James Young Kānehoa (August 7, 1797 – October 1, 1851) was a member of the court of King
Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻ ...
and
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K ...
during 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 ...
. Sometimes he is confused with his half-brother
John Kalaipaihala Young II known as Keoni Ana.
Life
He was born August 7, 1797 at
Kawaihae, Hawaii
Kawaihae is an unincorporated community on the west side of the island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii, north of Kailua-Kona. Its harbor is one of only two on the island, together with that of Hilo.
Description
The town's harbor inclu ...
. His father was
John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...
who was the British advisor of
Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. T ...
.
Kānehoa was Young's second son by his first wife, the chiefess
Namokuelua of Oahu aristocracy. His mother was of chiefly rank, though not high. Kānehoa had an elder brother named
Robert Young, born in 1796. His father had four children from another wife named
Kaʻōanaʻeha who was the niece of Kamehameha I. His half-siblings were
Fanny Kekela,
Grace Kamaikui
Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke (September 8, 1808 – July 26, 1866) was a Hawaiian high chiefess who was daughter of John Young, the chief military advisor during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and adoptive mother and aunt of a future ...
,
Jane Lahilahi
Jane Lahilahi Young Kaeo (May 1813 – January 12, 1862) was a Hawaiian high chiefess and a daughter of John Young Olohana, the royal advisor of Kamehameha I.
Early life
She was born in May 1813, in Kawaihae, in the Kohala District, on the Isla ...
, and
John Kalaipaihala.
He left Hawaii at a young age, perhaps at the age of nine. He was sent to the United States to be educated along with his brother Robert. Robert would join the US Army and die in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. He became a merchant mariner like his father; for many years he sailed between
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, his home port, and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Eventually, his experience abroad and his fluency in English led to recognition by
Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻ ...
when Kānehoa returned to Hawaii.
Kānehoa was entrusted with the official letters of introduction and served as translator. Kamehameha II, his queen and three other chiefs contracted the measles and died abroad. He survived and interpreted for
High Chief Boki, the new leader of the royal party, when he met
King George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
. Kānehoa accompanied the bodies of his king and queen back to Honolulu aboard in 1825.
He served as a member of the
House of Nobles during Kamehameha III's reign from 1845 to 1851. From 1846 he was a member of the first Board of Land Commissioners under
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K ...
. Other members were
William Richards William, Bill, or Billy Richards may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Dicky Richards (William Henry Matthews Richards, 1862–1903), South African cricketer
* Billy Richards (footballer, born 1874) (1874–1926), West Bromwich Albion football player
* B ...
,
John Ricord
John Ricord (September 5, 1813 – March 26, 1861) was a lawyer and world traveler. He was involved in cases in Texas, Oregon, Hawaii, and California.
Life
John Ricord was born on September 5, 1813, in Belleville, New Jersey. His mother, Elizab ...
,
John Papa ʻĪʻī
John (Ioane) Kaneiakama Papa ʻĪʻī (1800–1870) was a 19th-century educator, politician and historian in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Life
ʻĪʻī was born 1800, in the month of Hilinehu, which he calculated to be August 3, in later life. He was b ...
, and
Zorobabela Kaʻauwai
Zorobabela Kaʻauwai (/1806 – August 8, 1856) was an early politician and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Beginning as an assistant to the Hoapili, Governor of Maui, he served many political posts including Assistant Judge of the first Sup ...
. Their duties were to settle or quiet land claims during the
Great Mahele
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
. He also was the
governor of Maui 1842–1851
when he had to deal with a
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic. In later life, he attitude was one of melancholy.
He died October 1, 1851, not long after his stepmother Kaʻōanaʻeha. In his last illness, he was a patient at
Rooke House, the place so connected with the Young family.
After his funeral, his remains were deposited at the Pohukaina Tomb, located on grounds of
ʻIolani Palace
The Iolani Palace ( haw, Hale Aliʻi ʻIolani) was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty (1845) and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani (1893) under the Kalākaua Dyna ...
.
It isn't certain if his remains are still buried in the plot at Pohukaina or if they ever transported along with those of other members of the Young family and other royals to the newly constructed
Royal Mausoleum at Mauna ʻAla in 1865.
Marriage and children
Kānehoa married three times. His first marriage was to Sarah Kaniaulono Davis, the daughter of
Isaac Davis, his father's comrade in arms. The wedding ceremony was performed by an English chaplain, and Mrs. Laura Judd states that it may have been the first Christian marriage in the Hawaiian Islands.
He and Sarah had no children of their own but they ''hānai'' (adopted) one from Kānehoa's sister Jane Lahilahi and her husband Joshua Kaeo. This boy was named Keliimaikai Kaeo and called ''Alebada''.
One other marriage was to Haale and they had a daughter named Jane Lahilahi Young (1812–1862). Jane married a chief name Nuʻuanu and had a son named Samuel Nuʻuanu.
Kānehoa's last marriage was to Hikoni Kahele. Kānehoa willed most of his landholdings to Alebada but he died on October 13, 1851, shortly after his adoptive father.
During the last six years of his life, he got to know his young niece
Emma Rooke. He made his wishes clear to his wife, Hikoni, that his home in
Lawai, a large
ahupuaʻa that he owned in the district of Koloa, Kauaʻi where he served as a judge for a time, should one day be given to her. The rest of his lands were inherited by his widow and after her death willed to Emma.
Family tree
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanehoa, James Young
1797 births
1851 deaths
Young, James
Hawaiian Kingdom politicians
Governors of Maui
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council
19th-century American politicians