Valdemar Knudsen
Encyclopedia
Valdemar Emil Knudsen was a sugar cane plantation
pioneer on west Kauai
, Hawaii
.
, in Vest-Agder
county, Norway
. He was college-trained in botany
and science
in Copenhagen
. Knudsen was successful both as a publisher in New York City
and as a merchant during the California gold rush
of the 1840s. He learned the languages of the local Indians and helped them with advice in legal matters. In November 1849, he was part of the California Constitutional Convention
.
, Hawaii
in 1856. He managed the Grove Farm Plantation
which was then owned by Hermann A. Widemann
. The Kingdom of Hawaii
contracted with Knudsen for the removal of armaments from Russian Fort Elizabeth
, east of the town of Waimea
. In a letter sent to Honolulu, Knudsen listed an inventory
of the guns at the fort following a survey made in 1862.
Knudsen subsequently bought a 30-year lease on Hawaiian crown lands in the Waimea
district where he established a ranch
. He worked in partnership with ship captain Henrik Christian L’Orange (1843-1916) from Halden
, Norway
. Using an old Hawaiian ditch at Waiele, Knudsen drained and reclaimed about 50 acres (202,343 m²) on which he planted sugar cane in 1878. This cane, of the Lahaina variety, was the first commercially grown sugar cane in Kekaha. This plantation
formed the basis of the Kekaha Sugar Company.
Knudsen's nephew, Hans Peter Faye, drew up much of the plantation
's design. Kekaha Sugar was initially seen as a shaky investment with a need for great amounts of capital to build an infrastructure of canals, pumps, water systems and other facilities needed to overcome its inherent physical disadvantages. These pioneering years were rough ones for the growers who lacked an abundant water supply on Kauai
. The plantation
railroad was started in 1884. Mules pulled the cane cars until 1886, when they were replaced with German-built locomotives.
Valdemar Knudsen forwarded birds to the Smithsonian Institution
as early as 1866. Knudsen's efforts put Kauai ahead of the other Hawaiian islands in terms of ornithological knowledge for a time. He first collected the Kauaʻi ʻAkialoa (Akialoa (ellisiana) stejnegeri). Leonhard Stejneger first described the species from a specimen collected by Valdemar Knudsen. The Hawaiian Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni) is named for him.
Knudsen was appointed by the King Kalākaua
to a seat in the House of Nobles in 1852. Knudsen turned down the seat but served as an elected representative of the people in 1860. His knowledge of law and the fact that he spoke the 3 Hawaiian languages fluently suited him for office. Knudsen also served as a member of the House of Representatives under the Monarchy and joined the Provisional Government after Queen Liliuokalani was deposed in 1893.
Valdemar Knudsen, was known to the Hawaiians as Kanuka. In 1945, his son Eric Alfred Knudsen
published Kanuka of Kauai, a book on the life of his father, as well as the Hawaiian natives who befriended him.
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
pioneer on west Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Background
Valdemar Emil Knudsen was born in KristiansandKristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...
, in Vest-Agder
Vest-Agder
In the 16th century, Dutch merchant vessels began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase salmon and other goods. Soon thereafter the export of timber began, as oak from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for shipbuilding...
county, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. He was college-trained in botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. Knudsen was successful both as a publisher in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and as a merchant during 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...
of the 1840s. He learned the languages of the local Indians and helped them with advice in legal matters. In November 1849, he was part of the California Constitutional Convention
California Constitution
The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...
.
Career
Knudsen arrived in Kekaha, KauaiKauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in 1856. He managed the Grove Farm Plantation
Grove Farm (Lihue, Hawaii)
-History:German immigrant Hermann A. Widemann started one of the first sugar plantations in Hawaii known as Grove Farm in 1854.During the American Civil War, the demand for Hawaii sugar grew, but Widemann supported the Confederate States....
which was then owned by 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...
. 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...
contracted with Knudsen for the removal of armaments from Russian Fort Elizabeth
Russian Fort Elizabeth
Russian Fort Elizabeth is a fort on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. It was the last remaining Russian fort on the Hawaiian islands, built in the early 19th century by the Russian-American Company as the result of an alliance with High Chief Kaumualii to gain influence in Hawaii...
