Many who have made their fortunes in these islands have owed their rise in the world to the patronage of Mr. French. --The Polynesian (Honolulu, Hawaii); 06 Dec 1851.
William French II was the son of William and Rebecca (Marshall) French, formerly of Billerica, Massachusetts. His maternal uncle, Josiah Marshall, had left Billerica for Boston, where he became a successful merchant and trader on the Pacific Northwest—Hawaii--Canton trade route and was a competitor of William's first employer (the Boston firm of Sturgis & Bryant).
In the employ of Sturgis & Bryant, French left Boston aboard the Neo in September, 1818 and arrived in Hawaii during March of the following year with goods to sell, and orders to there procure a shipment of sandalwood bound for Canton, China.
When he arrived in China, he made the acquaintance of Timothy Pitman and the two formed a partnership, becoming ship and commercial agents at Canton. While residing at Canton in 1821, William solicited his uncle Josiah's business there. A transcript of his letter appears on pages 184-185 of the 1912 book Boston Traders in the Hawaiian Islands.
William returned to Hawaii in 1825 and settled at Honolulu where he established himself as a successful merchant trader with a store fronting Kaahumanu and Merchant Streets. By 1840, he was worth in excess of $70,000** (equivalent to about $2 million in 2017), and had diversified into other enterprises, including cattle ranching at Kawaihae. Early on, he had employed John P. Parker—later founder of the famous Parker Ranch—as his bookkeeper, wild cattle hunter, and outpost manager. These two men were the first to recognize the need for commercial cattle operations on the Islands, which until then only had feral cattle descended from six animals given as a gift to King Kamehameha by Capt. George Vancouver in 1792.
In Jun of 1840, French sold his store to an Englishman, Francis J. Greenway. The terms of their contract allowed Greenway sole authority to run the business for five years, at which time he would give French half his net profits in return for 100% ownership. Instead, two years later Greenway first declared the business insolvent, and then had himself declared insane, thus precluding him from all responsibility for his mismanagement and placing the entire burden of his creditors onto William French, who was legally the remaining partner. In order to meet Greenway's debts, French was forced to sell off personal assets and put himself into debt. For five years the status of the case was regularly reported—simultaneously in English, French, and Hawaiian—in news reports on the chancery court proceedings, adding to French's humiliations.
When the case was finally settled in 1847, French publicly thanked the many people who had assisted him with this difficulty over the years, including his son-in-law, George Seymour Kenway, who had been appointed by the court as one of the Referees in the case.
In 1835, William married Lydia Panioikawai “Panio” Hunt, the daughter of Thomas Hunt and his wife, Kalehua. They were married at Kailua by John Adams Kuakini who was then the Royal Governor of Hawaii.
William and Panio were the parents of four children, including twin sons**, only one of whom survived. Their children were:
Mary Ann Keomailani French (m. George S. Kenway)
Caroline Paakaiulaula French (m1. Henry Poor; m2 A. W. Bush)
William French III (1839-1898).
He became a citizen of Hawai'i on 01 Apr 1845.
William French II died at Kawaihae, on the big island of Hawaii. A probate notice carried in Honolulu's Polynesian of 13 Dec 1851 stated that William's son-in-law George Kenway, had been appointed one of the Administrators of his estate.
[**1. By way of comparison, per Thrum's 1896 Hawaiian Almanac, the value of Hawaii's total exports in 1840 was $75,050. 2. Twin sons: see links below for the Nupepa-Hawaii blog site, which contains a translation of the Hawaiian-language obituary of William's wife, Lydia "Panio" French.]
BIBIOLOGRAHY:
Frontier Tranders and Pioneer Cattlemen: An Hawaiian Perspective, by Bud Wellmon.
The California Sea Otter Trade, by Adele Ogden.
Pu'ukohola Heiau Historic Site at Kawaihae, website of the National Park Service.
Nupepa Hawaiian Blog: William French speaks Chinese in 1838; Lydia Panioikawai French's obituary, translated from the Hawaiian language.
Letters & Accounts of Josiah Marshall, 1821-1841 at Harvard University's Houghton Library.
