Charles Thomas Gulick (July 25, 1841 – November 7, 1897) was a

Kingdom of Hawaiʻi The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi, was an archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands. It was established in 1795 w ...

politician and one of the few members of the various missionary families of the time to side with the monarchy in the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Life

Gulick was born on July 25, 1841, to a family of American missionaries. His father was William Gulick, and mother was Eliza Throop Thomas (1804–1903). His father's brother

Peter Johnson Gulick Peter Johnson Gulick (March 12, 1796 – December 8, 1877) was a missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii and Japan. His descendants carried on the tradition of missionary work, and included several scientists. Life Peter Johnson Gulick was born Mar ...

married his mother's sister Frances "Fanny" Hinckley Thomas Gulick (1798–1883), who had seven children (his cousins) who also became missionaries, including Luther Halsey Gulick (1828–1891) and John Thomas Gulick (1832–1923). He 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. The school was established by P ...

1855–1862, where he was a pitcher on a team called the "Pacifics" playing early games of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

with the sons of

Alexander Cartwright Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. (April 17, 1820 – July 12, 1892) was a founding member of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club in the 1840s. Although he was an inductee of the Baseball Hall of Fame and he was sometimes referred to as a "f ...

. In September 1869 he officially became a citizen of the

. He ran a business as

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

and issued government documents such as marriage licenses. He became the commander of the original

Honolulu Rifles The Honolulu Rifles were the name of two volunteer military companies of the Hawaiian Kingdom. First company In 1857, the First Hawaiian Cavalry, an artillery and infantry company which was originally established in 1852, was renamed the Honolulu ...

, with rank of Captain; this unit unlike its namesake remained loyal to the monarchy until disbanded in 1874. He also later served as adjutant general from 1878. On February 5, 1876, he married Sarepta A. Thompson in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. He was appointed to the cabinet of King

Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Māhinulani Nālaʻiaʻehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, reigning from February 12, 1874, u ...

as Minister of the Interior on August 6, 1883, and served until June 30, 1886. He also served as acting Minister of Finance during the absence of

John Mākini Kapena John Mākini Kapena (October 2, 1843 – October 23, 1887) was a politician, diplomat and newspaper editor who served many political roles in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He served as Governor of Maui from 1874 to 1876, Minister of Finance from 1876 t ...

. It is widely thought that sugar magnate

Claus Spreckels Claus Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) was a German-born American industrialist in California and Hawaii, during the Kingdom of Hawaii, kingdom and Republic of Hawaii, republican periods of the islands' history. He founded or was i ...

had suggested both changes. Both before and after Gulick, Walter M. Gibson acted as Minister of the Interior, while also acting as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and even

Attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. He went back into business, and became a real estate broker. Gulick was appointed again to the post of Minister of the Interior of Queen

Liliʻuokalani Queen 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 th ...

on September 12, 1892, and served until November 1, 1892. He met with Liliʻuokalani and other leaders loyal to her on January 15, 1893, just before the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. In the

1895 Wilcox rebellion The 1895 Wilcox rebellion or the Counter-Revolution of 1895 was a brief war from January 6 to January 9, 1895, that consisted of three battles on the island of Oahu, Republic of Hawaii. It was the last major military operation by royalists who Op ...

, he was tentatively selected to be Minister of Finance in the cabinet, and drafted the new constitution to be used if the plot had succeeded. He and the other leaders were arrested, and put on trial for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

starting January 21, 1895. The defence was led by former attorney general Paul Neumann. Although Gulick denied involvement in plans for military strikes, witnesses testified the group met at his house. He was convicted and first sentenced to death, which on February 23, was reduced to 35 years in prison and a fine. Gulick was part of the last batch of prisoners to be released when the remaining eight prisoners including him and Wilcox were pardoned and released on January 1, 1896. He died November 7, 1897. A street in Honolulu was named Gulick Avenue in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulick, Charles Thomas 1841 births 1897 deaths People from Lacey Township, New Jersey Adjutants General of the Hawaiian Kingdom Hawaiian insurgents and supporters Hawaiian Kingdom interior ministers Hawaiian Kingdom military officers Hawaiian Kingdom politicians Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles People associated with the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom People convicted of treason Prisoners sentenced to death by the Republic of Hawaii Punahou School alumni American emigrants to the Hawaiian Kingdom