The search for the Ancestry of Captain John Dominis, of Boston, and Hawaii

 

For many years I have been trying to find the ancestry of my 5th great grandmother, Elizabeth Lambert (1775- 1834).  She married the son of a British customers officer, Owen Jones (1768 - 1850) in Boston on 11 May 1793 at the Second Baptist Church. Part of the problem was researching the name JONES. It was much too common in Boston during this time period, and so was the name LAMBERT with all its possible spelling variations.

Once I found the connection between the Jones family and Hawaii, I was able to find research help from the archivists at the Hawaii State Archives, Washington Place, and also at the Bishop Museum.  I even took a trip to Hawaii in 2010 to see the Dominis collections of papers, and also Queen Liliuokalani's personal papers and photograph collection.  Through the letters written back and forth between Boston and Hawaii between the Queen and her husband's family members I was able to piece together a family tree of the JONES family.  

Also in the Hawaii archives, letters and manuscripts showed me that the sisters of Mary Lambert Jones (1803 - 1889) included my 4th great grandmother Catherine Plummer Jones (about 1799 - 1828).  Other sisters included Laura Williams Jones, who was the mother of William Lee (1826 - 1906) a famous Boston publisher from the house of Lee and Shepard, and publisher of Hawaii's Story, the Queen's autobiography. There were also letters showing that another sister (Sarah Dargue Jones (1794 - 1875)) was married to Enoch Howes Snelling, a Boston glazier, who sent building materials to Honolulu for the construction of Washington Place. And another sister, Ann Marie Stanwood Jones (1811 - 1832) married a Holt and had two daughters who went west to Hawaii.  Elizabeth Holt (1830 - 1865) died in California, and Ann Marie Holt (1832 - 1851) died very young in Honolulu.  

It is interesting to read the news article (above, and transcribed below) from the Hawaii Archivist in 1926.  He appears fascinated by the fact that Queen Liliuokalani was trying to trace her husband's genealogy.  The Queen's autobibliography is full of family history, and another book she wrote, The Kumulipo, is an ancient chant that includes the royal genealogies.  She was always interested in genealogies, of her own family and other people. 

So sometimes researching the siblings of an ancestor yields very good results! I would never have known much about this 4th great grandmother without knowning so much about her sisters!  

Warning - the news article from 1926 includes some very racist remarks. 

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Transcribed from Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, Saturday, November 27, 1926, page 1

"QUEEN SOUGHT TITLE FOR HUSBAND, GENERAL DOMINIS, RECORDS

HERE CLUSTER MEMORIES OF THE DIM AND FRAGRANT PAST

DUCAL LINEAGE WAS CLAIMED FOR LILIU'S CONSORT

Attemp to link Dominis With Nobility of Italy and Austria is Revealed

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Incidentally Much Early History Clusters Around Sea Captain and His Son

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As Told to

Howard D. Case

by Albert Pierce Taylor

Librarian of the Archives of Hawaii

This is the story of how a queen of Hawaii searched Europ in an effort to find a royal title for her commoner husband, and how she failed. 

From the sea of the Adriatic to the lazy latitudes of the Pacific ocean is a far cry.  But from the shores of Italy, washed by the Adriatic, probably came the Dominis family whose name is written indelibly upon the pages of Hawaiian history.

But the mystery of ancestry, like the mystery of the disappearance at sea of Capt. John Dominis, a pioneer ship captain i the Pacific in the '30s and '40s of the last century, remains unsolved to this day. 

Capt. John Dominis, who first entered the Pacific area from Boston via Cape Horn in the early '30s, who became closely identified with the comercial development of the Hawaiian islands, and who was associated with firms which assumed important roles in Hawaii's dramatic egress from barbarism to civiliation, must have been a man of high ideals.

Builder of Washington Place

One of the monuments to the achievements of the business pioneers, and which Captain Dominis erected at Honolulu, is Washington Place, the present official home of the governors of the territory.

Strangely enough, Washington Place in the middle '40s became the official residence of the consular representative of the United States of America.  Within 10 years it has become the home of governors, these officals, omitting the interval of 75 years, being the personal representatives of American presidents.

In the interval between such occupation, Washington Place was the home of the widow of Capt. Dominis and her daughter-in-law, who became Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii and who died within the mansion in 1917.

Washington Place was the first handsome home to be erected in Honolulu, and it has withstood the ravages of time and period.  It is still a stately mansion whose architecture wins the admiration of all who behold it.

Was Native of Boston

Captain Dominis was born at Boston and was of Italian ancestry. [sic - I have found Capt. John Dominis' naturalization papers, which state he was born in Trieste and wished to become a United States Citizen]  He married a Boston lady and they had one son whom they named John Owen Dominis, destined to become a high officer of the Hawaiian monarchy, and, in time, to be officially designated prince consort as the husband of Queen Liliuokalani. 

Mrs. Dominis from all accounts was a woman of rare culture and distinction; a New England woman with much family background.  Captain Dominis, like most shipmasters of his day, turned his eyes toward the vast stretches of the Pacific ocean as a sea of opportunity, for there whale oil and whale bone were to be found in great abundance, and the whaling fleets of New England owners had grown steadily unti the sails of vessels flying the American flag fairly clouded the ocean.

Honolulu and Lahaina were the largest towns in the Hawaiian islands during the '20s, '30s, '40s and '50s of the last century, and were the rendezvous for the fleets of whaling ships which returned from the fishing grounds in the north and brought great cargoes of oil and bone for trans-shipment to vessels en route to New England.

Whalers Spent Freely

It was at these ports that the whaling fleets outfitted.  It was there that the crews spent most of their money, and very often in the manner that sailors are reputed to do.  And the whaling industry became the foundation of Hawaii's prosperity.

New England firms found it worth while to establish branches at Honolulu, and so we have the firm of C. Brewer & Co., established by James Hunnewell in 1826 with many changes in name, including that of Peirce & Brewer Co., C. Brewer & Co., Ltd, recently observed its 100th anniversary of continuous business.

Recently there was turned over to the Archives of Hawaii a mass of letters, documents and papers, some offical, some private, but all more or less having in their pages chronicles of Hawaiian life and history, some dating as far back as 1831. 

Dominis' Letters Found

It is natural, therefore, that in this collection received by the archives there should be a number of letters of Captain Dominis and his son, as well as sheaves of letters written by the captain to Mrs. Dominis. 

The earliest letter indicates that in 1831 Captain Dominis already had achieved fame as a man worthy of responsibility, and admiration.  Josiah Marshall wrote at Boston on November 15, 1831, as follows:

"The bearer, Capt. John Dominis, has been in my employ 11 years now last past, a considerable part as commander of a vessel along the northwest coasts on the Pacific ocean.  I do most cheerfully recommend him as a capable, honest, and industrious man."

On the previous day Bryant & Sturgis wrote to Captain Dominis regretting that he had concluded not to go out in their brig to the Pacific, but adding that if it was to his interest to remain ashore they could not complain of his decision. "The fact that we are all desirous of having you in our employ is the best tribute we can give in the estimation in which we hold you." the letter read.

In 1834 P.J. Farnham & Co. of New York appointed Joseph Moore master of the brig Joseph Peabody of Salem, then loading an assorted cargo for the Sandwich Islands, California, and the northwest coast of America.  He was to proceed to Oahu and deliver the cargo to Captain Dominis of the Bolivar Liberator, and to follow Dominis' instructions regarding the further use of the Joseph Peabody.

Captain Dominis received the cargo.  He sold part of it at Honolulu and, transferring the remainder to his own ship, sailed for the northwest coast where he traded for furs.

Trading with Alaska

Instructions in those days to Dominis as well as to other ship captains going to Alaska were to call upon the Russians and sell at high prices "but get your pay in furs, sealskins.  They will offer you their bills of exchange which are good and promptly met, but they pay no profit.  The skins will be 100 per cent if obtained at the usual price."

The Russians regulated the prices of fur by its value in China. 

