Charles Kanaʻina

This article is about Charles Kanaʻina, noble of the Kingdom of Hawaii. For Kanaʻina, the aliʻi chief who greeted and grabbed Captain Cook before his death, see Kalaimanokahoʻowaha.

Kanaʻina II
His Honour/His Highness
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Born	1801 Napoʻopoʻo, Hawaiʻi
Died	March 13, 1877(1877-03-13) Honolulu, Oahu
Burial	March 29, 1877 Kawaiahaʻo Church
Spouse	Miriam Auhea Kekāuluohi
Issue	Davida William Charles Lunalilo
Kamehameha Dynasty	House of Moana House of Kamehameha
Father	[Eia] Ka-makakaualii
Mother	Kauwa Palila
Occupation	House of Nobles Privy Counsel Royal attendant Kāhili Bearer
Signature	Charles Kanaʻina's signature

Charles Kanaʻina, officially referred to as His Honour and his Highness, (Kanaʻina II) (c. 1801 – March 13, 1877) was an aliʻi (hereditary noble) of the Kingdom of Hawaii and father of William Charles Lunalilo, the 6th monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Kanaʻina was a descendant of notable figures from ancient Hawaiian history, including Liloa, Hakau and Umi-a-Liloa of Hawaiʻi Island as well as Piilani of Maui. He served on both the Privy Counsel and in the House of Nobles. He was named after his uncle Kanaʻina, a name that means "The conquering" in the Hawaiian Language. This uncle greeted Captain James Cook in 1778 and struck the first blow to the navigator before he was killed.

His wife Miriam Auhea Kekāuluohi was a widow and niece of Kamehameha I. She was also Married to Kamehameha II before he converted to Christianity and gave up all but one wife. Kanaʻina and Kekāuluohi lived in a traditional aliʻi style home in a sacred neighborhood in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii called Pohukaina near Kekūanāoa, Kaʻahumanu and their offspring. The compound would eventually become the official Royal Residence of the Hawaiian Royal Family when Kekūanāoa would build Hale Aliʻi in the center of the families estates as a gift to his daughter Victoria Kamāmalu. The site would become the Iolani Palace and Palace Walk. Kanaʻina kept his property at the palace until his death and would be the only original owner to do so while the Palace was in use, living there from Kamehameha II up to Kalakaua.

Kanaʻina's son, William Charles Lunalilo, was named by Kamehameha III as an heir to the throne of the kingdom and ascended in 1873 while his father still lived. Lunalilo died only a year later, three years before his father's death. Kanaʻina died on March 13, 1877. He had not re-written his will and when produced still left everything to his son Lunalilo. Having died intestate, probate hearings proceeded for 5 years. Final adjudication went to several of Kanaʻina's cousins including Ruth Keelikōlani and Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Birth, early life and marriage

Born Charles Kanaʻina Eia, circa 1801 at Napoʻopoʻo, Hawaii. His father was [Eia] Ka-makakaualii and his mother Kauwa Palila. His mother's maternal grandparents were Kauhiahaki (Kauhiapiiao) and High Chiefess ʻIliki-a-Moana of Hawaii, the granddaughter of King Keakealanikane and Kaleiheana of Hawaii. Kauhiahaki and ʻIliki-a-Moana were cousins, both being descendants of King Piʻilani of Maui. Through Keakealanikane, Kanaʻina is descended from Liloa through the ancient rulers son Umi-a-Liloa. He is also descended from Liloa's son Hakau through his great, great, great grandmother Kaleiheana. His paternal grandparents were Makakaualii and Kapulaoa.

Charles Kanaʻina was kāhili bearer and attendant to Ka'ahumanu until he was elevated by marriage into the formal Kamehameha family

He was named Kanaʻina, after the nickname of his uncle Kalaimanokahoowaha, the chief who was drawn by artist John Webber and who later is reputed to have first struck Captain James Cook before he was killed at Kealakekua Bay. In the Hawaiian language, ka naʻina means "the conquering".

