October 23, 1832: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions – Letter to Kauikeaouli
In a letter dated October 23, 1832, Rufus Anderson and David Greene, corresponding secretaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), wrote to King Kauikeaouli. The letter explains that Reverend Benjamin Parker, Reverend Lowell Smith, and Lemuel Fuller (a printer) would be arriving on the Mentor, led by Captain Rice.
This aforementioned group was a part of the sixth ABCFM company, which sailed from New London on November 21, 1832, and arrived in Honolulu on May 1, 1833. See Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, Portraits of American Protestant Missionaries to Hawaii 44 (1901) (available online). The voyage took 161 days. Id.
Excerpts from this letter are below, followed by transcripts.
Na Kauikeaouli
Ke Alii o na aina Hawaii
No ka lokomaikai mai o ke Akua e hiki ai i ko makou poe luna Misionary ke hoouna hou aku i na kahuna hai euanelio hou elua, a me ka pai palapala i kou mau aina. O ka inoa o na kahuna, o Beniamina W. Parekera, a me Lowela Smith, a o ka inoa o ka pai palapala, o Lemuela Fulera. Ma ka moku o Menetora e holo ai lakou me Kapena Rice.
E pule anaʻku i malu a i pomaikai hoi kou aupuni, he mau makamaka maua a he mau kauwa no hoi nau iloko o ka euanelio Iesu Kristo.
Na
R. Anderson
D. Greene
[He mau Luna kakau no ka poe luna misionari America]
Na Keena Misonari
Bosetona A.Huipuia
Okatoba 23. 1832