William Charles Achi (1858–1928) was a

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

an lawyer and politician. He was of

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and

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

descent. William Charles Achi was born December 16, 1858, at

Kohala, Hawaii The districts of the Big Island. From Northernmost, clockwise; North Kohala (highlighted), Hilo,_ Hilo,_South_Hilo,_Hawaii">Hilo,_Puna,_Hawaii">Puna,_ Hilo,_South_Hilo,_Hawaii">Hilo,_Puna,_Hawaii">Puna,_Kau,_Hawaii">Kaū,_South_ Hilo,_South_Hilo, ...

, to Lum and Kinilau (Lualoa) Achi, he was the great great grandson of Puou, one of the warriors of King

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 ...

. He was educated at Hilo Boarding School, the Lahainaluna Seminary, Maui, and at Oahu College (now

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 ...

) in

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 1882. Achi

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

in the office of William Richards Castle in Honolulu, and was admitted to the courts of Hawaii in February, 1887. In 1897, he was elected as a Representative to the Legislature of 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 ...

. The following year, he was elected Councilor of State at the session of the Legislature. After the

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of Hawaii by the United States, Achi was elected in November 1900 one of the first senators to new Legislature of the

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 ...

. He was re-elected in November, 1902. He was a delegate to Municipal Charter Convention and made a strong fight for a modern city charter for Honolulu in 1916. He was elected an alternate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

. Achi married Maria (Isabella) Alapai on June 15, 1883 but they divorced. Their son, William Charles Achi Jr. (1889–1947), became an attorney, and was eventually appointed by

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

to be a territorial judge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achi, William Charles 1858 births 1928 deaths Hawaiian Kingdom people Native Hawaiian politicians Lahainaluna School alumni Punahou School alumni Hilo Boarding School alumni American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law