Hermann A. Widemann Dies After a Prolong Sickness

The death of Judge Widemann did not come unexpected this morning. The community who loved and honored the old gentleman was prepared for the worst, and when the message of death came this morning at 9:30 o'clock, it was a relief to learn that the noble old man had passed away without suffering and without pain.

Surrounded by his family Judge Widemann went to sleep after a long and useful life. He passed away commanding the respect of all and having enjoyed the honors of this small country, which he made his home, where he reared his family, and in the interest of which he had worked.

Judge Widemann was often gruff and opinionated but he was a man with a large heart and imbued with true loyalty to the Hawaiians who loved him and who to-day mourn the loss of a true friend.

H. A. Widemann was born in Hanover on the 24th of December, 1822. After he left school, where he received an excellent training, he was destined for the army. His "pull" was not sufficient in those days for promotion when "birth" was everything, and he went to sea in a merchant vessel.

In 1843 he arrived in Honolulu and he liked the place well and made up his mind to return to the Islands. In 1846 he landed again in Honolulu and made his home here, and became a leading citizen of this little place. During the "gold fever" in 1848-9, he made a trip to California but struck no "ore" there. Upon his return he eventually made a great success, and through his ambition, energy and sterling qualities he rose to the high position in the community, occupied by him at the time of his death.

The deceased was at one time Sheriff of Kauai, then Circuit Judge, Minister of the Interior, a Privy Councillor, a member of the Board of Health, Minister of Finance and a Noble.

Since 1893 he was the stalwart champion of the cause of Liliuokalani and visited Washington, London and Berlin in the interest of the Monarchy and the Hawaiians.

Although Mr. Widemann was not a trained lawyer he was a natural born jurist, and at the time of his death was the oldest member of the Hawaiian Bar, and for a while he occupied the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

The main record of Mr. Widemann will go down to posterity however as a leading and successful coffee and sugar planter. When "things looked bad" in Hawaii nei, Judge Widemann never weakened, and when the grim reaper called him away this morning, he was able to look back on his noble struggle against odds and adversities, which resulted in his being a winner and a rich man.

Judge Widemann married 49 years ago to a Hawaiian lady who survives him and with whom he has enjoyed a most happy domestic life. She and the surviving children will every day deplore the loss of a devoted husband and a kind father. The surviving children who to-day mourn the loss of a father are Mrs. Henry Macfarlane, Mrs. Fred Macfarlane, Mrs. C. O. Berger, Mrs. J. M. Dowsett, Mrs. W. Lanz, Mrs. Chr. Conradt, Miss Anna Widemann and Carl and Herman Widemann.

The funeral will take take place on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock from the Roman Catholic Church and the interment will be at the Nuuanu cemetery.

(obituary found on chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85047097/1899-02-07/ed-1/seq-3/; transcribed from article)∼Whaler, sheriff, legislator, judge, plantation owner, royal cabinet minister. Widemann spent his early adulthood on a whaling ship, and lived for a time in Hawaii before heading to California for the Gold Rush. He returned to the kingdom, where he lived the rest of his life. He founded one of the kingdom’s first sugar plantations, Grove Farm, on the island of Kauai, where he also served as sheriff, legislative representative, and circuit judge. In the mid-1860s, he sold the plantation and he and his wife moved their family to Honolulu, where he continued in public service. He was named to the kingdom’s Supreme Court and held other governmental posts, including serving on the royal cabinet and the privy council. After the overthrow of the monarchy in January 1893, he and several other loyal royalists were sent to Washington D.C. and Europe in hopes of garnering international support that would lead to the restoration of the kingdom. He and his wife, Mary, were married for 49 years; he was survived by her and nine children.