, east of the town of Waimea
Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii
Waimea is a census-designated place in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 1,787 at the 2000 census...
. In a letter sent to Honolulu, Knudsen listed an inventory
Inventory
Inventory means a list compiled for some formal purpose, such as the details of an estate going to probate, or the contents of a house let furnished. This remains the prime meaning in British English...
of the guns at the fort following a survey made in 1862.
Knudsen subsequently bought a 30-year lease on Hawaiian crown lands in the Waimea
Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii
Waimea is a census-designated place in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 1,787 at the 2000 census...
district where he established a ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
. He worked in partnership with ship captain Henrik Christian L’Orange (1843-1916) from Halden
Halden
is a both a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town located at the Tista river delta on the Iddefjord, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden.-History:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Using an old Hawaiian ditch at Waiele, Knudsen drained and reclaimed about 50 acres (202,343 m²) on which he planted sugar cane in 1878. This cane, of the Lahaina variety, was the first commercially grown sugar cane in Kekaha. This plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
formed the basis of the Kekaha Sugar Company.
Knudsen's nephew, Hans Peter Faye, drew up much of the plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
's design. Kekaha Sugar was initially seen as a shaky investment with a need for great amounts of capital to build an infrastructure of canals, pumps, water systems and other facilities needed to overcome its inherent physical disadvantages. These pioneering years were rough ones for the growers who lacked an abundant water supply on Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
. The plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
railroad was started in 1884. Mules pulled the cane cars until 1886, when they were replaced with German-built locomotives.
Valdemar Knudsen forwarded birds to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
as early as 1866. Knudsen's efforts put Kauai ahead of the other Hawaiian islands in terms of ornithological knowledge for a time. He first collected the Kauaʻi ʻAkialoa (Akialoa (ellisiana) stejnegeri). Leonhard Stejneger first described the species from a specimen collected by Valdemar Knudsen. The Hawaiian Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni) is named for him.
Knudsen was appointed by the King Kalākaua
Kalakaua
Kalākaua, born David Laamea Kamanakapuu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua and sometimes called The Merrie Monarch , was the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaii...
to a seat in the House of Nobles in 1852. Knudsen turned down the seat but served as an elected representative of the people in 1860. His knowledge of law and the fact that he spoke the 3 Hawaiian languages fluently suited him for office. Knudsen also served as a member of the House of Representatives under the Monarchy and joined the Provisional Government after Queen Liliuokalani was deposed in 1893.
Personal life
During February 1867, Knudsen married Anne McHutcheson Sinclair, with whom he had five children: Ida, Augustus, Maud, Eric and Arthur–were born between 1868 and 1875. Following his death, there were claims of allegedly illegitimate children which resulted in failed attempts of taking over the Kekaha Sugar Company.Valdemar Knudsen, was known to the Hawaiians as Kanuka. In 1945, his son Eric Alfred Knudsen
Eric Alfred Knudsen
Eric Alfred Knudsen was an American author, folklorist, lawyer and politician. He is most known for his writings and collections of short stories of and about Hawaiian folklore and culture. -Biography:...
published Kanuka of Kauai, a book on the life of his father, as well as the Hawaiian natives who befriended him.
Other sources
- Mills, Peter R. (2002) Hawaii's Russian Adventure: A New Look at Old History (University of Hawaii Press) ISBN 978-0824824044
- Knudsen, Eric A. and Gurre P. Noble (1945) Kanuka of Kaua‘i: The Story of a True Pioneer (Mutual Publishing)
- Stejneger, Leonhard Hess (1887) Birds of Kauai Island, Hawaiian Archipelago collected by Mr. Valdemar Knudsen (Washington: Smithsonian Institute)
- Wilcox, Carol (1998) Sugar Water (University of Hawaii Press) ISBN 978-0824820442
- Gripsland, Torbjorn (2004) Forgotten Norwegians in Hawaii (emgirantforlaget)
- Moe, Jon (1975) Akamai: Sagaen om den norske utvandring til Hawaii (Gyldendal) ISBN 978-8205083790