Genealogy, Stories, and Sometimes Even a Picture
Cover Image: Masthead of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa published on December 21, 1922.
Aloha Nūhou Monday!
About 1900 is when the Hawaiian language newspapers first started employing photos in their pages. Photos on occasion would appear with death announcements like the one featured today. Even without an image, there often is much to be learned in these announcements submitted by family or loved ones or even fellow church members. Does anyone know where Mary’s descendants are today?
Cover Image: “Ka Makou Mea Aloha, Mrs. Mary Pierce Halemano Ua Hala,” Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, December 21, 1922, p. 4.
Our Beloved Mrs. Mary Pierce Halemano has Gone.
Mr. Solomon Hanohano, Editor of the Kuokoa Newspaper; Much Aloha:—Please allow us some room in the pride of the nation, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, for what is titled above, and it will be for you to quickly spread to the four corners of the archipelago, so that the many companions, family, and friends of our beloved mama will see, they who live from where the sun appears at Kumukahi to the where it sets at Lehua.
Mrs. Mary Pierce Halemano has gone on the the path to Kāne and Kanaloa’s invisible beyond, which her (beloved husband) man, J. W. K. Halemano, our father, left on before. Auē our grief for our mother!
She was born of the loins of John B. Pierce, her papa, and Kainamoku (f), her mama, at Wānanalua, Hāna, Maui, T. H., on the 24th of the month of May 1850, and left this life on the 6th of December 1922.
She spent a full seventy-two years and some days breathing in the dispiriting air of this world. Auē our sorrow for our mama who has gone afar!
She was a mother who had much aloha for us, her children, and grandchildren; she was thoughtful for each of us from when we were small to were grown, and she shared equally her aloha with all her friends.
She was a mother in the work of the Lord; all of her sickness could not deter us from our work of the Lord. Auē our aloha for our mama in all her work for the Lord!
She was a mother who worked to move forward the way of life of the land, and she burdened herself for the good of all.
She was a hospitable mother, and welcoming. She would welcome those of high stature and low and would recognize the low to the high.
O Punahoa in the face of Kaʻuiki, where our beloved would go about, your sea spray will drench her no more; O Pūkoʻo with the famed pond of Kupeke, where our beloved was raised, she will no more tred upon your walls; O Kamaʻole with the ʻŪkiu rain, you will not see her again, the ʻŪkiu rain will no more dampen her skin; O Kawaikau of Keʻanae, where our mama lived until it became her homeland, no more will your mist moisten her cheeks; she has gone, she has gone on the road of no return.
She has left us, her four (4) surviving children, and many grandchildren, mourning for her on this side of the river. In woe!
Blessed be the Heavens. It is He who giveth and He who taketh away. With you, Mr. Editor and the typesetting boys of your printing office goes our immense gratitude.
MR. & MRS. N. PAHIA,
MR. & MRS. L. KUIKAHI,
MISS ANNIE K. HALEMANO,
MR. & MRS. J. N. HALEMANO,
MR. & MRS. JAMES K. HUEU,
MR. & MRS. WILLIAM KALAMA.
(Kuokoa, 12/21/1922, p. 4)
Image: Aerial view of Keʻanae, Maui, Hawaiʻi. Bishop Museum Archives. SP 37538.
Image sharing on social media is welcome. For all other uses please contact Archives@BishopMuseum.org
This post is part of He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers, a partnership between Bishop Museum and Awaiaulu with assistance from Kamehameha Schools. Mahalo nui loa to Hawaii Tourism Authority for their support. Learn more about this project here.
