Paul Neumann (Attorney General)

{{Infobox officeholder

|name= Paul Neumann

|image= Paul Neumann2.jpg

|office = Attorney General of the Hawaiian Kingdom

|monarch = Kalākaua

|term_start = December 14, 1883

|term_end = June 30, 1886

|monarch1 = Liliuokalani

|term_start1 = August 29, 1892

|term_end1 = August 30, 1892

|monarch2 = Liliuokalani

|term_start2 = September 12, 1892

|term_end2 = November 1, 1892

|office3 = Member of the House of Nobles of the Hawaiian Kingdom

|term_start3 = 1884

|term_end3 = 1887

|term_start4 = 1892

|term_end4 = 1892

|image_size= 160px

|alt= gentleman in Victorian suit

|occupation= Lawyer, politician, diplomat

|birth_place= Prussia

| birth_date= 1839

|death_date= {{death date and age|1901|7|2|1839}}

|death_place= Honolulu, Hawaii Territory, United States

|spouse= Elisa

|children= 5

|party= Republican

|otherparty= National Reform (Hawaii)

}}

Paul Neumann (1839 – July 2, 1901) was a lawyer, politician, and diplomat in California and the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Background

Born and educated in Prussia, Neumann and his twin brother Edward relocated to California in 1854. The brothers worked in the goldmines, where Paul broke his leg.{{sfn|Mohan|Cosgrave|Clough|1880|pp=3-4}}

Eventually, Edward relocated to New Orleans and Paul moved to San Francisco. He became a lawyer in California around 1864, and was elected to represent San Francisco for three terms in the California State Senate.{{sfn|Mohan|Cosgrave|Clough|1880|pp=3-4}}{{cite book |author=California. Legislature. Senate |title=Journal of the Senate of the State of California |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUFNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA231 |year=1880 |publisher=State Printing Office}}

Hawaii

He worked for fellow-German American Claus Spreckels (1828–1908), who maintained a monopoly of the refining of sugar from Hawaii in California.

Neuman met Hawaiian royalty when they would come to California to be entertained by Spreckels.{{cite news |title= San Francisco: Items of Interest from the Metropolis |newspaper= Sacramento Daily Record-Union |date= October 24, 1881 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014381/1881-10-24/ed-1/seq-3 |access-date= July 19, 2010 }}

Neumann was the Republican Party of California's candidate for the United States House of Representatives in November 1882 for the San Francisco district. However, he was attacked by the San Francisco Chronicle as being a "sugar coated candidate", claiming he's being used by Spreckels, and was defeated in the election. In 1883, Neumann came to the Hawaiian Islands to serve as legal counsel for Spreckels who was now the publisher of the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, first in the fall for a short visit.{{cite book |title=Hawaiian Kingdom 1874-1893, the Kalakaua Dynasty |author= Ralph Simpson Kuykendall |author-link= Ralph Simpson Kuykendall |url= http://www.ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?c=kingdom3&l=en |volume=3 |publisher= University of Hawaii Press |year= 1967 |isbn= 978-0-87022-433-1 |pages=267–268}}

He was one of the first Jewish leaders in the Hawaiian Islands,{{cite web |title= The History of Kona Beth Shalom |work= web site for Congregation Kona Beth Shalom |url= http://www.konabethshalom.org/ourhistoryxx.htm |access-date= June 18, 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726234717/http://www.konabethshalom.org/ourhistoryxx.htm |archive-date= July 26, 2011 }} although in later years he led a more secular life and did not raise his children in the Jewish faith.

Being from Europe, Neumann was comfortable around a monarchy, and made friends with the other Europeans in the islands.{{cite journal |hdl=10524/422 |title=The Queen's "Greek Artillery Fire": Greek Royalists in the Hawaiian Revolution and Counterrevolution |author=Helen G. Chapin |journal=Hawaiian Journal of History |year=1981 |volume=15}} King David Kalākaua and other members of the government depended on loans from Spreckels to support their lifestyles.

Within days of returning, Neumann was admitted to the bar and appointed as attorney general of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and a member of Kalākaua's Privy Council on December 14, 1883.

Walter M. Gibson had been acting as attorney general, even though he had no legal training. The cabinet stayed intact until June 30, 1886, when another combination (except Gibson) was brought in, probably at the suggestion of Spreckels.