Captain Dominis' instructions also included orders to call at Monterey, Angeles, and other lower California ports - San Francisco was practically unknown then- and obtain deckloads of horses for transportation to Hawaii.

Upon their return to Oahu, Captain Dominis and the other captains would collect the proceeds of all sales and invest them in furs, skins, hides, tortoise shell and other commodities and then set sail for New England.

It will be seen from this that ship captains in those days were required to be not only navigators but keen Yankee traders, for it was necessary to turn money over again and again.

He Got $10 a Month

It may be strange to hear that a man of the ability of Captain Dominis received as salary the sum of $10 a month.  P.J. Farnham & Co. on November 22, 1836, in outling instructions to Captain Dominis, who had been appointed master and supercargo of the bark Jones then loading for Oahu, stated that "for performing this voyage you will receive $10 a month... and 4 percent commissions on the net sales int he United States of all proceeds of the outward cargo, and the earnings of the vessel."

On this trip Captain Dominis ws accompanied by his wife and young son.  They arrived at Honolulu safely and took up permanent residence there. Mrs. Dominis lived to a great age, dying at Honolulu in 1889. [age 85 years, 8 months, and 22 days]  The son, John Owen Dominis, died in 1891 during the first year of the reign of Liliuokalani.

The year 1836 marked the beginning of correspondence between Captain Dominis and Peirce & Brewer.  The Liliuokalani collection is filled with letters by Henry A. Peirce and from Peirce & Brewer, some of a social nature, but the majority in relatins to business. They notified the captain of cargoes to be picked up for Honolulu, which he was to dispose of, and wrote, among other things, of striped shirtings and of ribbons "of good quality". 

Velvet Shawls Popular

Henry A. Brewer, writing to Capatain Dominis from Boston on November 9, 1836, added an "N.B." as follows:

"I have put in one dozen velvet shawls, a very splendid article which I think is well adapted for the natives and for which you will get a great price."

Like all captains sailing from America, to the Pacific islands or to China, Captain Dominis often received requests from friends and others to purchase articles on their account, such as strange fabrics, spices and carved curious from those distant lands.

In 1839, in order to give Captain Dominis better opportunities in California, letters of introduction were written by John C. Jones, American consul at Honlulu, and addressed to Vallejo, the miliatry chief of Alta California, and to Alvardo, the political chief, at Monterey, stating that Dominis was commander of the brig Joseph Peabody and a man to be trusted.

Apparently those letters were never delivered, for later they formed a part of Captain Dominis' own collection.

In 1842 a lawsuit of long standing between the captain and Richard Charlton, British consul at Honolulu was terminated.  In final settlement Captain Dominis came into possesion of the land upon which Washington Place now stands.  In the same year the coral foundations were laid, but the building was not completed until 1846, being delayed from time to time due to lack of funds with which to carry on the work.

An interesting feature of the Dominis collection in the archives is a package in the original wrapping contained the bills and accounts for the "new house".  They cover a wide range, including paiting, delivery of rock and sand, lumber, hardward and various other items of building material; for day labor, masonry work, and glass knobs.

Sought Noble Name

On the lower part of the original wrapper under the name "John Dominis" there appears in the handwriting of Queen Lilioukalani the added name "del Gallo" and the words "The lower name is written by Liliuokalani."  That is the point at which this story really begins.

The notation reveals the efforts of Liliuokalani to establish a relationship between her husband's family and the del Gallo family of Italy, a princely family of considerable fame.  These researches were conducted in Europe by the queen through the consular representatives of the Hawaiian islands stationed at the various capitals.

Liliuokalani had research conducted not in her own name, but as though coming from someone merely interested.  However, it became noted about in Europe that the royal family of Hawaii was endevoring to locate relations, and that a great fortune awaited those who could substantiate relationship.

The result was that Hawaiian consulates in Europe were flooded with applications from persons claiming to be related to the royal family and seeking to share in the purported fortune.  This became so burdensome that some of the consuls complained to the queen, whereupon notice was given that the research was inteded only for genealogical purposes, and that there was no gold at the end of the rainbow.

Totally negative results marked the termination of the research.  The Hawaiian consul at Vienna, Austria, in 1892, in giving the results of the research, stated that "Trieste is full of rumors about a great heritage at Honolulu for the successors of the family of Dominci and del Gallo.  I therefore received a heap of letters and many personal calls from such would-be heirs and had consequently great trouble to quiet the people again.  Some intended forming a company and engaging a solicitor to make necessary inquiries in Honolulu direct."

Ths consul learned that a princess of del Gallo was living in Foligno, Italy.  he wrote her a letter but never received an answer. 

There are reams of letters on this subject in the queen's personal papers, many in foreign languages, but none contains anything to indicate that a connection with the del Gallo family had been made.

Old Portrait Found

Of unusual interest in this connection is a copy of a miniature of Capt. John Dominis which was presented to the late John Aimoku Dominis by Queen Liliuokalani, and which is now in the possession of his widow, Mrs. Siby McInerny Hogue of 2021 Alika Ave, Dowsett tract, Honolulu. 

There are four copies of this miniature in Mrs. Hogue's possession, and three of them bearing inscriptions in the queen's handwiritng as follows:

"Duke Giovanni Dominisi, del Gallo, father of J. O. Dominis, Triest."

"Captain John Dominis. Triest, Austria." [Triest was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at this time, then Italy, and now it is in Slovenia]

"For John Dominis Aimoku from a small painting in a locket."

The first inscription would indicate that Captain Dominis' real name was Giovanni Dominisi del Gallo, and that he held the title of duke.  But the accuracy of the legend is another of those mysteries of heritage which appears to be as yet unsolved.  In the Hawaiian archives, at least, there is nothing to indicate that this was the true name of Captain Dominis, nor that he possessed the title state.

The picture of Captain Dominis, however, is both valuable and interesting, as it is beleived to be one of a very few existence. 

Kept Up the Search

It appears that the queen's search for a title for her commoner husband did not end with the overthrow of the monarchy.  Among the papers is a letter to her from F. A. Schaefer, consul for Italy, written at Honolulu on December 24, 1907, and reading in part as follows:

"I have the honor to inform your maject that in response to my official inquiry, his excellency the Italian minister of foreign affairs, writes meon the 22d of November 1907, that the title of Duca del Gallo is in the possession of the family Mastrilli, residing in Naples. The above is all the information I have received in this connection."

In addition, probably, to the effort to establish genealogical connections in Italy for the Dominis family, Queen Liliuokalani was spurred on in her task in order to give her husband, the prince consort, a higher rank than he held - a rank that would be his "by direct descent."

In 1887 when Liliuokalani, then a princess, accompanied Queen Kapiolani to London to attend the jubilee anniversary of Queen Victoria, John Owen Dominis held only the rank of lieutenant general in His Majesty's army.  He was also the governor of the island of Oahu.

Social Embarrassments

Upon the arrival of the Hawaiian party at London, the fact that Liliuokalani was a princess, and Dominis only a general, complicated social matters and often was the cause of their being divided at offical functions.

If the connection with the princely del Gallo family could have been made for Governor Dominis, probably this difference in official rank would have been eliminated.

In fact, on the back of a letter and in Liliuokalani's handwriting appears this note:

"About del Gallo family: News is received the title has gone to another family. From F. A. Schaefer."

There is also the story that the king of Hawaii offered to bestow a royal title upon Governor Dominis, but that he declined it.

Ship Lost at Sea

Capt. John Dominis, on August 5, 1846, embarked as a passenger on the brig William Neilson at Honolulu for a fur trading voyage, but more especially to purchase some handsome Chinese furniture for his new home.  American Consul Brown of Honolulu was also a passenger.  The ship was lost at sea.  What catastrophe occurred is problematic. It was never heard from after leaving port.

The widow, mourning her husband's loss, was upheld for many years by the hope that some day a trace of the captain would be found.  She did not care to live in the home they had planned together, so rented it to the United States minister, Anthony Ten Eyck, for use as the American legation.  It was he who with the consent of the king, named the dwelling Washington Place in memory of the first American president.

