William Henry Cornwell (1843 - 1903)

Born 30 May 1843 in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Helen Blanche (MacFarlane) Cornwell — married 31 Oct 1870 in Honolulu, Oahu, Kingdom of Hawaii

Descendants

Died 18 Nov 1903 at age 60 in Waikapu, Maui, Hawaii Territory, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bill Hogoboom [send private message]

Biography

William Cornwell is Notable.

William was the son of Henry Cornwell and Adelia (Louzada) Cornwell. He died at Waikapu Ranch, according to his obit in the Hawaiian Gazette.

He had three wives:

1) Helewaie Piena, and 2) Helen Blanche McFarlane, who he married on 31 Oct 1870, and 3) Mrs. Josephine Colvln in Honolulu in Dec. 1902.

William was also called William Henry Cornwell, Jr.

By his first wife he had:

1) Katie C. Cornwell 2) James Kaipe Louzada Cornwell born 2 May 1869 in Waikapu, Maui, Hawaii James died 12 July 1964 in Bronson County, Kansas. He is buried in Bronson Cemetery, Bronson, Bourbon County, Kansas.

By his second wife he had:

1) William Henry Cornwell III born 2 Aug 1875 in Hawaii 2) Katherine Lorita Cornwell born 2 Sep 1879 in Waikapu, Maui, Hawaii 3) Mrs. J. S. Walker (?) 4) Mrs. A. A. Braymer (?)

By his third wife he had:

No issue.

Hawaiian Gazette, Friday, Nov 20, 1903

COL. WM. H. CORNWELL DIES AT WAIKAPU RANCH

Death came suddenly and unexpectedly to Col. William H. Cornwell at 6:20 o'clock yesterday morning at his home at Walkapu, Maui. Before even his Illness was known in Honolulu a wireless telegram arrived announcing the death of Mr. Cornwell to his relatives in this city. The telegram gave heart disease as the cause of death, although friends in Honolulu always believed Col. Cornwell to be a sufferer from acute dyspepsia. Death came very suddenly, Mr. Cornwell being ill little more than an hour. His wife and son were at his death bed.

MR. CORNWELL'S LIFE.

William H. Cornwell was born In Brooklyn, New York, sixty-one years ago. He came to Honolulu when a boy of fifteen years of age, having received his early education in New York. The deceased was the son of the late Henry Cornwell. The elder Cornwell came to Hawaii with his two sons in the latter fifties. His brother-in-law James Louzada, was already here and it was at his request that the Cornwells came to the Islands. Louzada owned the large ranch Interests in Waimea, Hawaii, better known as the Puuloa Sheep Ranch, adjoining the Parker ranch. This ranch was later purchased by Col. Macfarlane from W. L. Greene and Frank Spencer who bought it from Louzada. After this sale the elder Cornwell, in partnershlp with Louzada, started the Waikapu sugar plantation on Maui, which probably was the first plantation on that island. Cornwell and Louzada were very successful, much of their success being due to the late Colonel Cornwell who for many years was employed as manager of the property. This plantation was followed very shortly by the Haiku, Makee, and Campbell plantations, natlve labor at that time being obtainable at six dollars per month, while sugar sold in San Franclsco at from ten to twelve cents per pound. In 1876 Col. Cornwell, with Col. G. W. Macfarlane, purchased the plantation, the elder Cornwell at that time retiring from business. With the plantation Cornwell and Macfarlane also acquired an immense tract of 12,000 acres known as the Great Waikapu Commons, which Claus Spreckels afterwards purchased from the partners, and with the Walluku Commons started the big Spreckels plantation. To develop the property Spreckels had to acquire large water rights from King Kalakaua and in doing so he started the first trouble between the King and his cabinet, ending in Kalakaua dismissing his ministers, who opposed the grant, a prerogative the King then had. Col. Cornwell was a close adherent of the Spreckels, and was well liked by Claus Spreckels, who always entertained Cornwell upon his visits to San Franclsco. John D. Spreckels and Samuel Parker were always said to be Cornwell's most Intimate friends. Later Cornwell sold his interest In the Waikapu plantation to the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co., while Macfarlane retained his share, thus causing the famous million dollar law suit. After the sale of his share in the plantatlon, Cornwell leased a large tract of land at Kula, Maui, from King Kalakaua and began the raising of stock on an extensive scale, a business he managed most succesfully up to the time of his death.

HIS FRIENDSHIP FOR KALAKAUA.

Col. Cornwell early formed a friendship for Kalakaua which endured until the latter's death, and funny stories are told of the regal entertainments that the two gave each other, the King entertaining Cornwell in Honolulu and Cornwell giving grand affairs for the King at Waikapu. In 1886 Cornwell was appointed a member of the King's staff and during the revolution of the following year he entered politics and remained a staunch supporter of Kalakaua and later of Liliuokalani. In 1890 he was elected a member of the House of Nobles for a four-year term and in the years that followed took an active part in the events which led up to the deposing of the Queen and the formation of the Provisional Govern ment. On Nov. 1, 1892, the Queen named a new cabinet and sent In Cornwell's name as Minister of Finance. This Cabinet lasted but long enough to be voted out of existence by the Legislature on that same day. On January 13, 1903, he became a member of the Parker Cabinet, the one which later surrendered to the new provisional government on the seventeenth of January, four days after it had been formed.

CORNWELL A DEMOCRAT.

Although a staunch supporter of the Queen, Cornwell accepted the conditions which came with the annexation of the Islands to the United States. He then became a Democrat and attended the National Democratic Convention of 1900 as a delegate from Hawaii. Later he became national committeeman for Hawaii, and during the last legislative campaign at the request of Col. Blackburn of Kentucky, he made an effort to unite the Democrats and Home Rule parties in Hawaii. In 1870 Col. Cornwell was married to Miss Blanche Macfarlane. Three children survive of that union, Mrs. J. S. Walker and Mrs. A. A. Braymer of Honolulu and W. H. Cornwell, Jr., of Maui. His wife died about fifteen years ago and last December Mr. Cornwell was married to Mrs. Josephine Colvln in Honolulu. She was with him at the time of his death.

Mr. Cornwell was a great lover of horse flesh. For a number of years he was president of the Hawaiian Jockey Club and one of its charter members. He imported and bred many harness and running horses, among them being "May D" "Hancock," "Nisa," "Garfield," "W. W. Wood," "Lord Brock." "Venus," "Gartalene," the flying "Ahuimanu," and many others. His racing colors were well known as the silver gray and cardinal maltese cross. At his Sacramento River ranch in California he kept a good stable.

Note: Other historical records and deeds seem to indicate that James Louzada began the sugar cane plantation prior to the Cornwells joining him. A news artical talked about him ordering some of the machines involved very early on, and no mention is made of his widow Kapuu, in the above article, from who the Cornwells purchased some of the Louzada's half of the properties, after the famous law suit mentioned. Copies of some of the historic deeds and documents and law suits records are in the hands of the Louzada descendants.

Sources

• Wikipedia
• findagrave
• Obituary The Hawaiian star., November 18, 1903, from Library of Congress
• "Married," The Friend (Honolulu, Hawaii), 1 December 1870, p. 109, col. 2; digital images, The Hawaiian Mission Houses Digital Collections (http://hmha.missionhouses.org/ : accessed 12 April 2022). Archived on the Internet Archive WayBack Machine. [1]