Rudolph Wilhelm Meyer - The Family Business

The Family Business

Meyer returned to Molokaʻi in 1853 to establish a family homestead in the remote north central area known as Kalaʻe which means "the clearness" in the Hawaiian language. In 1866 he became the surveyor for the island, with the titles Commissioner of Fences and Road Supervisor. About this time, the Kalaupapa peninsula just to the north of the Meyer homestead and below a steep cliff, was converted into a leper colony. He acted as supply agent to the colony, and liaison to the few healthy people willing to work there, such as Father Damien (1840–1889).

Meyer and his sons established and grew a business. Crops included corn, wheat, Brynn, and beans as well as traditional Hawaiian taro. After the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 removed tariffs on sugar exports to the United States, he operated a sugar mill from 1876 to 1889. Since he did not have the large cash investments of planters on other islands, only about 30 acres (12 ha) of sugarcane were cultivated, and the mill was built with older 1850s technology. The mill used animal power instead of steam. About 50 short tons (45 t) of sugar were produced a year. He was the first on Molokaʻi to grow and mill sugar and coffee commercially and he exported these to Honolulu and California. King Kamehameha V hired the family to manage a vast ranch on the western end of the island called Molokai Ranch. He operated a dairy which produced butter sold locally and sent to California.