Neumann was sometimes attacked by the conservative press for his "bohemianism", including playing Poker with the king, which the missionaries thought was sinful. He had been president of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco

Charles T. Gulick, although related to missionaries, also became a member of the Kalākaua cabinet as Minister of the Interior.{{cite web |url= http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH01e6/502328b2.dir/Gulick,%20Charles%20T.jpg |title= Gulick, Charles T. office record |work= state archives digital collections |publisher= state of Hawaii |access-date= June 18, 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205518/http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH01e6/502328b2.dir/Gulick%2C%20Charles%20T.jpg |archive-date= March 3, 2016 }}

In 1884 Neumann was appointed to the House of Nobles in the kingdom legislature, and the board of health.

He served as envoy to Mexico in 1884, and investigated forming a consular office in San Francisco in 1885. Under the new 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the House of Nobles became an elected office, so he lost his seat, until winning the election of 1892 for one more session.

Queen Lili{{okina}}uokalani appointed him attorney general again on August 29, but he resigned the next day after a motion of no confidence in the legislature, when his scheme for a state lottery was heavily opposed in the legislature. On September 12 he was appointed again and served to November 1, 1892.{{cite web |url=http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH0180/8da9d121.dir/Neumann,%20Paul.jpg |title=Neumann, Paul office record |work=state archives digital collections |publisher=state of Hawaii |access-date=June 17, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192440/http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH0180/8da9d121.dir/Neumann%2C%20Paul.jpg |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}

Image:Trial of 1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii.jpg throne room]]

Neumann became the private attorney of the queen after the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. He was sent to Washington, DC to protest the overthrow and plead for the restoration of the monarchy. After an editorial in the Advertiser offended him, Neumann (who had a wooden leg) attacked new editor Henry Northrop Castle (son of Samuel Northrup Castle) with his cane in December 1893.{{cite news |title= The Ex-Queen's attitude a Surprise: Her Desire to Behead Those Who Deposed Her Has Hurt Her Cause |newspaper= New York Times |date= February 3, 1894 |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/02/11/106897623.pdf |access-date= June 18, 2010 }}

He defended Lili{{okina}}uokalani and other prisoners in a military tribunal following the failed 1895 rebellion against the Republic of Hawaii, where she was convicted of misprision of treason. He advised Lili{{okina}}uokalani to issue a formal abdication, which she did, and the revolutionaries were pardoned.{{cite news |title= Abdication of Queen Liliuokalan: Safety at the Price of a Kingdom, of Little Moment Now for the Cause of the Royalists is a Lost Cause |newspaper= The Morning Call |location= San Francisco |date= February 7, 1895 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94052989/1895-02-07/ed-1/seq-1 |access-date= July 19, 2010 }}

When a circuit judge position opened up, he was passed over for the much younger William Stanley.{{cite news |title= Selection Made: W. F. L. Stanley Appointed Circuit Judge |newspaper= The Hawaiian Gazette |location= Honolulu |date= November 2, 1897 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025121/1897-11-02/ed-1/seq-5/ |access-date= July 19, 2010 }}

After the islands were annexed to the United States in 1898, he became more resigned to the situation, and applied to be the first attorney from Hawaii to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.{{cite news |title= Paul Neumann Here: Did not Plead the Cause of ex-Queen Liluokalani at Washington |newspaper= The San Francisco Call |location= San Francisco |date= February 28, 1899 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1899-02-28/ed-1/seq-10 |access-date= July 19, 2010 }} He did think the Crown Lands of Hawaii had been seized illegally, a case that is still controversial.{{cite news |title= Liluokalani will Ask for her Rights: Her First Visit was for her People, Now on her Own Mission |newspaper= The San Francisco Call |location= San Francisco |date= November 22, 1898 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1898-11-22/ed-1/seq-7 |access-date= July 19, 2010 }}

Although he had no government position, he was accepted in society enough to become toastmaster of the local Masonic Lodge,{{cite news |title= Paul Neumann as Toastmaster: Unity First Sentiment |newspaper= The hawaiian Gazette |location= Honolulu |date=July 5, 1898 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025121/1898-07-05/ed-1/seq-3 |access-date= July 18, 2010 }} and president of the Hawaii Bar Association.{{cite news |title=The Bar Association: Permanently Organized on a Non-Political Basis and the Debatable Resolutions are Withdrawn |newspaper= The Independent |location= Honolulu |date= June 29, 1899 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85047097/1899-06-29/ed-1/seq-3|access-date= July 18, 2010 }}

He represented many of the Chinese victims of the Great Honolulu Chinatown Fire of 1900.

