► King Kalakaua Intervenes

Excerpt from The Honolulu Star Bulletin
Clarice B. Taylor's Tales About Hawaii
June 30, 1953

NAME IS CHANGED BY KING KALAKAUA

Hidden Alii, No. 14

     Kalilioku Piianaia found her Chinese husband to be a perfect partner except for one thing. He wanted to make his oldest boy, Abraham, a Chinese gentleman.

     Akuna had all the virtues of a Chinese husband. He was a good provider, he cooked, tended the children and kept the family well dressed. When farming failed on Lanai,he brought his family back to Honolulu and engaged in business.

     By the time Abraham was entering his teens, Akuna had made enough money to go back to China and live as a Chinese gentleman.

     Kalilioku did not want to go to China. Akuna tried to talk to her into allowing him to return with just one boy, Abraham. He told her she could keep the other two boys and three girls.

KING KALAKAUA ACTS

     The distracted mother turne to King Kalakaua with her problem. She begged him to stop her husband from taking the boy out of Hawaii.

     Kalakaua agreed to forbid the boy leaving for China. He went further, he said he would protect all the children by officially changing their name to Piianaia instead of Akuna.

     And that is how it happens that the Piianaia children have their mother's name instead of their father's. In some obituaries the members of the family were identified as the son or daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Piianaa Akuna. 

     Akuna took the King's decision with grace. He gave up returning to China and lived in Honolulu with a son to a ripe old age. He was almost 90 when he died in the 1900s.

SENT TO ENGLAND

     Having kept Abraham Piianaia in Hawaii, King Kalakaua began to take interest in the bright young man. When he attained funds to send young Hawaiians to England and Europe to be educated, Abraham Piianaia was among the group. A friend John Lovell, was sent at the same time and returned at the same time.

     When he returned from England, Abrahama became Abraham St. Chad Piianaia as has been told before in this story. 

     During the residence at St. Chad College, Abraham St. Chad Piianaia made friends with an Englishman, Leopold Blackman. The friendship continued after Piianaia returned to Hawaii. 

     Eventually Mr. Blackman came to Hawaii and settled her. He became a writer on articles about Hawaiiana.

Next: The Weddng

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: https://familysearch.org/patron/v2/TH-300-43958-0-84/dist.pdf?ctx=ArtCtxPublic