Kanaʻina married Miriam Auhea Kekāuluohi in 1821 when Kamehameha II converted to Christianity and gave up all but one wife. Kekāuluohi was free to marry the monarch's friend Kanaʻina on Kauaʻi. Kekāuluohi had been one of several wives of both Kamehameha I and Kamehameha II. However, under the influence of Christian missionaries, Kamehameha II renounced all his other wives except one. Kekāuluohi was then free to marry Kanaʻina after they both took Christian first names.

Residence

The couple lived near their family members. Kekūanāoa had his home just west of Kanaʻina's called Haliimaile. Kekāuluohi and Kanaʻina had their home in the area called Pohukaina. This area was a sacred burial site for aliʻi nobles. The aliʻi style home was similar to that of the other estates in the neighborhood consisting of small buildings used for different purposes. The sitting and sleeping area had a folding door entrance of green painted wood under glass upper panels. The house had two rooms separated by a festooned tent door of chintz fabric and was carpeted with hand crafted makaloa mats. In the front was a lounge area opposite a sideboard and mirror. In the middle they placed a semi circle of armchairs with a center table where the couple would write. Four matching cabinet-bookshelves with glass doors were set in each corner of the room with silk scarves hanging from each. In his book, A visit to the South Seas, in the U.S. Ship Vincennes: during the years 1829 and 1830, Charles Samuel Stewart states:

They both write with great readiness; and the husband with a freedom and command of hand that would class him among good penman anywhere. Both are among the most studious and improving of their compeers.

Next to their home was an old estate that had been demolished called Hanailoia. This was the spot of an ancient heiau called Kaahaimauli. In July 1844 Kekūanāoa began building a large home here as a gift to his daughter Victoria Kamāmalu. Instead, Kamehameha III would buy the estate and use as his Royal Residence after moving the capitol of the kingdom to Honolulu. It would become the Iolani Palace. As each family member died, the lands were passed on or sold. After Kekāuluohi died, she left the lands she had to her son, not her husband Kanaʻina. However, he had his own land awards as well as the estate for life. He would be the last of the family still living in on his original estate, now part of the Iolani Palace Walk. When Kalakaua rebuilt the palace to replace the old, decaying structure, the Kingdom acquired the old Kanaʻina estate and an archive building was built on the grounds, dedicated and named after him.

Kanaʻina served as a member of the House of Nobles of Kamehameha III from 1841 to 1876, on the Privy Council from July 29, 1845, to 1855, and on the Supreme Court from when it was first founded on May 10, 1842. In the tradition of European royalty, he was granted the style (manner of address) of "His Highness".

Children

Kanaʻina's son, William Charles Lunalilo

Kanaʻina and Kekāuluohi had two sons. Their first son, Davida died young. They had two hānai adopted children, Kalama, the wife of Kamehameha III and later Kalama's second son Keaweaweulaokalani II. Their surviving natural son, William Charles Lunalilo was born on January 31, 1835, at Pohukaina. Lunalilo was the grandnephew of Kamehameha I, and second cousin to King Kamehameha V, King Kamehameha IV, and Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, through his mother, Kekāuluohi, who was the cousin of Elizabeth Kīnaʻu (later called Kaʻahumanu II). He was declared eligible to succeed by the royal decree of King Kamehameha III and sent to the Chief's Children's School (later called the Royal School) when it was founded by missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and Juliette Montague Cooke.

After the Great Mahele of 1848, at the age of thirteen, he became the second largest landowner after the King, inheriting the land and personal property given to his mother by Kamehameha I.

Lunalilo Trust

Kanaʻina acted as trustee of the royal lands that had been inherited by his wife while his son was a minor, and after his son's death. When Kanaʻina died, the court appointed nine trustees, six of which would take part in the militia that overthrew the monarchy and also take part in the new provisional government. Dole himself had been on the record as supporting the break up of crown lands to promote American style farming in his newspaper in 1872. Various lawsuits ensued over the property including a suit questioning the validity of the will due to Lunalilo being under the guardianship of his father when he made it out. Lunalilo had requested in his will to use the estate to fund a charity. The trustees favored splitting up the estate by selling it off, while others claimed the value of land was underestimated, and an endowment to run the charity could have been funded by lease income. For example, Kanaʻina leased (and later his heirs would sell) thousands of acres of land on the island of Hawaii to businessman (and son of missionaries) William Herbert Shipman.