Marshall & Wildes Co. Shipping Records, 1822-1826in the archives of the University of North Carolina.
William French II was the son of William and Rebecca (Marshall) French, formerly of Billerica, Massachusetts. His maternal uncle, Josiah Marshall, had left Billerica for Boston, where he became a successful merchant and trader on the Pacific Northwest—Hawaii--Canton trade route and was a competitor of William's first employer (the Boston firm of Sturgis & Bryant).
In the employ of Sturgis & Bryant, French left Boston aboard the Neo in September, 1818 and arrived in Hawaii during March of the following year with goods to sell, and orders to there procure a shipment of sandalwood bound for Canton, China.
When he arrived in China, he made the acquaintance of Timothy Pitman and the two formed a partnership, becoming ship and commercial agents at Canton. While residing at Canton in 1821, William solicited his uncle Josiah's business there. A transcript of his letter appears on pages 184-185 of the 1912 book Boston Traders in the Hawaiian Islands.
William returned to Hawaii in 1825 and settled at Honolulu where he established himself as a successful merchant trader with a store fronting Kaahumanu and Merchant Streets. By 1840, he was worth in excess of $70,000** (equivalent to about $2 million in 2017), and had diversified into other enterprises, including cattle ranching at Kawaihae. Early on, he had employed John P. Parker—later founder of the famous Parker Ranch—as his bookkeeper, wild cattle hunter, and outpost manager. These two men were the first to recognize the need for commercial cattle operations on the Islands, which until then only had feral cattle descended from six animals given as a gift to King Kamehameha by Capt. George Vancouver in 1792.
In Jun of 1840, French sold his store to an Englishman, Francis J. Greenway. The terms of their contract allowed Greenway sole authority to run the business for five years, at which time he would give French half his net profits in return for 100% ownership. Instead, two years later Greenway first declared the business insolvent, and then had himself declared insane, thus precluding him from all responsibility for his mismanagement and placing the entire burden of his creditors onto William French, who was legally the remaining partner. In order to meet Greenway's debts, French was forced to sell off personal assets and put himself into debt. For five years the status of the case was regularly reported—simultaneously in English, French, and Hawaiian—in news reports on the chancery court proceedings, adding to French's humiliations.
When the case was finally settled in 1847, French publicly thanked the many people who had assisted him with this difficulty over the years, including his son-in-law, George Seymour Kenway, who had been appointed by the court as one of the Referees in the case.
In 1835, William married Lydia Panioikawai “Panio” Hunt, the daughter of Thomas Hunt and his wife, Kalehua. They were married at Kailua by John Adams Kuakini who was then the Royal Governor of Hawaii.
William and Panio were the parents of four children, including twin sons**, only one of whom survived. Their children were:
Mary Ann Keomailani French (m. George S. Kenway)
Caroline Paakaiulaula French (m1. Henry Poor; m2 A. W. Bush)
William French III (1839-1898).
He became a citizen of Hawai'i on 01 Apr 1845.
William French II died at Kawaihae, on the big island of Hawaii. A probate notice carried in Honolulu's Polynesian of 13 Dec 1851 stated that William's son-in-law George Kenway, had been appointed one of the Administrators of his estate.
[**1. By way of comparison, per Thrum's 1896 Hawaiian Almanac, the value of Hawaii's total exports in 1840 was $75,050. 2. Twin sons: see links below for the Nupepa-Hawaii blog site, which contains a translation of the Hawaiian-language obituary of William's wife, Lydia "Panio" French.]
BIBIOLOGRAHY:
Frontier Tranders and Pioneer Cattlemen: An Hawaiian Perspective, by Bud Wellmon.
The California Sea Otter Trade, by Adele Ogden.
Pu'ukohola Heiau Historic Site at Kawaihae, website of the National Park Service.
Nupepa Hawaiian Blog: William French speaks Chinese in 1838; Lydia Panioikawai French's obituary, translated from the Hawaiian language.
Letters & Accounts of Josiah Marshall, 1821-1841 at Harvard University's Houghton Library.
Marshall & Wildes Co. Shipping Records, 1822-1826in the archives of the University of North Carolina.
