Statewide County HI Archives News.....Important People - Part 32. October 12, 2008 ************************************************ 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: Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 October 12, 2008, 10:29 pm Keepers Of The Culture, A Study In Time Of The Hawaiian Islands October 12, 2008 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 October 12, 2008 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Hawai'i Keepers of the Culture A Stiudy in Time, of the Hawai'ian Islands Important People - Part 32. by Darlene E. Kelley ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 32. IMPORTANT PEOPLE WILLIAM RICHARDS 1793 -1847 Born in Plainfield, Massachsetts, Richards was educated at Williams College and was ordained in 1822 after studying at Andover Theological Semenary. He married Clarissa Lyman in1822 and the couple siled for Hawai'i the same year as members of the Second Company of American missionaries. Richards and C.S. Stewart were the pioneer ministers at the port of Lahaina, Mau'i. Their efforts were not appreciated by visiting seaman; in 1825 a mob from the whale ship Daniel besieged the Richards house but was driven away by friendly Hawai'ians. Three years later Richards performed no fewer than six hundred wedding ceremonies within a few months, the grooms of the port often loudly responded " Aye, aye !' in place of " I do." The need of the chiefs for tutelege in foreign customs was recognized in 1838 when Richards resigned from the mission to serve as "translator and recorder." As a result of his instruction, the chiefs began 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 November 28, 1843, granting British and French recognition, American recognition was reaffirmed to Richards and Haalilio in Washington in the summer of 1844. Richards was appointed the first minister of public instruction for te kingdom in 1846, and was succeeded at his death the following year by Richard Armstrong. Richards translated about one third of the entire Hawai'ian Bible. The couple had eight children; one descendant was Atherton Richards. ++++++++++++ JOHN RICORD 1812 -1861 Born in Belville, New Jersey, Ricord was trained in New York as a lawyer and briefly served as secretary of state of the newly formed Republic of Texas in 1836. He arrived in Hawai'i in February, 1844, at a time when it was clear that the government had to be put on a better organized footing, and he was at once appointed attorney general of the Kingdom, a post he held for exactly three years. During this time, " the father of statute law in Hawai'i " settled most of the outstanding government cases, usually to its advantage. Although of a disputatious nature that stirred up some hostility, Ricord had strong qualities of industry, honesty, and loyalty. His report of may 21, 1845, resulted in the passing of the organics acts of1845-1847 that gave the Kingdom an administrative and judicial sytem on Anglo-Saxon principles. In drafting these acts, Ricord, along with William L. Lee, took a leading part. Ricord fell into debt and resigned in the spring of 1847 to face charges against him, of which he was acquited in June. He departed from the islands in the autumn, and in 1854 the legislature passed an act releasing him of his debts. ++++++++++++ JEAN-BAPTISTE JASSONT LAFAYETTE RIVES ( JOHN ) 1793 -1833 Born in Bordeaux, France, Rives arrived in the islands in 1810, became a close friend of the future Kamehameha II, and gave medical advice to the chiefs. Rives was almost a dwarf in stature; Kaahumanu gave him the name of " Luahine " ( old woman ) and protected him from harm. He married her neice, the chieftess Kaheikeimalie Holau, and held extensive lands on O'ahu, Molokai, Mau'i, and the Big Island. He was chosen to accompany Kamehameha II and his party to England in 1823 as royal secretary. In France, he proposed the founding of the Catholic colony in the Hawai'ian islands; his plan resulted in the introduction of this religion and various attepts by French warships to take over the group. Rives never returned to Hawai'i but died in Mexico. ++++++++++++ AUBREY ROBINSON 1853 -1936 Robinson was born in Canterbury, Ne Zealand, son of Charles Barrington and Helen Sinclair Robinson, and came to Hawai'i in 1863 with the family of Eliza McHutcheson Sinclair. He attended Boston University Law School and for several years traveled extensively in Europe and the Orient. On returning to Hawai'i he began the cultivation of sugar cane and