Death and legacy

Main article: In the Matter of the Estate of Charles Kanaina

File:Hartwell petition letter.jpg

The first petition for administration of the Kanaʻina estate filed on March 14, 1877. The day after Kanaʻina's death

Kanaʻina died on March 13, 1877, in Honolulu, Oahu, and was buried at Kawaiahaʻo Church in the Lunalilo Mausoleum, next to his son who had died before him. While Kanaʻina had made out a will, he had left everything to his son, and so had died intestate. Petitions to administer the estate began the following day. Probate proceedings were litigated for four years, between 1877 and 1881, and re-affirmed in 1886.

Attorney General Alfred S. Hartwell applied for the appointment of trustees shortly after Kanaʻina's death under the articles of Lunalilo's will. Article three of that will bequeathed the entirety of his estate to three trustees appointed by the Justices of the Supreme Court of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The property was to be sold and invested until the sum of $25,000.00 was raised to fund a home for the poor and destitute. Chief Justice Charles Coffin Harris ordered a hearing for April 5, 1877, to hear the petition pertaining to the estate of the late Charles Kanaʻina and anyone who could show reason not to grant it.

Estate probate

A petition was filed by King David Kalakaua and his sisters and brother-in-law, Lydia K. Dominis, Miriam K. Cleghorn and Archibald Scott Cleghorn, with a hearing set by Justice Lawrence McCully. In July 1878, Justices Harris, Judd and McCully heard Kalakaua's appeal. While the Justices felt that the claim of Kalakaua and his sisters had not been proven, they were impressed with that of Kilinahe (Kanaʻina's first cousin) and other claimants based on testimony and witnesses. The court decreed that the estate be split into four equal shares: one quarter to go to Haalilio (k), Haalelea (k) and Kahukaiola (k); one quarter each to Pahua (w) and Kaahua (k); and one quarter to the widow and children of Kilinahe, who had died before the adjudication of his claim.

Claimants from the line of Moana Wahine made petitions to the court under the act of 1874 to quite land titles. The act was later deemed unconstitutional and a new decree of heirship was made. By December 1879 disbursement of land in trust with William Cooper Parke, (Marshal of Hawaii from 1853 to 1884) and owned by heirs, could not be agreed upon for settlement. Most supported the sale of the lands, so an order was made and all land sold at auction.

Heirs and legacy

Final adjudication of probate found a total of eight parties or groups of relatives, most of whom were descended from Moana and her four husbands, as heirs to the Kanaʻina estate splitting a total of 9 shares, with 2 shares going to one party. The probate records include a great deal of information from the four years of litigation. A great number of people petitioned the courts to claim title as heirs after the initial 1878 judgement. In the final adjudication, Bernice Pauahi Bishop received two of the nine shares amounting to a total of $12,706.86. The remaining seven of the nine shares were divided equally in 1/9th shares of $6,353.43 each, and distributed to Ruth Keelikōlani, Haalilio and Haalelea (namesakes of the historic figures), Kilinahe (Who's grandmother was the older sister of Kanaʻina's mother) and 5 other parties. The first three trustees included John Mott-Smith and Sanford B. Dole.

The Hawaii public archives building, built in 1906 on the ʻIolani Palace grounds, in a section that was formerly the Kanaʻina's estate, was dedicated as the Kanaʻina building. It is located at . It held state offices in the 1950s, added as a contributing property of the Hawaii Capital Historic District and then was restored to be used for the Friends of ʻIolani Palace in 1990. A Kanaʻina Avenue is also named for him, located at between Kapiʻolani Park and Diamond Head.