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Wai‘oli Mission House:
Room of the Traveling Prophet

Traveling Prophet Room

The Room of the Traveling Prophet.

"This is the room of the Traveling Prophet—the guest room," Roger continues. "It was stated in the Bible that one should have room set for a traveling minister. And the doctor stayed in here when he was traveling around the island. It was in this room that Abner translated many of the English books into Hawaiian.

Desk and Book

Desk with two whale-oil lamps.

"The seven sons were never allowed in here until Sunday, and then they dressed them up, lined them up on the settee, and there was a three-hour sermon with Dad and they had to memorize seven verses of the bible. So Sunday was no fun. It was the law that Sunday was the Sabbath. They couldn’t climb trees, they couldn’t raise their voices, walk around, enjoy the flowers. Read the bible, that was Sunday.

"When the trade winds blow, you can open these windows and it goes right through the house."

"This desk is an original piece of the house, it’s from the 1840s. It’s been restored with a couple of nails, but originally they pegged it together.

"The whale oil lamp on the left was found in the house, it came on the ship with Lucy and Abner.  The whale oil lamp on the right was found in an antique store when the granddaughters purchased it. As I said, the missionaries had whale oil, they made their own candles. And they had kukui nut oil for light."

"Something else the granddaughters purchased: it’s called a rope bed. You’ve heard of 'sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite'? Well, you take a key and go into these holes and tighten the ropes. And then to keep the bed bugs out, you would put each leg into a bowl and put kerosene or water into it, so the bed bugs couldn’t climb up. The rope has since rotted away, so the guys put springs in there so the granddaughters could still use the bed. This house was used and occupied almost every weekend until the early seventies.

"This was made at the Waimea Station School for boys. The two pieces atop and bottom were an old school desk, and the side rails and drawer were made from scraps of lumber when they were repairing Rev. Rowell's porch. It was turned into a night stand.

Rope Bed

Rope bed, showing the keyholes for tightening the ropes.

"It was similar to a select school, where the kids learned craftsmanship. They learned to read and write, but they also had to learn a trade. They learned how to farm, carpentry, everything. And that’s what they were trying to do here in Kaua‘i too.

"James Michener stayed in here and studied, and he talks about the room of the traveling prophet. And Abner was his main character, and he wrote the book Hawaii, he made Abner going crazy. But Abner actually died back east. Also in his book, Lucy was the first baby born to the first missionary company when they arrived in 1820. But actually Lucy was Abner’s wife. Michener took it, but he stretched it."

 

Parlor

Master Bedroom

Boys' Dormitory

Traveling Prophet Room

Edward's Room

Pantry

Dining Room

Cook House

Church


 

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