Gerrit Parmele Judd (April 23, 1803 – July 12, 1873) was an American physician and

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

to the Kingdom of Hawaii who later renounced his American citizenship and became a trusted advisor and cabinet minister to King Kamehameha III. He married missionary and historian Laura Fish Judd in 1827.

Life

Judd was born April 23, 1803, in Paris, Oneida County, New York, the son of Elnathan Judd and his wife Betsey Hastings. On his mother's side, he was descended from Thomas Hastings, who came from the East Anglian area of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. He received his middle name in honor of his maternal grandmother, Eunice Parmele. He was educated as a physician at the medical college in

Fairfield, New York Fairfield is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 1,627 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Fairfield, Connecticut. The town is north of the village of Herkimer and east of Utica. The hamlet of Fairfiel ...

. He married Laura Fish (1804–1872) on September 20, 1827, in

Clinton, Oneida County, New York Clinton (or ''Ka-dah-wis-dag'', "white field" in Seneca language) is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,942 at the 2010 census. It was named for George Clinton, the first Governor of New York. The Villa ...

. The couple sailed to Hawaii (then known as the 'Sandwich Islands') that same year, on the ship ''Parthian'', the third 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 ...

. He was assigned to the mission at

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

on the island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

, as a missionary physician, and continued in that employment fifteen years.

Work

In 1842 he resigned from the mission and became an advisor and translator to King Kamehameha III. He also became involved in the civil concerns of the islands, and was the King’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 1843 to March 1845, Minister of Interior from March 1845 to February 1846, Minister of Finance from April 1846 to September 1853, and in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1858 to 1859. He was commissioned in 1849 as Minister Plenipotentiary to England, France and the United States. He was one of the founders of the Punahou School for children of the missionaries in 1841. He founded Hawaii's first medical school in 1870, and was the author of one of the first medical texts written in Hawaiian, , in 1838. In 1850 Judd purchased from King Kamehameha the land which became the

Kualoa Ranch Kualoa is a private nature reserve and working cattle ranch, as well as a popular tourist attraction and filming location on the windward coast of Oahu in Hawaii. It is about from Honolulu, and from Haleiwa. The ranch consists of 3 valleys: ...

on the Windward Coast of

. His descendants still own and operate the ranch today. Judd died July 12, 1873, in

and was buried in the

Oahu Cemetery The Oahu Cemetery is the resting place of many notable early residents of the Honolulu area. They range from missionaries and politicians to sports pioneers and philosophers. Over time it was expanded to become an area known as the Nuuanu Cemete ...

Family

Judd and his wife Laura had nine children: #Gerrit Parmele II born March 8, 1829, died November 13, 1839, buried in

. #Elizabeth Kinau born July 5, 1831, died August 21, 1918. Married September 29, 1857, to

Samuel Gardner Wilder Samuel Gardner Wilder (June 20, 1831 – July 28, 1888) was an American shipping magnate and politician who developed a major transportation company in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Life Samuel Gardner Wilder was born June 20, 1831, in Leominster, ...

(1831–1888) from

Leominster, Massachusetts Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Leominster i ...

, six children. #Helen Seymour born August 27, 1833, and died April 2, 1911. # Charles Hastings born September 8, 1835 (twin) died April 18, 1890. Married November 1, 1859, to Emily Catherine Cutts (1840–1921), four children. Worked in the Guano and farming businesses, and held several posts in the Kingdom. #Laura Fish born September 8, 1835 (twin) died November 22, 1888, at San Francisco, California. Married February 22, 1861, to Joshua Gill Dickson (1830–1880), four children. # Albert Francis born January 7, 1838, died May 20, 1900. Married April 4, 1872, to Agnes Hall Boyd (1844–1934) nine children. Last child Lawrence M. Judd became Governor of the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

in 1929–1934. #Allan Wilkes born April 20, 1841, and died March 26, 1875. #Sybil Augusta born March 16, 1843, and died September 1, 1904. Married February 27, 1862, to Henry Alpheus Peirce Carter (1837–1891), seven children. Son Charles Lunt was a member of the Committee of Safety, and son George Robert was Governor of the

(1903–1907). #Juliet Isabelle "Julie" born March 28, 1846, and died June 27, 1857.

Legacy

Judd's life was the basis of the novel ''The White King''. A biography, ''Dr. Judd, Hawaii’s Friend'' which was written by his great-grandson Gerrit P. Judd IV (1915–1971) and published in 1960. His papers were kept under restricted access at the Bishop Museum until his great-grandson Albert Francis Judd III died in 2006. Judd Street in Honolulu is named in his honour.

Publications

References

External links

Descendants of Thomas Hastings website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Judd, Gerrit Parmele 1803 births 1873 deaths American Protestant missionaries Christian medical missionaries Congregationalist missionaries in Hawaii Hawaiian Kingdom Foreign Ministers Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles Hawaiian Kingdom Interior Ministers Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council Hawaiian Kingdom Finance Ministers Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Representatives People from Paris, New York Burials at Oahu Cemetery Ambassadors of the Hawaiian Kingdom American emigrants to the Hawaiian Kingdom Politicians from Honolulu Judd family