the breeding of Devon Cattle on the family lands of Makaweli, Kaua'i, in partnership with Francis Gay.his couin, under the name of Gay & Robinson. Irrigation water was brought to the plantation in ditches from the Olokele and Koula Valleys through one of the greatest engineering feats in Hawai'i at that time. The family also owned the small neighboring island of Niihau, which became a ranch devoted to the raising of purebred merino sheep and shorthorn cattle from the United States, Austrailia, and New Zealand. The first purebred Arabian horses in Hawai'i were imported by Robinson from Arabia in 1884. About this time he also brought in a number of birds and released them on the western side of Kaua'i, and stocked the strams of the island with trout and bass. He also introduced various improved varieties of tropical fruit trees to the region. Robinson married Alice Gay in 1885, and their five children left a number of descendants in the islands. One son wa Aylmer Francis Robinson, rancher on the island of Mau'i. +++++++++++++ AYLMER FRANCIS ROBINSON 1888 -1967 Born at Makaweli, Kaua'i, son of Aubrey Robinson, Aylmer studied at St. Matthew's Military Academy and earned a bachelor's degree at Harvard in 1910. He became manager of the family's Makaweli Ranch in 1912 and held this post for ten years. In 1916 he became partner in the Gay & Robinson sugar and cattle Company and in 1920 business manager of the concern. In 1922 he resigned and took over the management of the family island of Niihau, which is less than a hundred square miles in area. He trie to maintain the traditional Hawai'ian culture among the Niihau residents and introduced honey and charcoal production to the economy in addition to rearing sheep and cattle. +++++++++++++ JAMES ROBINSON Born in London, Robinson was carpenter on the brig Hermes that arrived in Honolulu in 1820 shortly before the first missionary ship,Thaddus..In April,1822, heading for Japan, the Hermes was wrecked on what was named Pearl and Hermes Reef on the leeward Hawai'ian archipelago . Robinson built a small schooner from the wreckage and the survivors sailed back to Honolulu to remain permanently. With Robert Lawrence, a friend and fellow seafarer from England, Robinson established the firm of James Robinson & Co. in 1823; their shipyard was a landmark on the waterfront and the partnerhip lasted until 1868, when Lawrence died. Robinson married Rebecca Prever and founded a pioneer family. Among their eight children were Mary E. Foster, Victoria Ward, and Mark Prever Robinson, born in 1852, who was active in a lumber and shipping business as well as assoiated with a firm that operated inter-island sailing vessels with names like; Malolo, Haleakala, and Leahi. ++++++++++++ EDMUND HORTON ROGERS 1807 -1853 Bornin Newton, Massachusetts, and trained as a printer, Rogers was unmarried when he came to Hawai'i with the Fifth Company of American missionaries in 1832. He was stationed in Honolulu in sole charge of the mission printing office, and in 1833 married Mary Ward. She died in 1834 and in1836 he married Elizabeth Hitchcock, who bore him four children. Rogers worked at Lahainaluna Seminary from 1835 to 1840 and then returned to the Honolulu printing office, where he remained until his death +++++++++++++ GEORGE BERKELEY ROWELL 1815 -1884 Born in Cornish, New Hampshire, Rowell graduated from Amherst College in 1837 and Andover Theologicl Seminary in 1841. He married Malvina Jerusha Chapin in April 1842, and the couple sailed in may with the Tenth Company of American missionaries. The Rowells wre statione at Waioli, Kaua'i, from 1843 -1846, and at Waimea, Kaua'i from 1846-1853. He broke his connection with the Boston comissioners in that year and led a brotherhood of independant churches. Rowell built the great stone church at Waimea and later built a small wooden one nearby. The Rowells had seven children. ++++++++++++ SAMUEL RUGGLES 1795 -1871 Born in Brookfield, Connecticut, Rubggles studied at the mission school at Corwal before sailing with the First Companyl of American missionaries in 1819. He and his wife, Nancy Wells Ruggles, future mother of six children, helped to establish two mission stations in the islands; one at Waimea, Kaua'i, with Samuel Whitneys, and another at Hilo with Joseph Goodriches. Ruggles, who wa so beloved by the Hawai'ians that they called him " Keiki " ( child ), struggled with ill health and finally returned to the United States with his family in 1834. Ruggls was a brother of Mrs. Thomas