Walter M. Gibson
Godfrey Brown | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Walter Murray Gibson January 16, 1822 At sea, National |
Spouse | Rachel Lewis Gibson (m. 1838) |
Children | 3 |
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Walter Murray Gibson (January 16, 1822 – January 21, 1888) was an American
Early life
Gibson was born January 16, 1822, at sea between Gibraltar and England. As a young man, he taught a school in Elbert County, Georgia, though the land later became a part of Hart County, Georgia. He spent his young adulthood in Anderson District, South Carolina.[4] He was the captain of a ship and became involved in
LDS Church colony
Gibson arrived in the
Political career
In 1873, Gibson started his own newspaper to extol his virtues in English and Hawaiian called the Nuhou. He successfully ran for the House of Representatives in 1878[11] as a candidate of the
In 1882, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and then in May of 1882,
Gibson was widely credited with encouraging Kalākaua to make rash political moves, which eventually led to the imposition of the
Personal life
On July 10, 1838, the sixteen-year old Gibson married the twenty-year old Rachel Margaret Lewis (1818–1844), daughter of Jesse and Hannah Lewis. Prior to their marriage, Gibson had been a boarder with the Lewises in their home in Sandy Springs, outside of Pendleton, South Carolina. They had three children: John Lewis (1838–1877), Henry (died 1893) and Tallulah (later changed to the Hawaiianized Talula, 1843–1903), who married Sheriff of Maui Frederick H. Hayselden. Rachel died in 1844, possibly from the cold conditions of the family's cabin floors or complications from her last pregnancy.[15][16]
Death
Gibson's fortunes fell dramatically after being removed from power in 1887. He fled the islands for fear of his life and died penniless in San Francisco on January 21, 1888. His body was returned to Hawaii for a funeral and burial.[5]
Legacy
According to Samuel W. Taylor, Gibson was a brilliant, audacious imposter who manipulated the LDS Church and Brigham Young to his own advantage. Young named him as missionary-at-large to convert Japan and other Pacific islands. He had some success in Hawaii but was excommunicated by Young. He then turned to politics becoming Hawaii's chief minister. He plotted the revolution of 1887, but was overthrown and saved from execution by a British diplomat.[17]
In film
Sam Neill played Gibson in the 1999 film Molokai: The Story of Father Damien.
References
- ^ Jenson, Andrew (1936). Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson Memorial Association. p. 339.
- ^ England, Northumberland, Parish Registers, 1538-1950", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CS74-KLPZ : 5 November 2020), Walter Murray Gibson, 1822.
- hdl:10524/56.
- ^ a b c "The Case of Captain Gibson". New York Times. May 31, 1854.
- ^ Honolulu Advertiser, 2006-07-02
- ^ a b McBride, Spencer. "Mormon Beginnings in Samoa: Kimo Belio, Samuela Manoa and Walter Murray Gibson". Brigham Young University. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ Walter M., Gibson (February 24, 1861). "Walter Murray GIBSON letter 1861 to Brigham YOUNG from San Bernardino, California Call Number CR 1234 1". Church Historians Office. Letter to Brigham Young. Salt Lake City: Gibson Name File.
- ^ Andrade 1996, p. 11.
- ^ Gibson was reportedly selling leadership positions in the church to native Hawaiians.
- ^ Sometimes referred to as the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gibsonite)" or the "Gibsonite Mormons".
- ^ a b "Gibson, Walter Murray office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
- Honolulu Advertiser.
- ^ Hamilton 2017, p. 141.
- ^ Adler & Kamins 2019.
- ^ Adler & Kamins 2019, pp. 7–11, 218.
- ^ Kuykendall 1967, p. 363.
- ^ Taylor, 1964.
Bibliography
- Adler, Jacob; Kamins, Robert M. (2019) [1986]. The Fantastic Life of Walter Murray Gibson: Hawaii's Minister of Everything. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. OCLC 1126516674.
- Andrade, Ernest (1996). Unconquerable Rebel: Robert W. Wilcox and Hawaiian Politics, 1880–1903. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado. OCLC 247224388.
- OCLC 500374815.
- Hamilton, Richard F. (July 5, 2017). America's New Empire: The 1890s and Beyond. Routledge. ISBN 9781351532174.
- Taylor, Samuel W. "Walter Murray Gibson: Great Mormon Rascal" American West (00031534). (1964) 1#2 pp 18–28.
Further reading
- Walter M. Gibson (1855). The prison of Weltevreden: and a glance at the East Indian Archipelago. J. C. Riker.
- Walter M. Gibson (1881). Sanitary Instructions for Hawaiians.
- Tate, Merze (1960). "Hawaii's Program of Primacy in Polynesia". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 61 (4). Oregon Historical Society: 377–407. JSTOR 20612586.
External links
- Media related to Walter M. Gibson at Wikimedia Commons
- All about Hawaii. The recognized book of authentic information on Hawaii, combined with Thrum's Hawaiian annual and standard guide ((original from University of Michigan)). Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1891. pp. 92–97 – via HathiTrust.
- "A List of All the Cabinet Ministers Who Have Held Office in the Hawaiian Kingdom"
- Woods, Roberta. "LibGuides: Hawai'i Legal Research: Attorney General Opinions". law-hawaii.libguides.com.
- Includes a list of Attorneys General for the Kingdom of Hawaii, their salaries and budgets