The Will Bernice Pauahiof Bishop

KAMEHAMEHA S CHOOLS ’s Legacy Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s last will and testament created an extraordinary legacy for the social, economic and spiritual advancement of Native Hawaiians through education. Her legacy, the , has fulfilled her hopes since 1887 by graduating more than 20,000 “good and industrious men and women” and providing additional tens of thousands of Hawaiians with meaningful preschool through college experiences.

Pauahi’s will still guides Kamehameha Schools today. All policies, educational programs and services must align with the statements she made in articles 13 and 14 of her October 31, 1883 will and codicil 1 paragraph 17 (signed October 4, 1884) and codicil 2 paragraph 4 (signed October 9, 1884).

These statements include references to establishing and maintaining the Kamehameha Schools, investing Pauahi’s assets, support of orphans and others in indigent circumstances, a good education in the common English branches and instruction in morals. They also grant her trustees the right to sell land and “make all such rules and regulations as they deem necessary for the government of said schools and to regulate the admission of pupils.”

The combined portions of Pauahi’s will that pertain to Kamehameha Schools comprise less than half of its contents. The remaining bequests were made to nearly 40 individuals and five institutions.

Some bequests were in the form of land, parcels as small as a one-acre house lot or as large as a 5,000 acre ahupua‘a. All but one were limited to the life span of the beneficiary. Among the beneficiaries were Queen Emma, Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani Cleghorn, servants, retainers and friends. All of these properties reverted to Pauahi’s estate after the beneficiaries died.

Pauahi’s husband, Charles Reed Bishop, deeded all the properties she had given him back to her estate before he left Hawai‘i in 1894 to live in , where he died 21 years later. Charles explained that the reconveyence was “…for the establishment of the Schools and in order to accomplish something quickly without sacrifice or embarrassment of her estate…”

Bequests to Charles had included Moloka’i Ranch, Wai‘alae Iki, Wai‘alae Nui, Maunalua on O‘ahu, and other properties, as well as “absolutely all of [Pauahi’s] personal property of every description.”

Pauahi only made one out-right gift of land, “I give, devise and bequeath unto my friend Samuel M. Damon, of said , all of that tract of land known as the Ahupua‘a of Moanalua…to have and to hold with the appurtenances to him, his heirs and assigns forever.” Damon was co-executor of Pauahi’s will and a member of her estate’s first board of trustees.

Other bequests consisted of small monthly stipends or one-time payments ranging from $200 to $1,000 to Pauahi’s various namesakes, friends and dependents. Five institutions: ‘Iolani College, St. Albans Priory, St. Andrews Church, Kawaiaha‘o Church and Kawaiaha‘o Family School for Girls each received between $2,000 and $5,000.

At the time of Pauahi’s death, October 16, 1884, she had some 375,500 acres of land assessed at about $474,000. Today, her estate encompasses nearly 365,800 acres of land in Hawai‘i which, combined with other assets, are valued at more than $6 billion.

The revenue generated by these assets fund Kamehameha Schools educational services for more than 9,400 full-time students: 1,700 in preschools statewide; 5,100 in K-12 campuses on three islands; 2,600 in college and post-high school vocational programs. Thousands more participate in shorter programs such as literacy enhancement, enrichment and Hawaiian studies programs.

The Will of Bernice Pauahi Bishop Thirteenth. I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate real and personal, wherever situated unto the trustees below named, their heirs and assigns forever, to hold upon the following trusts, namely: to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools. I direct my trustees to expend such amount as they may deem best, not to exceed however one-half of the fund which may come into their hands, in the purchase of suitable premises, the erection of school buildings, and in furnishing the same with the necessary and appropriate fixtures, furniture and apparatus. I direct my trustees to invest the remainder of my estate in such manner as they may think best, and to expend the annual income in the maintenance of said schools; meaning thereby the salaries of teachers, the repairing of buildings and other incidental expenses; and to devote a portion of each years income to the support and education of orphans, and others in indigent circumstances, giving the preference to Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood; the proportion in which said annual income is to be divided among the various objects above mentioned to be determined solely by my said trustees they to have full discretion. I desire my trustees to provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women; and I desire instruction in the higher branches to be subsidiary to the foregoing objects. For the purposes aforesaid I grant unto my said trustees full power to lease or sell any portion of my real estate, and to reinvest the proceeds and the balance of my estate in real estate, or in such other manner as to my said trustees may seem best. I also give unto my said trustees full power to make all such rules and regulations as they may deem necessary for the government of said schools and to regulate the admission of pupils, and the same to alter, amend and publish upon a vote of a majority of said trustees. I also direct that my said trustees shall annually make a full and complete report of all receipts and expenditures, and of the condition of said schools to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or other highest judicial officer in this country; and shall also file before him annually an inventory of the property in their hands and how invested, and to publish the same in some Newspaper published in said Honolulu; I also direct my said trustees to keep said school buildings insured in good Companies, and in case of loss to expend the amounts recovered in replacing or repairing said buildings. I also direct that the teachers of said schools shall forever be persons of the Protestant religion, but I do not intend that the choice should be restricted to persons of any particular sect of Protestants.

Fourteenth. I appoint my husband Charles R. Bishop, Samuel M. Damon, Charles M. Hyde, Charles M. Cooke, and William 0. Smith, all of Honolulu, to be my trustees to carry into effect the trusts above specified. I direct that a majority of my said trustees may act in all cases and may convey real estate and perform all of the duties and powers hereby conferred; but three of them at least must join in all acts. I further direct that the number of my said trustees shall be kept at five; and that vacancies shall be filled by the choice of a majority of the Justices of the Supreme Court, the selection to be made from persons of the Protestant religion.

In witness whereof I, said Bernice Pauahi Bishop, have hereunto set my hand and seal this thirty-first day of October A. D. Eighteen hundred and eighty-three. Bernice P. Bishop

Codicil No. 1 17th. I give unto the trustees named in my will the most ample power to sell and dispose of any lands or other portion of my estate, and to exchange lands and otherwise dispose of the same; and to purchase land, and to take leases of land whenever they think it expedient, and generally to For the Children and the future make such investments as they consider best; but I direct that my said trustees shall not purchase land for said schools if any lands come into their possession under my will which in their opinion may be suitable for such purpose; and I further direct that my said trustees shall not sell any real estate, cattle ranches, or other property, but to continue and manage the same, unless in their opinion a sale may be necessary for the establishment or maintenance of said schools, or for the best interest of my estate.

In witness whereof I, said Bernice P. Bishop, have here-unto set my hand and seal this fourth day of October A. D. Eighteen hundred and eighty-four.

Bernice P. Bishop

Codicil No. 2 4th. Of the two schools mentioned in the thirteenth article of my said will, I direct the school for boys shall be well established and in efficient operation before any money is expended or anything is undertaken on account of the new school for girls. It is my desire that my trustees should do thorough work in regard to said schools as far as they go; and I authorize them to defer action in regard to the establishment of said school for girls, if in their opinion from the condition of my estate it may be expedient, until the life estates created by my said will have expired, and the lands so given shall have fallen into the general fund. I also direct that my said trustees shall have power to determine to what extent said school shall be industrial, mechanical, or agricultural; and also to determine if tuition shall be charged in any case.

In witness whereof I, said Bernice P. Bishop have hereunto set my hand and seal this ninth day of October A. D. 1884.

Bernice P. Bishop Historical note: The original will of Ke Ali‘i Bernice Pauahi Bishop – filling approximately 40 handwritten pages on ruled legal stationery – is housed in the Hawai‘i State Archives.

Most of Pauahi’s personal papers and letters were destroyed by fire in 1906, so, we can only speculate on her preference to endow a school. Her husband Charles sheds some light on the matter in his correspondence. He says, “She wished to establish an institution bearing the name Kamehameha, for which name she had high respect and preference, and a hospital or hospitals and schools for boys and girls were mentioned, and in consideration of the Queen’s Hospital already established, in which Kamehameha Fourth and Fifth and Queen Emma and the government had shown so much interest, it was decided that schools would be preferred, not for boys and girls of pure or part aboriginal blood exclusively, but that class should have preference; that is they should have the first right, provided, of course, that they took advantage of the opportunity and complied with the conditions and rules of the Will and of the Trustees and Estate…” (letter to S. M. Damon, October 9, 1911 Charles Reed Bishop; Man of Hawai’i, page 145)

In an 1887 address to students and staff of the newly opened Kamehameha School for Boys, Charles Bishop said, “Her heart was heavy when she saw the rapid diminution of the Hawaiian people going on decade after decade... She knew that these fair islands, which only a little more than a century ago held a population of her own race estimated at 300,000 or more, would not be left without people; that whether the Hawaiians increased or not, men from the East and men from the West would come to occupy them; skillful, industrious, self-asserting men, looking mainly to their own interests. The hope that there would come a turning point, when, through enlightenment, the adoption of regular habits and Christian ways of living, the natives would not only hold their own in numbers, but would increase again like the people of other races at times grew faint and almost died out.” (Charles Reed Bishop: Man of , by Harold Kent, page 153) of her people. KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

P.O. Box 3466 Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96801-3466 808.523.6200