S. C. Allen

Samuel Clesson Allen (May 17, 1831 – May 13, 1903), known professionally as S. C. Allen, was a wealthy businessman in the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Territory of Hawaii. He was the namesake and nephew of Massachusetts politician Samuel Clesson Allen and a cousin to Hawaiian diplomat Elisha Hunt Allen. The bark S. C. Allen, and Port Allen on Kauai were named in his honor.

Background

He was born in New Salem, Massachusetts and raised in Bangor, Maine, the son of Frederick H. Allen. After receiving his basic education, he was briefly employed by Wilkinson, Stetson & Co. in Boston. The Allen family had a record of government service in both the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii. His cousin Elisha Hunt Allen (1804–1883) was United States Minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii at the time S. C. relocated to the islands in 1850. He was the namesake of Minister Allen's father, US Congressman Samuel Clesson Allen (1772–1842).[1] Elisha's son William Fessenden Allen (1831–1906) would serve on the staffs of Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and Kalākaua, as well as on the Advisory Council of the Provisional Government of Hawaii and the Executive Council of the Republic of Hawaii.[2]

Business
There was probably no industry of the Territory that he was not connected with in some way. He was essentially a merchant and trader with keen insight and almost unerring judgement. Mr. Allen neither sought nor cared for official honors.

The Hawaiian Star[3]

After arriving in Hawaii, he used the name S. C. Allen professionally, and entered into a mercantile partnership with William A. Aldrich[4] and John Smith Walker.[5] In 1875, he and his brother-in-law Mark P. Robinson formed the Allen & Robinson Lumber Company and engaged in the operation of inter-island sailing ships.[6]

Allen's business enterprises extended to the sugar industry in Hawaii. He was one of the directors of C. Brewer & Co.,[7] which commissioned the New England Shipbuilding Corporation of Bath, Maine to build the bark (sailing ship) S. C. Allen. The ship was launched May 8, 1888, and sailed from Boston on June 27. After a sea route that passed Melbourne, Australia, the ship arrived in Honolulu on January 5, 1889.[8] It was partially gutted in 1913 in Honolulu Harbor, by a fire believed to have been caused by a carelessly tossed lit cigarette. The ship was eventually rebuilt.[9]

Death and estate

In his later years, he lost his vision and was dependent on family members for his mobility.[10] When S. C. died in 1903, he left an estate valued at $2,454,464.59 (Hawaiian dollars).[11] The bulk of it was left in trust to wife Bathsheba, Mark P. Robinson, Joseph O. Carter (confidant and legal advisor to Liliʻuokalani) and Paul Muhlendorf (VP of Allen & Robinson) and their heirs. His wife had unrestricted access to the use of the estate's assets. The individual bequests made in the will included immediate family and distant relatives, close friends and employees, and public institutions.[1]

S. C. and Bathsheba had no natural children of their own, but on November 12, 1877, they formally adopted George C. Allen (1868–1925), aka George F. Allen, aka George Clesson Fyfe Allen. In his will, S. C. nullified the adoption, leaving him $1 and disinheriting him from any claim to the estate. Citing George as having been in non-adherence to the signed Articles of Adoption, George was asked to sign a legal document relinquishing his rights to the estate.[12][13]

Port Allen on Kauai was originally named ʻEleʻele Landing. In 1909, terminal owner Kauai Railway renamed it for Allen.[14][15]

Extended family

The first Allen to become related to Hawaiian royalty through marriage, albeit indirectly, was William Fessenden Allen who wed Cordelia Church Bishop (1837–1912), a cousin of Charles Reed Bishop, in 1865. Bishop was married to Bernice Pauahi Pākī, of the royal House of Kamehameha.[16]

In 1865, S. C. Allen married Bathsheba Maria Kulamanu Robinson (1849–1914), daughter of John James Robinson (1799–1876) and Rebecca Prever (1817– 1882), a descendant of Hawaiian chiefess Kamakana.[17] The marriage merged two families who would influence Hawaiii's politics, ecology, and business economy for decades.[18] Among his Robinson in-laws were:

  • Victoria Robinson (1846–1935) wed Curtis Perry Ward (1826–1882), who had ties to Liliʻuokalani and Hawaii's royal court.[26] The couple had seven daughters, including Victoria Kathleen Ward (1878–1958) who is mentioned in S. C.'s will as his adopted daughter "Victoria Kathleen Ward Allen".[1] This might have been the informal Hawaiian hānai tradition of adoption, since her 1958 obituary made no mention of S. C. Allen, and her legal name remained "Victoria Kathleen Ward".[27] The site of the Ward family coconut plantation home is now the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.[28]
  • Annie Robinson (1855–1921) wed Albert Jaeger (1845–1900), a German immigrant who was appointed Hawaii's commissioner of the Bureau of Forestry. He became a manager at Allen & Robinson Lumber Company.[29] His uncle Hermann A. Widemann was Minister of Finance under Liliʻuokalani. Together, Jaeger and Widemann ran an amateur planting operation on Kauai. A biology hobbyist, Jaeger planted numerous trees on Mount Tantalus, and amassed a large collection of rare plants. Upon his death, the government was given the collection to re-plant on public lands.[30]

References
  1. "S. C. Allen Left An Estate of Over $2,000,000". The Hawaiian Gazette at Newspapers.com. May 22, 1903. p. 2. Retrieved December 16, 2018.; "S. C. Allen Estate (cont)". The Hawaiian Gazette at Newspapers.com. May 22, 1903. p. 6. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  2. "Allen, William F. office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  3. "S. C. Allen". The Hawaiian star. (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893–1912, May 14, 1903, Image 4. 14 May 1903. col. 1. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  4. "A PIONEER DIES: Death of W. A. Aldrich of Pietmont After a Long Illness". Oakland Tribune at Newspapers.com. February 26, 1892. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  5. "W. A. Aldrich, J. S. Walker, S. C. Allen". Polynesian at Newspapers.com. February 1, 1862. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  6. "Mark Prever Robinson". Statewide County HI Archives Biographies. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  7. "C. Brewer & Company". Evening Bulletin. January 25, 1888. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  8. "A NOBLE CRAFT". The Honolulu Advertiser. January 30, 1889. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  9. "Rebuilding of Bark S. C. Allen To Be Done At Local Shipyards". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. April 7, 1913. p. 2, col. 1. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  10. Taylor, Clarice B. (June 17, 1952). "Life In Honolulu with Aunt Batty No. 36". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  11. "Two Million and a Half". The Hawaiia Star. August 5, 1903. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  12. "George C. Allen, aka George C. Fyfe Allen". The Honolulu Advertiser. July 11, 1905. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  13. "Did George C. Allen Sign Away His Claim? 1903". Honolulu Advertiser at Newspapers.com. May 21, 1903. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  14. Joesting 1990, p. 263.
  15. "Port Allen A New Name In Geography Of Hawaii". The Hawaiian Gazette. April 27, 1909. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  16. Krout & Bishop 1908, pp. 1–5, 94–100.
  17. Taylor, Clarice B. (May 9, 1952). "A Frenchman Marries A Hawaiian Girl No. 3". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  18. "S. C. Allen Met With Sudden Death Last Night". The Hawaiian Gazette at Newspapers.com. May 15, 1903. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  19. "Lively Interest as Citizen". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. April 2, 1915. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  20. "Robinson, Mark Prever office record" (PDF). state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  21. Taylor, Clarice B. (June 5, 1952). "Mark Prever Robinson His Business Life No. 26". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  22. Taylor, Clarice B. (June 4, 1952). "Mark Prever Robinson, His Political Life No. 25". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  23. "Lawrence Robinson death". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. February 4, 1947. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  24. "Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company". The Honolulu Advertiser. March 20, 1883. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  25. "Mary E. Foster's Will". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. December 29, 1930. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  26. Taylor, Clarice B. (June 9, 1952). "Curtis Perry Ward A Young Southerner No. 29". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  27. "Mansion Now Owned By The Misses Ward". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. May 2, 1935. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  28. Pedersen, Kristen. "Curtis and Victoria Ward's Legacy". Historic Hawaii Foundation. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  29. Taylor, Clarice B. (June 14, 1952). "Annie Robinson Marries Albert Jaeger No. 34". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  30. "Albert Jaeger Is Dead". Evening Bulletin. March 22, 1900. Retrieved December 16, 2018.; "Valuable Gift of Plants". The Honolulu Republican. August 17, 1900. Retrieved December 16, 2018.

Bibliography
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