More of old Hawaii found among my mother’s papers. She recorded these childhood memories in April 2009, a month before her 95th birthday. She left a couple of different versions, which I’ve combined.
– – – – – – – – – – –
My mother, Heleualani Cathcart, and her sister, Helen, were brought up at St. Andrew’s Priory in Honolulu with two sisters, Alice and Emma Nahaolelua. Their mother, Mrs. Kia Nahaolelua, was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Liliuokalani and appears in a photograph in Liliuokalani’s book, “Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen.” The photo is reprinted here.
The two sets of sisters grew up together at the Priory, where they lived all year round under the supervision of the English Sisters, Beatrice and Albertina.
They remained lifelong friends, their families intertwined, and are buried in adjacent plots in Nuuanu Memorial Park, across the street from Oahu Cemetery.
I grew up believing Aunty Alice and Aunty Emma were my blood relatives. I also felt close to their husbands, Eugene Bal Dunn, who married Emma, and John C. Lane, who married Alice. Lane had participated in the attempted Royalist “counter-revolution” of 1895 along with Prince Jonah Kuhio and others, and later served as the elected mayor of Honolulu from 1915 to 1917.
I remember Uncle John C. as a tall, slender, handsome man with a definite charm about him.
Uncle John Lane and my mother discussed a possible family relationship because his mother’s name was Kahooilimoku, which was also the name of my mother’s grandfather. Names meant a lot to Hawaiians, and certain names “belonged” to a family. Perhaps they commemorated an important event, or memorialized an ancestor, or were bestowed upon a newborn infant by an older beloved relative or close friend. Lane and my grandmother didn’t really pursue the matter and it was finally forgotten, but I feel there may have been a direct connection between the families in an earlier generation, which would explain the strong family bond.
My memories go back a long way to the years between 1917 and 1920, when the Lanes lived in Waikiki. We lived in the country and when my mother had errands or business to attend to in Honolulu, my sister and I visited Auntie Alice. Her home was a one-story dark green house in the midst of a small forest of bushes and trees where Kapahulu Avenue hits Kalakaua, opposite the zoo.
Our days in Waikiki were always filled with exciting experiences. Across the street on the edge of Kapiolani Park was a small stream bordered by date palms. Usually it had only a few inches of water where we caught opai and tadpoles.
We spent a great deal of time at the beach at the home of Prince Jonah Kuhio, who was nearly always away in Washington, D.C. as Hawaii’s Delegate to Congress. John Lane and Kuhio were imprisoned together for several months for participating in the attempted Royalist uprising against the Provisional Government following the 1893 overthrow of the Queen, and the families remained close. As a result, Alice Lane had access to Kuhio’s home, which stood right on the water’s edge at what is now called Kuhio Beach.
We knew when the Prince was away in Washington because the furniture was covered with white sheets. I was always intrigued by the covered furniture and numerous Hawaiian artifacts: calabashes, poi boards, stones, etc. We spent our time on the open lanai which was a large platform extending out over the water and enclosed with a lava rock wall. There was a spreading hau tree shading part of the lanai. Under the tree was the most fascinating object, a large canon (sic)! Besides swimming, our favorite pastime was climbing on the canon and pretending to ride a horse. This is one of the most vivid and lasting memories of my early childhood, but no one else that I questioned in later years seemed to know about the canon.
Kuhio did return home from time to time. His wife, Kahanu, had some connection to my grandmother’s family, so there was much hugging when we met. I remember him shaking my hand and wishing me a happy day as we played on the lava rock lanai at his home on the beach. He held my hand and smiled. I have a mental picture of a young looking man, perhaps middle age, of normal build, not tall and husky like so many other Hawaiian men of the day. He was soft spoken with a friendly voice. His pleasant smile implied he was a friend.
The Prince died when I was about 7 years old.
Helen Yonge Lind
April 2009
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Wonderful stuff, Ian!
Those are extraordinary stories. It is astounding to read that your mother had personal memories of Prince Jonah Kuhio.
Years ago-probably between 45 and 50 when I was doing some acting at the Diamond Head theater, there was a local felliow names John Lane how also occasionally appeafred in local productions. Do you know him or if he was related to this gentelmen?
Thank you very much for sharing this.
Another wonderful history lesson from your mom. Thanks for sharing Ian. Her stories brought these historical figures to “life”.
Stories like this are priceless. Keep it up.
Also, I know you have already thought of this, but one might consider putting all of these into a personal memoir that details the family, your memories of them (as they are crucial to who you are) and develop the thread between this background through to your current life. Keep it alive, and it will be a part of the family’s lore for ages. That would be a wonderful gift to your extended family.
I remember handsome John C . Lane because he and Ms.Lane were living in Punaluu across from Kaya Store (before the store was built) right along the sea shore where the limu manuaea grew so plentiful. We lived mauka where my Chinese grandfather previously had a rice farm. Mrs. Lane always called whenever they had extra poi . I remember happily going to their house for the poi and seeing the elk’s or deer head that held his hats. On April 1, 1945, without warning, the ocean started flooding Kamehameha Highway. Our family literally ran for our lives when guess who drove by in their beautiful limousine? They opened the door for me and I happily jumped in only to have my father pull me out. Mauka was full of sugar cane fields and irrigation systems that did not accommodate auto traffic. We eventually made our way to Green Valley. I treasure the fond memories I have of this beautiful Hawaiian couple.
Aloha mai, I’m Colin A. K. Kekuhaupio Kalama Malani, my Grand Aunt Theresa Kahaule Malani would accompany her Aunt Eugenia Kahaule Maluhi Reis to see Princess Elizabeth Kahanu Ka’auwai Kalanianaole and Prince Jonah “Cupid” Kuhio Kalanianaole in Waikiki at their home Pualeilehua as Aunty Maluhi was Princess Kahanu’s Hanai Mama @ 6 Yrs. old. The home had a older Pili Grass Hut near the shore line. Many Ahahui Mamakakaua (Daughter & Sons of Hawaiian Warrior’s) gatherings took place in their Home. Tutu Kelekia (Theresa) “Kia” Malani was also a soloist with the early Royal Hawaiian Band under Dominico Morro in the late 30’s & 40’s at Kapiolani Park. The Lanes were frequent guest there at their home as they were all royalist, Tutu Reis’s husband Manuel Gil Dos Reis was the Royal Hackstand Driver and Chauffer and he was jailed with Kuhio & Lane as well. HRH Kahanu was our society’s Kuhina Nui or Premiere. Tutu Kia & her Aunty were called to the estate to bathe and prep Kuhio’s body for viewing when he passed 1921 in the old way w/pa’akai and Lauwa’e ferns to scent the body for viewing in state at the hale for close family & friends.
Aloha,
My great grandfather is Lot Lane, older brother to John Lane. Their we’re 6 brothers and 6 sisters. I thought I should share my family history and have documents of my Lane/ Baker ohana. It’s odd that my name is similar to my great grandfather and would like to reach out to anyone that has stories or tales during the overthrow or before that. What I read is that he was supposed to be adopted by Kamehameha V but no legal documents of this. Hope to hear from anyone or reach out if possible.
I believe that my grandmother is the granddaughter of John C. Lane. Her father, Walter Lane was a traveling musician who played the steel guitar. Some of the stories I’ve read here are the same stories that my grandmother would tell me. My grandmother has been collecting many many documents over the years and I have about a tub of them that I’ve inherited and have begun going through. I would love to connect and chat!