Henry Nicholas Greenwell
Encyclopedia
Henry Nicholas Greenwell (1826–1891) was an English merchant credited with establishing Kona coffee
Kona coffee
Kona coffee is the market name for coffee cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Only coffee from the Kona Districts can be described as "Kona"...

 as an internationally known brand.
His family became major land-holders in the Kona District
Kona District, Hawaii
Kona is the name of a moku or district on the Big Island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii. In the current system of administration of Hawaii County, the moku of Kona is divided into North Kona District and South Kona District . The term "Kona" is sometimes used to refer to its largest town,...

 of the island of Hawaii
Hawaii (island)
The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

.
The Greenwell Store
Greenwell Store
The Greenwell Store is a historic building now run as a museum by the Kona Historical Society.-History:Henry Nicholas Greenwell was an English merchant who originally came to Hawaii in 1850. He went back to England in 1867, and returned and married Elizabeth Caroline Hall...

 is now a museum and historical center.

Life

Henry Nicholas Greenwell was born 9 January 1826 in Lanchester
Lanchester, County Durham
Lanchester is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England, and was in the former district of Derwentside . It is to the west of the city of Durham and from the former steel town of Consett, and has a population of slightly over 4,000 people.Although there was a small drift mine on the...

, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. His father was William Thomas Greenwell (1777–1856) and mother was Dorothy Smales (1789–1871).
His oldest brother was William Greenwell
William Greenwell
Canon William Greenwell FRS FSA FSA.Scot was an English archaeologist.-Life:William Greenwell was born 23 March 1820 in the estate known as Greenwell Ford near Lanchester, County Durham, England...

 (1820–1918) an English archaeologist who became canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 at Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...

. His sister Dorothy (1821–1882) published poetry under the name Dora Greenwell
Dora Greenwell
-Life:Dorothy Greenwell was born 6 December 1821 at the family estate called Greenwell Ford in Lanchester, County Durham, England.Her father was William Thomas Greenwell and mother was Dorothy Smales ....

. He had two other older brothers Francis Greenwell (1823–1894) and Alan Greenwell (1824–1914).
As fourth son he had little chance of inheriting the family estate called Greenwell Ford.
He attended Durham School
Durham School
Durham School, headmaster Martin George , is an independent British day and boarding school for boys and girls in Durham....

 and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

 expecting a military career.

In 1844 Greenwell purchased a commission as a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the 70th Regiment
70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot
The 70th Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army formed in 1758 and united with the 31st Regiment of Foot in 1881 to form The East Surrey Regiment .- History :...

 of the British Army which was stationed in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 during the great Famine. He became disenchanted, sold his commission in 1847 and on 15 March 1848, left for Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Arriving in June 1848, he traveled to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 looking for a sheep or cattle station, but came instead to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in 1849 for the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

.
When the ship arrived in San Francisco, the crew immediately left and headed for the gold fields, leaving him with goods he intended to sell.
After injuring himself unloading, he sailed to the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

 in January 1850 to recover.
After a brief time in Honolulu working at the H. J. Holdsworth store, he moved to Kailua-Kona, and opened his own retail store in the Kona District
Kona District, Hawaii
Kona is the name of a moku or district on the Big Island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii. In the current system of administration of Hawaii County, the moku of Kona is divided into North Kona District and South Kona District . The term "Kona" is sometimes used to refer to its largest town,...

 in late 1850.

In late 1852 one of his Chinese servants died after being accused of theft. Greenwell was arrested and charged with second degree murder. Asher B. Bates
Asher B. Bates
Asher B. Bates was a lawyer and politician in the United States state of Michigan and in the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:His father was also named Asher Bates, so he is sometimes called Asher Bates Jr....

 was prosecutor, William Little Lee
William Little Lee
William Little Lee was an American lawyer who became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:...

 judge, and a jury of British subjects was found for the trial in January 1853. Witnesses testified that Greenwell had beaten or whipped the man, but others said the man was already ill and that Greenwell treated his employees fairly.
After half an hour the jury unanimously found him not guilty.
The case formed a precedent still cited in the Hawaii state criminal code.

