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Edwin W. Dwight et al : Memoirs of Henry Obookiah, a Native of Owhyhee, and a Member of the Foreign Mission School; Who Died at Cornwall, Conn. Feb. 17, 1818, Aged 26 Years

Edson Hart, Elizabeth-Town, NJ, 1819

Original publisher's brown full leather binding. Gilt lettering on red spine label. 3 1/2" x 5 3/4." Pages [3] 4-104, [3] 4-32, [3] 4-33, [3] 4-10, [1] 2-10, complete. One black-and-white frontispiece portrait of Henry 'Opukaha'ia, complete. Former owner's inscription in black ink on front free endpaper: "Hannah Baldwin's Book, July 20th, 1822." Pages are foxed but intact. Covers have slight corner, edge, and surface wear but are clean and intact. Binding is tight. A Very Good copy. Following the main title are four additional sermons, all of which have the same publisher's information of the main title with the exception of the last, which does not have a title page. Edson Hart is noted as "Agent of the Foreign Mission School." The four sermons: "A Sermon Delivered at the Funeral of Henry Obookiah, a Native of Owhyhee, and a Member of the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut, February 18, 1818." by Lyman Beecher; "The Banner of Christ Set Up A Sermon Delivered at the Inauguration of the Rev. Herman Daggett, as Principal of the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut, May 6, 1818." by Joseph Harvey; "An Inaugural Address Delivered at the Opening of the Foreign Mission School, May 6, 1818." by Herman Daggett; and "The Inaugural Address" by John Treadwell. Invaluable early biography about Henry 'Opukaha'ia (c. 1792-1818) with some of his own personal writings and recollections printed therein. His first name is sometimes written in Hawai'ian as Heneri and he was known as Henry Obookiah throughout his lifetime. Henry 'Opukaha'ia was one of the first Hawai'ians to become a Christian and is credited with inspiring American Protestant missionaries to come to the Hawai'ian islands for mission work. 'Opukaha'ia had a tragic childhood. According to the book's documentation, 'Opukaha'ia was only ten or twelve years old when his parents and baby brother no more than two to three months old (his entire family) were brutally murdered by Hawai'ian warriors. 'Opukaha'ia relays subsequent events in which he is first taken in to live with one of his family's murderers but then finds refuge when he is united with one of his uncles. In 1807, 'Opukaha'ia decides to travel and is taken on board a ship, the Triumph, by Captain Caleb Britnall. On the ship's journey to New Haven, Connecticut, he and a Hawai'ian cabin boy, Thomas Hopu, learn English and become friends. They land in New Haven in 1809, and 'Opukaha'ia is looked after by local residents and works summer jobs. That same year, he crosses paths with Edwin W. Dwight, one of the authors and an acquaintance of Hopu. Dwight was a Yale College senior student at the time and would eventually become a reverend. 'Opukaha'ia refers to how Dwight, or "Mr. D.," helps him read, write, and speak English more fluently. One of Dwight's relatives, Timothy Dwight IV, founder of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), also furthers 'Opukaha'ia's studies in core curricula as well as Christian theology. 'Opukaha'ia converted to Christianity in 1815. By that time, he had years of academic experience having studied a variety of subjects as a student. 'Opukaha'ia was part of a movement of Polynesian and Indigenous (Native American) Christians who wanted to learn evangelism and become missionaries. Their interest led to the founding of the Foreign Mission School in 1816 in Cornwall, Connecticut. The school was open for ten years and admitted students from different ethnic backgrounds. 'Opukaha'ia had wanted to return to Hawai'i as a missionary and nearly finished a Hawai'ian dictionary and grammar and spelling book for his mission. Sadly, 'Opukaha'ia's life was cut short when he came down with typhus fever. He passed away in Cornwall at the age of twenty-six.. Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hardcover

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