Jane Loeau
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Jane Loeau (December 5, 1828 – July 30, 1873) was a Hawaiian chiefess during the
Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian:
ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi Latin epsilon or open E (majuscule: Ɛ, minuscule: ɛ) is a letter of the extended Latin alphabet, based on the lowercase of the Greek letter epsilon (ε). It was introduced in the 16th century by Gian Giorgio Trissino to represent the pronunc ...
, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...
who attended the Chiefs' Children's School, also known as the Royal School.


Early life and education

She was born December 5, 1828, at Waimea,
Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...
, the daughter of High Chief Kalaniulumoku and High Chiefess
Kuini Liliha Kuini Liliha (–1839) was a High Chiefess (aliʻi) and noblewoman who served the Kingdom of Hawaii as royal governor of Oʻahu island. She administered the island from 1829 to 1831 following the death of her husband Boki. Early life She wa ...
. Her mother was the royal governor of
Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...
and was politically powerful during the regency of Kaahumanu. She was descended from
Kahekili II Kahekili II, full name Kahekilinuiʻahumanu, (–1794) was an () of Maui. His name was short for Kāne-Hekili after the Hawaiian god of thunder. Because Kāne-Hekili was believed to be black on one side, Kahekili tattooed one side of his body fr ...
,
Moi of Maui Moi or MOI may refer to: People * Moi (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Moisés Delgado (born 1994), Spanish footballer commonly known as simply Moi * Moisés Rodríguez (born 1997), Spanish footballer commonly known as s ...
, and High Chief
Hoapili Ulumāheihei Hoapili ( – January 3, 1840) was a member of the nobility during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a trusted military and political advisor to King Kamehameha I, known as "Kamehameha the Great". Although trusted with on ...
through her mother. She had a half-sister
Abigail Maheha Abigail Maheha (July 10, 1832 – February 13, 1861) was a Hawaiian chiefess (aliʻi) of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaii. At a young age, she was chosen to attend the Royal School (Hawaii), Chiefs' Children's School (later renamed the Roy ...
. She was adopted or ''
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. Traditionally, ''hān ...
ed'' by Ahukai (Kaukualii).; ; At a young age, she was placed in the Chiefs' Children's School, also known as the Royal School, a select school for the royal children of the highest rank who were eligible to be rulers. Along with her other classmates, she was chosen by
Kamehameha III Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name was Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K ...
to be eligible for the throne of the
Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian:
ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi Latin epsilon or open E (majuscule: Ɛ, minuscule: ɛ) is a letter of the extended Latin alphabet, based on the lowercase of the Greek letter epsilon (ε). It was introduced in the 16th century by Gian Giorgio Trissino to represent the pronunc ...
, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...
. She was one of the first to attend Chiefs' Children's School. Her classmates included her half-sister Abigail Maheha and fourteen other royal cousins. Out of the sixteen children of the school five would rule as monarchs of the kingdom. They were taught by
Amos Starr Cooke Amos Starr Cooke (December 1, 1810 – March 20, 1871) was an American educator and businessman in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was patriarch of a family that influenced Hawaii during the 20th century. Life Amos Starr Cooke was born in Danbury, Co ...
and his wife, Juliette Montague Cooke, to eat, dress, and speak like European or American children. In the classroom students were divided by their age and length of time at the school. At the age of eleven, she was the eldest girl and student at the school and a member of the senior level class. On Sundays it was customary for boys and girls to walk side by side to church; Jane walked beside
Moses Kekūāiwa Moses Kekūāiwa (July 20, 1829 – November 24, 1848) was a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Early life and family Kekūāiwa was born on July 20, 1829, in Honolulu, as noted by American merchant Stephen Reynolds, who ca ...
, the eldest boy at the school and brother of
Alexander Liholiho Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title ''Ke Aliʻi ...
and Lot Kapuaiwa. They were betrothed to one another. In her school days, she was a closed friend of
Bernice Pauahi Bernice Pauahi Pākī Bishop KGCOK RoK (December 19, 1831 – October 16, 1884) was an '' alii'' (noble) of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii and a well known philanthropist. Ancestry, birth and early life Pauahi was born in Hon ...
, who was the only girl at the school around her age. She and Bernice often played on the
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
, teaching the younger girls how to sing and play the piano. Among them was Lydia Kamakaeha, who would be Hawaii's last queen and a great composer. American merchant Gorham D. Gilman visited the Royal School in 1848, after both Jane and Abigail had left the school. He commented on the two sisters' education, declining family rank and inability to support themselves:


Marriage

Loeau was known for her good looks and lively ways. When she turned eighteen she left school. She was originally intended for Moses Kekūāiwa, the eldest of the Kamehameha brothers, but after his expulsion from the school, he had shown no further interest in her. Thus, she was encouraged by the Cookes to break off her betrothal and accept the courting of John Robert Jasper, a young American attorney from
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. Loeau married Jasper on September 2, 1847. The marriage had the sanction of the Privy Council. Their wedding party was held at Chiefs' Children School and was a festive event. Seventy-five people were present, including King Kamehameha III,
Queen Kalama Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili (1817 – September 20, 1870) was a Queen consort of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi alongside her husband, Kamehameha III, Kauikeaouli, who reigned as King Kamehameha III. She chose the baptismal name H ...
, chiefs, chiefesses, the privy council, ministers of state, consuls, missionaries and other foreigners. Her marriage to John Jasper was not a happy one as noted later on by her school teacher Mrs. Cooke in her diary:
Jane's marriage with Mr. Jasper turns out to be a sad affair. He is, and has been, very intemperate and she has not been any better for it, and now he has forbidden any one trusting her on his account. The probability is that they will be divorced....
Their marriage was one of greatest scandals in Honolulu in those days and was a continental source of gossip. As Mrs. Cooke predicted, their marriage eventually ended in divorce, and Jasper died on April 29, 1851. Writing in 1854, United States Commissioner to the Hawaiian Kingdom David L. Gregg painted a negative picture of Loeau and her marriage to Jasper which contrasted with Cooke's account: Loeau married for the second time to Marvin Seger on March 15, 1855. Seger was a Honolulu businessman with a shop on Maunakea Street. This second union also ended in divorce and Loeau petitioned to be able to remarry. She remarried on December 6, 1862, to S. L. Kaelemakule in a ceremony officiated by Reverend Artemas Bishop in Honolulu. Loeau had a son named Paki-liilii Kaelemakule with her third husband.


Later life and death

She later moved to
Lahaina Lahaina (; ) or Lāhainā is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. On the northwest coast of the island of Maui, it encompasses Lahaina town and the Kaanapali, Hawaii, Kaanapali and Kapalua, Hawaii, Kapalua beac ...
, but returned to Honolulu where she lived out the rest of her life in relative obscurity. Loeau died on July 30, 1873, at Puunui, Honolulu. While still considered strong of body, she had been feeling chest pains after bathing and the condition resulted in her early death. Her body was laid to rest in the cemetery at
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. Nat ...
. In a letter to her cousin Peter Kaʻeo, Queen Emma complained about the tastelessness and the lack of respect Loeau, their former classmate, was given in her obituary written by ''Ka Nūhou'', which was only a brief account of her genealogy. The Hawaiian press was much more sympathetic. On August 6, 1873, her husband S. L. Kaelemakule wrote an article along with a '' mele kanaenae'' (traditional Hawaiian chant) on ''Ko Hawaii Ponoi'' in honor of her. In it he described her and their marriage:
We were together for 10 years, 7 months, and 25 days in the covenant of marriage in peace and happiness. We did not leave one another, but it was the angel of heaven who has separated us, and I live with sadness and never-ending regret. She is one of the royal descendants of Hawaii nei, born of alii "
Papa Papa is a word used in many languages as an affectionate term for father. Papa or PAPA may refer to: Geography and geology * Papa, Samoa, a village on the island of Savai'i * Papa, Scotland, various islands * Pápa, a town in Hungary *Papa rock ...
." From ancient times, her rank was of royalty, but she humbled herself, befriended and warmly welcomed newcomers, she was loving, and she was kind in actions and words, and she was a follower of the Lord.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loeau, Jane 1828 births 1873 deaths Royalty of the Hawaiian Kingdom Hawaiian princesses House of Kekaulike Hawaiian adoptees (hānai) People from Kauai