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LDS Church History
History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii:
1527 Unverified contact with Spanish sailors in the time of Kealiiokaloa.
1528 Unverified discovery of Hawaiian Islands by Juan de Gaylan.
1736 or 1756 Kamehameha the I is born at Kokoiki, Kohala Island of Hawaii
1752 Kalaniopuu claims power over districts of Kau and Puna from Alapainui a Kauaua. Alapainui a Kauaua, King of Hawaii, dies at Kikiakoi, Kawaihae, Kohala, Hawaii. His heir was Keaweopala. Kalaniopuu kills Keaweopala at Puako, Kohala, to become king of Hawaii.
1774 Hewahewa is born in Kohala, Island of Hawaii. He becomes the Kahuna nui, or high priest.
1775 Kaahumanu becomes the wife to Kamehameha I. She was his favorite wife, and had over 20 marriages. Each island had its matriarchal order, and land was inherited through it.
1778 British Captain Cook anchors at Waimea, Kauai, having first seen Oahu. The Hawaiian population is estimated at about 300,000 to 500,000. Caucasian blood and diseases are introduced.
1779 Hawaiians celebrating the Makahiki, believe Cook to be the god Lono. Hawaiians find out Cook is not Lono and kill him at Kealakekua Bay, Kona, Hawaii.
1785 Trading ship lands while en route to China. Possible Chinese blood introduced as crew jump ship.
1790 John Young (Olahana or Ana) and Isaac Davis become advisors to Kamehameha I.
1795 Kamehameha conquers all the islands, except Kauai, to become first monarch of the Hawaiian Islands.
1797 Birth of Liholiho, (Kamehameha II. Son of Kamehameha I and Keopuolani).
1819 European and American merchants and sea captains begin arriving in Hawaii.
1814 Birth of Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III).
1819Death of King Kamahemeha I. Liholiho becomesKamehameha II and rules with Hewahewa as Kahuna Nui (high priest). They burn the heiau and idols and abolish the kapu system.
1820 Joseph Smith’s first vision. Hewahewa prophesies “God will soon land yonder,” pointing northeast
1822 The Hawaiian language is written. The first protestant missionaries arrive in Hawaii. Whalers and seamen arrive in Hawaii.
1823 The Queen mother, Keopuolani, on her deathbed, requests baptism. She buried in a Christian way.
1824 King Kamehameha II dies of measles in England. Kamehameha III becomes king.Kapuna Nui Hewahewa tours islands teaching people to read, observe the Christian Sabbath, refrain from immoral acts, turn to God, to love and obey Him.
1829Some Hawaiians are baptized into the Catholic church.
1831 Lahianaluna seminary is founded on Maui, with a printing press. Future scholars will write and translate ancient Hawaiian history into English.
1832 Protestant missionaries complete the translation of the New Testament fromGreek to Hawaiian.
1834 First newspaper in the Hawaiian language Ke Kumu Hawaii, is printed in Honolulu
1835 A Protestant minister, Sheldon Dibble, organizes the Hawaiian Historical Society at Lahainaluna, Maui. Its mission is to gather and preserve all ancient Hawaiian tradition, genealogies, and legends.
1836 The first English language newspaper,Sandwich Islands Gazette, is published in Honolulu.
1838 Birth of Lydia Kamakaeha Liliuokalani. Birth of Joseph F. Smith.
1839 Protestant missionaries translate the Old Testament from Hebrew to Hawaiian. Common schools inHawaii numbered 1,000. Pupils numbered 52,000, approximately Two fifths of the population.
1840 Over 42,000 Hawaiians have converted to Christianity. Constitution is formed.
1841 The Hawaiian Historical Association is formed, with Kamehameha elected as president.
1842 The United States recognizes Hawaii as an independent kingdom.
1844 LDS Missionaries intending to sail toHawaii arrive at Tubuai instead, 300 miles south of Tahiti. Joseph and Hyrum Smith are martyred.
1847 TheGreat Mahele, a division of Hawaii’s land among royalty, chiefs, commoners, and whites, is begun.
1850 Brigham Young sends George Q. Cannon and nine other LDS missionaries to Honolulu. Businessmen begin to arrive in Hawaii.
1851 First LDS convert baptism in Hawaii.Nalilmanui offers her home to George Cannon and missionaries. George Q. Cannon receives revelation at Lahaina, Maui, that the Hawaiians are the seed of Abraham, through the posterity of Lehi.
