Wai‘oli Mission House: Parlor

Parlor of the Wai‘oli Mission House, 2017.

"By missionary standards, this a very large house," Roger states. "We’re in the parlor area right now. The parlor was used during Alexander's time, to consult with the Hawaiians for itnroduction into the church, and to arrange baptisms and marriages. In the evening, all of the family would gather in that room, where they would read and write. All of this is in the same position as the Wilcox's left them in 1869. The titles of the books have been cleaned and the bookcase has been restored.

Cross Door.

"The hardware all came around the Horn. This is what they call a Christian door—it’s got a big cross right there in the top. While the house is an original, it was modeled after an Ohio farmhouse, with New England influence.

"You notice the glass is the original. It’s got that waviness to it. When Alexander built the house back East, there was a tax on how many windows and closets you had in your house. Out here in the Sandwich Islands they didn’t have that tax, so they call these windows 12-over-8’s [not shown in photo]. And all the closets in the house are walk-in. That’s where the armoires came in. If you didn’t want to hide your clothes, you could put your clothes in the armoire and close it, but you couldn’t be taxed for a closet.

"The 12-side rosewood table [center] is an original piece of the house; it belonged with the koa-wood settee. It was purchased in 1851 by Albert as a gift for Lucy, when he was in Boston for his son's leg surgery.

"Here’s where the Ten Commandments would be—the two tablets, or an open bible. Wilcox was a missionary teacher. They left in 1836, and had the shortest voyage of the twelve missionary ships to arrive in Hawai‘i—116 days around the Cape in a 5 x 6 bunk with all their belongings. After they got done being seasick, they got to know each other. They started learning Hawaiian. They also had the largest company, with thirteen other missionary couples.

"They had two Hawaiian sailors on board, and one Hawaiian book that they had to pass that around, so they were fluent by the time they arrived here—the men more than the women. The Wilcox’s were stationed in Hilo for seven years before the Board moved them to O‘ahu for two years and then they moved the out here to Wai‘oli. So they had a missionary teacher and knowing Hawaiian, he was moved around where he was needed most.

"The bibles were found in the house and that magnifying glass also, known as a boudiour mirror. It was two pieces: the magnifying lens would aid you in reading. You could put pages of the bible behind it to magnify the print. But when it was stood up, you could put a candle behind it to project the light. That was used to shave, adjust your bonnet. It was hand ground."

"This is called a melodeon. Originally it had bellows on it, and you would pump the peddles to push air through it, like an organ. It's a replica, but we still have the original,, which due to internal termited damage, was turned into a small secretary. And these are the original hymn books. They sang hymns with their melodeons, they read from their fine library, and their bibles.

The mantle piece. Photo from Hawai‘i Life Vacations.

"The floors had to be replaced. They were originally koa, but were very buckled when the resotration began. So they were replaced with Douglas fir from the Northwest. No knots, very wide planks, some are 14-17 inches wide. You don’t see this kind of wood anymore."

"This is called an ornamental mantle. They got a letter on Sunday, it would sit on the mantle until Monday morning, you couldn’t do anything on Sunday but read the bible. They didn’t even cook.

"That’s where the Boston baked beans came in. They threw the beans in the night before, and left them cooking them all night. That way they didn’t have to touch them in the morning. They just came and opened it up and eat. One time when Abner arrived in Hanalei Bay on Sunday, he didn’t get off the boat until Monday morning.

"These are walrus tusks. And these are whale teeth with scrimshaw. 80% of the ships that came through the islands in the 1800s were whaling ships. That's how these would be acquired. These are not original, it’s something the granddaughters picked up for display. But this is something that missionaries would have had."

Pacific Worlds > Hā‘ena, Kaua‘i > Visitors > Missionaries