Abigail Maheha

Abigail Maheha (born July 10, 1832, date of death unknown) was a Hawaiian high chiefess who attended Royal School also known as Chiefs' Children's School.

She was the daughter of High Chief Namaile and High Chiefess Kuini Liliha. Her mother was the royal governor of O'ahu and was politically powerful during the regency of Kaahumanu. She was descended from Kahekili II, Moi of Maui, and High Chief Hoapili through her mother.

She had a half-sister Jane Loeau who also attended Royal School. She was adopted or "hanaied" by her aunt, Princess Anne Kekauonohi. [Dibble, Sheldon . A History of the Sandwich Islands . Honolulu: T. H., THOS. G. Thrum, 1909. Page 292] Her "hanai" mother was a granddaughter of Kamehameha the Great who united the Hawaiian Islands into one kingdom and was also the youngest consort of the deceased Kamehameha II and served as Governor of Kauai.

She the one of the first to attend Chiefs' Children's School. She was chosen by Kamehameha III as one who would be eligible to sit on the throne of Hawaii. She was taught by American missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and his wife, Juliette Montague Cooke. Her teacher look to her and her classmates as heathens and uncivilized beings. During their Sunday procession to church it was customary for boys and girls to walk side by side, so Abigail walked beside Alexander Liholiho, the future King Kamehameha IV.

She left school, in Feb. 1846 at the age of 13 years old, to go live with her adoptive mother, Princess Kekauonohi. [ [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/liliuokalani/hawaii/hawaii-1.html Chapters I-V ] ] She had to leave due to the prospect of becoming a mother. [Kanahele, George S.. Emma: Hawai'i's Remarkable Queen : a Biography . University of Hawaii Press, 1999.] The baby's biological probably one of the boys at the school, with the possibility that it was Prince Lot Kapuaiwa or either one of his brothers. The scandal had to be covered up by the Cookes and the Reverend Bingham with an arranged marriage to a Hawaiian commoner from Koloa, Kauai while she was six months pregnant. He had attended Lahainaluna High School but he was not a royal or even a high chief. This commoner also known as Keaupuni, was also the gardener of her adopted mother, Princess Kekauonohi. Her husband had knowledge about his pregnant wife. As a daughter of Liliha it was probably a disgrace to marry a commoner. [Patterson, Rosemary I. , Ph.D. Kula Keiki Ali'i . Booksurge Llc, 2006. ISBN 1419648756]

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