1852 Jonathan and Kitty Napela are baptized and Jonathan helps George Q. Cannon translate the Book of Mormon from English into Hawaiian. First LDS branch organized at Pulehu, Maui. Total LDS membership in Hawaii is 841: 196 from Maui, 71 from Oahu, 43 from Molokai. Arrival of Chinese immigrants to Hawaii.
1853 Elder Uaua raises his wife from the dead through the priesthood. Membership at April conference in Hawaii totals 1,131. A smallpox epidemic kill 5,000 to 6,000 Hawaiians, 400 of them LDS members.
1854 King Kamehameha dies. Alexander Liholiho becomesKamehameha IV.
1855 Printing of the Book of Mormon in Hawaiian begun. Joseph F. Smith, age 16, is appointed to preside on the island ofMaui with Elders Sixtus E. Smith and Simpson Molen as assistants.
1857 Joseph F. Smith is nursed back to health by Ma Naoheakamamalu Manuhii. He blesses her that she will “live to see the day when a temple will be built in Hawaii.”
1858 The Utah war brings LDS missionaries home in December.Hawaiian Elders Kelehune, and Solomon Umi are left in charge.
1861 Death of King Kamehameha IV. Lot Kamehameha becomes Kamehameha V.
1862 Lorenzo Snow is drowned in Lahaina harbor,Maui, and is resuscitated. He goes to Palawai. Walter Murry Gibson is excommunicated for simony and apostasy. William W. Cluff prays.Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball appear to him and show him the boundaries of the ahupuaa of Lai. They tell him that this will be the central place of the Church in Hawaii and a temple will be built here.
1865 Laie is chosen as the new gathering place for the Saints by Francis Hammond and George Nebeker. Total LDS membership in Hawaii is 500, with 22 missionaries. Arrival of South Sea Islander immigrants in Hawaii. 1868 Arrival of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii.
1870 LDS membership in Hawaii is 1,611. Worldwide membership is 90,130.
1872 King Kamehameha V dies. Native Hawaiian population has declined from 300,000 in 1778 to 50,000.
1873William C. Lunalilio is elected as the first Hawaiian Monarch.
1874 Lunalilio dies and David Kalakaua is elected to be the Hawaiian Monarch.
1875 Arrival of Portuguese immigrants in Hawaii. LDS membership in Hawaii is 4,092.
1881 Arrival of Norwegian andGerman immigrants in Hawaii.
1883 Coronation of King Kalakaua andQueen Kapiolani.
1885 Joseph F. Smith tells Hawaiians not to leave Hawaii, but to be patient and love the Lord.
1888 George Q. Cannon is first counselor and Jos. F. Smith 2nd counselor to new LDS Church President John Taylor.
1889Wilford Woodruff becomes LDS Church President, with G. Q. Cannon 1st and Joseph F. Smith 2nd counselors. The colony ofIosepa is established by Hawaiian Saints in Skull Valley Utah.
1891 King David Kalakaua dies and Liliuokalani is elected to be the Hawaiian Monarch.
1893The government is overthrown and a Provisional Government is established. The Salt lake Temple is dedicated. The Genealogical Society of Utah is established.
1898 Hawaii is annexed to the United States. George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith become 1st and 2nd Counselors to new LDS PresidentLorenzo Snow.
1900 Arrival of Okinawan andPuerto Rican immigrants in Hawaii. LDS membership in Hawaii is 6,978, with 22 missionaries. Total Church membership is 283,765.
1901 Death of George Q. Cannon. Hawaiian territorial government formally established. Arrival of Negro immigrants to Hawaii.
1903 Arrival of Korean immigrants to Hawaii.
1906 Queen Liliuokalani is baptized into the LDS Church by Elder Abraham Fernandez. Arrival of Filipino immigrants to Hawaii.
1907 Arrival of Spanish immigrants to Hawaii.
1909 Arrival of Russian immigrants to Hawaii.
1915 Joseph F. Smith arrives in Honoloulu and sees Manuhii again. He dedicates the temple site in Laie. LDS membership in Hawaii is 9,443 with 46 missionaries.
1917 Queen Liliuokalani dies at age 79.
1918 President Joseph F. Smith dies in Salt Lake of the Flu epidemic at age 80.
1919 Hawaii temple dedicated by President Heber J. Grant, with William M. Waddoups as temple president.
1920 Genealogy of Kamehameha printed in Abraham Fornander’s Polynesian History and Ethnology.
1921 Elder David O. McKay visitsLaie Elementary school and sees the vision of a university in Hawaii.
1927 Robert Plunkett and Clinton Kanahele are the first Hawaiins to serve in a temple presidency and to receive the sealing power.
2008 Membship of the LDS Church on the Hawaiian Islands was 67,106.