He died July 2, 1901.{{cite news |title= Death list of a day: Paul Neumann |newspaper= New York Times |date= July 9, 1901 |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/07/09/117968460.pdf |access-date= July 17, 2010 }}

At his funeral he was called "one of the most brilliant men who ever set foot on Hawaiian soil".{{cite news |title= Local and General News: The Last Ceremony |newspaper= The Independent |location= Honolulu |date= July 3, 1901 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85047097/1901-07-03/ed-1/seq-3 |access-date= July 18, 2010 }} He was buried in Oahu Cemetery.

Personal life and death

His daughter Eva (1871–1921) married Alfred Fowler (1860–1933) and became a friend of Ezra Pound.{{cite book |title= Ezra Pound and Dorothy Shakespear, their letters, 1909-1914 |editor= A. Walton Litz |publisher= New Directions |year=1984 |isbn= 978-0-8112-0900-7 |page= 344 |url= https://books.google.com/books?ei=NvQaTJfZDYzrnQfvqLC0Cw }}

Son Edouard Neumann graduated from the United States Naval Academy (nominated by California congressman Julius Kahn),{{cite news |title= Of Interest to Jewish Readers |work= The New Era Illustrated Magazine |volume=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3spAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA436 |date= December 1903 |pages=435–436}} but was killed in a fire during target practice on the {{USS|Missouri|BB-11|6}} on April 13, 1904. Son Paul Neumann Jr. studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and lived in London.{{cite news |title= Paul Neumann's Son is Killed on the Missouri: Turret Gun Explosion Kills Twenty Nine Men |agency= Associated Press |newspaper= The hawaiian Gazette |location= Honolulu |date= April 15, 1904 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025121/1904-04-15/ed-1/seq-1 |access-date= July 18, 2010 }}

Neumann's wife Elisa also moved to London, as did daughter Lily Neumann who married Robert MacDonald Bird.

Other daughters Anita A. Neumann married Herman T. Focke in Honolulu in 1895, and Inez Sophie Neumann married William F. C. Hasson in 1891{{cite web |url= http://ulukau.org/gsdl2.7/cgi-bin/algene?e=q-0algene&a=d&c=algene&d=D10-000157 |title= Oahu marriage record (1832–1910) |work=state archives digital collections |publisher=state of Hawaii |access-date= June 18, 2010 }} who moved to Annapolis, Maryland.

His wife Elisa went to Acapulco, Mexico in 1908 to settle the estate of her mother and stepfather who had both died. On a steamer to San Francisco she died after jumping overboard.{{cite news |title= Mrs. E. Neumann Jumps Overboard: Prominent Woman Leaps into Sea to Her Death from Steamer; Daughter Comes from Honolulu and is Greeted with Sad news |newspaper= The San Francisco Call |location= San Francisco |date= September 8, 1908 |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1908-09-08/ed-1/seq-14 |access-date= July 19, 2010 }}

References

Bibliography

{{cite book |last1=Mohan |first1=Hugh J. |last2=Cosgrave |first2=John P. |last3=Clough |first3=E. H. |title=Pen Pictures of Our Representative Men |date=1880 |publisher=H. A. Weaver's Valley Press Print. House |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009036738|via=HathiTrust}}

External links

{{cite book |title=All about Hawaii. The recognized book of authentic information on Hawaii, combined with Thrum's Hawaiian annual and standard guide |date=1891 |publisher=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |pages=92–97 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000598560 |format=(original from University of Michigan)|via=HathiTrust}}

:"A List of All the Cabinet Ministers Who Have Held Office in the Hawaiian Kingdom"

{{cite web |last1=Woods |first1=Roberta |title=LibGuides: Hawai'i Legal Research: Attorney General Opinions |url=https://law-hawaii.libguides.com/hawaii/attorneygeneral |website=law-hawaii.libguides.com}}

:Includes a list of Attorneys General for the Kingdom of Hawaii, their salaries and budgets

{{succession box| title= Kingdom of Hawaii Attorney General| before= Walter M. Gibson | after= Walter M. Gibson | years= December 1883 – June 1886 }}

{{succession box| title= Kingdom of Hawaii Attorney General| before=Hermann A. Widemann |after= Charles F. Creighton | years= August 29, 1892 – August 30, 1892
September 12, 1892 – November 1, 1892 }}

Category:1839 births

Category:1901 deaths

Category:American Jews

Category:American lawyers

Category:Republican Party California state senators

Category:California Republicans

Category:Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council

Category:Hawaiian Kingdom attorneys general

Category:Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles

Category:People associated with the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Category:History of the San Francisco Bay Area

Category:Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia