Timothy Dwight IV - The Gentle Soul, Henry Opukahaia

The Gentle Soul, Henry Opukahaia

Henry Opukahaia was orphaned at age 10 after witnessing the tribal warfare deaths of his parents and younger brother in the Islands of Hawaii. He signed onto a ship leaving Hawaii and eventually wound up at the captain's home in New Haven, Connecticut. He was bright but he had no formal education. One day he sat on the steps of Yale College and explained to a passer-by that he was upset because, "No one gives me learning." (This quote is on the plaque at his graveside in Hawaii.) He was taken under the wing (and into the home) of Yale president Dr. Timothy Dwight.

Henry embraced Christianity and converted in 1815. In 1816 he enrolled in the new Foreign Mission School, established by the American Board across from the Congregational Church in Cornwall, Connecticut. He became very involved with plans to send missionaries to Hawaii.

He planned to return to Hawaii himself to preach, but contracted typhus fever and died in 1818 in Cornwall at the age of 26. Henry is credited with starting Hawaii's conversion to Christianity. On Aug. 15, 1993, Opukahaia's remains were laid in a vault facing the sea at Kahikolu Church near the town of Napoʻopoʻo, Kona, on the Island of Hawaii. It was the third church established in Hawaii by missionaries inspired by Opukahaʻia. Hawaii's churches observe the third Sunday in February as a day of commemoration in honor of its first Christian.

Plaque at the Cornwall, CT grave site: "In July of 1993, the family of Henry Opukahaia took him home to Hawaii for interment at Kahikolu Congregational Church Cemetery, Napo'opo'o, Kona, Island of Hawaii. Henry's family expresses gratitude, appreciation and love to all who cared for and loved him throughout the past years. Ahahui O Opukahaia"