List of missionaries to Hawaii

Missionaries preaching under kukui groves, 1841

This is a list of missionaries to Hawaii. Before European exploration, the Hawaiian religion was brought from Tahiti by Paʻao according to oral tradition. Notable missionaries with written records below are generally Christian.

Protestant

Several groups were sent from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The first company arrived on March 30, 1820 on the Thaddeus from Boston:^[1]

Hiram Bingham I

• Rev. Hiram Bingham I (1789–1869), father of Hiram Bingham II and grandfather of Hiram Bingham III
• Rev. Asa Thurston (1787–1868), grandfather of businessman and politician Lorrin A. Thurston
• Lucy Goodale, wife of Asa Thurston
• Rev. Samuel Ruggles (1795–1871), who brought the first Kona coffee trees to Hawaii in 1828
• Elisha Loomis (1799–1836), the first printer in Hawaii^[2]
• Samuel Whitney (1793–1845), father of Henry Martyn Whitney
• Mercy Partridge (1795–1872), wife of Samuel Whitney
• Thomas Holman (1793-1826), doctor
• Lucia Ruggles Holman (1793-1886), wife of Thomas Holman and sister to Samuel Ruggles

From the London Missionary Society April 15, 1822 on the Prince Regent from England:

• Rev. William Ellis (1794–1872), who returned in 1823, toured the islands, and published a book about the tour^[3]

The second ABCFM company arrived on April 23, 1823 on the Thames from New Haven:

• Rev. Charles Samuel Stewart, who published a journal^[4]
• Betsey Stockton (1798–1865), the first African American and unmarried female missionary
• Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Goodrich, who founded the Hilo Station
• Rev. William Richards (1793–1847)
• Clarissa Lyman, wife of William Richards
• Rev. Artemas Bishop
• Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Artemas Bishop
• Louisa Everst and James Ely, who founded Kealakekua Church

Lorrin Andrews

The third ABCFM company arrived on March 30, 1828 on the Parthian from Boston:

• Rev. Lorrin Andrews (1795–1868), founder of Lahainaluna Seminary and judge
• Dr. Gerrit P. Judd (1803–1873), physician and diplomat
• Theodosia Arnold (1792–1859) and Rev. Jonathan Smith Green (1796–1878), who founded Makawao Union Church
• Rev. Peter Johnson Gulick (1796–1877)
• Fanny Hinckley Thomas (1798–1883), wife of Peter Gulick
• Mary Ward, teacher, (1799–1834), married Edmund Horton Rogers as his second wife

The fourth ABCFM company arrived June 7, 1831 on the New England from New Bedford:

• Rev. Dwight Baldwin (1798–1886), physician on Maui island
• Rev. Sheldon Dibble (1809–1845), historian and Bible translator^[5]

The fifth ABCFM company arrived May 17, 1832 on the Averick from Boston:

• Rev. William P. Alexander and wife Mary Ann McKinney (1810–1888), whose son founded Alexander & Baldwin
• Rev. Richard Armstrong (1805–1860), various missions, second pastor of Kawaiahaʻo Church, and wife Clarissa Chapman (1805–1891)
• Alonzo Chapin (1805–1876), physician, and wife Mary Ann Tenney (1804–1885)
• Rev. John S. Emerson (1800–1867), and wife Ursula Sophia Newell (1806–1888)
• Rev. Cochran Forbes (1805–1880), the founder of Kealakekua Church in 1833, and wife Rebecca Duncan Smith (1805–1878)
• Rev. Harvey Rexford Hitchcock (1800–1855), who founded the first church on Molokaʻi island, and wife Rebecca Howard (1808–1890)
• Rev. David Belden Lyman (1803–1868), who founded the Hilo Boarding School, and wife Sarah Joiner (1806–1885)
• Rev. Lorenzo Lyons (1807–1886), who built Imiola Church in Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii, and his first wife Betsy Curtis (1813–1837)

Cochran Forbes

• Edmund Horton Rogers (1806–1853), printer
• Rev. Ephraim Spaulding (1802–1840), who built the house at Waineʻe Church, and wife Julia Brooks (1810–1898)

The sixth ABCFM company arrived on May 1, 1833 on the Mentor:

• Rev. John Diell (1808–1841) and wife Caroline Platt (1807–1901)
• Lemuel Fuller (1810-?), printer
• Rev. Benjamin Wyman Parker (1803–1877) and wife Mary Elizabeth Barker (1805-?)
• Rev. Lowell Smith (1802–1891) and wife Abba Willis Tenney (1809–1885), the grandparents of industrialist Walter F. Dillingham

The seventh ABCFM company arrived on June 6, 1835 on the Hellespont:

• Miss Lydia Brown (1780–1865), teacher
• Rev. Titus Coan (1808–1881), the first pastor of Haili Church in Hilo^[6] and first wife Fidelia Church (1810–1872)
• Henry Dimond (1808–1895), bookbinder, and wife Ann Maria Anner (1808–1893)
• Edwin Oscar Hall (1810–1883), printer, and first wife Sarah Lyons Williams (1812–1876)
• Miss Elizabeth M. Hitchcock (1802–1857), teacher, married Edmund Horton Rogers as his second wife

The eighth ABCFM company arrived on April 9, 1837 on the Mary Frasier from Boston:

• Physician Seth Lathrop Andrews (1809–1892) and wife Parnelly Pierce (1807–1846)
• Teacher Edward Bailey (1814–1903) and wife Caroline Hubbard (1814–1894)
• Rev. Isaac Bliss (1804–1851) and wife Emily Curtis (1811–1865)
• Samuel Northrup Castle (1808–1894), who co-founded Castle & Cooke, and first wife Angeline Tenney (1810–1841)
• Rev. Daniel Toll Conde (1807–1897) and wife Andelucia Lee (1810–1855)
• Amos Starr Cooke (1810–1871) and wife Juliette Montague (1812–1896), who founded the Royal School in Honolulu
• Rev. Mark Ives (1809–1885) and wife Mary Ann Brainerd (1810–1882)
• Teacher Edward Johnson (1813–1867) and wife Lois S. Hoyt (1809–1891)
• Teacher Horton Owen Knapp (1813–1845) and wife Charlotte Close (1813–1846)
• Rev. Thomas Lafon (1801–1876) and wife Sophia Louisa Parker (1812–1844)
• Teacher Edwin Locke (1813–1843) and wife Martha Laurens Rowell (1812–1842)
• Teacher Charles MacDonald (1812–1839) and wife Harriet Treadwell Halstead (1810–1881)
• Teacher Bethuel Munn (1803–1849) and wife Louisa Clark (1810–1841)
• Miss Marcia M. Smith (1806–1896), teacher
• Miss Lucia Garratt Smith (1808–1892), teacher, later married to as his second wife Lorenzo Lyons
• Teacher William Sanford Van Duzee (1811–1883) and Oral Hobart (1814–1891)
• Teacher Abner Wilcox (1808–1869) and wife Lucy Eliza Hart (1814–1869)

John D. Paris

The ninth ABCFM company arrived on May 21, 1841 on the Gloucester:

• Rev. Elias Bond (1813–1896), founded Kalahikiola Church and Kohala Seminary, and wife Ellen Mariner Howell (1817–1881)
• Rev. Daniel Dole (1808–1878), who founded of Punahou School, and first wife Emily Hoyt Ballard (1808–1844), parents of Sanford B. Dole, who became president of the Republic of Hawaii
• Rev. John Davis Paris (1809–1892), who founded Kahikolu Church and Hale Halawai O Holualoa, and first wife Mary Grant (1807–1847)
• William Harrison Rice (1813–1862) and Mary Sophia Hyde (1816–1911), parents of William Hyde Rice, who became royal governor of Kauai
• Two Hawaiian seamen, Joseph and Levi, served as translators

The tenth ABCFM company arrived on September 24, 1842 on the Sarah Abagail from Boston:^[7]

• Rev. George Berkeley Rowell (1815–1884) and wife Malvina Jerusha Chapin (1816–1901)
• Physician James William Smith (1810–1887) and teacher Millicent Knapp (1816–1891), parents of William Owen Smith (1848–1929)

Arrived on October 19, 1842 on the Sarah Abagail from New York:

• Rev. Samuel Chenery Damon (1815–1885) and Julia Sherman Mills (1817–1890), parents of Samuel Mills Damon. Samuel Damon was the publisher of "The Friend".

Arrived on September 21, 1843 from Boston, originally intended on going to Oregon:

• Rev. Asa Bowen Smith (1809–1886) and wife Sarah Gilbert White (1813–1855)

The eleventh ABCFM company arrived July 15, 1844 on the Globe from Boston:

• Rev. Claudius Buchanan Andrews (1818–1877)
• Rev. Timothy Dwight Hunt (1840–1895) and wife Mary Hedges (died 1857)
• Rev. John Fawcett Pogue (1814–1877)
• Rev. Eliphalet Whittlesey (1816–1889) and wife Elizabeth Keane Baldwin (1821–1876)

The twelfth ABCFM company arrived February 26, 1848 on the Samoset from Boston:

• Rev. Samuel Gelston Dwight (1815–1880), stationed in Kaluaaha
• Rev. Henry Kinney (1816–1854) and wife Maria Louisa Walsworth (1822–1858), who later married Benjamin Pitman after her husband's death

Arrived in 1854, intended for Micronesia on the Chaica:

• Jane Stobie (1827–1904) and William Cornelius Shipman (1824–1861)

Other groups:

• Thomas Nettleship Staley (1823–1898), the first Anglican bishop, arrived in 1862
• Merriman Colbert Harris (1846–1921), the first Methodist bishop

Native Hawaiian Protestant

Native Hawaiian missionary family, c. 1878

• David Malo (1793–1853), historian, built Kilolani Church
• Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia, who traveled via China to New England to inspire ACFM
• Thomas Hopu, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the first ABCFM company
• John Honolii, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the first ABCFM company
• William Kanui, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the first ABCFM company
• William Kamooula, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the second ABCFM company
• Richard Kalaioulu, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the second ABCFM company
• Kupelii, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the second ABCFM company
• George Tyler Kielaa, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the third ABCFM company
• Samuel J. Mills Paloo, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the third ABCFM company
• John E. Phelps Kalaaauluna, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the third ABCFM company

Tahitian Protestant

• Stephen Popohe, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the second ABCFM company
• Henry Tahiti, educated at Foreign Mission School and assisted the third ABCFM company
• Tute Tehuiariʻi, accompanied Ellis of the London Missionary Society, chaplain to Hawaiian royalty and father of Manaiula Tehuiarii
• Taua, accompanied Ellis of the London Missionary Society
• Taʻamotu, female teacher, accompanied Ellis of the London Missionary Society
• Toteta, Tahitian teacher
• Auna, Tahitian teacher
• Daniel Kahikona, Tahitian teacher

Catholic

Episcopal arms of Bishop Rouchouze in a window at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu

Arrived in 1827 on La Comète from France on an invitation issued by Jean Baptiste Rives:

• Father Alexis Bachelot, SS.CC. (1796–1837), with Fathers Patrick Short, SS.CC., and Abraham Armand, SS.CC., and six lay Brothers of the Congregation

Subsequent bishops and priests:

Father Damien, SS.CC., in his later years, already afflicted with Hansen's disease

Bishop Herman Koeckemann, SS.CC.

• Bishop Etienne Jerome Rouchouze, SS.CC. (?–1843), lost at sea
• Bishop Louis Desiré Maigret, SS.CC. (1804–1882)
• Bishop Herman Koeckemann, SS.CC. (1828–1892)
• Bishop Gulstan Ropert, SS.CC. (1839–1903)
• Father Damien de Veuster, SS.CC., (1840–1889), canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 2009 for dedicating his life to the care of leprosy victims on Molokai, eventually succumbing to the disease himself
• Bishop Libert H. Boeynaems, SS.CC. (1857–1926)
• Bishop Stephen Alencastre, SS.CC. (1876–1940)

Also:

• Mother Marianne Cope, O.S.F., (1838–1918), who led a group of Sisters from her religious congregation in answer to a plea by the King for nursing care of leprosy victims, and who eventually went to Molokai to help Father Damien in his last days and continue his work; beatified by the Catholic Church in 2005, canonized in October 2012

Orthodox

• Protopresbyter Jacob Korchinsky (1861–1941), founded the Russian Orthodox Mission in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1915. He was executed by Soviet authorities in August 1941. He is under consideration for sainthood in the Russian Orthodox Church.^[8]
• Archimandrite Innokenty Dronoff (+1930s to 1940s), served the Russian Orthodox Community in the Hawaiian Islands in the 1930s to 1940s. His final resting place is unknown. He was based primarily out of Hilo, Hawaii.^[9]

See also

• Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
• Church of Hawaii
• Edict of Toleration (Hawaii)
• Henry Opukahaia
• List of Buddhist temples in Hawaii
• List of Roman Catholic missionaries
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
• Orthodox Church in Hawaii
• Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands
• Roman Catholic Bishop of Honolulu
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii
• Timeline of Christian missions
• Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands

Notes

1. Orramel Hinckley Gulick (1918). The pilgrims of Hawaii: their own story of their pilgrimage from New England. Fleming H. Revell company. pp. 341–347. ISBN 0-524-09143-9.
2. James R. Davis. "Hawaiian Missionaries". Rootsweb.Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
3. William Ellis (1823). "A journal of a tour around Hawai'i, the largest of the Sandwich Islands". Crocker and Brewster, New York, republished 2004, Mutual Publishing, Honolulu. ISBN 1-56647-605-4.
4. Stewart, Charles Samuel; Ellis, William (1828). Journal of a Residence in the Sandwich Islands, During the Years 1823, 1824, and 1825 (1st ed.). London: H. Fisher, Son, and P. Jackson.
5. Sheldon Dibble (1843). History of the Sandwich Islands. Lahainaluna: Press of the Mission Seminary.
6. Coan, Titus (1882). Life in Hawaii. New York: Anson Randolph & Company. ISBN 0-8370-6036-2.
7. Hawaiian Mission Children's Society (1901). Portraits of American Protestant missionaries to Hawaii. Honolulu: Hawaiian Gazette Co.
8. "Fr. Jacob Korchinsky: Missionary and Martyr".
9. ""From Island to Island with the Word of God on His Lips" How the Only Orthodox Priest on the Islands Lives and Works".

References

Thomas G. Thrum (1876). Hawaiian almanac and annual for 1876. Black & Auld, Honolulu. hdl:10524/665. delete character in |id= at position 53 (help)