The David Golden Collection of Hawaiian Stamps and Postal History

THIS IS THE SECOND EARLIEST DATED LETTER WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY AFTER ARRIVING IN HAWAII IN APRIL 1820, AND IT IS THE EARLIEST IN PRIVATE HANDS. THIS LETTER AND THE INSTITUTIONALIZED MAY 13 LETTER WRITTEN BY REVEREND BINGHAM WERE CARRIED IN THE SAME MAIL PACKET, WHICH WAS THE FIRST TO BE SENT HOME BY THE PIONEER MISSIONARIES. MARIA LOOMIS' FASCINATING LETTER PROVIDES A WINDOW INTO THE FIRST DAYS OF THE MISSIONARIES' EXPERIENCE IN THE HAWAIIAN KINGDOM.

Maria T. Loomis' well-written and clearly legible letter reads in part: "Through the kind providence of God we have been favored with a safe and pleasant passage across the mighty deep and have obtained a happy and we hope a permanent residence in these Isles of the Sea. I have the happiness to inform you that Owhyhee's Idols are no more, their Morais are burnt to the ground & their Taboos and superstitious rites are abolished. God in a manner unparalleled has prepared the way for his glorious Gospel and these Isles are now waiting and ready for His Law." The "Morais" referred to here are Hawaiian places of worship that were regarded by the missionaries as pagan temples. A contemporary description can be found at http://www.donch.com/LULH/culturehist1.htm: "Their morais, or places of worship, consist of one large house or temple, with some smaller ones round it, in which are the images of their inferior gods. The tabooed or consecrated precincts are marked out by four square posts, which stand thirty or forty yards from the building. In the inside of the principal house there is a screen or curtain of white cloth, hung across one end, within which the image of Etooah [principal god] is placed. When sacrifices are offered, the priests and chiefs enter occasionally within this space, going in at one side, and out at the other. On the outside are placed several images made of wood, as ugly as can be well imagined, having their mouths all stuck round with dogs [sic] teeth."

After some talk of her health on the voyage, Loomis continues: "I will give you a short but imperfect description of our present situation and prospects. We anchored at Kirooah, Owhyee, April 4, negotiated with their King and left six of our number, viz. Rev. Mr. Thurston and Dr. Holman and their wives and T. Hoopoo and W. Tenoe, native boys. The rest of us proceeded to this place and landed on the 19th. Here we are in little houses thatched with straw, but Government are going to build us better ones, likewise a schoolhouse and a house for public worship." She continues: "There are many white inhabitants on this Island, some of whom appear very friendly, and a few appear to try and do us hurt, but we know they will not go any farther than they are permitted. To show you that liberality is not confined to christian countries alone, I will mention to you that a subscription paper has been circulated in order to obtain a fund for the support and education of the indigent and orphan children and that two hundred dollars are already subscribed altho the paper has been in circulation only two days."

Mrs. Loomis also describes the missionaries' busy activities: "We have in one sense commenced our labors. We have been engaged ever since we came on shore in making coats, pantaloons, gowns, &c. for the Chief, even the Governor sent us his pantaloon to be made and though we have scarce had time to breathe yet we think it is a duty to leave all and sit down and do all work of this kind which is before us. We think it favorable that they should have a taste for dress... We are almost constantly surrounded by the natives begging to palapala, that is to read, &c. The first sermon that was preached was from these words 'Behold I bring you good tidings &c.'. The Governor & many of the natives were present and seemed pleased especially with the singing."

Mrs. Loomis then asks the addressee to remember her to friends and closes with an interesting postscript: "P.S. May 15. I have time to add one word which in my haste I omitted last night. We send this by Capt. Starbuck, an English whaleman". This refers to Valentine Starbuck, captain of the British whaler L'Aigle, whose exploits in Hawaii are documented in a publication available at http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/620/2/JL12032.pdf. In November 1823 Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu commissioned the L'Aigle to carry them to London.

The story of the first missionaries is a fascinating one. Maria Loomis was from Michigan and felt a religious calling early in life. Her application to become a missionary in Hawaii was originally rejected because she was not married, a prerequisite. Elisha Loomis, a printer from Connecticut, was also a bachelor, and his application was rejected, too. The Missionary Society, seeing the two applications, suggested (or arranged) for the two to be married at the Missionary Society headquarters. After the long and arduous sailing trip to Hawaii on the Thaddeus, they met with the King and promised good conduct by all. However, on the first night the crew of the Thaddeus came to shore and released some tension after their long journey at sea. The sailors' conduct enraged the King, who demanded six hostages from the missionaries if they wished to continue their mission to bring Christianity to Hawaiian (this incident is mentioned in the letter). At the next Sunday sermon, the sailors were reprimanded and forced to donate money. The King was impressed and released the hostages. The native Hawaiians were scantily clad, and Mrs. Loomis' letter refers to one of the missionaries' first goals, to introduce clothing to give them a more modest appearance.

For many years the letter datelined June 27, 1820 (ex Honolulu Advertiser) was thought to be the earliest recorded Missionary letter mailed from Hawaii and listed as such in the 1948 Meyer-Harris book. The letter offered here was discovered by Herman Herst around 1950 in a group of covers with common New York postal markings. Shortly after its discovery, the librarian of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society contacted the archivist at Houghton Library at Harvard University, which contains the archives of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions in Boston. That archive contains a letter dated one day earlier (May 13, 1820), written by Rev. Hiram Bingham. Both letters were carried on the L'Aigle, which was the first vessel to carry mail from the Pioneer Company of missionaries who arrived in April 1820 in Hawaii. Approximately 30 letters were carried on that trip, but only this and the one at Harvard are known to survive.

The L'Aigle (French for "the Eagle") was a British whaling vessel. Her return voyage to the United States took 18 months, because her crew was actively hunting whales. The Loomis and Bingham letters both entered the U.S. post office at New York on November 21, 1821 (the Bingham letter has receipt docketing to confirm yeardate). Other letters sent from Hawaii on later sailings actually arrived before the Loomis and Bingham letters.

Accompanied by a copy of the Sixtieth Annual Report of The Hawaiian Historical Society (1951) with an article on the Loomis and Bingham letters. (Image)

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