Rice Family Newsletter

On May 21, 1841, the Rices arrived in Honolulu on the ship Gloucester after a voyage of 188 days around Cape Horn. They had been accepted as candidates by the American Board of Commissions for Foreign Missions to be sent to the Oregon Territory. Upon landing at Honolulu they were informed of bad conditions in Oregon and persuaded to remain in Hawaii. Their first three years of mission work were spent at Hana, Maui, sharing an abode with Rev. & Mrs. Conde. While there, William Harrison Rice supervised the building of the Hana church. His bad health required a change of climate so the Rices were reassigned to the Mission School at Punahou, Honolulu. A native couple, Opunui and his wife Kaniho, accompanied them to Punahou and later Kauai.

Along with teaching at the Mission during the week, Sundays were spent teaching and preaching to the natives of Manoa and Kamoilili and working on additions to the Punahou school. He also took on raising vegetables as his duty. Mary Rice spent her week mending the Mission children's clothing and teaching the natives to sew and braid. After 13 years, Rice's failing health forced them to retire from the American Protestant Mission to the Sandwich Islands

Chief Justice Lee of Honolulu offered Rice work managing a sugar plantation, formerly H.A. Pierce & Co., at Lihue, Kauai. His salary was $400 a year, in stock if cash wasn't available. The Rices sailed into Nawiliwili in 1854. In addition to his plantation work he served as deacon of the Foreign Church. By working out an irrigation system now known as the Rice Ditch, the first in the Islands, the plantation was saved from drought. On his death in 1862, he left Lihue Plantation in prosperous condition and in the hands of his son-in-law Paul Isenberg.

"Mother" Rice continued to live in Lihue with her children until her death in 1911. The increased value of the Lihue Plantation stock allowed her to continue her charitable works throughout her life.

The Rice Children

~ Hannah Maria Rice was born at Hana. As the oldest child she often ran the household for her mother. She married Paul Heinrich Friedrich Carl Isenberg, a German who came to work for her father at Lihue Plantation. At her father's death in 1862, Paul took over as manager of the plantation, turning it into a very successful operation. Hannah succumbed to tuberculosis in 1867 at the age of 25 leaving behind two small children.

~ Emily Dole Rice was born at Lahainaluna on Maui. She married Colonel George de la Vergne, a former Union Colonel. They were among the two or three families that first settled Colorado Springs, Colorado. She and her husband had two children.

~ William Hyde Rice was born at Punahou, Honolulu, the only son. After his education was completed, he returned to Kauai and became a successful rancher, planter, politician, and scholar. He married Mary Waterhouse and had 7 children, none of whom remained on Kauai.

~ Mary Sophia Rice, her mother's namesake, was born at Punahou. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 19 while traveling with her mother. She never married.

~ Anne Charlotte Rice was the youngest daughter and born at Punahou. She married another missionary descendant, Charles Montague Cooke and resided in Honolulu. They had 8 children. She was a generous benefactor to the community.

Koamalu

The Rice family moved to Kauai in 1854 when William Harrison Rice accepted the managership of what was to become Lihue plantation. This was the first house of their own since they had come to Hawaii. All other abodes had been shared. Their residence was often shared with visitors and travelers as there were no hotels on Kauai.

Koamalu, the manager's home, had been built earlier from a pre-fabricated kit made in China and assembled at the Lihue site. Houses such as this were shipped from China, along with porcelain and other trade goods as ballast on returning sandalwood vessels. Koamalu was said to be made of teak and the walls were dark.

Hale Nani

Hale Nani was the home of William Hyde and Mary (Waterhouse) Rice at Lihue. The driveway of royal palms was situated on what is now Rice Street from Waa to Kalena Streets. Aside from the main house, there was a cottage for Willie's mother, blacksmith shop, a butcher shop, general office, a dairy, and a chapel that served as a schoolhouse during the week. The grounds were rich in California and native plants, roses, heliotropes, artichokes, pineapples, Chinese bananas, banyan, and alligator pears.

