John Tamatoa Baker

John Tamatoa Baker, also given as John Timoteo Baker, (1852 – September 7, 1921) was a Hawaiian politician, businessman, and rancher who served many political posts in the Kingdom of Hawaii, including Governor of the Island of Hawaii from 1892 to 1893. Baker and his brother became the models for the Kamehameha Statues.

John Tamatoa Baker
John Tamatoa Baker in Western dress
Governor of Hawaii Island
In office
February 8, 1892 – February 25, 1893
MonarchLiliuokalani
Preceded byUlulani Lewai Baker
Personal details
Born1852
Kailupe, Oahu, Kingdom of Hawaii
DiedSeptember 7, 1921 (aged 68–69)
Pauoa Valley, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
Resting placeHomelani Memorial Park, Hilo
NationalityKingdom of Hawaii
United States
Political partyHawaiian National
Spouse(s)Ululani Lewai Baker
ParentsAdam C. Baker
Luka Pruvia
OccupationPolitician, businessman, rancher

Early life and family

Baker was born in 1852 at Kailupe, on the island of Oahu,[1] of part Hawaiian, Tahitian, and English descent. His parents were Adam C. Baker, an English sea captain, and Luka Pruvia, daughter of an early Tahitian missionary to Hawaii. His adopted brother was Robert Hoapili Baker.[2][3][note 1] He was educated at Lahainaluna School, an institution founded by the American Protestant missionaries on the island of Maui.[1]

He married the High Chiefess Ululani Lewai Peleiōhōlani, who served as Governess of the Island of Hawaii from 1886 to 1888.[2]

Modeling the Kamehameha Statue

In 1879, Baker and his brother Robert Hoapili Baker became the model for the Kamehameha Statues by American sculptor Thomas Ridgeway Gould.[4] The statue was commissioned by King Kalākaua in honor of the centennial of James Cook's landing in the Hawaiian Islands. The original statue was cast in 1880 but lost at sea. A second cast was installed in 1883 at Aliʻiōlani Hale while the recovered original cast was installed at Kapaʻau, Kohala, the birthplace of Kamehameha I. According to Walter M. Gibson, "[t]he artist has copied closely the fine physique of [Robert] Hoapili [Baker]...and it presents a noble illustration and a correct type of superior Hawaiian manhood". Two photographs of John modeling as Kamehameha survive, one in its original form and another in the form of a composite photograph with the bare legs of a Hawaiian fisherman.[4]

Political career

Running as a member of the Hawaiian National Party, Baker was elected to the House of Representative, the lower house of the legislature of the kingdom. He sat in on the legislative assembly of 1886 and 1890. King Kalākaua appointed him as high sheriff of the Island of Hawaii in 1886 at the time of his wife's appointment as Governess. He also served as a member of the Privy Council of Kalākaua and his successor Queen Liliuokalani.[2][5][6] On March 14, 1891, he was appointed to the staff of Queen Liliuokalani and was elevated to the rank of Colonel.[7] The Royal Governorship of Hawaii Island held originally by his wife Ululani had been abolished by the legislature after the Bayonet Constitution. In 1892, Liliuokalani revived this political position and appointed Baker as Governor of the Island of Hawaii. He served from February 8, 1892 to February 25, 1893. After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the Provisional Government of Hawaii passed an act abolishing the island governorships again; this act passed on February 27 and went into effect on February 28.[2][8] Baker was an anti-annexationist.[9]

1907 travels in the Pacific

In 1907, Baker journeyed throughout the Pacific and to Asia. He visited Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, the Philippines and Japan. During his travels, he met and conversed with many indigenous leaders and colonial government officials including Tongan King George Tupou II, Queen Makea Takau Ariki of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.[10][11] Historian Lorenz Gonschor noted that Baker's voyage was "far more than a tourist venture" and "was an act of quasi-diplomacy in the name of the then US-occupied Hawaiian Kingdom".[12]

Later life and death

Baker became a successful cattle rancher and businessman in Hilo on the island of Hawaii. He established Puʻu ʻŌʻō Ranch at Piʻihonua and at one time, raised six hundred head of cattle including some longhorns.[2][13]

During the funeral ceremonies in 1917 for Queen Liliuokalani, he helped carry the former queen's crown jewels and orders during the funeral procession from Iolani Palace to her burial at Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii.[14] Baker died on September 7, 1921, at the residence of Elizabeth Booth, in the Pauoa Valley. He was buried at the Homelani Memorial Park in Hilo, Hawaii.[15][16]

  • Original studio image wearing undergarment
  • Photograph of a Native Hawaiian fisherman
  • Compositve image with bare legs

Notes
  1. Different sources referred to them as brothers, half-brothers or referred to Hoapili as an adopted member of the Baker family.

References

Citations

  1. "Another Historic Character of Old Hawaii Passes". The Honolulu Advertiser. Honolulu. September 8, 1921. p. 9.
  2. Karpiel 1999, p. 209
  3. Kekoolani, Dean. "John Tamatao Baker (I) (Timothy)". Kekoolani Genealogy of the Descendants of the Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  4. Adler 1969, pp. 89, 98; Bacchilega 2011, pp. 96–97; Rose 1988, pp. 131–134; Charlot, Jean (July 1969). "Letter To Jacob Adler On The Statue Of Kamehameha By Thomas R. Gould" (PDF). Jean Charlot Foundation. Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Dekneef, Matthew (June 10, 2016). "Two Hawaiian Brothers Who Modeled For The Iconic Kamehameha Statue". Hawaiʻi Magazine. Honolulu. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  5. "Baker, John T. office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  6. Hawaii & Lydecker 1918, pp. 156, 178; Kuykendall 1967, p. 271
  7. "By Authority". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. March 16, 1891. p. 2.
  8. Newbury 2001, pp. 16, 29–30; An Act To Abolish The Office Of Governor. Laws of His Majesty Kalakaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu: Gazette Publishing Company. August 23, 1888. p. 101.; An Act To Establish A Governor On Each Of The Islands Of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai. Laws of His Majesty Kalakaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu: Gazette Publishing Company. November 14, 1890. pp. 159–160.; "Local and General". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. February 9, 1892. p. 3.; "By Authority". The Daily Bulletin. Honolulu. February 8, 1892. p. 2.; Act 19 – An Act to Repeal an Act Entitled 'An Act to Establish a Governor on Each of the Islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai'. Laws of the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu: Robert Grieve, Steam Book And Job Printer. February 27, 1893. p. 44.
  9. "Annexation in Kau". The Daily Bulletin. Honolulu. June 17, 1893. p. 2.
  10. Cook 2018, pp. 160–221.
  11. Cook 2011, pp. 335–395.
  12. Gonschor 2019, p. 162.
  13. Langlas, Charles; Wolforth, Thomas R.; Head, James (April 1999). The Saddle Road Corridor: An Archaeological Inventory Survey and Traditional Cultural Property Study for the Hawai'i Defense Access Road A-AD-6(1) and Saddle Road (SR 200) Project. p. 37.
  14. Hodges 1918, p. 60
  15. "Governor Baker Dies". The Maui News. Wailuku. September 9, 1921. p. 3.
  16. Grave Marker of John Tamatoa Baker. Hilo, Hawaii: Homelani Memorial Park.

Bibliography

Further reading
  • Raymond, Rebecca Copp; Martin, Blanche R. The Baker Clan. Santa Rosa, CA: Cleek/Print. OCLC 792897738.
Government offices
Vacant
Title last held by
Ululani Lewai Baker		 Governor of Hawaii Island
1892–1893		 Position abolished
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