Many who have made their fortunes in these islands have owed their rise in the world to the patronage of Mr. French. --The Polynesian (Honolulu, Hawaii); 06 Dec 1851.
William French II was the son of William and Rebecca (Marshall) French, formerly of Billerica, Massachusetts. His maternal uncle, Josiah Marshall, had left Billerica for Boston, where he became a successful merchant and trader on the Pacific Northwest—Hawaii--Canton trade route and was a competitor of William's first employer (the Boston firm of Sturgis & Bryant).
In the employ of Sturgis & Bryant, French left Boston aboard the Neo in September, 1818 and arrived in Hawaii during March of the following year with goods to sell, and orders to there procure a shipment of sandalwood bound for Canton, China.
When he arrived in China, he made the acquaintance of Timothy Pitman and the two formed a partnership, becoming ship and commercial agents at Canton. While residing at Canton in 1821, William solicited his uncle Josiah's business there. A transcript of his letter appears on pages 184-185 of the 1912 book Boston Traders in the Hawaiian Islands.
William returned to Hawaii in 1825 and settled at Honolulu where he established himself as a successful merchant trader with a store fronting Kaahumanu and Merchant Streets. By 1840, he was worth in excess of $70,000** (equivalent to about $2 million in 2017), and had diversified into other enterprises, including cattle ranching at Kawaihae. Early on, he had employed John P. Parker—later founder of the famous Parker Ranch—as his bookkeeper, wild cattle hunter, and outpost manager. These two men were the first to recognize the need for commercial cattle operations on the Islands, which until then only had feral cattle descended from six animals given as a gift to King Kamehameha by Capt. George Vancouver in 1792.
In Jun of 1840, French sold his store to an Englishman, Francis J. Greenway. The terms of their contract allowed Greenway sole authority to run the business for five years, at which time he would give French half his net profits in return for 100% ownership. Instead, two years later Greenway first declared the business insolvent, and then had himself declared insane, thus precluding him from all responsibility for his mismanagement and placing the entire burden of his creditors onto William French, who was legally the remaining partner. In order to meet Greenway's debts, French was forced to sell off personal assets and put himself into debt. For five years the status of the case was regularly reported—simultaneously in English, French, and Hawaiian—in news reports on the chancery court proceedings, adding to French's humiliations.
When the case was finally settled in 1847, French publicly thanked the many people who had assisted him with this difficulty over the years, including his son-in-law, George Seymour Kenway, who had been appointed by the court as one of the Referees in the case.
In 1835, William married Lydia Panioikawai “Panio” Hunt, the daughter of Thomas Hunt and his wife, Kalehua. They were married at Kailua by John Adams Kuakini who was then the Royal Governor of Hawaii.
William and Panio were the parents of four children, including twin sons**, only one of whom survived. Their children were:
Mary Ann Keomailani French (m. George S. Kenway)
Caroline Paakaiulaula French (m1. Henry Poor; m2 A. W. Bush)
William French III (1839-1898).
He became a citizen of Hawai'i on 01 Apr 1845.
William French II died at Kawaihae, on the big island of Hawaii. A probate notice carried in Honolulu's Polynesian of 13 Dec 1851 stated that William's son-in-law George Kenway, had been appointed one of the Administrators of his estate.
[**1. By way of comparison, per Thrum's 1896 Hawaiian Almanac, the value of Hawaii's total exports in 1840 was $75,050. 2. Twin sons: see links below for the Nupepa-Hawaii blog site, which contains a translation of the Hawaiian-language obituary of William's wife, Lydia "Panio" French.]
BIBIOLOGRAHY:
Frontier Tranders and Pioneer Cattlemen: An Hawaiian Perspective, by Bud Wellmon.
The California Sea Otter Trade, by Adele Ogden.
Pu'ukohola Heiau Historic Site at Kawaihae, website of the National Park Service.
Nupepa Hawaiian Blog: William French speaks Chinese in 1838; Lydia Panioikawai French's obituary, translated from the Hawaiian language.
Letters & Accounts of Josiah Marshall, 1821-1841 at Harvard University's Houghton Library.
