Abraham Fornander
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Abraham Fornander (November 4, 1812 – November 1, 1887) was a Swedish-born emigrant who became an important journalist, judge, and
Early life and education
Fornander was born in
In 1828, he began studying theology at the
Hawaii
Move to Hawaii
The next years are poorly documented, but Fornander wrote that circumstances in America forced him to go to sea and become a whaler.[citation needed] After first arriving at the Hawaiian islands in 1838, he joined a whaling cruise which returned in 1842. Following his stint at sea, English physician Thomas Charles Byde Rooke hired Fornander as a coffee planter in Nuʻuanu Pali, Oahu. In 1847, Rooke hired Fornander as his land surveyor.[2][3]
On January 19, 1847, Fornander became a citizen of the
Journalism
Beginning in 1849, as Hawaii began to consider further constitutional change, Fornander began writing for an upstart paper, the Argus, which he eventually took over. He used his paper to advocate responsible government, improvements to public education, and reform. When the paper failed in 1855, Fornander began a new venture called the Sandwich Islands Monthly, which was to cover both items of local interest and discussion of the great scientific, literary, and theological questions of the day. Although the magazine survived less than a year, a recurring theme in Fornander's writing was a concern for the status and condition of native Hawaiians. Fornander then went to work for The Polynesian, a rival publication that he now edited until its demise in 1864.
Life as a public official
In late 1863, the new Hawaiian king Kamehameha V recognized Fornander's talents and appointed him to the nation's privy council, which were thirty of the most distinguished men in the islands. In May 1864, the King made Fornander a judge, a position that he held for less than a year before he was made superintendent of the Honolulu school district, and then in March 1865, Inspector General of Schools for the entire kingdom.[8]
Fornander had long been an advocate of public education, and his administration had three main goals: to put the system on a non-sectarian basis, improve opportunities for girls, and improve the teaching of English. The first of these goals won him the increasing animosity of American
The king, however, re-appointed him in May 1871 to the circuit court, a position that he would hold for the next twelve years together with a variety of other governmental boards and commissions. These positions required Fornander to travel a good deal, which allowed him to learn more about
Account of the Polynesian Race
While undertaking these duties, Fornander had long been developing theories of Hawaiian origins and collecting material for a work setting out his thoughts. In 1877, he finished the first volume of his monumental An Account of the Polynesian Race, its Origin and Migrations, and the Ancient History of the Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehameha I, which was published in London in the following year. This volume dealt with the now-discredited hypothesis that the
Basing his theory on the comparison of Polynesian languages, genealogies, and mythology, Fornander estimated that the Polynesians first entered the Pacific in Fiji in the 1st or 2nd centuries AD. When expelled by Melanesians, the inhabitants made their way to Samoa and Tonga, and by AD 400 or 500, to Hawaii, where they lived in isolation until the 11th century, when new groups began to arrive.
Fornander paid special attention to legends and genealogies that he thought preserved the history of the Hawaiian islands after their settlement—their external and internal wars, dynastic quarrels, and eventually their contact by Captain James Cook and George Vancouver. He later published more volumes in the series, ending with the final victory of Kamehameha I and the consolidation of his rule over all the islands.[9]
The work brought Fornander attention from abroad. He was invited to become a corresponding member of the
Later life
Fornander thrived on the international praise that his work had won him, but continued in his various official duties, including serving as acting governor of Maui. In 1886, he began to complain of pain in his mouth, and it soon became clear that he had a malignancy. Although he continued to travel as a circuit judge, the Hawaiian assembly voted him a pension of $1200 per month once he ceased to draw a government salary, together with a $2500 one-time grant to cover expenses incurred in the publication of his research which was described as "the most learned work ever written here [and] a credit to the author, to his adopted country, and to the Hawaiian people".
In November 1886, Fornander was made a Knight Commander of the
On December 27, 1886, Fornander was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court and he was installed in the position early in the new year. His illness now was too far advanced for him to actually serve. His final months were spent in the home of his only daughter. He died November 1, 1887, from a prolonged battle with cancer.[11]
Impact and influence
The obituaries marking Fornander's death praised his contribution to Hawaii as both a jurist and a scholar. The Hawaiian royal family participated in his funeral, and a memorial in his honour was erected in Honolulu, where it still stands today (near Pensacola Street).
His estate left his papers and library to his daughter, who sold them to Charles Reed Bishop. This included over 300 books, in addition to scores of journals, bulletins, and scientific yearbooks. In time the collection passed into the control of the Hawaiian Historical Society, where they still reside.[12]
Bishop had also acquired Fornander's own papers and voluminous notes, which he gave to the
References
- ^ Laura Ann Foenander (2009-03-15). "Abraham Foenander". family tree web site. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
- ISSN 2375-3137. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
- ^ Pamela Haight (May 2004). "A Trustworthy Historical Record: the Later Writing of Abraham Fornander, 1870–1887" (PDF). Master's Thesis. University of Hawaii.
- ^ "Abraham Fornander (obituary)". Pacific Commercial Advertiser. 1887-11-02. p. 2.
- ISSN 2375-3137. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
- ^ Hawaiʻi State Archives (2006). "Naturalization records". Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- ISBN 978-91-40-02752-8.
- ^ "Fornander, Abraham office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- ISBN 978-1-56647-147-3.
- ISBN 978-1-4568-9083-4.
- ISSN 2375-3137. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
- ^ "Hawaiian Historical Society". Archived from the original on 2010-01-23. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
- Thomas George Thrum (ed.). Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore. Vol. 4. Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
- Thomas George Thrum (ed.). Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore. Vol. 5. Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
- Thomas George Thrum (ed.). Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore. Vol. 6. Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
Further reading
- Eleanor Harmon Davis (1979). Abraham Fornander: A Biography. ISBN 0-8248-0459-7.
- Olsson, Nils William Abraham Fornander—Swedish Pioneer in Hawaii (Swedish-American Historical Quarterly. Swedish Pioneer Historical Society. v.13, no.2 p. 71-76. April 1962)
- Nordisk familjebok Fornander, Abraham (Uggleupplagan. 8. Feiss – Fruktmögel / 855–856. 1908) (Swedish)
- Abraham Fornander (1916). Thomas George Thrum (ed.). Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore. Vol. 4. Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
- Abraham Fornander (1918). Thomas George Thrum (ed.). Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore. Vol. 5. Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
- Abraham Fornander (1919). Thomas George Thrum (ed.). Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore. Vol. 6. Bernice P. Bishop Museum.