Thomas Wright Everett (November 4, 1823 – September 4, 1895) was an early American resident 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 ...

who served as the last Governor of Maui from 1892 to 1893.

Life

Everett was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

on November 4, 1823, to Thomas Everett (1791–1837), a Boston merchant from Dorchester, and Nancy Williams Wright (1789–1858). He was a descendant of American pioneer

Richard Everett Richard Everett (December 11, 1597 – July 3, 1682) emigrated from the English county of Essex. On July 15, 1636 he and a party of settlers bought land from Native American on the Connecticut River at Agawan – now Springfield, Massachusetts. Ev ...

, founder of the city of

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

and the town of Dedham. After finishing school, he learned the printer's trade at West Brookfield and in 1848, he returned to Boston to work. In 1849, he traveled to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

aboard the

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

''Orb'' to take part in the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. However, on November 15, 1849, he left California and traveled to

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 ...

in the

aboard the bark ''Memnom''. In Hawaii, he started life as a trader and sold produce and supplies to visiting American whaling ships. He later settled on the island of

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

, and married Ellen Richardson (1824–1890), the part Native Hawaiian daughter of George Richardson, on February 8, 1860, at

Lahaina Lahaina ( haw, Lāhainā) is the largest census-designated place (CDP) in West Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, United States and includes the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a resident population of 12,702. Laha ...

. They did not have any children, but he adopted many orphaned relatives of his wife. Residing in the Kingdom of Hawaii for the remainder of his life, Everett held the position deputy

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

and sheriff of the island of Maui for more than forty years. He also co-owned the Ulupalakua Ranch, which produced potatoes, flour, wheat corn and other produce, and a homestead in

Waikapu Waikapu ( haw, Waikapū) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 3,437 at the 2020 census. Geography Waikapu is located at (20.852844, -156.510014). According to the United States Census B ...

. On May 17, 1892. Queen Liliuokalani appointed Everett to the restored office of Governor of Maui. The office of governors had been abolished by the legislature of the Kingdom after the Bayonet Constitution of 1887. Prior to this, the position was last held by

Robert Hoapili Baker Robert Hoapili Kekaipukaʻala Baker (/1847 – April 4, 1900) was a Hawaiian ali'i (noble), military officer, courtier, and politician who served many political posts in the Kingdom of Hawaii, including Governor of Maui, Privy Councillor and ...

, a high chief and royal favorite of King

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 ...

. Everett presided as the Governor of Maui and the adjacent islands of

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

and

Lanai Lanai ( haw, Lānai, , , also ,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple pl ...

. He did not hold the post for long. After the

overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii 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 (Hawaii), Committee of Safety, composed of seven foreign ...

in January 1893, 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 ...

passed an act abolishing the island governorships again; this act passed on February 27 and went into effect on February 28.; ; ; ; Ex-Governor Everett died at his homestead at Waikapu, Maui, on September 4, 1895. After a funeral attended by close friends, he was buried next to his wife Ellen.; ; ; ; His obituary in the Honolulu-based newspaper ''The Independent'' described Everett as:

Tom Everett was a true New Englander. He was gruff and at times even rough, but nothing can be better express the charter of the man than the few words said by a former Hawaiian employee of the deceased last night to the editor of this paper. "Tom dead? True! An honest man is dead."

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Everett, Thomas Wright 1823 births 1895 deaths People from Boston People of the California Gold Rush American printers American expatriates in the Hawaiian Kingdom People from Maui Governors of Maui Hawaii sheriffs 19th-century American businesspeople