John Harris Soper

File:John Harris Soper.jpg

John Harris Soper (1846–1944) was Marshal of the Kingdom of Hawaii during the period of 1884-86 and 1888-90.

He was born November 17, 1846, in Plymouth, Devon, England to Thomas Harris Soper and Mary Kipling Soper.

A military man, he became Commander-in-chief of military forces of the Provisional Government of Hawaii in 1893; Adjutant General and Chief of Staff during the period of 1894-1907; and retired as Brigadier General of the National Guard of Hawaii in 1907, having previously served in the California National Guard.{{cite web|url=http://www.ngef.org/index.asp?bid=79|title=Monarchs to Missiles: A 75-Year History of Hawaii's National Guard|last=Follows|first=Ronald G.|publisher=National Guard Educational Foundation|access-date=11 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002170948/http://www.ngef.org/index.asp?bid=79|archive-date=2 October 2011}} Also a businessman, he was President of Hawaiian News Company in Honolulu; and also managed Soper, Wright & Company, a sugar plantation, on ʻŌʻōkala, Hawaii.{{cite book|last=Carroll|first=Rick|title=Hawaiʻi's best spooky tales 3: more true local spine-tinglers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MGhIhtncVUC&pg=PA46|access-date=10 December 2011|date=September 1999|publisher=Bess Press|isbn=978-1-57306-100-1|pages=46–}}{{cite book|last=Dye|first=Bob|title=Hawaiʻi chronicles: island history from the pages of Honolulu magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CdzAAAAMAAJ|access-date=10 December 2011|date=July 1996|publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1829-6|page=198}}

He served as honorary vice-president of the Societe des Sauveteurs du Dernier Adieu; and was a member of the Hawaiian Lodge No. 21, F. & A. M. Soper married Mary Elizabeth Wundenberg at Vallejo, California, in 1871; they had five children.{{cite book|last=Siddall|first=John William|title=Men of Hawaii: being a biographical reference library, complete and authentic, of the men of note and substantial achievement in the Hawaiian Islands|url=https://archive.org/details/menhawaiibeinga00siddgoog|access-date=11 December 2011|edition=Public domain|year=1917|publisher=Honolulu Star-Bulletin|pages=[https://archive.org/details/menhawaiibeinga00siddgoog/page/n218 247]}}

Soper died July 26, 1944, in Honolulu.{{cite book|last=White|first=James Terry|title=The National cyclopaedia of American biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvspAQAAMAAJ|year=1965|publisher=J. T. White|page=152}}

File:Disarming Liliuokalani's Household Guards.jpg's Household Guard being disarmed by Col. Soper following the overthrow of the monarchy in January, 1893.]]