Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Weathervane Wednesday ~ Very far from Nutfield

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly, usually of weather vanes in the Nutfield, New Hampshire area, but sometimes they can be from anywhere.  Occasionally they are elsewhere in New England, or very historical weather vanes from anywhere else.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, but all are interesting.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weathervanes, too!

Do you know the location of weather vane #85?   Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!





Today's weather vane can be found in Haleiwa, Hawaii on the island of Oahu.  It is the weather vane on the top of the steeple of the Queen Lili'uokalani Protestant Church.  This church dates back to 1832 when it was founded by the Reverend John S. Emerson, who arrived in Hawaii from Chester, New Hampshire (part of the original Nutfield!) with the Fifth Missionary Company sent by the American Board of Comissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM).  The first church was a thatched hut, dedicated on 25 September 1832, and the first service was attended by over 2,000 native Hawaiians.  Masses of people had to stand outside.

The second building was adobe, and erected about 1841.  The third building was made of wood and built in 1890 in the present location.  This was the building where Queen Lili'uokalani attended services when she stayed at her home on the Anahulu River.  She donated many things to the church, including the famous clock.  The present building was dedicated in 1961.  The weather vane is a frigate bird with a fish in its beak.     In Hawaiian the frigate bird is called "iwa", and the village was named Hale'iwa (house of the frigate bird).  According to the church website "The religious connotation is brought together with the fish in its mouth. 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea gathered many kinds...' "

I visited this church in both 2010 and 2012,  because of the Emerson family connection (my great great grandmother was an Emerson, and a distant cousin to Reverend John S. Emerson), and because of the connection to Queen Lili'uokalani, who married my first cousin 5 generations removed (John Owen Dominis)

The Queen Lili'uokalani Protestant Church website: http://liliuokalaniprotestantchurch.com/

Rev. John S. Emerson's genealogy (he's a distant cousin, my 2nd great grandmother was an Emerson) http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/rev-john-smith-emerson.html

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts! 

--------------------------
Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

No comments:

Post a Comment