Elizabeth Kekaûaniau Laûanui Pratt, full name Elizabeth Kekaûaniauokalani Kalaninuiohilaukapu Kekaikuihala Laûanui Pratt (September 11, 1834 â December 20, 1928), was a Hawaiian high chiefess (aliûi) and great-grandniece of Kamehameha I, being a great-granddaughter of Kalokuokamaile, the older brother of Kamehameha I, founder of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was the daughter of Gideon Peleûioholani Laûanui and Theresa Owana Kaheiheimalie Rives.
At a young age, Kekaûaniau was chosen to attend the Chiefs' Children's School (later renamed the Royal School) taught by American missionaries and declared eligible to succeed to the Hawaiian throne by King Kamehameha III. She married American businessman Franklin Seaver Pratt and became known as Mrs. Pratt. Five of her classmates became reigning monarchs of Hawaii until the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. In 1920, she wrote History of Keoua Kalanikupuapa-i-nui: Father of Hawaii Kings, and His Descendants, a book about her ancestor Keà Âua and his descendants including her own branch of the family and the House of Kamehameha. Outliving all her royal classmates, she was the last surviving member of the Royal School.
High Chiefess Elizabeth Kekaûaniauokalani Kalaninuiohilaukapu Kekaikuihala Laûanui was born September 11, 1834, in her family home at Waialua. Her parents were Gideon Peleûioholani Laûanui and Theresa Owana Kaheiheimalie Rives. She was given the name Elizabeth after Kaûahumanu who had adopted her mother and was baptized with the name. Kaûahumanu was a favorite wife of Kamehameha I and the co-ruler of the kingdom under the title of Kuhina Nui. She was also the namesake of Kekaikuihala II, her father's older sister. Her younger brother Gideon Kailipalaki Laûanui was born in 1840, and despite medical treatment by missionary physician Gerrit P. Judd, their mother died two months afterward from complications from childbirth. Laûanui later married on July 9, 1842, to Amelia Puohu, who became the children's stepmother.
Her family were of the aliûi class of the Hawaiian nobility and were collateral relations of the reigning House of Kamehameha, sharing common descent from the early 18th-century aliûi Keà Âua Kalanikupuapaûëkalaninui Ahilapalapa. From her father's side, Kekaûaniau was a great-granddaughter of Kalokuokamaile, an elder half-brother of Kamehameha I. Both were sons of the aforementioned Keà Âua. Due to this familial tie, her father Laûanui escaped the slaughter of Kawaihae in 1791 where Kamehameha I defeated and sacrificed his opponent Keà Âua Kà «Ã»ahuûula in the process of unifying the Hawaiian Islands. Her mother Owana was the daughter of Kamehameha II's French secretary Jean Baptiste Rives and a relation of Kaûahumanu through her mother Holau II, who was hÃÂnai (adopted) by the queen. Also through her father's first marriage to Namahana Piûia, Kekaûaniau was the stepniece of Kaûahumanu. She was of one-fourth French and three-fourths Native Hawaiian descent.
At a young age, Kekaûaniau was placed in the Chiefs' Children's School, also known as the Royal School, a select school for the royal children of the highest rank who were eligible to be rulers. Along with her other classmates, she was chosen by Kamehameha III to be eligible for the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Out of the sixteen children of the school, five of her cousins would rule as monarchs of the kingdom. Called Lizzy or Lizzie by her classmates, she was taught by the missionary couple Juliette Montague Cooke and Amos Starr Cooke. In the classroom students were divided by their age and length of time at the school. She was a member of the senior level class. At age nine, Kekaûaniau weighed , which was relatively small for her age among her classmates. During their Sunday procession to church, when it was customary for boys and girls to walk side by side, she would walk beside James Kaliokalani, the eldest brother of future monarchs KalÃÂkaua and Liliûuokalani.
During their school years, Kekaûaniau developed a close relationship with her cousins Emma (who married Kamehameha IV and became queen consort) and Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who later founded Kamehameha Schools. She was one of the few invited guests at the 1850 wedding of Bernice Pauahi to American businessman Charles Reed Bishop, which was conducted against the wishes of Pauahi's parents, and she also later served as bridesmaid to Queen Emma during her royal wedding in 1856. She was also one of the bridesmaids at the 1862 wedding of Liliûuokalani and John Owen Dominis. Kekaûaniau was among the young social elite active in the royal courts of Kamehameha IV and his successor Kamehameha V. On formal occasions, she would also serve as lady-in-waiting to Queen Emma.
Kekaûaniau married Franklin Seaver Pratt (1829âÂÂ1894) on April 27, 1864. The wedding was held at the residence of the bride, and Reverend Eli S. Corwin, the pastor of the Fort Street (Congregational) Church, officiated the ceremony. According to contemporary opinion, she was "well-known as one of the brightest and most cultivated women of Honolulu" and "became his faithful companion and helper" after their marriage. A native of Boston, Massachusetts, and naturalized citizen of the kingdom, Pratt was a respected businessman and sugar plantation owner who held a few court and governmental positions during the monarchy, including Staff Colonel to Kamehameha V, member of the Privy Council for Queen Liliûuokalani, Registrar of Public Accounts and Hawaiian Consul General in San Francisco. However, according to historian James L. Haley, he was kept on the "periphery of power."