Besides their large family, the Rices entertained friends and even strangers coming off the weekly inter-island boats. Taking care of and loaning horses and buggies finally prompted Rice into starting a livery business and, at the same time, encouraging C. W. Spitz to open the first hotel in Nawiliwili.

The Queen Visits

In 1891, Queen Liliuokalani made her first visit to Kauai. She, her many attendants and the Royal Hawaiian band were guests of the Rices at Hale Nani, which had guest cottages on its premises. After lavishly entertaining the entourage at Lihue, William Hyde Rice toured the Queen over the entire island in a wagonet he purchased from Princess Pauahi Bishop. The trip took a number of days and, with no bridges, the rivers had to be forded.

Everywhere the Queen went, natives and foreigners laden with gifts expressed their loyalty to their sovereign. On the last night of her visit, the Queen and her retinue were treated to a lavish luau under the hau trees at Kalapaki. Soon after the Queen's return to Honolulu, William Hyde Rice was appointed Governor of the Island of Kauai.

Hale Nani's buildings were last used during WW II when the tennis court and main house were used for the W.A.R.D. (Women's Air Raid Defense) before being torn down.

William Hyde Rice

William Hyde Rice (1846-1924) was the only son of William Harrison and Mary Sophia (Hyde) Rice. He was educated at the boarding school of the Rev. Daniel Dole at Koloa, the Oahu College at Punahou, and Braton's College in Oakland, California.

After returning from school, Rice managed the Lihue Plantation's ranch under brother-in-law Paul Isenberg. He began a long political career very early, serving as the youngest member of the House of Representatives under Kamehameha V in 1870-72. During this time, Rice married Mary Waterhouse.

William H. Rice served as a member of the House of Representatives during the reign of Kalakaua. He was one of the thirteen committee men who waited on King Kalakaua, giving him 24 hours to sign the new constitution.

Rice was appointed Governor of Kauai by Queen Liliuokalani upon her succession to the throne in 1892. He served in that office until the Revolution of 1893, after which he served as Governor of Kauai under the provisional government. Between 1895-98, Rice was a member of the Senate under the Republic. He was part of the constitutional convention which formulated the Constitution of the Republic of Hawaii. This document served as a pattern for the Organic Act. During his years of public service he maintained a residence in Honolulu.

Rice was widely known all over Hawaii as an acknowledged authority on the Hawaiian language with a rich store of legends and lore. In 1923, Bishop Museum published Rice's Hawaiian Legends which is still in print today.

William Hyde Rice was a noted breeder of fine animals. In 1870, he exported the first Hereford cattle to California from Kauai. In the 1880s, he imported Clydesdale, Belgian, and Percheron draft horses to Hawaii. His fine mules were popular as work animals. Rice's horses were so well known that the Emperor of Japan sent his agent to acquire some animals. Rice gave as a gift, a stallion, to the Emperor Meiji. In return, Rice was presented with a pair of bronze vases inlaid with gold and the imperial crest. On the occasion of his visit to Japan in 1904, William Hyde Rice was the recipient of many special courtesies.

During his lifetime, Rice generously supported missionary and church work. Rice was a member of the Lihue Hawaiian Church. He was active in the establishment of modern schools on Kauai.

On Kauai, the Rices made their home at Hale Nani in Lihue and raised a large family.

Kipukai

Princess Ruth sold her friend William Hyde Rice her lands at Kipu, Kipukai, and Haiku. He sold his Kipukai land to his mother, the Haiku land to his friend George Wilcox, and retained the Kipu lands.

Kipukai was a secluded valley nestled between two mountain ridges that ran from the summit of Haupu to the sea. A perilous paved stone trail was traveled on horseback followed by a pack mule train. Week-long house parties were spent at Kipukai.

Ranch beef, tiny wild tomatoes, coconuts and papayas rounded out the supplies that were packed in. The Hawaiian cowboys fished for themselves or the household when necessary.

The property was used as a cattle ranch with the house caretaken by a Japanese couple.