Lorenzo Lyons or "''Makua Laiana''" (April 18, 1807 – October 6, 1886) was an early missionary to the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent islan ...

. He was a songwriter who wrote the lyrics of "'' Hawaii Aloha''", which was inducted into the

Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame The Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame is an organization dedicated to recognizing the cultural importance of the music of Hawaii and hula. Established in 1994, the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame promotes the appreciation and preservation of Hawaiian cultur ...

in 1998. Lyons spent the last 28 years of his life as postmaster in the district surrounding

Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii Waimea is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 7,028 at the 2000 census and 9,212 at the 2010 census. Since each U.S. state cannot have more than one post office of the same name, and t ...

Early life

He was born in Colrain, Franklin County, Massachusetts, April 18, 1807. He graduated from

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in 1827. Ordained as a Congregationalist minister at

Auburn Theological Seminary Auburn Theological Seminary, located in New York City, teaches students about progressive social issues by offering workshops, providing consulting, and conducting research on faith leadership development. The seminary was established in Auburn, N ...

, September 20, 1831.

Missionary in Hawaii

He embarked from Boston, Massachusetts on November 26, 1831, on the ''Averick'' with his wife Betsy Curtis (1813–1837). Part of the fifth company from the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...

, they arrived in the South Kohala district of the island of Hawaii on May 17, 1832. He spent the remainder of his life dedicated to the

native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawa ...

. His Waimea parish eventually included the districts of Kohala and Hāmākua, making it the largest mission station in Hawaii. During his tenure, Lyons was responsible for the erection of fourteen churches, such as Imiola Church where he is buried. He was district postmaster from 1858 until his death.

Songwriter

He was fluent in the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language ...

and composed many poems and hymns; his best known and beloved work is the hymn "'' Hawaii Aloha''" sung to the tune of "''I Left it All With Jesus''."

Family

Rev. Lyons died on October 6, 1886, and is buried at Imiola Church Cemetery in

. His first wife died in 1837, and he married Lucia G. Smith of Truxton, New York on July 14, 1838. Son Curtis Jere Lyons was born June 27, 1833, attended

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through 12th grade. Protestant missionaries establis ...

and graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

in 1858. After attending Union Theological Seminary for two years, he returned to Hawaii and became a reporter. In 1868 and 1870 he was elected to the

legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom The Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom () was the bicameral (later unicameral) legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom. A royal legislature was first provided by the 1840 Constitution and the 1852 Constitution was the first to use the term Legisla ...

, and married Julia E. Vernon on April 23, 1873. He died on September 24, 1914. Son Albert B. Lyons (1841-1926) was the founding secretary of the scientific section of the

American Pharmaceutical Association The American Pharmacists Association (APhA, previously known as the American Pharmaceutical Association), founded in 1852, is the first-established professional society of pharmacists in the United States. The association consists of more th ...

Legacy

Samoan writer

John Kneubuhl John Alexander Kneubuhl (July 2, 1920 – February 20, 1992) was an American Samoan screenwriter, playwright and Polynesian historian. He wrote for American television series such as '' The Fugitive'', ''Gunsmoke'', ''The Wild Wild West'', ''Star ...

wrote a play based on his life titled "The Harp in the Willows" in 1946. It was one of the first published works to use

Hawaiian Creole English Hawaiian Pidgin (alternately, Hawaiʻi Creole English or HCE, known locally as Pidgin) is an English-based creole language spoken in Hawaiʻi. An estimated 600,000 residents of Hawaii speak Hawaiian Pidgin natively and 400,000 speak it as a se ...

(known outside of academic circles as "pidgin" or "pidgin English").John Kneubuhl, ''Think of a garden and other plays'', University of Hawaii Press, 1997, Page 254,

References