ISLAND HISTORY: Taniguchi ‘ohana’s mountain guides, paniolos and hunters
The Taniguchi ohana is among the most numerous of families on Kaua‘i.
ISLAND HISTORY: Herman Widemann – Queen Liliuokalani’s defense lawyer
In 1836, an adventurous young man named Herman Widemann (1822-1899) from Hanover, Germany signed on board a whaleship and sailed off for a cruise through the vast Pacific.
ISLAND HISTORY: Isaac Kaleialoha Brandt – Koloa Plantation timekeeper and Inter-Island Steamship Co. purser
Born in Koloa Plantation’s German Camp in Kaluahonu Valley, east of Waita Reservoir, Kaua‘i, Isaac Kaleialoha Brandt (1905-1992) was the grandson of German immigrants Gerhard and Margretta Brandt, and the son of Herman Brandt Sr., the assistant manager of Koloa Plantation between 1913 and 1922, and Lillie Nauele Hart Brandt.
ISLAND HISTORY: Mitsugi Nishihara – longtime employee of Koloa Plantation Store and Lihu‘e Store
Mitsugi Nishihara (1906-2004), the son of Hichiro and Fusa Nishihara, was born in Lihu‘e at Halehaka Camp, not far downhill from the Japanese cemetery on Halehaka Road, and attended Koloa School until the eighth grade, after which, at age 15, he began work at Koloa Plantation.
ISLAND HISTORY: Tadao ‘Barber’ Kawamoto was Koloa’s barber for 50 years
The son of Taichi and Shigeno Kawamoto, Tadao “Barber” Kawamoto (1911-2000) was born and raised in what was then the fishing village of Kukuiula on the shore southwest of Koloa, Kauai.
ISLAND HISTORY: Hard working Koloa Sugar, Grove Farm, and McBryde Sugar employee Louis Jacintho, Jr.
Louis Jacintho, Jr. (1924-2008), the son of Louis Jacintho, Sr. and Rita Jacintho, was born in Koloa Sugar Co.’s Portuguese Camp, once located about a half-mile east of Koloa town along the road leading towards the sugar mill.
ISLAND HISTORY: Andres Labrador — longtime stableman at Koloa Plantation
Andres Labrador (1901-1996) was born in Cebu, Philippines and worked there as a fisherman and carpenter’s helper until 1922, when he signed a contract with a labor recruiting agent to emigrate and work on a Hawaiian sugar plantation.
ISLAND HISTORY: Kiyoto Kinoshita – Grove Farm carpenter from Huleia Valley, Kaua‘i
Nowadays, Huleia Valley is a peaceful place with only four residences.
ISLAND HISTORY: Lihu‘e Plantation’s champion hapai ko man Isuke Matsunaga
Born in Koloa, Isuke Matsunaga (1902-1982) was a longtime employee of Lihu‘e Plantation known for his prowess as a hapai ko (carry sugarcane) man in his younger days, who represented Lihu‘e Plantation in hapai ko contests with other Kaua‘i sugar plantation hapai ko men.
ISLAND HISTORY: The old Lihu‘e Armory was in operation from 1917 to 1967
Until 1917, when the Lihu‘e Armory was built, Kaua‘i’s 1st Battalion 4th Infantry Regiment of the Hawai‘i National Guard had no armory and was therefore compelled to store its equipment in inadequate accommodations inside the County Building.
ISLAND HISTORY: Commander John Rodgers’ rescue off Kaua‘i in 1925
Born in Washington D.C., Navy Commander John Rodgers (1881-1926) was a graduate of the Naval Academy, Class of 1903, and served on various ships before training to become only the second Navy flight officer.
ISLAND HISTORY: Sugar was successfully produced on Hawaiian plantations for 181 years
In May 1968, when my fiancée, Ginger Beralas of Lihue, first took me to Kaua‘i, there were eight sugar plantations in operation on the island: Kilauea, Lihu‘e Plantation, Grove Farm, McBryde, Olokele, G & R, Waimea, and Kekaha.
ISLAND HISTORY: Naval Officer William Reynolds resided at Malumalu from 1852-61
Born in Pennsylvania, William Reynolds (1815-1879) joined the Navy in 1831, was promoted to midshipman and lieutenant in 1841, and served as an officer with the U. S. Exploring Expedition, or Wilkes Expedition, as it is also referred to, which explored the Pacific from 1838 to 1842.
ISLAND HISTORY: Sugar’s role in creating Hawai‘i’s cosmopolitan population
Herewith is a brief historical account of the recruitment and importation of foreign laborers, some with wives and children, under contract to Hawaiian sugar plantations, which was first authorized by the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in 1850:
ISLAND HISTORY: Hanapepe Valley taro farmers Shoichi and Shizuko Nagamine
For 36 years, until 1985, when they retired from taro farming, Shoichi Nagamine (1920-2001) and his wife, Shizuko Nagamine (1924-2008), raised taro in Hanapepe Valley on their 12-acre farm.
ISLAND HISTORY: The significance of the tree-planting ceremony at Coco Palms
In 1896, Ernst Lindemann planted a grove of coconut trees to produce copra on leased land that would later become the property of the Coco Palms Hotel.
ISLAND HISTORY: The story of Wailua Valley rice farmer Au Tai Hon
Wailua Valley rice farmer Au Tai Hon (1888-1940), of Chinese ancestry, was born at Kapaa, Kauai and was educated at Mid-Pacific Institute and Iolani.
ISLAND HISTORY: Kaua‘i-born Ruth Ochiyo Tanabe was incarcerated in an internment camp during World War II
In Feb. 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to inland relocation centers.
ISLAND HISTORY: Old-time seafaring man William Whittington of Kalaheo, Kaua‘i
William Whittington (1842-1929), a blue water skipper of the old sailing days, witnessed the evolution at sea from racing clippers of the Victorian Age (1837-1901) through to the era of motorized ships.
ISLAND HISTORY: Kaua‘i-born historian Rubellite ‘Ruby’ Kawena Kinney Johnson
Historian Rubellite “Ruby” Kawena Kinney Johnson (b. 1933), daughter of Ernest Kaipoleimanu Kinney (1906-1987) and Esther Kauikeaulani Kaulili (1913-1979), was born and raised on Kaua‘i and educated at Kaua‘i High School, the University of Hawai‘i and Indiana University.