John Owen Dominis married Lydia K. P. Kapaakea on September 16, 1862, and they took up their residence with Mrs. Dominis at Washington Place.  Mrs. Dominis died April 25, 1879, and the property descended to her son.  Upon his death on August 27, 1891, his widow, then Queen Liliuokalani, became owner of Washington Place.  She occupied it until her death on November 11, 1917.

The territory, by act of the legislature on April 30, 1919, took over the home as the official residence of the governors of Hawaii."

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For the truly curious:

Hawaii's Story, by Queen Liliuokalani, 1898 (her autobiography), published by Lee and Shepard, Boston.  There have been several reprints, including the latest one in 2013 edited by David W. Forbes. 

The Kumulipo, complete 1897 text by Queen Liliuokalani, was reprinted in 2020. This is a genealogy of the ali'i (nobility) of the Hawaiian Islands. 

The Diaries of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, 1885 -1900, by Liliuokalani, published 2019 by Hui Hanai, and edited by David W. Forbes. 

July 9, 2024 blog post "Missing Vessel in the Pacific Ocean, 1846" about the disappearance of Captain John Dominis' ship:      https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/07/missing-vessel-in-pacific-ocean-1846.html   

I have written over 50 blog posts on Captain John Dominis, Governor John Owen Dominis, and John Dominis Aimoku.  You can read them all this link:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Dominis  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The search for the Ancestry of Captain John Dominis, of Boston, and Hawaii", posted July 29, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-search-for-ancestry-of-captain-john.html: accessed [access date]). 

Missing Vessel in the Pacific Ocean, 1846

 

Newsclipping from The New Bedford Mercury, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Friday, May 21, 1847, Volume XL, page 3. 

transcription:

"MISSING VESSEL - On the 5th of August last, the Brig Wm. Neilson, of this port, Capt. Weston, sailed from Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, for Manilla and Canton, since which nothing has been heard of her, although there are dates from Manilla to Feb. 11.  As this run is usually made in about 30 days, it is feared that she foundered in a typhoon, and all on board perished.  The dates from the Sandwich Islands are to Dec. 26, and if she had been lost at any point between the two places, it is altogether improbabable that accounts should not have been received from her at one or the other.

The Hon. Geo. Brown of Beverly, late US Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands, was a passenger, with his son.  Capt. John Dominis, formerly a highly repectable shipmaster of this city, but more recently a merchant of Honolulu, was also a passenger.

When the Wm. Neilson sailed from this port, Nov 5, 1845, her roll of equipage contained the names of the following persons, who, it is believed, were all in her at the time she left Honolulu; they were mostly young and enterprizing New England men: Church Weston, of Duxbury, master; Ovander M. Hammett, of Chilmark, 1st officer; Joseph M. Bryant, of Nobleboro', Me, 2d do.; Amherst Peterson, of Marshfield; Seth F. Peterson, of do; David J. Mann, of Hanover, Walter S. Tribou, of do; Joseph Gilbert, of Salem; John Pitts, of Bell Haven (supposed a foreigner) seamen; Alfred Dorsey, of Baltimore, colored man, cook; Moses H. Ganges, of Philadelphia, colored boy, steward.

The Wm. Neilson was a fine clipper brig, built, we believe, in Baltimore.  She had some cargo on board, and a considerable amount of specie belonging to the owners of the vessel and others.  There is insurance in this city for $8000 on the vessel, $2000 on freight money, and $17,850 on cargo, specie, &c, amounting in all to $27,850. - [Boston Daily Advertiser]"  

Captain John Dominis

Who was Captain John Dominis?  According to the world famous genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus, he was an Italian who married a woman from Boston (and Jacobus could not find her ancestry). I'm happy to say that I have solved this mystery that Jacobus could not. [See The American Genealogist, New Haven, CT: D.L. Jacobus, Volume 32 (1956), page 70.]

John Dominis was probably born in Trieste, in what is now Slovenia.  On 5 October 1824 he married my 5th great aunt, Mary Lambert Jones, in Boston. Mary was the daughter of  Owen Jones (about 1768 - 1850) and Elizabeth Lambert ( about 1775 - 1834).  Mary had 7 siblings, including Catherine Plummer Jones (abt 1799 - 1828), my 4x great grandmother.  Mary was born on 3 August 1803 in Boston, and died 25 April 1889 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father Owen Jones, was born in Wales, and was the son of a Boston customs collector, another Owen Jones (1735 - 1798). Elizabeth Lambert's ancestry is still a mystery to me. 

Captain John Dominis first appears in Boston records on 1 February 1823 when he declared his intention to become a US citizen at the US District Court. This record states "that he came from said Trieste to Boston AD 1819 ".  On 19 May 1825 he applied for his citizenship in Boston, and there was a statement signed by Josiah Marshall and Daniel C. Bacon "that the said John Dominis has resided with the US five years at least and within the State of Massachusetts during the five years last past except being absent occasionally on voyages at sea; and during the time he behaved as a man of good moral charcter, attached to the principles of the constitution of the US and well diposed to the good order and happenings of the same." 

John Dominis also obtained a Seaman's Protection Certificate that was issued in Boston on 28 October 1825.  This record lists him as being 28 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall, and of dark complexion.  It states that he was from Trieste, Italy, and was a naturalized US citizen. 

Professor Samuel Eliot Morison, who wrote about maritime history including the Mayflower, wrote about Captain John Dominis, who became the master of the ship Owhyhee owned by Josiah Marshall of Boston. The Owhyee (the old spelling for Hawaii) explored the Pacific northwest, the Columbia River, and Willamette Valley.   Dominis also was the master of the brig Bolivar, the Nye, and the Joseph Peabody, which sailed to the Sandwich Islands from New York City in 1839.  

Captain John Dominis brought his wife, Mary, and his little son, John Owen Dominis, from Boston to live in Hawaii aboard the Joseph Peabody in 1839.  He left two small daughters at a boarding school in Schenectady, New York.  The captain and his wife began to build an impressive house in Honolulu. Mary sent to Boston for the windows, doors, and other parts for her new home.  Her brother in law, Enoch Snelling, designed the front entrance to this house. 

In 1846 Captain John Dominis set sail again for China to buy furniture for his new mansion in Honolulu.  He was never heard from again, and there were many newspaper accounts, like the one above, presuming he was lost at sea.  Mary was forced to take in boarders in her new house, to keep up the appearances of her status in society.  One of these boarders, Anthony Ten Eyck, consul to the United States, nicknamed her house "Washington Place" because it was similar to George Washington's mansion at Mount Vernon.  Many of these boarders were Americans and some foreign consuls. 

In 1862  John Owen Dominis married Lydia Kamakaeha Paki, the future Queen Liliuokalani. The married couple lived in Washington Place.  Mary Dominis died in 1889.  After the Queen was desposed in the illegal takeover of Hawaii, she spent her retirement years at Washington Place.  This home served as the governor's mansion for the governor of Hawaii for many years, and is now a museum. 

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For the truly curious:

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, Liliuokalani, by Liliuokalani (Queen of Hawaii), 1898, Lee and Shepard of Boston, reprinted by Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2007. 

My very first blog post on July 27, 2009:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/07/hawaii-boston-connection-to-royal.html  

I have written many blog posts about Washington Place.  You can scroll through these stories by clicking at this link:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search?q=washington+place   

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Missing Vessel in the Pacific Ocean, 1846", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 9, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/07/missing-vessel-in-pacific-ocean-1846.html: accessed [access date]). 

The First Christmas Tree in Hawaii 1858

2002 Washington Place ballroom

My great aunt (sister to my 4x great grandmother) was Mary Lambert Jones. She was born in Boston in 1803, married a sea captain, and removed to Chittenango, New York where her children were born. On April 23, 1837, aboard the bark “Jones” she arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii with her husband, Captain John Dominis, and their little boy, John Owen Dominis. They had left two daughters in New York at school. Her brother-in-law, Robert W. Holt preceded her to Hawaii, but her sister, Ann Marie, had died in Boston.  Aunt Mary’s two young daughters died in a boarding school in New York before joining up with the rest of the family in Hawaii.

