Hermann A. Widemann

{{Short description|German-born American businessman, judge and politician (1822–1899)}}

{{Infobox person

| image = Hermann A. Widemann, photograph by J. J. Williams (cropped).jpg

| caption = Widemann, {{Circa|1880–1890s}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1822|12|24}}

| birth_place = Hanover, Germany

| death_date = {{death date and age|1899|2|7|1822|12|24}}

| death_place = Honolulu, Hawaii, US

| spouse = Mary Kaumana Pilahiuilani

| children = 13

| parents =

| occupation = Judge, Businessman, Politician

}}

{{multiple image

| footer = Photograph of Widemann and family, 1886 (left), and the Widemanns' Residence, Honolulu, 1900 (right).

| align = right

| image1 = Widemann1886Family1.jpg

| width1 = 200

| alt1 = Photograph of Widemann and family, 1886

| image2 = Widemann's Residence, Honolulu, 1900.jpg

| width2 = 212

| alt2 = Photograph of Widemann's Residence in Honolulu, 1900

}}

File:Hermann A. Widemann and family, photograph by Imperial Studio (3).jpg

Hermann Adam Widemann (December 24, 1822 – February 7, 1899) was a German-born American businessman, judge and politician.

Life

Widemann was born in Hanover, Germany on December 24, 1822.{{cite news |title= Hawaiians Mourn: Herman A. Widemann Dies After a Prolonged Sickness |newspaper= The Independent |location= Honolulu |date= February 7, 1899 |page= 3 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85047097/1899-02-07/ed-1/seq-3 |access-date= June 24, 2010 }} As a teenager, he went to work on a whaling ship. He came to live in the Hawaiian Islands in 1846, after stopping in 1843. He came briefly to the California Gold Rush in 1849, but returned after his companion John von Pfister was murdered.{{rp|149}} He married a native Hawaiian Kaumana "Mary" Kealaimoku{{Cite news |date=February 28, 1901 |title=Mrs. Defries High Chiefess |pages=10 |work=The Pacific Commercial Advertiser |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85047084/1901-02-28/ed-1/seq-10/#date1=1770&index=0&rows=20&words=Kaumana+Kealaimoku+Widemann&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Hawaii&date2=1963&proxtext=Kaumana+kealaimoku+Widemann&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 }} in 1854 and lived in Līhu{{okina}}e.{{cite web|title=Marriage Record Book for island of Kauai |url=http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/vitalsta/index/assoc/HASH018e/2f442b21.dir/doc.pdf |access-date=June 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628105515/http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/vitalsta/index/assoc/HASH018e/2f442b21.dir/doc.pdf |archive-date=June 28, 2010 }} He became sheriff of the island of Kaua{{okina}}i in 1854, was elected to the house of representatives in the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1855, and in 1863 appointed its circuit judge.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183837/http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH015e/1ccf4a86.dir/Widemann%2C%20Hermann%20A.jpg |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url=http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH015e/1ccf4a86.dir/Widemann,%20Hermann%20A.jpg |title=Widemann, Hermann A. office record |work=state archives digital collections |publisher=state of Hawaii |access-date=June 23, 2010 |url-status=dead }} He started one of the first sugarcane plantations in Hawaii known as Grove Farm. During the American Civil War he supported the Confederate States.{{cite book |title= Kauai: The Separate Kingdom |author= Edward Joesting |publisher= University of Hawaii Press |year=1988 |isbn= 978-0-8248-1162-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GfWj0Pt3cwoC }}{{rp|180}}

After leasing Grove Farm to its manager George Norton Wilcox{{cite web |title= History |work= Grove Farm web site |url= http://www.grovefarm.com/history |access-date= June 23, 2010}} in 1865, he moved to Honolulu to work in the capital. On July 10, 1869, he was appointed to the kingdom's supreme court, despite never having any formal law school training. On February 18, 1874, he was appointed to the cabinet as minister of the interior until May 28, 1874, as well as on the Privy Council, the board of education, commissioner of crown lands, president of the bureau of immigration, and board of health. In 1878, he started the Waianae Sugar Company in the Wai{{okina}}anae district of O{{okina}}ahu island.{{cite web |title= Cultural History of Wai'anae |publisher= State of Hawaii |url= http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/czm/initiative/wec/html/people/culthist.htm |access-date= June 24, 2010 }}

In 1879, H.A. Widemann (President), S. G. Wilder, (Vice President), and C. O. Berger founded the first telephone company in the Hawaiian Islands. It was incorporated under the name of "The Hawaiian Bell Telephone Co." and on December 30, 1880, began providing service to the City of Honolulu. It Started with thirty instruments in operation and would quickly grow.

