of his life he practiced medicine and engaged in 
plantation and other business ventures. He sat in the legislature as a Noble 
in the years 1843, 1845, 1851, 1852 and 1853 and as a representative in 1858-
59.
  A native of Paris Hill, Oneida County, N.Y., Dr. Judd was born on April 23, 
1803, and studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New 
York. His parents were Elnathan and Betsy (Hastings) Judd. In 1827 he married 
Laura Fish and they had nine children, Gerrit, Jr., Elizabeth Kinau (Mrs. S. 
G. Wilder), Helen Seymour, Charles Hastings, Laura Fish (Mrs. Joshua Dickson), 
Allan Wilkes, Albert Francis, Sybil Augusta (Mrs. H.A.P. Carter) and Juliet 
Isabelle. Dr. Judd died on July 12, 1873, less than a year after the death of 
his wife, which occurred on Oct. 2, 1872.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/judd38bs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/hifiles/

File size: 5.4 Kb