Three men with Kaua‘i roots — Sanford Ballard Dole, Albert Spencer Wilcox and William Owen Smith — were among the revolutionists that deposed Queen Lili‘uokalani and overthrew the Hawaiian Monarchy in Honolulu on Jan. 17, 1893. Sanford Ballard Dole, an
Three men with Kaua‘i roots — Sanford Ballard Dole, Albert Spencer Wilcox and William Owen Smith — were among the revolutionists that deposed Queen Lili‘uokalani and overthrew the Hawaiian Monarchy in Honolulu on Jan. 17, 1893.
Sanford Ballard Dole, an attorney, legislator and judge, the second son of missionary parents Rev. Daniel & Mrs. Emily Dole, although born at Punahou, O‘ahu, was raised in Koloa.
On the day of the overthrow, Dole and Kaua‘i sugar planter Albert Spencer Wilcox, also raised on Kaua‘i at Wai‘oli, and a son of missionaries Abner and Lucy Wilcox, along with about 20 other revolutionists, took possession of the undefended Ali‘iolani Hale, the government building on King Street.
Armed volunteers followed, and at about 2 p.m., a proclamation was read at Ali‘iolani Hale that declared Queen Lili‘uokalani deposed, the end of the monarchy, and the establishment of a provisional government.
Just after sunset that day, Lili‘uokalani yielded her sovereignty, not to the newly formed Provisional Government headed by Dole, but “to the superior force of the United States of America,” her statement made tangible by the landing in Honolulu on Jan. 16th of a 162-man company of mostly United States Marines and some U. S. Navy sailors from the U.S.S. Boston, then in Honolulu Harbor, at the request of U. S. Minister Stevens.
Lawyer and legislator William Owen Smith, born and raised in Koloa, the eldest son of Kaua‘i missionaries Dr. and Mrs. James W. Smith, was one of the most influential members of the Committee of Safety that planned the overthrow. Smith’s law office in Honolulu was the Committee of Safety’s headquarters.
Sanford Dole became president of the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands, the first president of the Republic of Hawai‘i, and the first governor of the Territory of Hawai‘i.
