Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau
Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Laʻanui Pratt, full name Elizabeth Kekaʻaniauokalani Kalaninuiohilaukapu Kekaikuihala Laʻanui Pratt[1] (September 11, 1834 – December 20, 1928), was a Hawaiian high chiefess (aliʻi) 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 Peleʻioholani Laʻanui and Theresa Owana Kaheiheimalie Rives.
Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau
September 11, 1834
Laʻanui Estate, Waialua, Oahu, Kingdom of Hawaii
December 20, 1928 (aged 94)
Makiki, Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii
December 23, 1928
Franklin Seaver Pratt (m. 1864)
Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui (adopted)
Eva Kuwailanimamao Cartwright (adopted)
Theresa Owana Kaheiheimalie Rives
At a young age, Kekaʻaniau 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 Keōua 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.
Marriage[edit]
Kekaʻaniau married Franklin Seaver Pratt (1829–1894) on April 27, 1864.[22] 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.[23][24]
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.[25] 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 Liliʻuokalani, Registrar of Public Accounts and Hawaiian Consul General in San Francisco.[26] However, according to historian James L. Haley, he was kept on the "periphery of power."[9]
The Pratts did not have any children of their own, although they adopted Kekaʻaniau's niece, Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui, daughter of her younger brother High Chief Gideon Kailipalaki Laʻanui 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.[27][7][28][29] The Pratts also later adopted Alexander and Theresa's younger daughter Eva Kuwailanimamao Cartwright, who married Dwight Jarvis Styne and had three children.[30] The Pratts owned a beachside residence, which they called the Franklin Villa or Bath Villa, in the Waikīkī area of Honolulu. The property was sold in 1897 and is now part of Fort DeRussy.[31][32]
Kekaʻaniau was present at the deathbed of King Kamehameha V with Queen Emma, Pauahi and other members of the royal court. She later claimed 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. Neither woman accepted, and Kamehameha V died without naming an heir.[9][33][34] 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.[35] Kekaʻaniau 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.[36] After the death of Lunalilo, the Pratts became supporters of Queen Emma during her unsuccessful candidacy during the royal election of 1874 against Kalākaua. Emma had promised to reward their loyalty with a government appointment by removing John Owen Dominis as Governor of Oahu and appointing Pratt in his place if she had won.[37][38] Despite popular support for the queen dowager, the assembly voted thirty-nine to six in favor of Kalākaua over Emma.[39] The subsequent announcement triggered the Honolulu Courthouse riot as Emmaite supporters hunted down and attacked native legislators who supported Kalākaua. 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.[40]
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.[25][26]
In March 1893, she was elected as an honorary president of Hui Aloha ʻĀina o Na Wahine (Hawaiian Women's Patriotic League) or Hui Aloha ʻĀina for Women. This patriotic group was founded shortly after its male counterpart the Hui Aloha ʻĀina for Men to oppose the overthrow and plans to annex the islands to the United States and to support the deposed queen Liliʻuokalani.[41][42] 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.[43]