The Pratts did not have any children of their own, although they adopted Kekaûaniau's niece, Theresa Owana KaÃȈ Âhelelani Laûanui, daughter of her younger brother High Chief Gideon Kailipalaki Laûanui II, after he died in 1871. Theresa married four times and had descendants by her first and second husbands: Alexander Cartwright III, son of Honolulu fire chief Alexander Cartwright, and Robert William Wilcox, a Hawaiian revolutionary leader and the first Congressional Delegate from the Territory of Hawaii. The Pratts also later adopted Alexander and Theresa's younger daughter Eva Kuwailanimamao Cartwright, who married Dwight Jarvis Styne and had three children. The Pratts owned a beachside residence, which they called the Franklin Villa or Bath Villa, in the Waikëkë area of Honolulu. The property was sold in 1897 and is now part of Fort DeRussy.
Kekaûaniau was present at the deathbed of King Kamehameha V in 1872 with Queen Emma, Pauahi and other members of the royal court. It is later claimed by her descendants that the dying monarch had offered her the throne before asking Pauahi to succeed him. Haley noted that if this was true she would have a been a strong candidate, being a descendant of an elder brother of the kingdom's founder. The personal writings of John Owen Dominis, husband of Liliûuokalani, only described Kamehameha V offering the throne to Pauahi and that Kekaûaniau was seated with Queen Emma and both were too far to hear the conversation. Neither woman accepted, and Kamehameha V died without naming an heir. Thus, the 1864 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii called for the legislature to elect the next monarch. By both popular vote and the unanimous vote of the legislature, her cousin Lunalilo became the first elected king of Hawaii. Kekaûaniau was given a place of honor at the prorogation of the Legislative Assembly of 1873 alongside Queen Emma, High Chiefess Fanny Kekelaokalani, and wives of the king's cabinet ministers. After the death of Lunalilo in 1874, the Pratts became supporters of Queen Emma during her unsuccessful candidacy during the royal election of 1874 against KalÃÂkaua. Emma had promised to reward their loyalty with a government appointment by removing Dominis as Governor of Oahu and appointing Pratt in his place if she had won. Despite popular support for the queen dowager, the assembly voted thirty-nine to six in favor of KalÃÂkaua over Emma. The subsequent announcement triggered the Honolulu Courthouse riot as Emmaite supporters hunted down and attacked native legislators who supported KalÃÂkaua. In order to quell the civil disruption, American and British troops were landed with the permission of the Hawaiian government, and the rioters were arrested.
During the final years of the monarchy, the Pratts lived in San Francisco where her husband served as Hawaiian Consul General for the Pacific states of Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada, from 1892 until the time of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
In March 1893, she was elected as an honorary president of Hui Aloha ûÃÂina o Na Wahine (Hawaiian Women's Patriotic League) or Hui Aloha ûÃÂina for Women. This patriotic group was founded shortly after its male counterpart the Hui Aloha ûÃÂina for Men to oppose the overthrow and plans to annex the islands to the United States and to support the deposed queen Liliûuokalani. She resigned this position on April 17, 1893, after a dispute arose between two factions of the group over the wordings to the memorial seeking the restoration of the monarchy to be presented to the United States Commissioner James Henderson Blount sent by President Grover Cleveland to investigate the overthrow.
After the overthrow in 1893, her husband defended Kekaûaniau's traditional claims to the Hawaiian crown lands as an heir of Kamehameha III and was removed from his government post as Hawaiian Consul. These lands transferred to the United States Federal Government after the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands in 1898. During Queen Liliûuokalani's attempts to seek restitution and compensation for the lost crown lands, Kekaûaniau and her niece Theresa Laûanui petitioned in 1903 the Senate Subcommittee on the Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico in order to support the petition of the queen.
In 1895, she helped found the Hawaiian Relief Society to assist the victims of a cholera epidemic in the islands. She co-founded the organization with other leading Hawaiian women including Emma Kaili Metcalf Beckley Nakuina, Abigail Kuaihelani Campbell and Emilie Widemann Macfarlane. She served as the organization's first vice-president.
