Statewide County HI Archives Biographies.....Lydgate, John Mortimer December 12, 1854 - November 27, 1922 ************************************************ 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 October 5, 2009, 7:32 pm Source: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders. Published by The Honolulu Star Bulletin, Territory of Hawaii, 1925 Author: Edited by George F. Nellist JOHN MORTIMER LYDGATE, Minister and Journalist. A true builder of Hawaii in the highest sense as well as the material sense was the late John Mortimer Lydgate. A man of many and varied talents-divine, plantation manager, surveyor, historian- he left behind a name that will live long in the memory of the residents of Hawaii and has been preserved for posterity as the designation of a public park obtained by his efforts for the people of Kauai. His death on Nov. 27, 1922, at Lihue, was mourned throughout the Islands. Born at Gore’s Landing, Rice Lake, Ontario, Canada, on December 12, 1854, to William and Ann (Belzard) Lydgate, Mr. Lydgate came to Hawaii with his parents in 1865. Previously his father had come to Hawaii and constructed the Hilo wharf. Accompanying the Lydgate family was Alexander Young and family. The elder Lydgate and Young founded the Hilo Iron Works but Mr. Lydgate subsequently sold his interest to Mr. Young and moved to Lapauhoehoe, where he started the sugar plantation there. This he later sold to Theo H. Davies & Co. John Mortimer Lydgate received his preliminary education at Oahu College. He also studied surveying with William D. Alexander, president of the college at that time, and surveyor-general of the Territory. In 1869 Mr. Lydgate acted as his assistant on surveying trips. From 1872 to 1875 the youthful Lydgate was employed as a government surveyor, laying out the first wagon road from Hilo to Kilauea Volcano. In 1880 Mr. Lydgate received the degree of B. A. at Toronto University. He returned to Hawaii and managed the Lapauhoehoe plantation for two years. Heeding the call of the ministry, he entered the Yale Divinity School but was forced to leave at the end of his junior year to manage Lapauhoehoe plantation for his father, who had been compelled to retire because of ill health. He returned to Yale in 1889, however, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1891. In the same year Toronto University granted him the degree of Master of Arts. During the next year Mr. Lydgate studied at Free Church College, Edinburgh, and the University of Berlin, being ordained late in the year as pastor of the Congregational Church at Steilacoom, Wash. He filled this pastorate until 1896, when he returned to Hawaii. He founded the Lihue Union Church in 1898 and was its first pastor. At the same time he also filled the pulpit of Koloa Church and served as agent on Kauai for the Hawaiian Board of Missions, having charge of the Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese churches. He retired from the ministry in 1919. Meanwhile, Rev. Lydgate had devoted himself to the material as well as the spiritual upbuilding of his congregation. He suggested to the McBryde family that their cattle ranch should be transformed into a sugar plantation. In 1903 this was done and Rev. Lydgate accepted the position of managing director, serving until 1910. He founded the social halls at Lihue and Eleele and also promoted the Kauai Chamber of Commerce, serving as its first vice-president. With J. K. Farley he started the Lihue Ice Works to fill a long felt want on Kauai. He also surveyed the pole-line from Waineha to McBryde to transmit electric power to the plantation. From May, 1920, to December, 1921, he was engaged in an engineering water project for Theo H. Davies and Co., at Paauilo. He was appointed territorial land agent for Kauai in Jan., 1922, serving until his death. He was an authority on Hawaiian land titles. In addition to his other activities, Rev. Lydgate was intensely interested in the history and flora of Hawaii. As a young boy he had accompanied Dr. Hildebrand on his botanical trips. Later Rev. Lydgate contributed rare specimens of plants to the Smithsonian Institute and to the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. Many of these specimens bear his name as the discoverer. Rev. Lydgate spoke Hawaiian fluently and many of his sermons were delivered in that language. Later in life he began to collect Hawaiian legends, especially on Kauai, where he heard the originals in Hawaiian and translated them into English. In 1914 he was the originator of the Kauai Historical Society and served as its vice-president. He also organized the Hele Loa Hiking Club for teachers from the mainland. He took them on trips into the heart of Kauai, relating legends of the various places they visited, organizing excursions to spots of historical interest and preserving ancient landmarks. He lectured extensively on Hawaiian subjects. One of the last benefits he obtained for the residents of Kauai was the setting aside of several public park sites in 1920 and 1921. The largest and most beautiful of these, along the Wailua River and beach, was named officially the “J. M. Lydgate Park” after his death. It includes the famous Hawaiian birthstone and sacrificial stone, the ancient city of refuge and a noted heiau dedicated by the ancients to the gods and demi-gods of the Pacific. Across the river was the dwelling place of Kamaulii, the last King of Kauai. On Jan. 11, 1898, Rev. Lydgate married Helen Elwell, daughter of Homer and India (Pyle) Elwell. Mrs. Lydgate survived her husband, as did the four sons that were born to them-John Mortimer, Jr.; Theodore Homer, Elwell Percy and Lloyd William Anthony. Additional Comments: Other family in this book spell the last name as "Lidgate." File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/lydgate47bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/hifiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb