Lorrin A. Thurston
Encyclopedia
Lorrin Andrews Thurston was a lawyer, politician, and businessman born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii
. The grandson of two of the first Christian missionaries to Hawaii, Thurston played a prominent role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that replaced Queen Liliuokalani with the Republic of Hawaii
, dominated by American interests. He published the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (forerunner of the present-day Honolulu Star-Advertiser
), and owned other enterprises. From 1906 to 1916 he and friends lobbied with national politicians to create a National Park to preserve the Hawaiian Volcanoes.
. His father was Asa Goodale Thurston and mother Sarah Andrews. On his father's side he was grandson of Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston
, who were in the first company of American Christian Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands
in 1820. On his mother's side, he was also the grandson of another early missionary, Lorrin Andrews
. His father was speaker of the house of representatives of the Kingdom of Hawaii
but died when Lorrin was only a year and a half old in December 1859. He then moved to Maui
with his mother.
He was fluent in the Hawaiian language
and gave himself the Hawaiian nickname Kakina.
In 1872 he attended Punahou School
, then known as Oahu College, where he played baseball
with the sons of Alexander Cartwright
(who invented the modern game). He was expelled shortly before graduation. After working as a translator for a law firm and clerk at the Wailuku Sugar Company, he attended law school at Columbia University
. He returned to Honolulu in 1881 and became partners in a law firm with William Owen Smith
.
He married Margaret Clarissa Shipman (daughter of missionary William Cornelius Shipman (1824–1861) from Hilo, Hawaii and brother of businessman William Herbert Shipman
) in February 1884. They had a son Robert Shipman Thurston on February 1, 1888. Margaret died in childbirth on May 5, 1891 (as did the infant).
On April 5, 1894 Lorrin Thurston married Harriet Potter of Saint Joseph, Michigan
. They had a daughter Margaret Charter (the mother of Thurston Twigg-Smith
) in 1895, and a son Lorrin Potter Thurston in 1900.
Lorrin Andrews Thurston died on May 11, 1931. In 1919, Robert Thurston married Evelyn M. Scott, and Margaret Charter married William Twigg-Smith
.
in 1886.
Thurston inherited the conservative thinking of the missionaries, which put him at odds with Hawaiian royalty as well as immigrants such as Greek hotelier George Lycurgus
who enjoyed lifestyles filled with gambling and liquor. The Missionary Party would change its name to the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1887, as it grew to include business owners.
In July 1887 Thurston authored what is called the "Bayonet Constitution
" because it was imposed under threat by the Honolulu Rifle Company militia. It stripped the monarch King Kalākaua of all executive power. Thurston became the powerful Interior Minister, with Englishman William Lowthian Green
as minister of finance, as the old cabinet of Walter M. Gibson
was ousted. Voting rights and membership of the legislature were based on property ownership, resulting in effective control by wealthy Americans and Europeans.
He served in the cabinet until June 17, 1890 when he was replaced by Charles N. Spencer.
Queen Liliuokalani became monarch in 1891 and tried to restore power to the Hawaiians with a new constitution. In 1892 he led the Annexation Club, later adopting the more dramatic title Committee of Safety
, which planned for making Hawaii a territory of the United States
. In 1893 the Committee of Safety was supported by the U.S. Military in an overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and the resulting Provisional Government of Hawaii
was controlled by Thurston's committee.
Thurston headed the commission sent to Washington, DC to negotiate with Benjamin Harrison
for American annexation. Liliuokalani and Crown Princess Victoria Kaiulani
also traveled to Washington and made it clear the new government did not have the support of the majority of the Hawaiian population. As news spread of the force used, the proposed treaty met opposition and was not ratified. A century later in the Apology Resolution of 1993, the U.S. Congress apologized for the involvement of the United States Marine Corps
in the overthrow, and the controversy continues to modern times.
In March 1893 Grover Cleveland
became President, and disavowed the treaty.
Thurston helped draft another constitution, and the Republic of Hawaii
was declared on July 4, 1894.
He appointed Sanford B. Dole
to the office of President of the Republic. A series of attempted revolts called the Wilcox rebellions
were defeated during this period.
In 1897 William McKinley
became President and Thurston's commission again lobbied for annexation. The Spanish American War in April 1898 increased American interest in the Pacific, due to battles in the Philippines
.
By July 1898 the annexation formed the Territory of Hawaii
and Thurston retired from political office to run his business affairs.
In 1898 he purchased the Pacific Commercial Advertiser newspaper (forerunner of the present-day Honolulu Advertiser
).
As principal owner and publisher after 1900, he promoted the sugar and pineapple industries. He headed the Hawaiian Promotion Committee (which evolved into the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau
), but his conservative values objected to the hula
which he called "suggestive" and "indecent".
His fortunes rose considerably as a result of the 1898 annexation by the United States, since it removed all duties from shipments to the largest market. Thurston is credited with promoting the development of Hawaii's sugar cane plantations and railroads and bringing the first electric street cars to Honolulu.
Following World War I
he called for government restrictions on Japanese-language schools, legislation that was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Thurston put out a special edition to support the fight to ban billboards in Hawaii. He worked with Wallace Rider Farrington and Alexander Hume Ford to hold a world conference of newspaper editors.
He was also a volcano enthusiast, starting in his childhood exploring Haleakalā
on Maui. He would act as an informal tour guide for visitors to the summit, and used oral history to estimate the time of its last eruption. In 1891, he bought and expanded the Volcano House
hotel at the rim of the active Kīlauea
volcano on the island of Hawaii
. Thurston commissioned a cyclorama
of Kīlauea which he displayed in his travels to the mainland, including the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition
of 1893 and the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
in San Francisco.
Thurston eventually made peace with George Lycurgus, who had been an insurgent
against Thurston's government, and sold him the Volcano House in 1902.
He also became friends with early volcanologist
Dr. Thomas Jaggar
in 1909 and raised money to fund the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
in 1912.
He used his newspaper to promote the national park idea and convinced the territorial legislature to fund a group of congressmen to visit Haleakalā and Kīlauea in 1907. The trip included a dinner cooked over active lava vents. He hosted a visit by the Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield
in 1908, and another congressional visit in 1909. He convinced Governor Walter F. Frear
to introduce a resolution supporting the idea, and formed a survey team to propose exact boundaries. His newspaper printed endorsements of the park by President Theodore Roosevelt
(a classmate at Columbia), conservationist John Muir
, and powerful Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
.
In 1913 he explored a lava tube
in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
that is named after him. The park was finally formed in 1916.
He added a preface and published a second edition of his grandmother's book on early missionary life in May 1921.
His memoirs were published in a limited edition (along with those of Sanford Dole) after his death in 1931 by his newspaper.
The newspaper business was run by his son Lorrin Potter Thurston, whose policy of using the term "Jap" during World War II
pleased the military, but not local readers of Japanese descent. After the war, readership declined and it was taken over in 1962 by Lorrin's grandson Thurston Twigg-Smith
. In 1992 it was sold to Gannett Company
. Twigg-Smith wrote a book about the overthrow and the role of his grandfather in 1998, and criticizing the modern Hawaiian Sovereignty movement
.
In 1966, a chapel at Punahou School designed by Vladimir Ossipoff
was named after Robert Shipman Thurston, Jr. of the class of 1941 who disappeared in World War II
.
neighborhood and the Thurston Memorial Chapel on the Punahou Campus. Others include Thurston Lava Tube at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
on the Big Island.
In the 2009 film Princess Kaiulani, Thurston was portrayed by Barry Pepper
.
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
. The grandson of two of the first Christian missionaries to Hawaii, Thurston played a prominent role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that replaced Queen Liliuokalani with the Republic of Hawaii
Republic of Hawaii
The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...
, dominated by American interests. He published the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (forerunner of the present-day Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, based in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii. Formed from the merger of The Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin following the acquisition of the former by Black Press, owner of the latter, the newspaper...
), and owned other enterprises. From 1906 to 1916 he and friends lobbied with national politicians to create a National Park to preserve the Hawaiian Volcanoes.
Family life
He was born on July 31, 1858 in Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. His father was Asa Goodale Thurston and mother Sarah Andrews. On his father's side he was grandson of Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston
Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston
Asa Thurston and Lucy Goodale Thurston were in the first company of American Christian Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands.-Asa Thurston:...
, who were in the first company of American Christian Missionaries 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 1820. On his mother's side, he was also the grandson of another early missionary, Lorrin Andrews
Lorrin Andrews
Lorrin Andrews was an early American missionary to Hawaii and judge. He opened the first post-secondary school for Hawaiians called Lahainaluna Seminary, prepared a Hawaiian dictionary and several works on the literature and antiquities of the Hawaiians. His students published the first newspaper,...
. His father was speaker of the house of representatives of the Kingdom of Hawaii
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
but died when Lorrin was only a year and a half old in December 1859. He then moved to Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
with his mother.
He was fluent in the Hawaiian language
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
and gave himself the Hawaiian nickname Kakina.
In 1872 he attended Punahou School
Punahou School
Punahou School, once known as Oahu College, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu in the U.S. State of Hawaii...
, then known as Oahu College, where he played baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
with the sons of Alexander Cartwright
Alexander Cartwright
Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr. is one of several people sometimes referred to as a "father of baseball". Cartwright is thought to be the first person to draw a diagram of a diamond shaped baseball field, and the rules of the modern game are based on the Knickerbocker Rules developed by Cartwright...
(who invented the modern game). He was expelled shortly before graduation. After working as a translator for a law firm and clerk at the Wailuku Sugar Company, he attended law school at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He returned to Honolulu in 1881 and became partners in a law firm with William Owen Smith
William Owen Smith
William Owen Smith was a lawyer from a family of American missionaries who participated in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He served as attorney general for the entire duration of the provisional Government of Hawaii and the Republic of Hawaii.-Life:Smith was born August 4, 1848 in Kōloa...
.
He married Margaret Clarissa Shipman (daughter of missionary William Cornelius Shipman (1824–1861) from Hilo, Hawaii and brother of businessman William Herbert Shipman
William Herbert Shipman
William Herbert Shipman was a wealthy businessman on the island of Hawaii. One estate of his family was used to preserve an endangered species of Hawaiian Goose. A historic house associated with his family for over a hundred years is called the W. H. Shipman House in Hilo, Hawaii...
) in February 1884. They had a son Robert Shipman Thurston on February 1, 1888. Margaret died in childbirth on May 5, 1891 (as did the infant).
On April 5, 1894 Lorrin Thurston married Harriet Potter of Saint Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph is a city in the US state of Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...
. They had a daughter Margaret Charter (the mother of Thurston Twigg-Smith
Thurston Twigg-Smith
-Biography:Twigg-Smith is a fifth generation Hawaii resident. He was born in 1921 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of William and Margaret Thurston Twigg-Smith , making him the great-great grandson of Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston as well as Lorrin Andrews — who were pioneer missionaries to the...
) in 1895, and a son Lorrin Potter Thurston in 1900.
Lorrin Andrews Thurston died on May 11, 1931. In 1919, Robert Thurston married Evelyn M. Scott, and Margaret Charter married William Twigg-Smith
William Twigg-Smith
William Twigg-Smith was a New Zealand-born painter, illustrator and musician, who lived most of his life in Hawaii. During World War I, he was one of the first artists to serve in the American Camouflage Corps.-Early life:...
.
Work
Lorrin Thurston was influential in both the political arena and the business world of Hawaii.Politics
He followed his father and became a member of the legislature of the Hawaiian KingdomLegislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
The Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom was the bicameral legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii. A royal legislature was first provided by the 1840 Constitution and the 1852 Constitution was the first to use the term "Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom", and the first to subject the monarch to...
in 1886.
Thurston inherited the conservative thinking of the missionaries, which put him at odds with Hawaiian royalty as well as immigrants such as Greek hotelier George Lycurgus
George Lycurgus
George Lycurgus was a Greek American businessman who played an influential role in the early tourist industry of Hawaii. He ran afoul of the government of the Republic of Hawaii and was accused of treason...
who enjoyed lifestyles filled with gambling and liquor. The Missionary Party would change its name to the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1887, as it grew to include business owners.
In July 1887 Thurston authored what is called the "Bayonet Constitution
1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii
The 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii was a legal document by anti-monarchists to strip the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, initiating a transfer of power to American, European and native Hawaiian elites...
" because it was imposed under threat by the Honolulu Rifle Company militia. It stripped the monarch King Kalākaua of all executive power. Thurston became the powerful Interior Minister, with Englishman William Lowthian Green
William Lowthian Green
William Lowthian Green was an English adventurer and merchant, who later became cabinet minister in the Kingdom of Hawaii. As an amateur geologist, he published a theory of the formation of the earth called the tetrahedral hypothesis.-Life:...
as minister of finance, as the old cabinet of Walter M. Gibson
Walter M. Gibson
Walter Murray Gibson was an American adventurer and a government minister in the Kingdom of Hawaii prior to the kingdom's 1887 constitution.-Life:...
was ousted. Voting rights and membership of the legislature were based on property ownership, resulting in effective control by wealthy Americans and Europeans.
He served in the cabinet until June 17, 1890 when he was replaced by Charles N. Spencer.
Queen Liliuokalani became monarch in 1891 and tried to restore power to the Hawaiians with a new constitution. In 1892 he led the Annexation Club, later adopting the more dramatic title Committee of Safety
Committee of Safety (Hawaii)
The Committee of Safety, formally the Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, was a 13-member group of the Hawaiian League also known as the Annexation Club...
, which planned for making Hawaii a territory of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1893 the Committee of Safety was supported by the U.S. Military in an overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and the resulting Provisional Government of Hawaii
Provisional Government of Hawaii
The Provisional Government of Hawaii abbreviated "P.G." was proclaimed on January 17, 1893 by the 13 member Committee of Safety under the leadership of Sanford B. Dole...
was controlled by Thurston's committee.
Thurston headed the commission sent to Washington, DC to negotiate with Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
for American annexation. Liliuokalani and Crown Princess Victoria Kaiulani
Ka'iulani
Victoria Kaiulani Kalaninuiahilapalapa Kawēkiu i Lunalilo Cleghorn was heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii and held the title of crown princess. Kaiulani became known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and determination...
also traveled to Washington and made it clear the new government did not have the support of the majority of the Hawaiian population. As news spread of the force used, the proposed treaty met opposition and was not ratified. A century later in the Apology Resolution of 1993, the U.S. Congress apologized for the involvement of the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
in the overthrow, and the controversy continues to modern times.
In March 1893 Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
became President, and disavowed the treaty.
Thurston helped draft another constitution, and the Republic of Hawaii
Republic of Hawaii
The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...
was declared on July 4, 1894.
He appointed Sanford B. Dole
Sanford B. Dole
Sanford Ballard Dole was a lawyer and jurist in the Hawaiian Islands as a kingdom, protectorate, republic and territory...
to the office of President of the Republic. A series of attempted revolts called the Wilcox rebellions
Wilcox rebellions
The Wilcox Rebellions were a plot in 1888, a revolt in 1889, and a counter-revolution in 1895, led by Robert William Wilcox against the governments of Hawaii. He was considered a populist revolutionary and menace to both the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii under King David Kalākaua and the...
were defeated during this period.
In 1897 William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
became President and Thurston's commission again lobbied for annexation. The Spanish American War in April 1898 increased American interest in the Pacific, due to battles in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
By July 1898 the annexation formed 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 Thurston retired from political office to run his business affairs.
Business
Honolulu Advertiser
The Honolulu Advertiser was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and Internet editions...
).
As principal owner and publisher after 1900, he promoted the sugar and pineapple industries. He headed the Hawaiian Promotion Committee (which evolved into the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau
Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau
The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau is a private, non-profit, 501-C-6 Corporation headquartered in the Waikīkī Business Plaza at 2270 Kalākaua Avenue, Suite 801 Honolulu, Hawaii, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu in Waikīkī...
), but his conservative values objected to the hula
Hula
Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form....
which he called "suggestive" and "indecent".
His fortunes rose considerably as a result of the 1898 annexation by the United States, since it removed all duties from shipments to the largest market. Thurston is credited with promoting the development of Hawaii's sugar cane plantations and railroads and bringing the first electric street cars to Honolulu.
Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he called for government restrictions on Japanese-language schools, legislation that was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Thurston put out a special edition to support the fight to ban billboards in Hawaii. He worked with Wallace Rider Farrington and Alexander Hume Ford to hold a world conference of newspaper editors.
He was also a volcano enthusiast, starting in his childhood exploring Haleakalā
Haleakala
Haleakalā , or the East Maui Volcano, is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui. The western 25% of the island is formed by the West Maui Mountains.- History :...
on Maui. He would act as an informal tour guide for visitors to the summit, and used oral history to estimate the time of its last eruption. In 1891, he bought and expanded the Volcano House
Volcano House
Volcano House is the name of a series of historic hotels built at the edge of the Kīlauea volcano, within the grounds of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on the Island of Hawai'i. The original 1877 building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now houses the Volcano Art Center...
hotel at the rim of the active Kīlauea
Kilauea
Kīlauea is a volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and one of five shield volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii. Kīlauea means "spewing" or "much spreading" in the Hawaiian language, referring to its frequent outpouring of lava. The Puu Ōō cone has been continuously erupting in the eastern...
volcano on 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...
. Thurston commissioned a cyclorama
Cyclorama
For the classical album Cyclorama, see Jonathan Goldstein; For the rock album Cyclorama by Styx, see Cyclorama ; for the theatrical backdrop, see Cyclorama...
of Kīlauea which he displayed in his travels to the mainland, including the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
of 1893 and the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
The California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, commonly referred to as the "Midwinter Exposition" or the "Midwinter Fair", was a World's Fair that operated from January 27 to July 5 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison appointed M. H...
in San Francisco.
Insurgent
Insurgent, insurgents or insurgency can refer to:* The act of insurgency-Specific insurgencies:* Iraqi insurgency, uprising in Iraq* Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, uprising in India* Insurgency in North-East India...
against Thurston's government, and sold him the Volcano House in 1902.
He also became friends with early volcanologist
Volcanologist
A volcanologist is a person who studies the formation of volcanoes, and their current and historic eruptions. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, especially active ones, to observe volcanic eruptions, collect eruptive products including tephra , rock and lava samples...
Dr. Thomas Jaggar
Thomas Jaggar
Thomas Augustus Jaggar, Jr. was an American volcanologist. He founded the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and directed it from 1912 to 1940.-Biography:...
in 1909 and raised money to fund the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is a volcano observatory located at Uwekahuna Bluff on the rim of Kīlauea Caldera on the Island of Hawaii. The observatory monitors four active Hawaiian volcanoes: Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, and Haleakalā...
in 1912.
He used his newspaper to promote the national park idea and convinced the territorial legislature to fund a group of congressmen to visit Haleakalā and Kīlauea in 1907. The trip included a dinner cooked over active lava vents. He hosted a visit by the Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield
James Rudolph Garfield
James Rudolph Garfield was an American politician, lawyer and son of President James Abram Garfield and First Lady Lucretia Garfield. He was Secretary of the Interior during Theodore Roosevelt's administration....
in 1908, and another congressional visit in 1909. He convinced Governor Walter F. Frear
Walter F. Frear
Walter Francis Frear was a lawyer and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii, and the third Territorial Governor of Hawaii from 1907 to 1913.-Life:...
to introduce a resolution supporting the idea, and formed a survey team to propose exact boundaries. His newspaper printed endorsements of the park by President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
(a classmate at Columbia), conservationist John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
, and powerful Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot "Slim" Lodge was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. He had the role of Senate Majority leader. He is best known for his positions on Meek policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles...
.
In 1913 he explored a lava tube
Lava tube
Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like...
in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is a United States National Park located in the U.S. State of Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. It encompasses two active volcanoes: Kīlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive volcano...
that is named after him. The park was finally formed in 1916.
He added a preface and published a second edition of his grandmother's book on early missionary life in May 1921.
His memoirs were published in a limited edition (along with those of Sanford Dole) after his death in 1931 by his newspaper.
The newspaper business was run by his son Lorrin Potter Thurston, whose policy of using the term "Jap" during 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...
pleased the military, but not local readers of Japanese descent. After the war, readership declined and it was taken over in 1962 by Lorrin's grandson Thurston Twigg-Smith
Thurston Twigg-Smith
-Biography:Twigg-Smith is a fifth generation Hawaii resident. He was born in 1921 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of William and Margaret Thurston Twigg-Smith , making him the great-great grandson of Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston as well as Lorrin Andrews — who were pioneer missionaries to the...
. In 1992 it was sold to Gannett Company
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
. Twigg-Smith wrote a book about the overthrow and the role of his grandfather in 1998, and criticizing the modern Hawaiian Sovereignty movement
Hawaiian sovereignty movement
The Hawaiian sovereignty movement is a political movement seeking some form of sovereignty for Hawai'i. Generally, the movement's focus is on self-determination and self-governance, either for Hawaiʻi as an independent nation, or for people of whole or part native Hawaiian ancestry, or for...
.
In 1966, a chapel at Punahou School designed by Vladimir Ossipoff
Vladimir Ossipoff
Vladimir ‘Val’ Ossipoff was an American architect best known for his works in Hawaii.Vladimir Ossipoff was born November 25, 1907 in Vladivostok, Russia, but grew up in Tokyo, Japan, where his father was a military attaché of the Russian embassy, and emigrated to the United States in 1923...
was named after Robert Shipman Thurston, Jr. of the class of 1941 who disappeared 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...
.
Legacy
Thurston's legacy is preserved throughout the islands. On Oahu, the Thurston name serves as a marker in many places, including a street named after Thurston in the PunchbowlPunchbowl Crater
Punchbowl Crater is an extinct volcanic tuff cone located in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the location of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific....
neighborhood and the Thurston Memorial Chapel on the Punahou Campus. Others include Thurston Lava Tube at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is a United States National Park located in the U.S. State of Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. It encompasses two active volcanoes: Kīlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive volcano...
on the Big Island.
In the 2009 film Princess Kaiulani, Thurston was portrayed by Barry Pepper
Barry Pepper
Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
.