James Campbell
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James Campbell was, and through his estate continues to be, one of the wealthiest landowners in Hawai'i. He was also one of the patriarchs of the present-day House of Kawananakoa, a surviving royal family of Hawai'i. |
James Campbell (
February 4,
1826 –
April 21,
1900) is the founder of the
Estate of James Campbell, one of the largest and wealthiest landowners in the
United States Territory of Hawai'i and present-day
State of Hawai'i. It is on land owned by the heirs of James Campbell that the
Second City of Kapolei is being developed, the largest and most modern of the
suburbs of
Honolulu.
James Campbell was born in
1826 to William and Martha Campbell,
Derry,
Ireland (now
Northern Ireland). Campbell was the eighth child of twelve children. At the age of thirteen, Campbell boarded a ship leaving
Ireland for
New York City. For his first two years in the United States, Campbell followed in his father's footsteps as a carpenter. He then joined a
whaling crew bound for the
South Pacific where the vessel was shipwrecked. Campbell survived by clinging onto debris and floated to a nearby island. He was captured by natives and held prisoner. He finally escaped by way of a ship bound for
Tahiti where he settled and lived.
In
1850, the young Irishman boarded another whaling ship which later arrived at the port of
Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of
Mau'i. Campbell once again took up carpentry to make a living. It was at Lahaina that he met Hannah Barla. He married her but she unfortunately died in
1858. Though grief-stricken, Campbell tried to make do with what he inherited from his wife.
In
1860, Campbell formed a partnership with
entrepreneurs Henry Turton and James Dunbar. They established a sugar processing plant, Pioneer Mill Company. With the thriving sugar industry in the
Kingdom of Hawai'i, Campbell became one of the wealthiest people in Lahaina. He used his profits to purchase land on the islands of
O'ahu,
Mau'i and the
Big Island of Hawai'i. In
1877, Campbell cashed in his total worth and sold all his interests in the business.
The same year he left Pioneer Mill Company, Campbell married Abigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine. They had four children:
Abigail Campbell Kawananakoa, Alice Kamokila Campbell, Beatrice Campbell and Muriel Campbell. The oldest, Abigail, would marry
Prince David Kawananakoa of the reigning
House of Kalakaua and assume the title of Princess of Hawai'i. Her children would later become heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai'i as the
House of Kawananakoa, which survives today as the only genuine royal family of the United States.
While raising his family, Campbell ventured into real estate with purchases of massive parcels of land. One of his most controversial purchases was of dry, arrid and barren 41,000 acres (166 km²) in the Ewa District of O'ahu. Other businessmen criticized Campbell for making such a wasteful, unproductive investment and called him insane. Campbell hired James Ashley of California to drill water wells to supply his purchase with fresh irrigation. Campbell used the land for sugarcane production and profits poured into his coffers. Campbell continued to purchase underestimated plots of real estate and transformed them into productive agricultural districts. He died with USD $3 Million to his name, left in trust to his children and their heirs.
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James Campbell High School*
Estate of James Campbell*
Second City of Kapolei
