James Fowle Baldwin Marshall (1818-1891) was born in Boston and attended Harvard before sailing to Hawai‘i in 1839, where by 1841 he’d established a general merchandise firm in Honolulu with Francis Johnson. Two years later, Marshall became a participant in
James Fowle Baldwin Marshall (1818-1891) was born in Boston and attended Harvard before sailing to Hawai‘i in 1839, where by 1841 he’d established a general merchandise firm in Honolulu with Francis Johnson.
Two years later, Marshall became a participant in the “Paulet Episode,” the central event of which was British Captain Lord George Paulet’s provisional annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to Britain by threat of force in February 1843.
Paulet’s action was in response to a complaint made against Kamehameha III by Richard Charlton, the British Consul in Hawai‘i, as a consequence of the king not honoring Charlton’s claim to a Honolulu leasehold property.
Marshall became involved when he agreed to secretly carry Kamehameha III’s dispatches concerning the episode from Honolulu to authorities in London, where he, William Richards and Timothy Haalilio were then able to convince the British government to recognize Hawai‘i’s independence and restore Hawaii’s sovereignty on July 31, 1843.
Marshall returned to Hawai‘i, was elected to the Hawaiian Legislature, and in 1845 became a partner in C. Brewer and Co., Ltd.
When Henry Peirce founded Lihu‘e Plantation in 1849, Marshall became its first manager.
While on Kaua‘i, Marshall and his wife, and the Hardys, Bonds and Reynoldses, lived for a time at and about Malumalu, which is located on the Haupu Range side of Hulemalu Road, about one-quarter mile east of the intersection of Puhi and Hulemalu roads.
There they established a settlement based on Brook Farm, a short-lived (1841-1847) utopian experiment in communal living in Massachusetts.
In 1854, Marshall resigned as manager of Lihu‘e Plantation and was replaced by missionary William Harrison Rice.
He returned to Boston a wealthy man in 1859, served as a Federal brigadier general during the Civil War and later managed Hampton Institute in Virginia.