He became successful growing Orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

s to send to the expanding California market. However, in 1866 the crop was destroyed by blight
Blight
Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. It is simply a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. Accordingly, many diseases that primarily exhibit this...

, so he looked to diversify.
In 1867 on what would be a circumnavigation
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...

 of the earth, he visited New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and returned to England to visit family. On his return he picked up a new variety of Oranges in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, and ideas for other potential crops. He also met his future wife on the voyage.
Greenwell married Elizabeth Caroline Hall (1841–1934) 9 April 1868 and had six sons, four daughters, and 23 grandchildren. The new crop being grown in this area was coffea
Coffea
Coffea is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Seeds of several species are the source of the popular beverage coffee. Coffee ranks as one of the world's most valuable and widely traded...

, the tree bearing the fruit made into "beans" for coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

. The first trees were brought to the Kona area by missionaries at nearby Kahikolu Church
Kahikolu Church
Kahikolu Church is one of only two stone churches from the 19th century on the island of Hawaii. It was built from 1852–1855 on the site of an earlier building known as Kealakekua Church that was built around 1833 in the Kona district.-History:...

 in the late 1820s.
The few earlier attempts had uneven results, but the Greenwell brand developed a reputation for consistent quality for Kona coffee
Kona coffee
Kona coffee is the market name for coffee cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Only coffee from the Kona Districts can be described as "Kona"...

.

Greenwell served as Collector of Customs at the port at Kealakekua Bay
Kealakekua Bay
Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii about south of Kailua-Kona.Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and historical sites such as religious temples, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings on...

, and as Postmaster and area School Superintendent.
A stone building was built just south of the wooden house, in the traditional land division (ahupuaa) known as Kalukalu (for a type of grass that grows there).
The oranges continued to be mentioned by travelers through the area.

Isabella Bird
Isabella Bird
Isabella Lucy Bird was a nineteenth-century English explorer, writer, and a natural historian.-Early life:Bird was born in Boroughbridge in 1831 and grew up in Tattenhall, Cheshire...

, who knew Dora in England, visited the Greenwells in 1873. Greenwell's coffee was honored at the 1873 World's Fair
Weltausstellung 1873 Wien
]The Weltausstellung 1873 Wien was the large World exposition was held in 1873 in the Austria–Hungarian capital of Vienna. Its motto was Kultur und Erziehung ....

 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. In 1876 Greenwell provided coffee as part of the Centennial Exposition
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...

 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

.
The Greenwell family traded in sheep skins and dairy products, eventually using the profits to buy more land in the area. Coffee only grows in a narrow elevation band, so drier areas above the usual cloud cover were used as pasture land for cattle, sheep, and horses.
Early in 1879, the royal physician Georges Phillipe Trousseau
Georges Phillipe Trousseau
Georges Phillipe Trousseau was a French physician who became the royal doctor of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and engaged in a variety of agricultural ventures.-Biography:Georges Phillipe Trousseau was born in Paris on May 1, 1833...

 sold all of his holdings in Kona to Greenwell.
Other lands were purchased from the family of missionary John Davis Paris
John Davis Paris
John Davis Paris was an American Christian missionary to the island of Hawaii. Coming to the island by accident, he supervised construction of several historic churches, some of which survive today.-Life:...

.

Legacy

Greenwell died 18 May 1891 aboard a steamer that he often took between the islands.
He and many family members are buried at the Christ Church Episcopal cemetery, near the store on the Hawaii Belt Road.
Elizabeth Greenwell operated the store after his death, and many children and grandchildren became active in farming and ranching on the nearby lands.

While the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875
Reciprocity Treaty of 1875
The Treaty of reciprocity between the United States of America and the Hawaiian Kingdom was a free trade agreement signed and ratified in 1875 that is generally known as the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875....

 had caused most large Hawaii coffee plantations to convert to sugarcane
Sugar plantations in Hawaii
Sugarcane was introduced to Hawaii by its first inhabitants in approximately 600 AD and was observed by Captain Cook upon arrival in the islands in 1778. Sugar quickly turned into a big business and generated rapid population growth in the islands with 337,000 people immigrating over the span of a...