Captain John Dominis was a trader who had traveled from Europe to North America, Alaska, and to China. He wanted to build the finest house in the Pacific for his wife and family. She wanted a house in the New England style, and he wanted to furnish it with imported pieces from China. Windows, doors and trim work were imported from Boston, from the workshop of a great uncle Enoch Snelling, a North End glazier (married to another Jones sister). In 1846 Capt. Dominis left for a voyage to China to buy her items for the new house, and his ship disappeared. He was never heard from again.

Mrs. Dominis moved into the Honolulu house in 1847 and, because of her reduced circumstances, she had to rent out rooms to dignitaries and visiting Americans. One boarder, Commissioner Anthony Ten Eyck, suggested the name “Washington Place” for her mansion, since it looked like the first president’s home at Mount Vernon. King Kamehameha III said "it has pleased His Majesty the King to ... command that they retain that name in all time coming." And so the name has remained as Washington Place for Aunt Mary’s house.

In 1862 her son moved his new bride into his mother’s home at Washington Place. Her name was Lydia Kamaka‘eha Paki. After her mother-in-law’s death in 1889, Mrs. John Owen Dominis was also known as Princess Lili’uokalani, who became the Queen and last monarch of Hawai’i in 1891. Washington Place was her home during her monarchy, and since 1921 it has become the home of the Hawaiian Governors. It is now a museum in Honolulu, open to the public for tours.

Washington Place is a much beloved landmark in Honolulu, but it is also famous for being one of the first places where Christmas was celebrated in Hawai’i. The New England missionaries in Hawai’i were descendants of Puritans. In the Calvinist tradition Christmas was not celebrated, especially not with Christmas trees and parties. But Aunt Mary was not a missionary, and she was the daughter of a Welsh immigrant to Boston.  Perhaps when she lived in Chittenango, New York (near Schenectady) she learned how the Dutch celebrated Christmas. 

On Christmas Eve in 1858 Mary Dominis brought 100 children to Washington Place to see her Christmas tree and Santa delivered gifts to each child. The Christmas tree was an imported Douglas fir. The children were later sent home and the parents held a grand ball and dinner. The missionaries frowned on her display, but it was the beginning of a Victorian Christmas tradition in Hawaii. Four years later, in 1862, the same year that John Owen Dominis married his royal bride, King Kamehameha IV proclaimed Christmas a national holiday in the Kingdom of Hawai’i. The past curator of Washington Place, Corinne Chun, said that Mary Dominis’s Christmas tree may have been the first Christmas tree in Hawai’i.

In 1863 there was another Victorian era style Christmas celebration at the home of Elizabeth Holt Aldrich, the daughter of Robert W. Holt, and niece of Mary Dominis. It is described in a series of articles written for the Honolulu Star Bulletin named “The Fabulous Holts.” Article number 17 is titled “An Aldrich Christmas” and it outlines how Elizabeth Aldrich had a Christmas tree arranged by building a wooden form and decorating it with maile and fern wreaths. Colored candles, toys and dolls were hung on the tree. There were 18 different dollies dressed in handmade outfits. According to the article “Thirty-eight children and forty adults attended the Aldrich party at 7 p.m. Christmas. The children let out many squeals of delight when the parlor folding doors were opened to display the lighted tree. Elizabeth Aldrich took Puritan Maria Rice to attend Episcopalian Christmas Eve services and the two hour high church service on Christmas day. Maria Rice thought the lighted candles and singing were beautiful.” Maria Rice was the wife of missionary William Harrison Rice who had come to Hawai’i in the ninth missionary company.

An excerpt from a book about the first Christmas Tree party in Hawaii in 1858:

"Christmas passed off in good old fashioned style. The eve was ushered in by the assemblage of a large number of children and their parents at Washington Place, the mansion of Mrs. Dominis, where Santa Claus had given out that he would hold his court.... A magnificent Christmas Tree had been provided... and the little folks as they gathered about it...found it all lighted up with candles, and the branches bending with the weight of gifts. Prompt as old Father Time ever was, bells were heard at the windows... and in a moment old Santa Claus stood at the door before the youthful group, who greeted him with a volley of merry shouts. He was dressed in the garb in which children love to image the saintly old elf.  For an hour he bestowed his gifts with princely lavishness among the 100 children present, creating one of the happiest groups ever witnessed in Honolulu... who will long continue to talk of Santa Claus of Washington Place."  [from Hawaiian Annual for 1922, Thomas G. Thrum, compiler and publisher, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1921, page 60, available to view at Google Books.]

Washington Place, Honolulu, today

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Jones/Dominis Family Tree

Gen. 1: Owen Jones, born about 1735 in Wales, died 28 February 1798 and buried in Aberstwyth, Wales; married to Anne (maiden name unknown) served as a customs inspector for some time in Boston where his daughter, Anne was born in 1769.  My 6th great grandparents.

Gen. 2. Owen Jones, born about 1768 in Wales, died 22 April 1850 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married on 11 May 1793 at the 2nd Baptist Church in Boston to Elizabeth Lambert, born about 1775 in Boston, died on 6 February 1834 in Boston. Eight children.  My 5th great grandparents.

Gen. 3: Mary Lambert Jones, born 3 August 1803 in Boston, died 25 April 1889 in Honolulu, Hawaii; married on 5 October 1824 in Boston to Captain John Dominis, born in Trieste (now Slovenia) and died in 1846 at sea. Three children.  Mary is my 4th great aunt, sister to my 4th great grandmother, Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger (about 1799 - 1828).

Gen. 4: Governor John Owen Dominis, born on 10 March 1832 in Chittenango, New York, died on 27 August 1891 at Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawaii; married on 16 September 1862 in Honolulu to Lydia Kamekeha Lili’uokalani, daughter of Caesar Kaluaiku Kapa'akea and Analea Keohokalole, born on 2 September 1838 and died on 11 November 1917 at Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawaii. They had no children. John O. Dominis also had a relationship with Mary Purdy Aimoku, and one son.

Gen. 5: John Owen Aimoku Dominis, born 9 January 1883 in Honolulu, died on 7 July 1917 in Honolulu; married on 27 June 1911 in Honolulu to Sybil Francis McInerny, daughter of Edward Aylett McInerney and Rose Kapuakomela Wond. Three children.

Washington Place, Honolulu, with Queen Lili'uokalani in the late 1800s

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Sources:

“Hawaiian Annual for 1921” by Thomas G. Thrum, Honolulu, 1920 (see pages 59 – 60 for information on the first Christmas party)

Honolulu Star Bulletin “The Fabulous Holts” (date unknown) (This was a series of newspaper articles written about the Holt and Dominis families of Hawaii).

http://hawaii.gov/govnat/washington_place/ Official Website of the Hawai’i Governor’s office

http://www.washingtonplacefoundation.org/  The Washington Place Foundation

See my blog post on July 27, 2009 for more information on the Jones family of Boston

The photo at the top is courtesy of the Hawaiian Star Bulletin, 2002, showing the Christmas Tree at Washington Place for the annual Holiday public tour.

Paula Rath, “Recreating Hawai’i’s first Christmas Tree”, Honolulu Advertiser, ( http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/03/il/il01a.html  December 3, 2004) 

And for the latest article I could find mentioning Mary Dominis’s Christmas Tree, here is one by Trustan Kekauoha, “Holiday Classic, with a Twist!”,  https://www.kaleookalani.org/3113/features/entertainment/holiday-classic-with-a-twist/ December 4, 2018.

This blog post is an update of one written originally on December 7, 2009:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/advent-calendar-christmas-in-hawaii.html

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To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “The First Christmas Tree in Hawaii 1858”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 19, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-first-christmas-tree-in-hawaii-1858.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ JONES of Wales and Boston, Massachusetts

Vincent and I at Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawaii
the home built by my 4th great aunt
Mary Lambert (Jones) Dominis, born in Boston, 1803.
This was Queen Lili'uokalani's last residence,
and the current governor's residence.