Marshall & Wildes Co. Shipping Records, 1822-1826in the archives of the University of North Carolina.
William French II was the son of William and Rebecca (Marshall) French, formerly of Billerica, Massachusetts. His maternal uncle, Josiah Marshall, had left Billerica for Boston, where he became a successful merchant and trader on the Pacific Northwest—Hawaii--Canton trade route and was a competitor of William's first employer (the Boston firm of Sturgis & Bryant).
In the employ of Sturgis & Bryant, French left Boston aboard the Neo in September, 1818 and arrived in Hawaii during March of the following year with goods to sell, and orders to there procure a shipment of sandalwood bound for Canton, China.
When he arrived in China, he made the acquaintance of Timothy Pitman and the two formed a partnership, becoming ship and commercial agents at Canton. While residing at Canton in 1821, William solicited his uncle Josiah's business there. A transcript of his letter appears on pages 184-185 of the 1912 book Boston Traders in the Hawaiian Islands.
William returned to Hawaii in 1825 and settled at Honolulu where he established himself as a successful merchant trader with a store fronting Kaahumanu and Merchant Streets. By 1840, he was worth in excess of $70,000** (equivalent to about $2 million in 2017), and had diversified into other enterprises, including cattle ranching at Kawaihae. Early on, he had employed John P. Parker—later founder of the famous Parker Ranch—as his bookkeeper, wild cattle hunter, and outpost manager. These two men were the first to recognize the need for commercial cattle operations on the Islands, which until then only had feral cattle descended from six animals given as a gift to King Kamehameha by Capt. George Vancouver in 1792.
In Jun of 1840, French sold his store to an Englishman, Francis J. Greenway. The terms of their contract allowed Greenway sole authority to run the business for five years, at which time he would give French half his net profits in return for 100% ownership. Instead, two years later Greenway first declared the business insolvent, and then had himself declared insane, thus precluding him from all responsibility for his mismanagement and placing the entire burden of his creditors onto William French, who was legally the remaining partner. In order to meet Greenway's debts, French was forced to sell off personal assets and put himself into debt. For five years the status of the case was regularly reported—simultaneously in English, French, and Hawaiian—in news reports on the chancery court proceedings, adding to French's humiliations.
When the case was finally settled in 1847, French publicly thanked the many people who had assisted him with this difficulty over the years, including his son-in-law, George Seymour Kenway, who had been appointed by the court as one of the Referees in the case.
In 1835, William married Lydia Panioikawai “Panio” Hunt, the daughter of Thomas Hunt and his wife, Kalehua. They were married at Kailua by John Adams Kuakini who was then the Royal Governor of Hawaii.
William and Panio were the parents of four children, including twin sons**, only one of whom survived. Their children were:
Mary Ann Keomailani French (m. George S. Kenway)
Caroline Paakaiulaula French (m1. Henry Poor; m2 A. W. Bush)
William French III (1839-1898).
He became a citizen of Hawai'i on 01 Apr 1845.
William French II died at Kawaihae, on the big island of Hawaii. A probate notice carried in Honolulu's Polynesian of 13 Dec 1851 stated that William's son-in-law George Kenway, had been appointed one of the Administrators of his estate.
[**1. By way of comparison, per Thrum's 1896 Hawaiian Almanac, the value of Hawaii's total exports in 1840 was $75,050. 2. Twin sons: see links below for the Nupepa-Hawaii blog site, which contains a translation of the Hawaiian-language obituary of William's wife, Lydia "Panio" French.]
BIBIOLOGRAHY:
Frontier Tranders and Pioneer Cattlemen: An Hawaiian Perspective, by Bud Wellmon.
The California Sea Otter Trade, by Adele Ogden.
Pu'ukohola Heiau Historic Site at Kawaihae, website of the National Park Service.
Nupepa Hawaiian Blog: William French speaks Chinese in 1838; Lydia Panioikawai French's obituary, translated from the Hawaiian language.
Letters & Accounts of Josiah Marshall, 1821-1841 at Harvard University's Houghton Library.
Marshall & Wildes Co. Shipping Records, 1822-1826in the archives of the University of North Carolina.
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