Holman. +++++++++++++ RUTH KEELIKOLANI ( LUKA ) Princess Ruth Keeuolani Kauanahoahoa Keelikolani was the daughter of Mataio Kekuanaoa and Pauahi. She was thus a half-sister of Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, and Victoria Kamamalu. Soon after the death of her mother in chidbirth, the infant was place under the care of Kaahumanu. Ruth was too old to attend the Chief's Children's School when it was started, but was able to make herself understood in English. Ruth married twice. Her first husand was Leleiohoku, son of Kalanimoku, one child died in infancy and the other Willam Pitt Kimau died at the age of seventeen. Ruth's second husband was Isaac Davis, a grandson of Isaac Davis the sailor. A child of this couple died in infancy, but Ruth adopted ayoung brother of David Kalakaua and named him William Pitt Leleiohoku. When this heir died in 1877, Ruth, who owned large estates and homes, left most of er wealth to Bernice Pauahi. Ruth was " the largest and richest woman on the islands." acording to Isabel Bird Bishop, who saw her in 1874. " Her size and appearance are most unfortunate, but she is said to be good and kind. " +++++++++++++++ DAVID SAMWELL 1751-1798 Samwell, a Welsh physician, wrote the foremost account of the dath of Captain Cook. Samwell had a good education and qualified for medical service in the Royal Navy in 1775. The next year he was appointed surgeon's mate on Cook's Resolution during the third Pacific voyage, and later was promoted to sugeon on the Discovery. He kept a valuable log during the voyage, and his opinions on the introduction of venereal disease into Hawai'i at this time are usually quoted to show that he held Cook's sailors to not be guilty of this act. Samwell continued to serve on Navy ships until 1796. In later years he was a member of the Wesh literary circle in London and produced much prose and verse in English and Welsh. He also was an slave dealer while he was with the Royal Navy and supported 4 such young men, who acted as cabin boys. +++++++++++++ GEORG ANTON SCHEFFER ( EGOR NIKOLAEVICH SCHEFFER ) 1779 -1836 Born in Bararia, son of a miller, the future leader of the Russian filibustering forces in Hawai'i gained a medcal degree in Gottingen, Germany. He became a surgeon in the Russian army and in 1812 was building balloons in Moscow from which to observe the movements of Napoleon's troops. Dr. Scheffer was physician on the Russian-American Company's ship Suvorov in 1813, but left it in Alaska. With orders from Aleksander Baranov, Scheffer arrived in Hawai'i toward the end of 1815, posing as a visiting botanist. He cured Kamehameha I of a feverish cold and as a reward was given lands on O'ahu. He and his men began building a blockhouse on the Honolulu waterfront, an act that aroused John Young to obtain an order from the King to halt the work. The blockhouse was completed by the Hawai'ians in 1816 and gave its name to downtown Fort Street. Reinforced by three Russian ships and their crews, Scheffer withdrew to the islad of Kaua'i. There King Kaumalii -- who had promised Kamehameha in 1810 that after his death his realm would become a part of the kingdom of the conqueror --- on May 21, 1816, signed a treasonous document putting Kaua'i under the protection of Czar Alexander Paviovich of Russia. The Czar's flag flew over part of the Hawai'ian Islands for the following year. Scheffer built a stronghold, Fort Elizabeth, at Waimea and breastworks in the valley of Hanalei. He had, however, aroused the fears of Kamehameha, as well as the antagonism of American ship captains, who feared Russia would monopolize the profitable sandalwood trade. In May, 1817, Kaumualii renounced the filabusters, the Russian ships were sent away empty, and on July 7, Scheffer left for Macao on an American vessel. The acts of Scheffer were disowned by Otto von Kotzebue during his visit to the islands in 1816. The Czar ignored the benefits of a protectorate over Kaua'i and in June, 1819, authorized only norma trade relations, thereafter the shadow of a possible Russian Colony in the South Pacific was removed. Scheffer went to Brazil in 1812 and was made a nobleman by Emporor Don Pedro I , under the title of Count von Frankenthal; he imported colonists to his estates and died far from his native land. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Continued in part 33. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/newspapers/importan66nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/hifiles/ File size: 14.4 Kb