, this was not practical in the steep Kona district. Instead, small plots were leased to individual families, often Chinese, Japanese, or Portuguese immigrants after their labor contracts on sugar plantations expired. Quality improved further with the introduction of the Guatemalan variety via Hermann A. Widemann
Hermann A. Widemann
Hermann Adam Widemann was a businessman from Germany who was a judge and member of the cabinet of the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:Hermann Adam Widemann was born in Hanover, Germany on December 24, 1822.As a teenager he went to work on a whaling ship...

, which turned out to be well-adapted to higher elevations; it remains a popular variety through modern times.

First-born son William Henry Greenwell was born born at Kalukalu 7 June 1869.
His sons included Henry Alan Greenwell (1908–1919), Jack Brysson Greenwell (1910–1996) and another Henry Alan Greenwell (1919–1992).
William H. Greenwell managed the business from 1891 until he died 17 June 1927 after an operation for apendicitis.
William's wife Maud Annandale Johnstone (1883–1976), named for Annandale, Scotland where she was born, ran the store until the 1950s. The wooden house was torn down in the 1960s.

Second and third sons continued the ranching business divided into three main ranches after 1927.
Fourth son Wilfrid Alan Greenwell was born 7 November 1878, graduated from Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...

 in 1905, became a lawyer and married Lulu J. Law in November 1910. He became a partner in the firm Robertson, Castle & Olson in Honolulu and died in 1931.
Leonard Lanchester Greenwell was born 4 December 1884 married Dora Beebe in 1909 and died in January 1975 in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.
Fifth son Julian Greenwell was born 2 September 1880 and died 20 May 1960.
Daughter Dora Caroline Greenwell was born 15 October 1870, married Gerald E. Bryant 6 September 1894, and died in 1952.
Daughter Elizabeth Greenwell was born in 1873, married Howard R. Bryant in 1893, and died in 1903.
Daughter Christina Margaret Greenwell was born 16 September 1874, married Jordan Natscheff in 1910 and died in 1964.

Palani ranch

Francis Radcliffe (Frank or "Palani") Greenwell was born 26 August 1876, worked as a manager of Coffee and Tea plantations and cattle rancher. Frank served from 1903 through 1905 in the House of Representatives of the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...

, and some other government positions. Frank married Evelyn Violet Wallace (1888–1985) on 8 February 1910 and died 19 May 1966.

Frank Greenwell lived farther north, on the slopes of Hualālai
Hualalai
Hualālai is a dormant shield volcano on the island of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the third-youngest and the third most active of the five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii, following Kīlauea and the much larger Mauna Loa, and also the westernmost. Its peak is above sea...

, above present-day Palani Road at 19°41′14"N 155°58′24"W.
Originally called the Honokohau Ranch for its traditional land division name, the ranch and the road from it to the shoreline became known by the Hawaiian variant of his name. Frank's oldest son Robert Francis Greenwell (1911–1992) managed Palani ranch after Frank's death.

Frank's son Radcliffe Leonard "Rally" Greenwell (1913–2006) went to work for Parker Ranch
Parker Ranch
Parker Ranch is a working cattle ranch on the Island of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii, now run by a charitable trust.-History:The ranch was founded in 1847 and is one of the oldest ranches in the United States, pre-dating many mainland ranches in Texas and other southwestern states by more than 30...

 in 1934 and became manager in September 1962.

James Mallaby Greenwell (1915–2004) went to work for Parker Ranch when he was 18. He then worked at Hawaii Meat Company for 25 years, becoming its president until 1964. He then held management positions at Palani Ranch and organized the Lanihau Properties, LLC real estate company. He was inducted into the Paniolo Hall of Fame in 2001. The ranch had a heard of about 1600 head in 2004.
His wife Martha Lowery (born 1920) became an artist.
His son James Sherwood "Jimmy" Greenwell (born 1945) then took over the Palani ranch.

Robert Francis' son Robert Kelly Greenwell (born 1941) ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Hawaii
Mayor of Hawaii
The Mayor of Hawaii is the chief executive officer of the County of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii. He or she has municipal jurisdiction over the Big Island of Hawaii. The current mayor is Billy Kenoi...

 County in 2004, and in 2008 was elected to the Hawaii County Council
Hawaii County, Hawaii
Hawaii County is a county located in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is coterminous with the Island of Hawaii, often called the "Big Island" to distinguish it from the state as a whole. As of the 2010 Census the population was 185,079. The county seat is Hilo. There are no...

. In July 2010 he was arrested after being stopped for speeding.

Kealakekua ranch

Arthur Leonard Greenwell was born 7 December 1871 married Beatrice Holdsworth 12 November 1912, and died 3 June 1951.
Arthur's daughter Amy Beatrice Holdsworth Greenwell (1920–1974) attended Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 and served as a nurse in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. From 1953 to 1957 she served on a Historical Site Commission for the Territory.
Amy established a garden to preserve the Kona Field System, and left it to the Bernice P. Bishop Museum on her death.

Aurthur's son Sherwood Robert H. Greenwell (1919–2004) managed of Kealakekua Ranch from 1951 to 1989. He founded and was president of Kona Historical society, and became a County Supervisor 1954–55 and 1959–67, and Council member in 1968. Greenwell donated land for a county park which was named for Arthur Greenwell in 1963.
Sherwood died 21 September 2004.

Kealakekua ranch was about 11490 acres (4,649.8 ha) located south of Hōkūkano ranch at 19°29′46"N 155°53′17"W, with access via Greenwell Mountain Road. A ranching complex called Papaloa was built at over 5000 feet (1,524 m) elevation at 19°30′23"N 155°47′45"W.
Kealakekua ranch was sold to Sekin International of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1990 who proposed to build a golf course and 500 estates, but economic slowdowns caused Sekin to sell it in 2002 for less than half of the 1990 price.
The area is now under a reforestation effort.
Conservation easement
Conservation easement
In the United States, a conservation easement is an encumbrance — sometimes including a transfer of usage rights — which creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a qualified land...

s on 9000 acres (3,642.2 ha) were sold in 2007.

Hōkūkano ranch

William H. Greenwell's son Norman Leonard Greenwell (1926–1992) managed the main W. H. Greenwell Estate ranch of 11000 acres (4,451.5 ha) located 19°32′22"N 155°50′58"W, just uphill from the Kalukalu store.
John Pace purchased it and renamed it Hōkūkano ranch in 1986, and also purchased Kealakekua ranch in 2004. Namesakes of the Pace family include Pace, Florida
Pace, Florida
Pace is a census-designated place in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 7,393 during the 2000 census. It is part of the Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area.According to Pace CDP Census 2010 results, the population of the area was...

 and the John C. Pace Library
John C. Pace Library
The John C. Pace Library is the academic library of the University of West Florida and is the largest library in the Northwest Florida area. In addition to the main library on the main campus north of Pensacola, Florida, there is a branch library in Fort Walton Beach, Florida...

.
The Pace family put the ranches up for sale in 2009.
Hōkūkano ranch was divided into parcels between 400 acres (161.9 ha) and 1000 acres (404.7 ha) for sale.
In December 2009 a large fire broke out on Hōkūkano ranch, followed by another at Kealakekua ranch.

Norman's wife Jean Greenwell (1929–2009) was another founder of the Kona Historical society in 1976, and wrote articles on the area history.
The Greenwell Store
Greenwell Store
The Greenwell Store is a historic building now run as a museum by the Kona Historical Society.-History:Henry Nicholas Greenwell was an English merchant who originally came to Hawaii in 1850. He went back to England in 1867, and returned and married Elizabeth Caroline Hall...

 was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii
National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii
This is a list of properties and districts on the island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The island is coterminous with Hawaii County, the state's only county that covers exactly one island...

. The society restored the former store and opened it as a museum.

Norman's son Thomas Frederick born 2 June 1958 (great-grandson of Henry Nicholas) and his family still grow and sell coffee on a farm adjacent to the original homestead. Some of the trees were planted in 1903 by Elizabeth Caroline Greenwell.
A recent venture was producing a reportedly healthy drink from the pulp of coffee cherries.

External links

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