My 6^th great grandfather, Owen Jones, born about 1735, was a Royal Customs agent at Aberystwyth, Wales and also a customs agent at Boston, Massachusetts (probably before the Revolutionary War).  His son, Owen Jones, my 5^th great grandfather, was born about 1768 in Wales and he married Elizabeth Lambert in Boston.  Apparently the rest of the family returned to Wales, and Owen, Jr. stayed in Boston.  Owen’s sister, Ann, is buried at Aberystwyth with the following epitaph:

“Here lies the body of Ann, the daughter of Owen Jones, Collector of the Customs at Aberystwyth, by Ann, his wife, who was born at Boston, New England on the 17th of February 1769, and departed this life the 18th of February 1791, aged 22 years. Also to the above named Owen Jones, who departed this life the 28th of February 1798, aged 62”

Owen Jones, Jr. was a mariner, and he lived at Ship Street in Boston’s North End in the 1810, 1820 and 1820 censuses and city directories.  In the 1842 Boston directory he was living at 199 Hanover Street, also in the North End.  His death notice in the New England Historic Genealogical Society Register, Vol. 4, page 293 (July 1850) reads: “Jones, Mr. Owen, Dorchester, 22 April, ae 82, formerly of Boston”.    His obituary in the Boston Evening Transcript, 22 April 1850, page 2 reads “At Dorchester, this morning, at the residence of Wm. Hart, Mr. Owen Jones, 82, formerly of this city.  Funeral services at the house of Enoch H. Snelling, No. 108 Salem Street, on Tuesday, at 3 ½ o’clock PM. Relatives and friends are invited to attend.”   William Hart was his son-in-law (married to his daughter Agnes Jones), and Enoch Snelling was another son-in-law (married to his eldest daughter Sarah Dargue Jones).

Owen Jones married Elizabeth Lambert and had eight children.  Six daughters, and two sons (one died young, the other died at sea unmarried).   One of these daughters was my 4^th great grandmother, Catherine Plummer Jones (about 1799 – 1828).  Another daughter was Mary Lambert Jones (1803 – 1889), who married Capt. John Dominis and removed to the Kingdom of Hawaii where she became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani.  Two other daughters are named above, and the other two were Laura Williams Jones, who married John Lee, and Anne Marie Stanwood Jones, who was the first wife of Robert William Holt who also removed to the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger died at age 29 and left her husband a widower with young children.  Their daughter, my 3^rd great grandmother Mary Esther Younger, was adopted by her aunt Mary (Younger) Harris and raised in Boston.  It was a letter written by her nephew, William Lee, to his aunt Mary Dominis in Hawaii that told me the connection to Queen Liliuokalani.  This letter in the Hawaii State Archives, dated May 9, 1887, was written when Princess Liliuokalani, her husband Governor John Owen Dominis, and Queen Kapiolani were visiting relatives in Boston enroute to Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebration in London.  “…I tell you Aunt Dominis, the Jones & Lambert race will never die out!... [mentions Esther Emerson]… you can easily see the coming of the Queen and her party has been a marked event with our people.”  [M-93 Lili’uokalani Collection, Box 9, Folder 94 (years 1185 – 1888, #1164, s.n. 1305, Hawai’i State Archives]. 

Another letter dated May 11, 1887 from Governor John Owen Dominis to his mother says “Yesterday forenoon we had a reception for all my Cousins and aunts and nearly all were here…. The Queen and Lydia [Liliuokalani’s Christian name] had quite a jolly time with our cousins – Lydia has the names of all who were here.”  [ibid]

Esther Emerson, who met the Royal party in Boston, lived at #57 Nixon Street in Boston.  Her 1913 death record in the Massachusetts vital records gives her maiden name as Younger and her adopted name of Harris, as well as her parents and husband’s names.  She is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Boston.   My great grandmother, Carrie Maude (Batchelder) Allen, died during my lifetime, and she was alive during the Queen’s visits to Boston both in 1887 and later after the overthrow of the monarchy.  She remembers visiting with “Auntie Lydia” and was one of the cousins mentioned in the letters above.   It was Great Grandmother Carrie’s insistence that we had a princess in our family tree that led me to start tracing this line back in the 1970s – my first foray into genealogy!

My JONES genealogy:

Generation 1:  Owen Jones, born about 1735, died 28 February 1798 in Aberystwth, Wales; married to Anne Unknown.  Two known children (probably more)

Generation 2:  Owen Jones, born about 1768 in Wales, died 22 April 1850 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married on 11 May 1793 at the 2^nd Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts to Elizabeth Lambert.  She was born about 1775 and died 6 February 1834 in Boston.  Eight children

Generation 3:  Catherine Plummer Jones, born about 1799, died 2 May 1828 probably in Boston; married on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Levi Younger, son of Levi Younger and Mary Wotton.  He was born 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, and died 8 December 1858 in Boston.  Five children.

Generation 4:  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 February 1826, died 7 January 1913 in Boston; married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to George Emerson, son of Romanus Emerson and Jemima Burnham.  He was born 11 July 1817 in South Boston, and died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester.  Eight children.

Generation 5: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 6:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 7: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post: 

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, " Surname Saturday ~ JONES of Wales and Boston, Massachusetts ", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 14, 2017,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-jones-of-wales-and.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ YOUNGER of Gloucester, Massachusetts

The first YOUNGER in this lineage is William Younger, My 6th great grandfather, who married Lucy Foster in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1750 and had four children.  I don't know his origins, nor his birth or death information.  According to Babson's History of of Gloucester, William Younger is listed on page 261 under  "a list of settlers from 1701 to 1750 inclusive, which contains all new-comers who are known to have been heads of families during that period."

I descend from William's third child, and second son, Levi Younger (1756 - about 1806), my 5th great grandfather. Gloucester is a famous New England fishing port, and has been the home of mariners and fisherman from the beginning of its history until today.  Levi served in the Revolutionary War as a seaman.  He was enlisted in Captain Bradbury Sanders 2nd company on 13 January 1776 "for defense of the seacoast".  Apparently Levi was captured by the British.  He was exchanged for a British prisoner named James Price,  and sent to New York on the Favorite.

Apparently Levi Younger was imprisoned in Forton Prison in England, which was an infamously bad place.  Try Googling it to read some hair raising stories.  Among the Franklin Papers I found this interesting letter written to Dr. Benjamin Franklin in 1782.  I have transcribed Levi Younger's name in bold  [from http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=37&page=116a  accessed 22 August 2015]:

From Daniel Edwards et al.
als: American Philosophical Society
L’Orient April 8th: 1782.
Sir
Haveing had the good fortune to make our Escape from Forton Prison in England on the 13th March last and to take a small Sloop from Portsmouth in the Night in which 32 of us landed safe at Cape Bellflour from whence we marched to Le Hague where we met with a French Gentlemen a Commissary who gave us a Pass a pair of Shoes & 10 Livres each to go as far as St. Maloes. When we arrived there 19 of us being not able to travell any farther they went on board a Privateer for a Months Cruize 5 got Passes and have gone to Nantes in order to make the best of their way to America & 8 of us came here for the like purpose wanting to get home as soon as Possible haveing been a long time prisoners some of us sent to England from the West Indies & some from New York. We arrived here the 25th: Ultio. & the American Agent not being here nor no Continental Ships we were Obliged to take Lodgeings for 11 Days before we could get a Vessell to go on Board off & the Capt. has it not in his power to give us any thing but our Victuals for our Work he haveing his Complement of hands already Shipped however he has promissed us a passage home but cannot give us any Money untill he Arrives in Philadelphia. And as there is no other Vessell in the Harbour Bound to America that will Sail this 3 or 4 Months and this Ship being almost Ready to sail we have thought it best to come on Board of her upon them Conditions.
        And as we are destitute of both Money and Clothes we have made bold to apply to your Excellency requesting (If you please) some Assistance that will enable us at least to satisfy the Gentleman who was so kind as to take us in and Board us for the above mentioned time. (his Name is John Dager)
        Two of us belong to Continental Ships Joshua Goss Midshipman belonging to the Boston Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes on the 8th: of July 1778 by the Porcupine Ship of War of 24 Guns and Carried to England where he has been a Prisoner ever since untill this present Escape.- The Other Eliphalet Rogers belonging to the Alliance Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes the 18th: Septr. 1779 and has likewise been a Prisoner in Forton Prison untill this present time. Therefore they would be extremely Obliged to your Excellency (if in your Power) to advance them a trifle of their Wages as their Necessities at present are very Pressing- Your Excellencie’s granting this our Humble Petition would be gratefully Acknowledged by your Excellencies Most Obdt. Humble Servts.
        Daniel Edwards Joshua Goss George Clark James Fuller Elipalet Rogers Robert Fulton Isaac Allen William James His Mark
p.s. There is two more prisoners arived here that wrote to your Excellency from Havre de Grace and two of their Companions that Escaped in the Cartell with the french are detained in the [Kian] at Brest who would be glad of your assistance in setting them at Liberty. their Names are Levi Younger & Bartholemew Cashwood

His Excellency Doctr. Franklin Esqr.
Addressed: His Excellency / Doctr. Franklin Esqr. / At / Paris.
Notation: [torn: Edwar]ds Daniel, [torn: Goss J]oshua, &c. L’ori-ent [torn] 1782.


I have not found a death record for Levi, but there was a newspaper notice in the Salem Gazette on 11 March 1806, page 4:

 "Notice is hereby given that the subscriber has been duly appointed administratix of the estate of Levi Younger of Gloucester, mariner, deceased, and has taken upon herself that by giving bends, as the law directs.  All persons having demands against the said estate, are requested to exhibit them for settlement- and those indebted to make payments to: Mary Carter, Admin'x
Gloucester, Feb. 4th, 1806."

Mary Wotten is my 5th great grandmother.  She married Levi Younger in 1784, and then when widowed she remarried to John Carter in 1801.  She is the Mary Carter named in this newpaper notice.  The court record for Levi Younger, mariner of Gloucester, intestate, first court date 9 Oct. 1806 (No. 30803). Essex County Probate.

I descend from Levi and Mary Younger's eldest son, Levi, Jr. (1786 - 1858), my 4th great grandfather.  Just like many other men from Gloucester, including his father, this Levi was also a mariner.  And coincidentally, he was also captured by the British during the War of 1812.  During this war many seamen were "impressed" by the British into the British Navy.  Those who refused to serve for the British when captured were thrown into prison.

I found the following letter in  "The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States" Thirteenth Congress, first and second sessions, May 24, 1813 to April 18, 1814 inclusive- compiled from authentic materials, Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1854, page 2267.  Again, I have transcribed Levi's name in bold letters.
E. Cooke to R. G. Beasley
Foreign Office, Oct. 19, 1812
"In Consequence of your letter to Lord Castlereagh of the 12th instant, I am directed by his Lordship to desire that you will furnish me with the names of the American sailors who have been so punished, and of the ship they are on board...Thomas W. Marshall, Peter Lazette, Edward Whittle Banks, and Levi Younger, on board the Royal William, gave themselvers up as prisoners and were in consequence thereof put into close confinement for eight days."

Levi, Jr. made his way home and appears in many certificates of protection as a mariner from Gloucester "light complexion".  These certificates were voucers for citizenship, and include identification such as place of birth, age, physical description, etc. They were to discourage impressment, but didn't work in Levi's case!  You can find the original certificates of protection at the National Archives.

Levi, Jr. married Catharine Plummer Jones of Boston in 1816.  I found this record in the Gloucester vital records, Boston Marriages, and in the newspaper Boston Daily Advertiser, 6 November 1816, page 2.  They are my 4th great grandparents.   Catharine had a famous sister, Mary Lambert Jones (1803 - 1828) who married Capt. John Dominis and removed to Honolulu, and became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  Catharine had at least five children and died before the age of 30 in Boston.  Levi remarried two more times, and died in Boston in 1858. 

Their daughter, Mary Esther Younger, is mentioned in letters found in the Hawaii State Archives in the files of Queen Liliuokalani, written by her first cousin, the Queen's husband, Governor John Owen Dominis. When Mary Esther's mother died, she had been adopted by an aunt, the sister of Levi Younger, Mary Younger (1788 - 1873), who had married David Harris.  She was known as Esther Harris in some documents, but others listed her as Mary Esther Younger, which was a clue to this lineage, and to the connection to the Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  

My YOUNGER genealogy:

Generation 1.  William Younger; married on 6 May 1750 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Lucy Foster, daughter of Benjamin Foster and Susanna Andrews.  She was born 15 June 1723 in Gloucester.  Four children. 

Generation 2.   Levi Younger, born 7 February 1756 in Gloucester, died before 4 February 1806 in Gloucester; married on 17 July 1784 in Gloucester to Mary Wotten, daughter of John Wotton and Mary Hall.  She was born 15 August 1755 in Gloucester.  Five children.

Generation 3.  Levi Younger, born 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, died 8 December 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts; married first to Catherine Plummer Jones on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester.  She was the daughter of Owen Jones and Elizabeth Lambert, and the mother of five children.  Levi remarried second to Jane Unknown, and third to Margaret Unknown.  

Generation 4.  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 Feb 1826, probably in Boston, and died 7 January 1913 in Boston;  married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to George Emerson, son of Romanus Emerson and Jemima Wyman.  He was born 11 July 1817 in South Boston and died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Eight children.

Generation 5.  Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 6.  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 7.  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

Blog posts about this family:

The Last Will and Testament of Levi Younger:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/levi-younger-last-will-and-testament-10.html

An adoption in the 1800s
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-adoption-in-1800s.html

You can also click on the keywords YOUNGER, JONES, etc in the right hand column to pull up more stories about these families.

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ YOUNGER of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 17, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-younger-of-gloucester.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Another Royal Wedding - 16 September 1862

I originally blogged about this story on 29 December 2010 HERE. 

During my research trip in Hawaii, I found this wedding certificate of Princess Lili'uokalani and John Owen Dominis at the Bishop Museum Library, in Honolulu. I was going to blog about the wedding, but I changed my mind and decided to blog about the process behind getting the permission to show you this wedding certificate.

What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. - Mat. xix: 6

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This certifies that John O. Dominis, Esq.

of Honolulu was married to Miss

Lydia K. Paki of Honolulu

in accordance with the Laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

                                 Samuel C. Damon

                                                    Pastor of Bethel Union Church

Honolulu, Sept. 16, 1862.

This document is from the Bishop Museum Archives, Ms MC Liliuokalani Box 3.34, Marriage Certificate of John Dominis and Liliuokalani, 16 September 1862. Click on the image to enlarge.

When I was a child, being related to Queen Lili'uokalani was a family myth. My very first blog post in 2009 was the story of how I proved the myth of "Auntie Lydia" to be the last Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii. In 2010 and in 2013 I took research trips to Hawaii, which was fun not only because of the wonderful archives and museums, but for the chance to meet many new cousins. I've posted some of the letters I found in the Hawaii State Archives to this blog. The Bishop Museum was different from the Archives, since it is a private institution with strict rules governing the distribution of images from its archive.

A young Liliuokalani,
before she became Princess or Queen

This document is very interesting in several ways. First, it lists the bride as Lydia K. Paki (Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī was the name she was known as, Lydia Kamakaʻeha Kaola Maliʻi Liliʻuokalani was the name she was born with, and Lili'uokalani was her royal name) . The groom, John Owen Dominis, is my first cousin, 4 generations removed. His mother, Mary Lambert (Jones) Dominis was the sister to my 4x great grandmother Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger.

