In 1876, Capt. James Makee (1813-1879) and his son-in-law, Col. Zephaniah S. Spalding (1837-1927), founded Makee Sugar Co. on several thousand acres of land at Kealia they’d purchased from the estate of rancher and dairy farmer Ernest Krull for $30,000, and on substantial acreage acquired at Kapa‘a.
Krull, by the way, had started his ranch and dairy on a large tract of land in the Kealia ahupua‘a he’d bought from the Hawaiian government in 1854 for $200.
In 1866, he’d enlarged his holdings by purchasing the remainder of the Kealia ahupua‘a from Levi Ha‘alelea for $3,100.
Work at Makee Sugar Co. commenced when sugarcane was planted behind Kapa‘a and a mill was built in Kapa‘a in the vicinity of today’s Mo‘ikeha Canal.
Then in 1877, King David Kalakaua set up a few courtiers and members of his recently-deceased brother’s (Prince Leleiohoku’s) Honolulu choral society in the sugar business at Kapahi.
Many of the 32 working members of the “Hui Kawaihau” (Ice Water Company) arrived on Kaua‘i off the mouth of the Wailua River aboard the steamer Kilauea in August 1877.
The hui constructed houses and a meeting hall in Kapahi, where the Hawaiian Fruit Packers pineapple cannery was later built, and contracted Makee to plant 240 acres of sugarcane and grind the cane at his Kapa‘a mill.
After startup costs were paid, the hui’s first crop netted each member $500 profit, but a fire destroyed much of the second crop, which disheartened the hui, and they drifted away from Kaua‘i.
The hui’s possessions and leased lands were sold to Spalding, who had taken over Makee Sugar Co. following Makee’s death in 1879.
In 1884, Spalding purchased the ahupua‘a of Waipouli, comprised of 2,904 acres, from the Lunalilo estate, built a second mill at Kealia, and demolished the Kapa‘a mill.
Makee Sugar Co. grew and prospered so that Spalding was able to sell the controlling interest of his company to Lihu‘e Plantation in 1916 for $1,500,000.
Lihu‘e Plantation acquired Spalding’s remaining stock in 1933, and in 1934 absorbed the plantation and dissolved Makee Sugar Co. as a corporation.
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Hank Soboleski has been a resident of Kauai since the 1960s. Hank’s love of the island and its history has inspired him, in conjunction with The Garden Island Newspaper, to share the island’s history weekly. The collection of these articles can be found here: https://bit.ly/2IfbxL9 and here https://bit.ly/2STw9gi Hank can be reached at hssgms@gmail.com
This was during the Hawaiian Kingdom. I don’t know much, but from a Pakistani background, a race has been done away with and through annexation. Plantation workers needed to fund the economy. Many Japanese and Chinese workers were brought in. I bought a book on it. Sugar Island, 120 year history. Must read book for anyone.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
WASHINGTON, D. C, Tuesday, January 2, 1894.
The committee met pursuant to adjournment. Present, the chairman (Senator Morgan) and Senators Gray and Frye. Absent, Senators Butler and Sherman.
SWORN STATEMENT OF ZEPHANIAH SWIFT SPALDING.
The Chairman. You are a native of the United States?
Mr. Spalding. Yes; I was born in Ohio.
The Chairman. What is your age!
Mr. Spalding. I am 56 — was born September 1837.
The Chairman. When did you first go to Hawaii?
Mr. Spalding. I was sent out to Hawaii in 1867 by Secretary Seward.
The Chairman. As an official of any character?
Mr. Spalding. Yes, I was what was termed secret or confidential agent of the State Department. I was bearer of dispatches to the minister at Washington and under pay from the State Department, from its secret-service fund.
Mr. Spalding’s complete testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee was one of twenty-five sworn testimonies on the Senate Resolution to investigate the 1893 Hawaii Revolution removing a Queen and her Cabinet, replacing it with the Provisional Government. His testimony is of special interest for me, a Yonsei from Kipu, and the William Hyde Rice Plantation and Ranch. If you have the time read Mr. Spalding’s testimony. It’s very special for any Kauai resident.
From Ohio. They were sent to spy out the land in 1867? Kauai. There was nothing on Kauai but trees and plantation. It was a forest reserve and waste land for the state. Not really applicable to living on it. Hunters and gatherers. Fresh water from Wailua river. Drinking water. That’s it.
The Hawaiians had to live along side with the others. But where did they live? They lived in ugly huts and had water from the rivers. The plantation was not with the Hawaiians. Because they did their own thing around the island. The majority of the Hawaiians had their own land or village. But kept the peace of the land. Living like Indians of South Dakota. And going in and out of town. But that was them.