Widemann and Berger would leave The Hawaiian Bell Telephone Co. to found The Mutual Telephone Co. in May 1883.{{Cite news |date=July 23, 1883 |title=MUTUAL TELEPHONE CO. |pages=2 |work=The Daily Bulletin |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016412/1883-07-23/ed-1/seq-2/ }} A charter was granted in August of the same year. A new plant was built and in March 1885 operation began with 100 subscribers. The installation of The Mutual Telephone Co.'s plant made Honolulu one of the first, if not the first, city in the world to have a dual telephone system.

The fight was on for ten years, until August 2, 1894, when the consolidation of the two companies was effected by The Mutual Telephone Co. acquiring the control of The Hawaiian Bell Telephone Co.{{Cite book |last=Balch |first=J.A. |title=Annual Report of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce for the year ending August 16th, 1911 |publisher=Honolulu, The Hawaiian Gazette Co. Ltd. |year=1912 |edition=1st |pages=76, 77 |language=English}}

On February 25, 1891, he was appointed as Minister of Finance to Queen Lili{{okina}}uokalani, but had to resign two weeks later on March 10. He was temporarily replaced by Samuel Parker, and then John Mott-Smith. After Mott-Smith was sent to Washington, D.C., to attempt to negotiate a trade treaty, Parker served again briefly until Widemann resumed his duties as minister of finance. He also filled in briefly as Attorney General from July 27 to August 29, 1892.

After the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Widemann was sent with Parker and John Adams Cummins to Washington in an attempt to get international support for its restoration. He then continued to London and Berlin but was never successful.

Widemann was interviewed by U.S. Commissioner James H. Blount in preparing his Blount Report on May 20, 1893.{{cite web |title= Blount Report: Affairs in Hawaii |url= http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/annexation/blount/br1001.html |pages=1001–1004 |access-date= June 23, 2010 }} He was the first to experiment with the Guatemalan variety of coffea tree, which turned out to be well-adapted to higher elevations; it became the most popular variety through modern times.{{cite news |title=Ethnic Groups and the Coffee Industry in Hawaii |author=Baron Goto |year=1982 |volume=16 |publisher=Hawaiian Historical Society |pages= 112–124 |hdl = 10524/432}}

He died February 7, 1899.{{cite encyclopedia |title= Part 2 Glossary (T-Z) |encyclopedia= Hawaiian Encyclopedia |url= http://www.hawaiianencyclopedia.com/part-2-glossary-t-z.asp |access-date= June 23, 2010 }}{{cite news |title=H. A. Widemann: Resolutions of Respect in Supreme Court: Feeling Eulogies Spoken |newspaper= Hawaiian Gazette |date= March 21, 1899 |page= 1 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025121/1899-03-21/ed-1/seq-1 |access-date= June 23, 2010 }} After a funeral in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, he was buried in Oahu Cemetery. He was survived by two sons and seven daughters.

His daughter Wilhelmina Widemann organized the first women's suffrage club in the Territory of Hawaii in 1912. His son Carl Widemann married Helen Umiokalani Parker, daughter of Samuel Parker, in July 1899.{{cite news |work= The Story of Maui Royalty: The Parkers of Waimea |author= Kapiikauinamoku |title=Second Son of Parkers, Palmer, Died As Youth |date= May 23, 1956 |url= http://ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?e=q-0somr-000Sec--11en&a=d&d=D0.4.27&toc=0 }}{{cite news |title= A Beautiful Wedding |newspaper= The Independent |location= Honolulu |date= July 21, 1899 |page= 4 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85047097/1899-07-21/ed-1/seq-4 |access-date= June 23, 2010 }} A street is named for him in Mākaha at {{coord| 21|28|15|N| 158|13|1|W| type:landmark_region:US-HI| display=inline| name= Widemann Street }}.

References

{{succession box| title= Kingdom of Hawaii Minister of Interior| before= Edwin Oscar Hall | after= W. L. Green | years= February 1874 – May 1874 }}

{{succession box| title= Kingdom of Hawaii Minister of Finance | before=Godfrey Brown |after= Samuel Parker | years= February 1891 – March 1891 }}

{{succession box| title= Kingdom of Hawaii Minister of Finance | before= Samuel Parker | after= E. C. MacFarlane | years= January 1892 – September 1892 }}

{{succession box| title= Kingdom of Hawaii Attorney General| before=William A. Whiting |after= Paul Neumann | years= July 1892 – August 1892 }}

Category:1822 births

Category:1899 deaths

Category:Hawaiian Kingdom politicians

Category:Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Representatives

Category:Hawaiian Kingdom Interior Ministers

Category:Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council

Category:Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles

Category:Hawaiian Kingdom Finance Ministers

Category:Hawaiian Kingdom attorneys general

Category:Businesspeople from Hawaii

Category:German emigrants