The minister of the wedding ceremony was Samuel Chenery Damon, who was born in Holden, Massachusetts on 15 February 1815. He was a missionary from the First Congregational Church in Holden, where I grew up, was confirmed and married in the same Congregational church. Another coincidence, the Damon and the Dominis family plots are side by side in the O'ahu cemetery in Honolulu. This is why I made a copy of the certificate when I was in Hawaii. So much fun family information on one small piece of paper!

Governor John Owen Dominis

For the first time on my blog, or ever in my research, I had to write for formal permission to use an image. Usually attributing a source for an image is fine, or just obtaining permission via an email or a letter is enough, but in this case it proved to be a lengthy process. I started by sending an email to the Bishop Museum library, which was answered right away by Leah Caldeira of the archives. In her return email she stated "Usually we would charge a usage fee for anything going on the web. However, since this is family genealogical site - we will grant permissions without requiring payment provided that you put up a low resolution image (72 dpi) and cite Bishop Museum MS MC Liliuokalani Box 3.34 as your source. In addition, we would like you to complete the attached order form. We'll use this form as a record of your request and the first part of a contractual agreement for image use. We will provide you with a signed permissions statement granting you use of the image on your website as soon as we receive your form..."

I immediately began to fill out the proper form, and of course I had questions, so the email went back and forth a few times between New Hampshire and Hawaii. I mailed the form to the Bishop Museum in the first week of December. I received an email stating that the form was incomplete (my own fault) and so we went back and forth, and I had to mail a check for $10. Several weeks later, the day before Christmas Eve, I received the final email with permission to go ahead with the request, and the image was attached.

Of course, this lengthy process not only protected their rights to the image, but it allowed them to produce the image itself, scanned at the proper resolution and also protected the quality of the image associated with the Bishop Museum. Throughout the whole process, I understood that they were being very generous in allowing me to use the image without payment. The $10 transaction was only the fee for the scan. Usage fees are usually applied, which can cost much more, and involve hiring legal counsel. According to the form I filled out "Manipulation of the image is subject to restrictions. Advance written permission is required to crop or use a detail from an image" as well as strict instructions on how to cite the source of the image.

Hopefully, you might consider this whole process very carefully when asking permission to use images. Private institutions might also require you to sign releases and pay usage fees for your own genealogical purposes, too. When I saw the process and fee, I was tempted to forfeit the whole idea of posting the image on my blog, but then I saw the value in learning about the process. I never know when I might need to go through this again!

The Bishop Museum Research Library, Honolulu, Hawaii
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/library/

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Another Royal Wedding - 16 September 1862", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 18, 2015 (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/09/another-royal-wedding-16-september-1862.html : accessed [access date]). 

“The Fabulous Holts”

The Holt family plot at Oahu Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii

In 1954 Clarice B. Taylor wrote up a series of articles about the Holt family in Hawaii and had them published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin from June 3^rd to September 11^th.  These stories are based on the history of the Holt family from Robert William Holt (1792 – 1862) born in England, married first in New England, and removed to Hawaii, married second to a native Hawaiian, and beyond as the numbers of descendants grew and grew.  They are not based on fact or proven by genealogical standards, but are a fun read because they are stories, not just dates, places and names.

Lisa Ululani Holt, a descendant, has transcribed all “The Fabulous Holts” articles and made them available as a PDF file.  As she states in her forward “Families all have their stories.  Much like the game‚ "telephone‚" where you whisper something to one person and it moves down the line, those stories can get distorted.  Such are the stories of the Holts.”

As Lisa, and other Holt descendants, and myself (a relative of Robert William Holt’s first wife, Ann Marie Stanwood Jones (1811 – 1832) ) all work on the Holt family genealogy, this document holds important clues as we sift through all the story details for facts, myths, and narratives.  For example, in Chapter 2, on page 2, it mentions that Robert William Holt left England for Boston, Massachusetts to be with a sister, Mary, around 1800. This is questioned on page 23.  Actually, Mary was the sister of his bride, Ann Marie.  So the story was true, just a little bit twisted over time.  This is part of the story that I helped to “untwist”, since my 4^th great grandmother Catherine Plummer Jones was the sister to both Mary and Ann Marie and five other siblings- many of these Boston born siblings had ties to Hawaiian history.

I have a word file of a transcription of “The Fabulous Holts” written up by Holt descendant Sheri Iona about a dozen years ago, and I donated a printed copy to the NEHGS manuscript department.  Some of the resources listed below were also donated to NEHGS as part of a large genealogy of the Jones, Dominis and Holt families.  I don’t know if there has ever been a published version of “The Fabulous Holts”, other than the original newspaper articles.

Note:  as you are reading through these articles, please note that there are no articles 65 and 74.  The numbering system was in error as these were published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Click this link for a PDF file of “The Fabulous Holts” transcribed by Lisa Ululani Holt:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1TNpFAo1DgeYWl3bmQ5U2ZYTFE/view?usp=sharing

Other Holt Family resources:

Recollections: Memoirs of John Dominis Holt 1919 - 1935 by John Dominis Holt, Ku Pa’a Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1993.  Also at the NEHGS library in the 7^th floor stacks.

Robert William Holt: Founder of the Holt Family in Hawaii, by John Dominis Holt, Topgallant Publishing, Co, Hawaii, 1988 (my copy was purchased at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii) A copy is at the NEHGS library in the 7^th floor stacks.

There was a Holt Genealogy manuscript written in 1974 compiled by Kaala Richardson Ridley, and expanded with notes by Sheri Iona in 2008.  It was never published in book form, but has been distributed to members of the family.   I donated a copy to NEHGS and it is available in the manuscript department.

Hawaii’s Holts Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/253651931332203/

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-fabulous-holts.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Grandfatherly advice in an 1843 letter signed “Your affectionate Grandpapa”. But wait! That’s not his grandfather!

John Owen Dominis
as an adult

The following letter to my first cousin several generations removed, John O. Dominis of Honolulu, Hawaii, was written in 1842 by the Rev. Andrew Yates in Schenectady.  He mentions his children, Austin and Mary.  He also mentions that John lived in his home during “those tender years of childhood”.  At the time of this letter, cousin John was about ten years old.   Rev. Yates quotes scripture, and asks John about his studies, and he hints that he would enjoy continued correspondence.  He signed the letter “Your affectionate Grandpapa”.  I knew that I hadn't found a YATES in our family tree, so....

Who was Rev. Yates, and who was John O. Dominis? 

John O. Dominis was born in Chinttenango, New York on 10 March 1832.  At age five he went with his mother to Honolulu, to join his father, Capt. John Dominis.   His mother was Mary Lambert Jones (1803 – 1889) born in Boston, sister of my 4^th great grandmother Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger (1799 – 1828).  Auntie Mary Dominis and cousin John were living with Rev. Yates and his family while Capt. Dominis was at sea.  He is described as “a family member”, but I have not discovered the kinship.  While on this voyage to Hawaii, Mary left her two daughters (John’s sisters) with the Yates family to continue their education.

While their parents were in Hawaii, the daughters Mary Elizabeth and Frances Ann went to school, planning to join their family in Hawaii someday.  However in 1838, 13 year old Mary Elizabeth died.  And on 13 January 1842 13 year old Frances Ann also died.  They were buried in the Yates family plot in Schenectady. 

I found a “Mrs. Dominis and son” arriving in Boston aboard the barque Bhering,  listed in the newspaper Temperance Advocate, 1 April 1843, under the shipping news.  I don’t know how long the voyage from Hawaii to Boston took that year.  I don’t know if they received word that their second daughter had passed away and then they rushed to get back home to Boston and Schenectady.  Even letters took months and months to get from the East Coast of the United States to Hawaii in those days.  They stayed with the Yates family, and with family in Boston before returning to Hawaii.  In 1846 Capt. John Dominis was lost at sea, leaving Mary a widow and John an orphan.  Auntie Mary Dominis never left Hawaii again.