Because of her rank and connection to the past, Kekaûaniau participated in many civic ceremonies during her later life. On June 28, 1909, Kekaûaniau officiated and unveiled the tablet of the 1795 Battle of Nuûuanu, which was installed at the Pali lookout by the organization Daughters of Hawaii. On March 17, 1912, she officiated with Queen Liliûuokalani when they both unveiled the Cooke Memorial Tablet, dedicated to Amos Starr and Juiette Montague Cooke and the sixteen students of the Royal School, in the vestibule of Kawaiahaûo Church. The ceremony marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mrs. Cooke. On March 17, 1914, Kekaûaniau officiated with Liliûuokalani at the unveiling of the tablet for the 100th commemoration birthday of King Kamehameha III. During the ceremony, Queen Liliûuokalani represented the Kalakaua Dynasty, and Kekaûaniau represented the Kamehameha Dynasty, seated on opposite sides of the memorial stone in the nave of the church. The palace chairs in which they sat were draped with ancient Hawaiian feather capes. The Queen drew the cord releasing her Royal Standard or personal flag, while Kekaûaniau released the Hawaiian flag covering the tablet. In 1897, Kekaûaniau donated to the Bishop Museum the bust figure of Kamehameha II that was given by the British monarch, King George IV, when Kamehameha II died while on his state visit in London with his queen KamÃÂmalu in 1825. The British crown bought the lavish coffins and made the bust according to the English royal traditions during funeral services. She also donated to the Bishop Museum the following items: 2 pictures, 6 feather leis, 15 kÃÂhili's, 5 kÃÂhili handles, 13 ûumeke, 5 coconut bowls and 1 Niûihau mat. In 1996, two of her kahili's were featured in the museum exhibit in "The Legacy of Excellence, Highlights of Hawaiian Culture" and was described as being "the only ones of their kind".
Following the death of Liliûuokalani in 1917, Kekaûaniau became the only survivor of the Royal School. In 1920, Kekaûaniau wrote History of Keoua Kalanikupuapa-i-nui: Father of Hawaii Kings, and His Descendants, with Notes on Kamehameha I, First King of All Hawaii, as a tribute to her great-grandfather Keà Âua Kalanikupuapaûëkalaninui Ahilapalapa and his descendants. The book consisted of a genealogical history of the branches of the House of Keà Âua Nui including her family and the House of Kamehameha.
In her later years, Kekaûaniau lived at the home of her grandniece Eva Kuwailanimamao Cartwright Styne at 1036 Kinau Street, Makiki, Honolulu. On her 94th birthday on September 11, 1928, a large contingent of Honolulu residents made a pilgrimage to her home to bedeck the residence with floral tributes and offer expressions of affection and respect. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin noted the home of the nonagenarian "was a veritable bower of flowers, redolent with beauteous blossoms." One of her last functions, in October of the same year, was helping arrange partners for a quadrille in a historic reenactment of the court of Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma. Kekaûaniau had been a participant in the original 1856 quadrille where she had danced with KalÃÂkaua. After a brief illness, Kekaûaniau died at the age of 94 at the home of her grandniece at 9am on December 20, 1928.
Although not given a state funeral, the tradition of lying in state was observed on the night before the funeral. The watches were led by members of two Hawaiian royal societies of which she had been a ranking member: the MÃÂmakakaua (Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors) and the ûAhahui Kaûahumanu (Kaûahumanu Society), of which Kekaûaniau was the first honorary president. Princess Elizabeth Kahanu Kalanianaûole (Moûi of MÃÂmakakaua) and Emma Ahuena Taylor (Kuhina Nui of MÃÂmakakaua) led the watches.
The funeral services were conducted at Kawaiahaûo Church by Reverend Akaiko Akana at 3:30 pm on December 23. The silver-gray coffin was draped with two ûahuûula, or feather cloaks, symbolizing the rank she held in the two royal societies. Territorial Governor and Mrs. Wallace Rider Farrington, former Governor and Mrs. Walter F. Frear, and former Honolulu Mayor John C. Lane joined prominent families of chiefly lineage and members of the two royal societies at the services. Lane and Colonel Curtis P. Iaukea served as two of the six pallbearers. After the simple ceremony, which only lasted half an hour, the mourners accompanied the casket to its final burial place where Akana read the burial service in Hawaiian. Per her request, Kekaûaniau was buried with solemn ceremony next to her husband at Oûahu Cemetery.
The descendants from her niece Theresa Laûanui to Cartwright and Wilcox continue to claim to be the rightful successors of the Kamehameha line and claimant to the Hawaiian crown lands. They base their claims through Kekaûaniau's status as the last surviving member of the Royal School chosen by Kamehameha III to be eligible for the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii. One notable contemporary member of this family is Hawaiian musician and activist Owana Salazar, who with her son were involved with the Hawaiian activist group Ka LÃÂhui Hawaiûi from 1988 to 1998.
Kekaûaniau's 1920 book was republished in 1999 under the title Keoua: Father of Kings by her great-great-grandnephew, David Castro. It was republished again in 2009. Castro also wrote a biography of her titled Princess Elizabeth Kekaaniau Laanui: Member of the Kamehameha Dynasty, Eligible to the Hawaiian Throne in 2008.
On September 15, 1985, a portrait painted of Kekaûaniau was unveiled at the Kawaiahaûo Church by Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox (mother of Owana Salazar). The artwork was created by commissioned artist Mary Koski, who was known for her Flemish-Dutch and realistic style of painting. This painting now stands on an easel within the royal pew of Kawaiahaûo Church, where Kekaûaniau once sat with King Kamehameha III and other students of the Royal School. In 1989, a second painting was installed in the library of the modern day Royal Elementary School in Honolulu.