Henry Dickerson Wishard (1866-1952) was the first chairman of the Kauai County Board of Supervisors — the governing body of Kauai from 1906, when the first board of supervisors took their oaths of office, until 1969, when the mayor and
Henry Dickerson Wishard (1866-1952) was the first chairman of the Kauai County Board of Supervisors — the governing body of Kauai from 1906, when the first board of supervisors took their oaths of office, until 1969, when the mayor and county council form of government replaced it and Antone Kona Vidinha was elected Kauai’s first mayor.
Prior to the formation of county-level boards of supervisors throughout the Hawaiian Islands in 1906, no county-level governmental organizations existed in Hawaii.
From 1898, the year in which the United States annexed the Republic of Hawaii — through 1905, the governance of the Hawaii Islands was carried out in Honolulu at the territorial level.
Leading members of the Kauai County government that Henry Wishard headed and served as Supervisor Lihue District in 1906 were: Arthur Rice, treasurer; Olaf Omstead, clerk; John Willard, attorney; William Henry Rice, sheriff; J. Mahiai Kaneakua, clerk; L. M. McKeague, interpreter; S. K. Kaeo, attorney; Walter D. McBryde, supervisor Koloa District; T. Brandt, supervisor Waimea District; D. Kanealii, supervisor Hanalei District, and R. Puuike, supervisor Kawaihau District.
Henry Wishard would continue as chairman of the Kauai Board of Supervisors for nearly 25 years, until 1930.
Born in Indiana and educated at Central Normal College, Indiana, Henry Wishard arrived at Lihue in 1889 as a schoolteacher. By 1899, he’d become principal of Waimea School.
Besides teaching on Kauai for four years, Wishard was employed by the W. H. Rice ranch for 13 years and worked as the bookkeeper of Lihue Plantation Co. for 15 years.
He and his wife, Agnes, had two children, Leslie and Blanche Wishard.
Incidentally, Wishard was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, a lineage society in which members have traced their family tree back to a point of having an ancestor who supported the cause of American Independence during the years 1774 to 1783.