Mary was the daughter of Owen Jones and Elizabeth Lambert of Boston.  Owen was born in Wales, and came to Boston as a child with his father, also Owen Jones, who was the Boston customs agent for the King of England before the American Revolutionary War.  Elizabeth Lambert’s parents and birthplace are unknown, although she was married to Owen Jones on 11 May 1793 at the 2^nd Baptist Church in Boston. 

 Mary Lambert Jones’s husband, the Captain John Dominis was from Trieste, now in the country of Slovenia.  His parents would have been from Trieste, but as of now I have not discovered their names.

And what about Rev. Andrew Yates?  He was obviously not John’s Grandpapa (his true grandfather would be either Owen Jones or someone with the surname LAMBERT, although he was a very kind man who was like a grandparent.

Andrew Yates was born 17 January 1773 in Schenectady, the son of Colonel Christopher Yates and Jannetje Bradt. He married twice, first to Mary Austin and second to Hannah A. Hooker.   The Reverend Dr. Andrew Yates graduated from Yale in 1793,  was a minister of the Reformed Dutch Church and a professor at Union College.  He died on 14 October 1844.  He had three sons with his first wife (Christopher, John Austin, and Andrew John), and three children with his second wife (Mary Austin, Christopher, James, Christopher, Helen, Joseph and Ann Eliza.) 

The Yates family goes back quite a ways in New York history.  I searched the Yates genealogies for any Lamberts or Jones connections, but I didn’t find any.  Perhaps John’s kinship to Rev. Yates came from one of his two wives?

Wife #1 was Mary Austin.  Daughter of David Austin and Mary Mix.  She was born 25 August 1776 in New Haven, Connecticut and died 8 October 1798.  She married Andrew Yates on 8 October 1797 in New Haven.  Both her parents were born in New Haven. I’ve searched the Austin family for a connection to Jones, Lambert or to Boston, but have not found any kinships.

Wife #2 was Hannah A. Hooker, daughter of James Hooker and Mary Chaffee, born 4 September 1785 in Windsor, Connecticut.  She married Rev. Andrew Yates on 11 June 1810.  She died in Schenectady on 20 October 1859, nearly fifteen years after her husband’s death. Again, I found no kinship with the Jones or Lambert families in Boston.

I don’t know how Auntie Mary Dominis from Boston knew Rev. Andrew Yates, but all her children were born in Schenectady and she lived at his home before removing to Hawaii.  Her husband was a sea captain, and he knew other sea captains in the Albany area.  This was a big shipping and whaling port at this time period.  It is a mystery to me.

Finding this letter was very poignant to me because I knew that Auntie Mary had lived with the Yates, and that her daughters were buried in the Yates family plot.  This letter mentions that Reverend Yates had been waiting for a letter from John or Mary telling him that their ship had returned safely to Hawaii.  I found the newspaper account of their arrival in the United States in 1843, but not their return.  The Reverend’s interest in John’s education is sweet, especially since I knew he was a Yale graduate and a professor.

I have not found any other letters from any of the Yates family members to the Dominis family members in the Hawaii State archives.  This must be the only surviving letter. John O. Dominis’s papers fill several file folder boxes, but there is nothing at all there from Mary. 

Perhaps someday I will find the kinship between these families?  Maybe there is no kinship, just a great friendship?  Will this remain a mystery lost to history?

Hawaii State Archives, Queen Lili'uokalani Collections, M-93, Box 11, Folder 104,
Letter from Rev. Andrew Yates to John O. Dominis 2 November 1843

Transcription of the letter

                                                Schenectady 2^nd Nov. AD 1843

My Dear John,

                                So I address my children in writing to them,

My Dear Austin, My Dear Mary & the same address I use in writing

to you because you have resided in my family during those tender years

of childhood which call into exercise parental affections toward the young

in those who have care over them. I feel a deep interest in your wel-

fare, especially in your education as that is closely connected with

your welfare, because it trains you up for well doing. Altho in

the course of this world, men that conduct well do not al-

ways fare well in the wealth, and honors, and other ??? of

the world, yet generally, most commonly, they do fare the best

in these things of the present life.  So God says, in his word I Timothy

4^th chapter & 8^th verse. Godliness in that verse means a continual desire

and endeavor to do the will of God and that in doing well in the high-

est sense.  He that wishes and tries to do God’s will in doing well in

the best and surest way.  And tho he may not fare the better for his

well doing in this wicked world; though he may, like the apostles of

our Lord be persecuted and abused for it by wicked men, yet like

them he will farewell because he knows that he is serving

God in what he does and will enjoy a peace and happiness be-

yond all that wicked men can have or know.  When two of these

apostles were cruelly abused for a good deed and cast into the inner

prison, into the dungeon and their feet fastened in the stocks, they en-

joyed more happiness than their persectutors. They prayed and sang praises

---------------------------------

Praises unto God, while their persecutors were full of wrath, and

the next morning they were glad to let the apostles out

of their prison and go off; because they had beaten and put

them in prison contrary to the Law and were themselves

liable to be called to account and to be punished for their

conduct.  The apostles were not unhappy when they were

cast into prison for they felt happy in praying & singing prai-

ses to God while they were in the dungeon with their feet fasten-

ed in the stocks, and they felt more happy when they were set

at liberty, that they might go on in doing good.  If we love

(read this account in Acts 16^th chapter from the 16^th verse to the end)

God and are doing good according to his word, we shall fare

Well, enjoying God’s presence and care always. A good edu-

cation consists in being instructed according to the word

of God, which is the Bible.  If you receive such an education

it will ?? all you for welldoing everywhere.  It is un-

derstanding what God requires us to do according to the

Bible, loving to do so, and always trying to do so which

will keep us in the way of welldoing.

                For a considerable time I have been very anxious to

hear from your parents and yourself and began to think

we were no more to hear of you except by some public

newspaper or thro’ some other person in correspond-

ence with your father.  It was a great relief to me when

your letter was received.  Your pleasant passage and safe

----------------------------------

Safe arrival at Oahu stated in your letter was very grate-

ful news- You had not yet undertaken to go to school

when you wrote.  By this time I trust you have begun your

course no doubt and have made some progress, being nearly

seven months since the date of your letter.  The house you have

provided for you by your Father will be useful to your health

while you study, if it do not take up your time and attention

too much.  Use it for amusing exercise and do not let it

call off your mind from your study.  You may write to me

as often as you please and tell me what you study and how

fast you get along in your education.  If I live to receive

your letters, I will endeavor to answer them with ??

??? that will be profitable, provided you remem

ber them and take the advice I give.

                I will have ?? for your parents a small concern of business

I found the mistake respecting the 19.25 which Capt. Pearce had

paid to me as he supposed.  He had sent it Mrrs. Farnham & Co. and

stated to me in a letter I received that he had sent it.  My duty was

to have drawn for the money on Farnham.  I have not done is and

have ??? it from them.

                Give my affectionate regards to your Father & Mother and

for yourself be assured that I feel deeply interested in your

welfare.  I pray you may be pr??? and grow up to be a very

??? & happy man.

                                                Your affectionate Grandpapa

                                                And. Yates

Master John O. Dominis

----------------------------

Master John O. Dominis

Oahu

Sandwich Islands

(upside down)

Andrew Yates, Schenectady

                Nov. 2/43

For more information:

Austin Family genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~challis/John%20Austin%201647/pafg08.htm 

The Descendants pf Rev. Thomas Hooker of Hartford, Connecticut, by Edward Hooker and Margaret Huntington Hooker, 1909, page 17 and 169 (available online at archive.org) 

An article on the Dominis family from the Schenectady Gazette, August 27, 1932, title and page unknown    

Schenectady County, New York: Its History to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, by Austin A. Yates, pp 270 -277

History of Saratoga County, New York by Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, 1878

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Grandfatherly advice in an 1843 letter signed “Your affectionate Grandpapa”. But wait!  That’s not his grandfather!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 7, 2014, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/grandfatherly-advice-in-1843-letter.html: accessed [access date]).