Samuel Nowlein (April 3, 1851 – December 5, 1905) was a Native Hawaiian Colonel who was a monarchist and known for organizing the 1895 Wilcox rebellion against the

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 ...

before being caught and arrested during the rebellion.

Biography

Family

Nowlein was born on April 3, 1851, as the son of Michael James Nowlien who was of British origin and Akela Kaliko Kupanaha who was of Native Hawaiian origin. He would go on to get married to marry Lucy Keakealani Ahying and had 3 children with her.

Role in the Overthrow of the Monarchy

Nowlein was a member of the

Royal Guards of Hawaii The Royal Guard of the Hawaii National Guard is an Air National Guard ceremonial unit which is uniformed in a manner similar to the royal bodyguard of the Kingdom of Hawaii of the late 19th century. The original 50-man unit had been disbande ...

with the oldest documented instance of his service being since 1885. Nowlein served as Captain of the Royal Guards of Hawaii and during his time there, Nowlein along with figures like

Robert William Wilcox Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox (February 15, 1855 – October 23, 1903), nicknamed the Iron Duke of Hawaii, was a Native Hawaiian whose father was an American and whose mother was Hawaiian. A revolutionary soldier and politician, he led uprisi ...

and

Charles Burnett Wilson Charles Burnett "C.B." Wilson (4 July 1850 – 12 September 1926) was a British and Tahitian superintendent of the water works, fire chief under King Kalākaua, and Marshal of the Kingdom under Queen Liliuokalani. Wilson was also the father of Jo ...

, planned to launch a coup to overthrow

Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kin ...

and replace him with

Liliʻuokalani Liliʻuokalani (; Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Kamakaʻeha; September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917) was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, ruling from January 29, 1891, until the overthrow of the Haw ...

but the plot never came to fruition as it was accidentally discovered in January 1888. Despite this however, he remained as a member of the Royal Guards until the

Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a ''coup d'état'' against Queen Liliʻuokalani, which took place on January 17, 1893, on the island of Oahu and led by the Committee of Safety, composed of seven foreign residents and six non-aborig ...

, in which, Nowlein raised a total of 496 soldiers to defend the Queen after negotiations had failed with

Lorrin A. 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 ...

. Despite this however, the Monarchy was abolished anyways and the

Provisional Government of Hawaii The Provisional Government of Hawaii (abbr.: P.G.; Hawaiian: ''Aupuni Kūikawā o Hawaiʻi'') was proclaimed after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom on January 17, 1893, by the 13-member Committee of Safety under the leadership of its ch ...

was established.

1895 Wilcox Rebellion

In 1895, following the creation of the

, Nowlein was involved in another plot with Wilcox and when the rebellion broke out, Nowlein played a prominent role in the Battle of Mōʻiliʻili and while the battle was going well initially, when the government brought out a Howitzer, 33 of Nowlein's men surrendered and Nowlein and a few others managed to escape, leaving the rest of his men to their own fates however Nowlein was found and arrested on January 14 with three lieutenants with a sentence of five years in prison however

Sanford B. Dole Sanford Ballard Dole (April 23, 1844 – June 9, 1926) was a lawyer and jurist from the Hawaiian Islands. He lived through the periods when Hawaii was a Kingdom of Hawaii, kingdom, Provisional Government of Hawaii, protectorate, Republic of Hawa ...

pardoned Nowlein and the rest of the royalists after they served part of their sentence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowlein, Samuel 1851 births 1905 deaths Native Hawaiian people Pardon recipients People acquitted of treason People convicted of treason People from Molokai Prisoners and detainees of the Republic of Hawaii Hawaiian military personnel