Samuel Nowlein
Born(1851-04-03)April 3, 1851
Keapukukaloa, Molokai, Hawaii
DiedDecember 5, 1905(1905-12-05) (aged 54)
Lahania, Hawaii, United States
Allegiance Hawaiian Kingdom
Branch Royal Guards of Hawaii
Years of service1885 – 1895
RankCaptain
Battles/warsOverthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom
1895 Wilcox rebellion (POW)
Children3

Samuel Nowlein (April 3, 1851 – December 5, 1905) was a Native Hawaiian Colonel who was a monarchist and known for organizing the 1895 Wilcox rebellion against the Republic of Hawaii before being caught and arrested during the rebellion.

Biography

Family

Nowlein was born on April 3, 1851, as the son of Michael James Nowlien who was of British origin and Akela Kaliko Kupanaha who was of Native Hawaiian origin. He would go on to marry Lucy Keakealani Ahying and had three children with her.[1]

Role in the overthrow of the monarchy

Nowlein was a member of the Royal Guards of Hawaii with the oldest documented instance of his service being since 1885.[2] Nowlein served as Captain of the Royal Guards of Hawaii[3] and during his time there, Nowlein along with figures like Robert William Wilcox and Charles Burnett Wilson, planned to launch a coup to overthrow Kalākaua and replace him with Liliʻuokalani but the plot never came to fruition as it was accidentally discovered in January 1888.[4] Despite this however, he remained as a member of the Royal Guards until the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, in which, Nowlein raised a total of 496 soldiers to defend the Queen after negotiations had failed with Lorrin A. Thurston.[5] Despite this however, the Monarchy was abolished anyways and the Provisional Government of Hawaii was established.

1895 Wilcox Rebellion

Main article: 1895 Wilcox rebellion

In 1895, following the creation of the Republic of Hawaii, Nowlein was involved in another plot with Wilcox and when the rebellion began, Nowlein played a prominent role in the Battle of Mōʻiliʻili and while the battle initially went well, when the government brought out a Howitzer, 33 of Nowlein's men surrendered and Nowlein and a few others managed to escape, leaving the rest of his men to their own fates[6] however Nowlein was found and arrested on January 14 with three lieutenants with a sentence of five years in prison however Sanford B. Dole pardoned Nowlein and the rest of the royalists after they served part of their sentence.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Samuel Nowlein 1851-1905 - Ancestry®". Ancestry.com. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  2. ^ Dukas, Neil Bernard (2004). A Military History of Sovereign Hawaiʻi. Honolulu: Mutual Publishing Company. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-56647-636-2. OCLC 56195693.
  3. ^ Lili‘uokalani (2021). Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen. Graphic Arts Books. ISBN 978-1513276908.
  4. ^ Foreign Relations of the United States 1894: Affairs in Hawaii. Government Printing Office. 1895. p. 670.
  5. ^ Young, Lucien (1899). The Real Hawaii. Doubleday & McClure company. p. 252.
  6. ^ Loomis, Albertine (1976). For Whom Are the Stars?. The University Press of Hawaii. ISBN 978-0-8248-0416-9.
  7. ^ "Abdication of Queen Liliuokalani: Safety at the Price of a Kingdom, of Little Moment Now for the Cause of the Royalists is a Lost Cause". The Morning Call. San Francisco. February 7, 1895. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
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