James Bicknell Castle (November 27, 1855 – April 5, 1918) was a

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

businessman in times of the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...

Republic of Hawaii The Republic of Hawaii ( Hawaiian: ''Lepupalika o Hawaii'') was a short-lived one-party state in Hawaii between July 4, 1894, when the Provisional Government of Hawaii had ended, and August 12, 1898, when it became annexed by the United State ...

and

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

Life

James Bicknell Castle was born November 27, 1855, in

. His father was

Samuel Northrup Castle Samuel Northrup Castle (August 12, 1808 –July 14, 1894) was a businessman and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Early life Samuel Northrup Castle was born August 12, 1808 in Cazenovia, New York. His middle name is sometimes spelled "Northrop" ...

(1808–1894), and mother was Mary Tenney Castle (1819–1907). He attended

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

1867–1873, and then

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

. He greatly expanded

Castle & Cooke Castle & Cooke, Inc., is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture, including becoming, through mergers with the modern Dole F ...

in the sugar and railroad industries. He is credited with winning control of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company from

Claus Spreckels Adolph Claus J. Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) (his last name has also been misspelled as Spreckles) was a major industrialist in Hawai'i during the kingdom, republican and territorial periods of the islands' history. He also in ...

in 1898, which he sold to

Alexander & Baldwin Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. is an American company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company currently operates businesses in real estate, land operations, and materials and construction. It was also the last ...

for a large share of their stock. This episode resulting in a lawsuit by the former manager of the plantation, William J. Lowrie. He bought large amounts of land, such as Kaneohe Ranch. James B

He served as an officer in the

army in 1890, and was appointed to the Bureau of Immigration. In 1891 he was acting Auditor General, and Collector General of Customs from April 15, 1893, to August 31, 1897. Later in 1897 he served as secretary of the delegation from the

sent to Washington, D.C., to lobby for annexation at the request of

Lorrin Andrews Thurston Lorrin Andrews Thurston (July 31, 1858 – May 11, 1931) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Thurston played a prominent role in the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that replaced Q ...

. During the decade up to 1906, he tried to lure white labor colonists to the Islands. The last failed effort was organized by

Peter Demens Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

who offered to bring all

Spiritual Christians Spiritual Christianity (russian: духовное христианство) is the group of belief systems held by so-called ''folk Protestants'' (), including non-Eastern Orthodox indigenous faith tribes and new religious movements that emerge ...

from Russia to Hawaii, and cost Castle $30,000. He built a large house called Kainalu near Diamond Head. When the Honolulu Rapid Transit & Land Co. was in danger of failing, he used his financial resources to keep the effort alive. Castle married Julia Matilda White (1849–1943), daughter of cotton mill owner Nelson Davis White (1819–1889) in

Winchendon, Massachusetts Winchendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,364 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Waterville and Winchendon Springs (also known as Spring Village). A census-designated place, ...

, on November 2, 1879. Their son Harold Kainalu Long Castle (1886–1967) expanded the business and donated land for several educational institutions. They also had two sons Nelson Northrop (1885) and Kenneth Kingsbury (1888) who both died young. Castle died April 5, 1918. Two days later

Benjamin Dillingham Benjamin Franklin Dillingham (September 4, 1844 – April 7, 1918) was a businessman and industrialist during the late Kingdom of Hawaii era, throughout the period of the Republic of Hawaii, and during the first two decades of the Territory of Hawa ...

died, who married a distant cousin, and partnered in building railroads to the Castle plantations. He and his wife are buried in the cemetery at

Kawaiahaʻo Church Kawaiahaʻo Church is a historic Congregational church located in Downtown Honolulu on the Hawaiian Island of Oʻahu. The church, along with the Mission Houses, comprise the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site, which was designated a U.S. Natio ...

, across the street from where he was born. James B. Castle High School and the Castle Medical Center are named for him.

Family tree

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, James Bicknell 1855 births 1918 deaths Businesspeople from Hawaii Punahou School alumni Oberlin College alumni Hawaiian Kingdom politicians Republic of Hawaii politicians 19th-century American businesspeople