Luther Aholo
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Luther Aholo ( – March 16, 1888) was a politician who served many political posts in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He served multiple terms as a legislator from Maui and
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
from 1886 to 1887. Considered one of the leading Hawaiian politicians of his generation, his skills as an orator were compared to those of the Ancient Greek statesman
Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων;  BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...
.


Life and political career

Aholo was born in 1833, on the island of Maui. He served as a teacher at the Lahainaluna Seminary and later became a lawyer and a judge. He worked as a tax assessor for the island of Maui. Regarded as a hardworking advisor and a gentleman with "brains and ability," he had a long and distinguished political career. Aholo was elected multiple time as a member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the legislature of the kingdom, for the district of
Lahaina Lahaina ( haw, Lāhainā) is the largest census-designated place (CDP) in West Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, United States and includes the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a resident population of 12,702. Lah ...
, on the island of Maui. He sat as a representative during the legislative assemblies of 1860, 1866, 1867 and all the sessions from 1870 to 1886. From 1876 to 1886, he presided as Vice President of the Legislative Assembly until resigning on October 13, 1886 to join the cabinet of King
Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ...
. Regarded a highly-abled orator and legislators, he was referred by some as the "Solon of the House", after the Ancient Greek statesman
Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων;  BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...
. According to later testimony of Charles T. Gulick in the
Blount Report The Blount Report is the popular name given to the part of the 1893 United States House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee Report regarding the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The report was conducted by U.S. Commissioner James H ...
, Aholo and his contemporary George Washington Pilipō were considered "some of the brightest ative leadersthen living...in the house". Aholo was one of the six legislators in the extra legislative session of 1874, who voted for Queen Emma instead of the victor Kalākaua, although he would eventually reconcile with the king. From November 1874 to February 1875, Aholo served as Acting Governor of Maui while Governor John Mākini Kapena traveled with Kalākaua on his state visit to the United States. He also worked as a clerk, private secretary and lieutenant governor of Maui under John Owen Dominis while Dominis was Governor of Maui from 1878 to 1886. He became a friend of Dominis' wife, Princess
Liliʻuokalani Liliʻuokalani (; Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Kamakaʻeha; September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917) was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, ruling from January 29, 1891, until the overthrow of the Haw ...
, who adopted his daughter Lydia Kaʻonohiponiponiokalani Aholo. Aholo was appointed as a member of King Kalākaua's Privy Council of State on August 12, 1884. In his capacity as Privy Councilor, Aholo and
William DeWitt Alexander William DeWitt Alexander (April 2, 1833 – February 21, 1913) was an educator, author and linguist in the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii. He then constructed maps for the Territory of Hawaii. Early life Alexander was born in Honolulu ...
, the Surveyor-General, represented the Kingdom of Hawaii at the
International Meridian Conference The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States, to determine a prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A. ...
, held in Washington, DC, in October 1884. Aholo and Alexander were among the forty-one delegates from twenty-six different nations assembled at the meeting. This conference resulted in the selection of the Greenwich Meridian as an international standard for zero degrees
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
. In 1886, the king appointed him as Postmaster General of the Kingdom, a position he held from July 31, 1886 to October 15, 1886. After Walter M. Gibson resigned to become
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
, Kalākaua appointed him as his successor as
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
on October 13, 1886. Aholo was a supporter of the administration headed by Gibson, which was highly controversial and unpopular with many missionary descendants in the kingdom. From October 22, 1886 to November 15, 1886, he also served as acting
Attorney General of Hawaii The Attorney General of Hawaii ( haw, Loio Kuhina) is the chief legal officer and chief law enforcement officer of Hawaii. In present-day statehood within the United States, the Attorney General is appointed by the elected governor with the approv ...
between the resignation of John Lot Kaulukou and the appointment of
Antone Rosa Antone Rosa (November 10, 1855 – September 9, 1898) was a politician, lawyer and judge of the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii. He served as Attorney General of Hawaii, and as a private secretary and vice chamberlain to King Kalākaua ...
. Following the signing of the Bayonet Constitution of 1887, which limited the king's executed power, Aholo was forced to resign along with the rest of the Gibson regime and replaced by
Lorrin A. Thurston Lorrin Andrews Thurston (July 31, 1858 – May 11, 1931) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Thurston played a prominent role in the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that replaced Q ...
and the so called Reform cabinet. For his service to the monarchy, he was created a Knight Companion of the
Royal Order of Kalākaua The Royal Order of Kalākaua I (''Kalākaua I e Hookanaka'') was instituted on 28 September 1874 by King Kalākaua I to commemorate his accession to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi on 12 February 1874. Grades The Order was awarded in four ...
and a Grand Officer of the Royal Order Crown of Hawaii. Aholo died on March 16, 1888, at
Washington Place Washington Place is a Greek Revival palace in the Hawaii Capital Historic District in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was where Queen Liliuokalani was arrested during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Later it became the official residence of the governo ...
, the private residence of Governor Dominis and Princess Liliʻuokalani in
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 ...
. He was fifty-five years old. The cause of death was described as aneurism or disease of the heart. A funeral was held from his Beretania Street residence was he buried at the cemetery of
Kawaiahaʻo Church Kawaiahaʻo Church is a historic Congregational church located in Downtown Honolulu on the Hawaiian Island of Oʻahu. The church, along with the Mission Houses, comprise the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site, which was designated a U.S. Nati ...
.; ; ; ;


Personal life

Aholo married three times. With his first wife, Kahelepu, he had three children, Samuel, Petuela, and Ioane Aholo. With his second wife Keahi, he had a son named James Luther (1870–1910) and a daughter named Lydia Kaʻonohiponiponiokalani Aholo (1878–1979), who became the namesake and ''
hānai ''Hānai'' is a term used in the Hawaiian culture that refers to the informal adoption of one person by another. It can be used as an adjective, such as "''hānai'' child", or as a verb to ''hānai'' someone into the family. In the Hawaiian cultu ...
'' daughter of the future Queen Liliʻuokalani. Keahi died on February 12, 1878, six days after the birth of their daughter, With his third and final wife Lilia, he had a son named Willie. During the Native Hawaiian opposition to the overthrow, Lilia served as secretary of Hui Aloha ʻĀina o Na Wahine (Hawaiian Women's Patriotic League), which petitioned against annexation. One of his great-grandsons was Alfred Apaka, a baritone singer who popularized romantic Hawaiian ballads during the 1950s.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aholo, Luther 1830s births 1888 deaths People from Maui Lahainaluna School alumni Hawaii lawyers Native Hawaiian politicians Hawaiian Kingdom politicians Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Representatives Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council Hawaiian Kingdom postmasters general Hawaiian Kingdom Interior Ministers Hawaiian Kingdom Attorneys General Burials at Kawaiahaʻo Church Governors of Maui