Daniel Chamberlain, Missionary to Hawaii

Henry Opukahaia

In 1809 a young teenager, Henry Opukahaia of the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaii), reached New York on a merchant ship. He learned English, became a Christian and expressed a desire to return home and share the Gospel with his people. But Henry died of typhus in 1818 before he could return. His published journal circulated widely throughout New England. His story and that of other young Hawaiians inspired the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to begin a mission field in the Sandwich Islands. 

On October 23, 1819 The Thaddeus set sail for the Islands with 2 ordained missionaries, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy;  two teachers,  Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria;  a farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife Jerusha, and their five children and three Hawaiian youths, Thomas Hopu, John Honolii and William Kanui. 

Daniel Chamberlain was not an ordained minister, but a farmer with a deep religious conviction. He was described as “a man of energy and perseverance, distinguished for his humble piety.”

Daniel Chamberlain

“Mr. Chamberlain and his wife, in the prime of life, feeling the claims of the heathen on them, were wiling to leave their friends, their pleasant home and farm in central Massachusetts, and embark for the islands, with their five children, three sons and two daughters, rather than to withhold their personal labors from the heathen.” – Hiram Bingham

After a long and difficult voyage of 164 days, The Thaddeus reached the Islands in March 1820. 

Kaahumanu

It was necessary to have Hawaii’s King Kamehameha II’s permission to establish a mission on Hawaii. The first negotiations did not seem to go well.   Kaahumanu, the widow of the king’s father and a powerful influence in the islands took a liking to the Chamberlain’s youngest daughter, two-year old Nancy. Queen Kaahumanu suggested that she be allowed to take the child to the island and bring her back the next day. One can imagine the consternation that must have caused the Chamberlains.  Without the support of the king, queen and the rest of the ali’i (royalty) the mission could not succeed, the missionaries might not even be allowed off the ship. 

Jerusha Chamberlain

The visit was allowed. The next day young Nancy was returned, having had quite an adventure. Eventually, permission was granted for missions at Honolulu and at Kailua.

Another influential ali’i was Kalanimoku, a great warrior and former prime minister. He became a Christian and enthusiastically began to learn to read and write under the instruction of Daniel, the Chamberlain’s seven-year old son. In fact, the three oldest Chamberlain children learned Hawaiian quickly and were often used as interpreters by the missionaries.

 “Now the great warrior was among us, learning the English alphabet with the docility of a child. He often turned to it, and as often his favorite teacher, Daniel Chamberlain.” – Asa Thurston.

Hawaii has a mild year-round climate and fertile soil, but no draft animals. Wood was scarce and some areas suffer from lack of rainfall. The people’s diet consisted of poi and fish, both of which were abundant. Crops that that Chamberlain tried to cultivate such as corn and wheat would not grow in the dry plain where the mission was located. His plans to introduce mainland farming methods couldn’t overcome these challenges and soon he was assigned to carpentry and management duties. While his work was valued and needed, soon two problems emerged. 

First, there was the question of the education of the Chamberlain’s children. While the children were in primary school they could be tutored by their parents. But the missionaries’ time was almost completely committed to their work. Secondly, Chamberlain developed brain fever. This outdated term could refer to encephalitis or meningitis. He was very ill and recovered slowly. Even so, to give up on the mission he had so completely given his heart to was painful and humiliating. Reluctantly, the family decided to return to the United States in 1823. 

The milder, familiar climate of Massachusetts helped Chamberlain recover and he lived until 1860.

Connection: Daniel Chamberlain’s mother was Lydia Harrington Chamberlain. She was my husband’s 2nd cousin 7x removed. 

Note: I have copied historical quotes as originally written.

Fickle, Indiana

There are a lot of ways a town is born. It could be a quirk of geography – a good harbor or  the intersection of two rivers. Perhaps a landowner with his eye on the future begins selling lots. In the case of Fickle, Indiana, the railroad came through and said, “Here, right here.”

The 1865 map shows no town in southern Washington Township of Clinton County. There is no town on the 1878 map either. But Clinton County was growing and needed improved transportation. The Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad began building through the southwest corner of the county. In 1879 a railroad station was built and named Fickle after Isaac Fickle, an early settler and notable resident in the area. 

1919 Washington Twp, Clinton County, IN map

The history of railroads in this period is a somewhat convoluted web of mergers. The Toledo line became the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City, then the Toledo, St Louis and Western and then finally, more simply, the Clover Leaf Railroad. In 1922 it became part of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis system – the Nickel Plate. Whatever its name, it brought cheaper goods, provided an outlet for farm products and extended passenger service to this part of the township. 

from files of Frankfort Community Public Library, Frankfort, IN

A post office was established at Fickle in 1888. Fickle grew to have a general store, a grain elevator, a one-room school  and a church named Cloverleaf Methodist. A church is often the heart of a community and by all accounts, Cloverleaf was just that. The first baby baptized there was Ruth McBride Sibbert in 1901. The church grew to over 80 members. 

Fickle Methodist Church. From files of Frankfort Community Library, Frankfort, IN

Changes in transportation, shopping patterns, and population brought changes to the town. The post office closed in 1928, the grain elevator shut down in 1930, the store followed in 1948. The deadliest blow to the community of Fickle was the loss of Cloverleaf Methodist. With very little input and over the protests of the congregants the United Methodist Church in 1967 decided to close and then bulldoze the church building. But even as members found other church homes, a group of ladies decided to continue to meet for social and charitable causes under the ironic name of ‘The Fickle Friends.’ They met until 2008 when declining membership and ill health ended their group.

Today the town of Fickle is still marked by road signs. Between the signs there are a few houses, mostly ranches built long after the heyday of the town. On either side of the crossroads are a few more houses, but it’s hard to determine the borders of small towns. How many cornfields do you pass, how many farmhouses do you include? There’s the old Abbot Cemetery, but no public road accesses it. There’s a Burke NHK plant that makes car seats nearby. An ADM Grain Company down the road but it’s sign says it’s a Frankfort business. And just out of town is Interstate I-65 designed to take drivers to towns bigger than Fickle. 

Connection: Isaac Fickle was my 3rd great-grandfather.

Ruth McBride Sibbert was my 3rd cousin twice removed.