Harriet Kawahinekipi

Harriet Kawahinekipi Kaumualii (born Harriet Kaumualii) (1803 - 1848) was an Hawaiian high chiefess being the daughter of Elizabeth Peke Davis, the daughter of Isaac Davis Aikake, the Royal advisor of Kamehameha the Great. Some might consider her a Princess of Kauai being granddaughter of King Kaumualii.

Early Life

She was born in 1823, [http://homepage.mac.com/gencea/Nui/ps09/ps09_358.htm Harriet Kawahinekipi KAUMUALII ] ] at Honolulu, Oahu, as Harriet Kaumualii. Her father, George P. Kaumualii, eldest son of King Kaumualii of Kauai and Ni'ihau, a commoner, was Prince of Kauai and a veteran of the War of 1812. Due to her grandmother's status, George, was not in line to follow the father as Vassal King of Kauai. Her mother was the youngest daughter of Isaac Davis, the well known companion of Kamehameha the Great, from Milford Haven, Wales. She had an older sister given away to another chiefess and an older brother who died in 1822.

In 1824, her grandfather, Kaumualii, the former vassal king of Kauai died in Honolulu, who had been kidnapped to that island by Kamehameha II and force to marry Queen Kaahumanu. With the death of Kaumualii, Harriet's father started a rebellion on Kauai, challenging the rule of Kamehameha II and Kaahumanu. Hoapili and Kalanimoku, the Prime Minister, were the main commanders. The rebellion was successfully routed and George and Betty, with their infant daughter, escaped on horseback to the mountains. Harriet and her mother were soon captured by the troops of Kalanimoku. They were treated with kindness and the Queen regent nicknamed the child Wahine-kipi (The Rebel Woman), in reference to the 1824 battle, a name that stayed with her for the rest of her life. George was captured in a few weeks and they returned his wife and child to him, but for the good of Kauai thenceforth obliged him to stay on Oahu. Her father died two years later, never to see his homeland ever again. [The Story of Hawaii By Mary Charlotte Alexander. Page 206-211]

Marriage

Harriet married John Meek Jr., the son of Captain John Meek, at the age of 14 on 28 March 1837, at Honolulu, Oahu. [ [http://homepage.mac.com/gencea/Nui/ps09/ps09_359.htm John MEEK Jr ] ] Meek was a foreigner and was two years her senior. They had three children: Eli Meek (1839-1875), Robert Meek, and Elizabeth Meek, most like named after the child's grandmother Elizabeth "Betty" Davis. Eli married Kahanuulani Amoy, who died in 1930, and there is no certainty that Harriet Kawahinekipi Kaumualii has any remaining descendants.

Death

She died c. 1843, at the age of 20, three year prior to her own mother. It seemed a family curse that all three generation died away from the ancestral island home of their forefathers, although Harriet was not born in Kauai.

References