Mormon Studies Commons^™

Maui

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Maui is the second largest island in Hawaii and is basically two volcanoes, Haleakala and Puu Kukui with a connecting central valley in between. In the early years of the LDS mission in Hawaii the greatest success in terms of baptisms seems to have been on Maui. In 1853 out of 17,574 people on Maui over 1000 were LDS.

An Interview With Barnard Stewart Silver

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

An Interview with Barnard Stewart Silver (Great-grand nephew of George Q. Cannon)

Born March 9, 1933, currently living in Holliday, Utah

Lived in Lahaina, Hawaii from 1963-1966 as a research engineer in conjunction for the Pioneer Sugar Mill.

Interviewer: Shannon Lee Kanekoa

Date of Recorded Telephone Interview – April 22, 2012

SLK: “Brother Silver, will you tell us about your adventure when you decided to follow your great, great Uncle George Q. Cannon’s footsteps, over 150 years ago, and climb up through the Olowalu canyon and over the West Maui Mountains down into Wailuku?” BSS: “Gladly. After studying the history …

Lorenzo Snow Drowned In Lahaina Harbor (From W.W. Cluff’S Journal)

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

On the 29th of March (1864) we sailed for Lahaina, on the schooner Nettie Merrill, Captain Fisher, for the island of Maui, a distance of about ninety miles from Honolulu. On the morning of the 31st of March, we came to anchor about one mile from the mouth of the little harbor of Lahaina.

Lahaina

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaíi from 1820-1845. Government functions and the royal palace was at Mokuula, an island in a fish pond, now a park at the corner of Front Street and Shaw Street. From 1819 to after the U.S. Civil War Lahaina’s economy centered around the whaling industry. Whale ships would winter here and resupply and recuperate from whaling in the North Pacific. As whaling declined the Pioneer Sugar Mill was Lahaina’s economic engine from 1860 to 1999 along with a pineapple packing plant. Protestant missionaries from the ABCFM were invited to establish a mission …

Waikapu

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

It was also at Waikapu, that the LDS doctrine that the island peoples are descendants of Abraham through Lehi and are heirs to all the blessings of Abraham and his posterity was revealed through Cannon. This doctrine has been accepted by Latter-day Saints ever since, but the fact that had its pronouncement through him was not known until Cannon explained this to the Saints at Waikapu on December 28, 1900. President Samuel Woolley wrote that President Cannon “told them they were of the seed of Abraham and he knew it because the Lord told him so at Lahaina.”1 Waikapu is …

Pulehu

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Pulehu Chapel, Pepper Tree and Kula Monument On the slopes of Haleakala is the community of Pulehu. Located there is a small wooden chapel which is probably the oldest LDS chapel in Hawaii. This little chapel is near where some of the first baptisms in Hawaii took place. “This property came into the hands of the Church when Kiki the daughter of Kaala, through a proclamation dated July 16, 1903 conveyed two acres of a former three acre parcel to the Church ‘for . . .the good works and advancement of the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus on this …

The Beginnings Of The International Teacher Education Program (Itep) In The Church Schools Of The South Pacific, Dennis A. Wright

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints1 sponsors elementary and secondary schools for students in Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Kiribati. As a support for the teachers and administrators in these schools, the Church provides in-service and professional development opportunities through the International Teacher Education Program (ITEP). This service is currently provided through Church service missionaries appointed because of their professional credentials in teacher education.2 As adjunct faculty in the School of Education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYUH)3, ITEP missionaries teach accredited classes from the BYUH teacher education curriculum. As a result, faculty members in the Church schools have the …

Lorenzo Snow At Lahaina 1864

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Tuesday, March 29. Elders Ezra T. Benson, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, William W. Cluff and Alma L. Smith sailed from Honolulu on the Schooner “Nettie Merrill”, Captain Fisher, for Lahaina, on the Island of Maui, a distance of ninety miles from Honolulu.

Afterward

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

During the 2012 MPHS conference on Lanai and Maui a couple of questions arose that weren’t answered at the time, but apparently later have been.

Lanai

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Lanai is the sixth largest island and is one of the driest so only a few thousand Hawaiians ever called it home. By the time the LDS Church attempted to establish a gathering place in Palawai Basin there were only 600 Hawaiians on the island. Andrew Jenson listed only 14 members out of 105 inhabitants on Lanai in 1895.

Wailuku

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Two days after Cannon, Bigler, and Keeler arrived in Maui, they began studying the language. Without formal language instruction, Cannon appealed to the Lord in prayer and fasting for the gift of tongues.1 The missionary efforts of George Q. Cannon were the first to bear significant fruit in the Hawaiian Islands. It is recorded that on March 4, 1851, Cannon left his companions in Lahaina and made his way in bad weather to Wailuku. On his way to Wailuku, Cannon felt that “he was to meet someone who would be interested in his message and who would be willing to …

Joseph F. Smith’S 1864 Mission To Hawaii: Leading A Reformation, Eric Marlowe, Isileli Kongaika

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

At age twenty-five, Joseph F. Smith was part of two of the more recognizable events in Hawaiian Church history: the near accidental drowning of Lorenzo Snow and the excommunication of Walter Murray Gibson. However, these are only two incidents in a unique eight-month mission Joseph F. served to the Hawaiian Islands (then Sandwich Islands) in 1864.

Mormon Motivation For Enlisting In The Civil War, Brant Ellsworth, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

A discussion of several Latter-day Saint (Mormon) Union and Confederate soldiers who served in the American Civil War.

Utah And The Civil War Press, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

A discussion of how Mormons were treated in the national press during the American Civil War with an emphasis on polygamy, statehood requests, loyalty, and Brigham Young.

This chapter was originally published (and reprinted in "Civil War Saints" with permission):

Kenneth L. Alford, “Utah and the Civil War Press.” Utah Historical Quarterly 80, no. 1 (Winter 2012): 75–92.

What's In A Name? The Establishment Of Camp Douglas, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D., William P. Mackinnon

Faculty Publications

A discussion of the establishment (1862) of Camp Douglas, Utah Territory -- named by Col. Patrick Edward Connor after U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas.

Palawai

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Because the law in Hawaii did not allow Hawaiian converts to migrate to Zion, Brigham Young counseled the missionaries to locate a gathering place in Hawaii. On September 28, 1853, Francis A. Hammond discovered a possible gathering place for the LDS while traveling on the island of Lanai. The spot Hammond chose was the Palawai Basin. He described it as: “lying at the foot of the large mountain on the east and extending toward a high ridge on the west, which enclosed completely a large tract of good land, perhaps 5,000 acres of which was in full view.” Further, Hammond …

Olowalu

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

onathan Napela was born in Honokohau Valley September 11, 1813 but grew up in Olowalu before attending Lahainaluna Seminary. At that time several hundred Hawaiians farmed kalo on the alluvial fan of Olowalu. Napela’s parents died here in the 1853 smallpox epidemic. In ancient times there existed a footpath up Olowalu stream and over the 3500 foot pali into Iao Valley. It was very difficult and although there is a tradition Cannon used it, the path had pretty much been abandoned by 1851 so Cannon would more likely have walked around the north end of the island or continued on …

Interview With Takeo Taniguchi, Shannon Kanekoa

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Can you tell us your full name? Takeo Taniguchi

Bro. Taniguchi, where were you born and raised? I was born in Lahaina, Maui. Year September 9, 1923. Went to Honokowai School, Kam III (third) School and Lahainaluna. Graduated June 1942 from Lahainaluna.

2012 Mphs Biennial Field Trip-Itinerary

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

No abstract provided.

Lahainaluna

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

On the mountainside above Lahaina town is Lahainaluna High School. The school was started by Protestant missionaries in 1831 and is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi. The best and brightest young men of Hawaii, usually alii, were selected to attend including Hawaiian historians David Malo and Samuel Kamakau. Many of the early stalwarts of the LDS Church in Hawaii were also educated here: Jonathan H. Napela, J.H. Uaua, J.W.H. Kauahi, George Raymond, Keau Kalawaia, J.H. Keanu, and J.W. Kaleohano.

Latter-Day Saints And The Civil War, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

An introduction to "Civil War Saints" published in 2012 by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book, Kenneth L. Alford, editor.

30th Annual Conference Of The Mphs, Waianae, Hawaii, 2011

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

No abstract provided.

Descriptions Of Old Laie, 1871-1921, Riley Moffat

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Along with the few photographs of La’ie during the early plantation era from about 1865 to 1920, several people made verbal sketches of La’ie. La’ie and Hawai’i always have been considered exotic, and before photographs were common in newspapers, magazines and books, a verbal description was a highly developed means of sharing with readers what a place was like. It was meant to help a reader visualize a place the way we now use photographic images. We’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words; here follows some examples of people using words in the place of a …

The Branch At Nanakuli, Ross Moody

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Brother Low reports, "A jack hammer was necessary to dig footing the entire length of the building except the spot where the baptismal font was designed in the plans. Considerable time and effort was spent trying to get me to relocate the building in another location rather than the one chosen by the authorities, but I refused to change the plan. Consequently, the excavating for the font was carried on by two sisters and was accomplished with ease."

The Lds Church In Waianae From A Bishop, A Stake President, And A Patriach's Point Of View, Reuben Paet

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

June 30, 1935--Oahu Stake Organized Nanakuli Branch became a branch in the newly organized stake with Joseph K. Kauhi as Branch President.

Walter Spalding And The Building Of The Laie Temple, Riley Moffat, Max Moody, Lloyd Walsh

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Ross Moody alerted me to an interview his father, Max Moody, temple president from 1978 to 1982, recorded with Walter Spalding of the Spalding Construction Company after a dinner party at the home of Max Moody in Kahala with Hawai‘i temple president Lloyd Walch on the evening of May 28, 1973.

A Bishop's Experience In The Nanakuli Branch And The Waianae Ward, Joseph Allen

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

I arrived in Hawaii in 1957 to teach at Waianae High School. Soon after, I was introduced to the members of the Nanakuli Branch. At this time, Sam Alama was the Branch President with Ash Tun Soon as a counselor, James Chong and Bill Keiki were clerks.

Letter Concerning Story Of Attempted Bombing Of The Laie Temple, James Hallstrom

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

As I promised I am sending you information on the December 7th Incident and the Miracle of all Miracles.

Exhibit A is a copy of the various stories the Church has on file in Salt Lake City. They maintain records on inspirational stories and even "rumors" that come to light. Exhibit B just surfaced last year in Arizona and varies just a little from the earlier version. An Elder Abe Ekins and his wife claim they met the pilot while they were serving as missionaries in Japan in 1985. They are searching through their dairies to find his name. …

Camp Douglas: Keeping A Watchful Eye On The Saints, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

A discussion of the establishment (1862) and early years of Camp Douglas, Utah Territory. Discusses the tense relationship between Brigham Young and Colonel (later Brigadier General) Patrick Edward Connor, U.S. Army commander of Camp Douglas.

A Visual Tour Of Oahu’S Chapels Of Yesteryear, Riley Moffat

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Andrew Jenson was Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many years. He was born in 1850 in Damgren, Denmark. The family joined the Church in 1854 and emigrated to Utah in 1866, settling in Pleasant Grove. After a mission back to Denmark Andrew become interested in publishing material about the history of the Church. He began his Church service in 1888 by throughout the Eastern U.S. collecting material on Church history.