James Bicknell Castle
{{Short description|Hawaiian businessman (1855–1918)}}
{{Infobox person
| image = James Bicknell Castle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1918.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1855|11|27}}
| birth_place = Honolulu, Hawaii
| death_date = {{death date and age|1918|4|5|1855|11|27}}
| death_place =
| spouse = Julia White
| children = Harold Kainalu Long Castle
| parents = Samuel Northrup Castle
Mary Tenney
}}
James Bicknell Castle (November 27, 1855 – April 5, 1918) was a Hawaiian businessman in the times of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Republic of Hawaii and Territory of Hawaii.
Life
James Bicknell Castle was born November 27, 1855, in Honolulu. His father was Samuel Northrup Castle (1808–1894), and mother was Mary Tenney Castle (1819–1907). He attended Punahou School 1867–1873, and then Oberlin College.{{cite book |author= Jonathan Tenney |title=The Tenney family, or, the descendants of Thomas Tenney, of Rowley, Massachusetts, 1638-1890 |url=https://archive.org/details/tenneyfamilyord01tenngoog |orig-year=1891 |year=1904 |publisher=Rumford Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/tenneyfamilyord01tenngoog/page/n484 448]–449 }} He greatly expanded Castle & Cooke in the sugar and railroad industries. He is credited with winning control of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company from Claus Spreckels in 1898, which he sold to Alexander & Baldwin for a large share of their stock.{{cite book |title= The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders |year=1925 |publisher= Honolulu Star-Bulletin |editor= George F. Nellist |url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/castle14bs.txt |chapter= James Bicknell Castle }} This episode resulting in a lawsuit by the former manager of the plantation, William J. Lowrie.{{cite book |title= Lowrie v. Castle et al. Supreme Court of Massachusetts June 21, 1916 |work= The Northeastern reporter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5-4KAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA206 |year=1917 |publisher=West Publishing Company |pages=201–11 }} He bought large amounts of land, such as Kaneohe Ranch.
File:James B. Castle home in Waikiki.jpg
He served as an officer in the Kingdom of Hawaii army in 1890, and was appointed to the Bureau of Immigration. In 1891 he was acting Auditor General, and Collector General of Customs from April 15, 1893, to August 31, 1897. Later in 1897, he served as secretary of the delegation from the Republic of Hawaii sent to Washington, D.C., to lobby for annexation at the request of Lorrin Andrews Thurston.{{cite web |url= http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASHb8ef.dir/Castle,%20James%20Bicknell.jpg |title= Castle, James Bicknell office record |work= state archives digital collections |publisher= state of Hawaii |access-date= 2010-04-23 |archive-date= 2012-03-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120320234557/http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASHb8ef.dir/Castle,%20James%20Bicknell.jpg |url-status= dead }}
During the decade up to 1906, he tried to lure white labor colonists to the Islands. The last failed effort was organized by Peter Demens who offered to bring all Spiritual Christians from Russia, who were immigrating to Canada, to Hawaii, which cost Castle about $30,000.
He built a large house called Kainalu near Diamond Head. When the Honolulu Rapid Transit & Land Co. was in danger of failing, he used his financial resources to keep the effort alive.
Castle married Julia Matilda White (1849–1943), daughter of cotton mill owner Nelson Davis White (1819–1889) in Winchendon, Massachusetts, on November 2, 1879. Their son Harold Kainalu Long Castle (1886–1967) expanded the business and donated land for several educational institutions.{{cite web |url= http://www.kaneoheranch.com/history/timeline.cfm |title= History: Timeline |work= Kaneohe Ranch web site |access-date= 2009-02-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080517112034/http://www.kaneoheranch.com/history/timeline.cfm |archive-date= 2008-05-17 |url-status= dead }} They also had two sons Nelson Northrop (1885) and Kenneth Kingsbury (1888) who both died young.
Castle died April 5, 1918, aged 62. Two days later Benjamin Dillingham died, who married a distant cousin, and partnered in building railroads to the Castle plantations.{{cite news |title= Correspondence from Hawaii: Death of Three Prominent Sugar Men |work=Sugar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MnmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA197 |date= May 1918 |pages=197–198}}
He and his wife are buried in the cemetery at Kawaiahaʻo Church, across the street from where he was born.{{cite web |title= Mission Houses Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii |work= US Genweb archives |author= William Disbro |date= November 6, 2001 |url = http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/honolulu/cemeteries/mission.txt }} James B. Castle High School and the Castle Medical Center are named for him.
=Family tree=
{{Castle Hawaii family tree}}
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, James Bicknell}}
Category:Businesspeople from Hawaii
Category:Punahou School alumni
Category:Oberlin College alumni
Category:Hawaiian Kingdom politicians