Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-04-18

4
States to further their education. The
foreign community outside the mis-
sionary circle was small, and all So
cial and literary advantages center
ed If missionary families. The faith
ers and mothers had always ad-
dressed each other as brother and
sister and as all the blood relatives
of these families were separated by
two oceans. small wonder was that
the children reared SO intimately to-
gether felt like relatives and called
themselves cousins.
In 1858, DIR. Luther Halsey Gulick,
the first of the second generation
of missionary families to Hawaii to
become missionary, arrived in Ho-
nolulu with his bride en- route to
Micronesia Their coming stirred the
large number of missionary children
here to organize the Hawaiian. Mis-
sion Children,s Society to perpetuate
the work of their parents The school
at Punahou gathered together a fine
nucleus for organization. The quaint
little adobe schoolhouse which is
still standing in the rear of Kawaia-
bao church, was the birthplace of the
society and for many years all the
anniversaries were. held there. The
original preamble of the constitution
reads as follows: "a.
I'VE, the children gof the American
Protestant Mission,at the Hawaiian
Islands, desiring to strengthen the
bnnd OF union which naturally exists
between us, and to cultivate the mis-
sionary spirit among ourselves; also
with the view of aiding in the support
of the Micronesian Mission about to
! be sent forth, one Of whose members
is of our own number, do hereby or
ganize ourselves into Social Mis-
sionary Society, under the following
constitution and bylaws"
This Social Missionary Society
commenced with 153 members and at
the close of fifty years SO of the
original members were still living.
Gradually the terms of admission
were extended to others not of mis-
sionary descent but of like sympa-
ihies and many of them teachers in
the schools. BY natural increase and
The admission of the parents as honor
airy members, the roll of the society
had increased in 1902 to 1404. This
includes both living and deceased
members.
Endeavors Bear Fruit
For the first half-century after the
| Organization the missionary end of
/ the society was kept foremost and the
work accomplished was phenomenal.
In 1865, with the return of DR.. and
Mrs Gulick to Honolulu, the definite
work OF the islands was assured. This
lowered at first in number of edu-
cational institutions, one of the
pioneers being,t the present Kawaiahao
Seminary. Out of this endeayor also
grew Muanaolu and Kohala and other
girls seminaries. The society sent
a@Aotable representation to the Civil
War of which three fill soldiers
graves The name of one, General
Samuel c. Armstrong, who was the
organizer of the colored troops, and
who passed safely through the war,
became world renowned. From his
interest in colored men afterward
grew the Hampton Institute, which
is his fitting monument. =
Remembers the Past -:. -. ....~.
During the past two years the So
oiety has been gradually assuming
commemorative character to perpetu-
ate the memory of the parents of the
members Recently there has been
issued the Hawaiian Missionary
Album with photographers of as many
Of the parents as could be secured.
1t was in 1900 that the society began
to change from missionary to
memorial organization. Coincident'
With this change has grown up the
ambition to preserve old landmarks
and historic memorials. The only
regular meetings of the society now
are the annual ones, which are gen.
orally held in the Old Mission Home
on Ko street, which was brought
around the Horn in 1920. so palatial
in structure that the king would not
allow its erection for some time"
These premises were acquired in