Mary Polly PaûaûÃÂina, also known as Mary ûêûë ( â May 28, 1853) was a Hawaiian chiefess of the Kingdom of Hawaii. At a young age, she was chosen to attend the Chiefs' Children's School (later renamed Royal School) taught by the American missionary Amos Starr Cooke and his wife, Juliette Montague Cooke, alongside her half-sister Queen Emma of Hawaii and fourteen of her royal cousins.
She was born circa 1833 to Henry Coleman Lewis and High Chiefess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young. Her mother was daughter of John Young, the British advisor of Kamehameha I. Her half-sister was Emma Rooke, who was three years younger than her and the daughter of her mother's marriage to George Naûea. Her biological father Henry Coleman Lewis died in the first week of the influenza epidemic of 1845. She was adopted under the Hawaiian tradition of hÃÂnai by John Papa ûêûë and his wife Sarai Hiwauli. Her hÃÂnai parents were lower-ranking aliûi and her foster father also served as kahu (caretaker) to Princess Victoria KamÃÂmalu. Sources disagree on the spelling of her name. She was called "Polly Paaina" by the Cookes, while Liliûuokalani called her "Mary Paaina" in Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen. The number of "a" letters in her name often varies.
Entering in May 1843, PaûaûÃÂina was the fifteenth pupil and last girl to enter the Chiefs' Children's School (the last boy John William Pitt Kënaûu entered in 1844). Along with her classmates, she was chosen by Kamehameha III to be eligible for the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was taught in English by American missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and his wife, Juliette Montague Cooke, alongside her royal cousins. She was taught reading, spelling, penmanship, arithmetic, geometry, algebra, physics, geography, history, bookkeeping, singing and English composition by the missionary couple. In the classroom students were divided by their age and/or length of time at the school. The older group consisted of Moses Kekà «ÃÂiwa, Lot KapuÃÂiwa, Alexander Liholiho, William Charles Lunalilo, Jane Loeau, Bernice Pauahi, Abigail Maheha and Elizabeth Kekaûaniau who had attended the school since 1839. The next class consisted of Emma Rooke, James Kaliokalani, Peter Kaûeo and David KalÃÂkaua. Due to her late attendance, Mary PaûaûÃÂina was placed in the youngest class together with Victoria KamÃÂmalu, Lydia Kamakaûeha (Liliûuokalani), and John William Pitt Kënaûu. During their Sunday procession to church it was customary for boys and girls to walk side by side, PaûaûÃÂina would walk beside her first cousin Peter Kaûeo.
American merchant Gorham D. Gilman visited the Royal School in 1848 and gave a brief description of PaûaûÃÂina:
The boarding school was discontinued in 1850. Little detail is known about her adult life. She continued to live with her hÃÂnai parents and Princess Victoria KamÃÂmalu at the school until the family moved to their new home Mililani, across from the old ûIolani Palace. In 1851, PaûaûÃÂina married American James Augustus Griswold (1825âÂÂ1868) in Honolulu, Oûahu. Griswold was naturalized as a citizen of the Hawaiian Kingdom on December 26 of the same year in order to marry a Hawaiian woman. The exact date of their marriage was either December 21 or December 30.
In 1853, PaûaûÃÂina fell ill and after much suffering from a lingering illness, died at Princess Victoria KamÃÂmalu's residence on May 28, 1853 of scrofulous complaints. Her funeral was held the next day at Mililani, the residence of her hÃÂnai father John Papa ûêûë. The missionary newspaper Friends described her last days: <blockquote>Her sufferings during her last sickness were extreme. She felt conscious of danger, and, as far as human eye could see, prepared herself for her departure. She took a calm and effecting [sic] leave of her friends that were present, and sent her last message to absent ones. She expressed the wish that others whom she loved would prepare while in health for the trying hour of death. "Dearest Mary thou hast left us, Here thy loss we deeply feel, But âÂÂtis God who hath bereft us, He can all our sorrow heal."</blockquote>
On March 17, 1912, the Cooke Memorial Tablet was dedicated at Kawaiahaûo Church commemorating the sixteen royal children of the original Royal School, and their teachers, on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Juliette Montague Cooke. The ceremony was officiated by Liliûuokalani and Elizabeth Kekaûaniau, the last surviving members of the Royal School. On the memorial, her name was written as "Mary Paaaina".
Griswold's and PaûaûÃÂina's only child was Mary PaûaûÃÂina Griswold (March 19, 1853 â June 9, 1917). She married twice: her first marriage was to Lewis Albert (1826âÂÂ1897) in San Francisco, 1871, and her second marriage was to Charles Ellet Kellogg (1855âÂÂ1920) in Honolulu, April 15, 1886. Mary Griswold lived in California for most of her adult life and died in Oakland. By her first marriage, Mary Griswold had a daughter named Edith G. Albert (1872âÂÂ1948), who married William Buchanan (1865âÂÂ1940) and resided in California. No children are mentioned in Buchanan's 1948 obituary in The San Franciscio Examiner or in any United States Census records between 1900 and 1940.