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This is the second blurb I am authoring. I cannot locate the
first one. What a sad situation. This one will be on my imac,
whereas the first one was created on husband's pc.
I am interested in researching my family, because now that I have
been retired since April 1. 2004...I am free and able to devote
the time to such an endeavor. I march to no one's time schedule,
because no one pays me a salary, anymore. Whoopee!
The initial prompter to this pursuit was being told by a Part-
Hawaiian on the Big Island of Hawaii (as she served me my lunch
at a hotel beachside clubhouse) that: Our family, the Tiltons,
may have been part of the Hawaiian Kingdom overthrow- that the
name Tilton was an ancient surname meaning "traitor."
She was unable to prove it, and I know my family is very big.
Our genealogy chart (from the 1800's on) is many feet long and 2
1/2 feet wide. Never in my entire 63-years of life, have I
heard any remark in the family about helping the annexationists
overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom. Those who, presently, are very
pro-American surely would have bragged about that; those who are
pro-kingdom would surely have whispered about such an infamy.
Our family discusses all within the family, yet none of that kind
of overthrow talk ever happened in the family over more than
fifty years!
Her comments were very unfair, because I know family members
since 1800 held allegiances on all sides of the sovereignty
issue. Some were royalist sympathizers, some annexationists,
some simple commoners without any political views, some alii
chiefs/chiefesses, some so bi-cultural they dream of both
pro-European and pro-Hawaiian clans making peace once and for
all, some very pro-kingdom restoration, some praying for success
for the most extreme "nationalists" who advocate relinquishing
one's American citizenship in favor of only Hawaiian Kingdom
citizenship, some trusting in God Almighty only, some looking to
Senator Akaka and Senator Inouye to bring about some kind of
negotiating dignity for the Hawaiian people, and some very
pro-American in heart, mind, and spirit- so much so that they
actually want all Hawaiians to look to America as their only
sovereign nation today and stay far away from secessionist
Hawaiians.
Such is the situation with most Part-Hawaiian/Cosmopolitan clans.
To be labled, "traitors," by this soft-spoken, caring Part-
Hawaiian, was shocking, discomforting, and (in my opinion)
extremely inaccurate/unfair. Yet, I know her comment was sincere
and heartfelt. I thank her for reaching out to me and taking the
risk in informing me as to just what she and her political
compadres (today) think of the name, Tilton.
Another incident serves as yet another prompter for this
research. My Part-Hawaiian/Cosmopolitan cousins working at the
State Archives behind my seat/table and alongside me on different
days revealed to me that my recognized great (3 times)
grandmother (Alii Chiefess Kailikapuolono of Kaniloko and
Kamehameha) grandmother had a very sad and complicated life that
involved six recognized husbands- number four being my great (3
times) grandfather, Theophilus Sabin Metcalf from Canandaigua,
Ontario (Boston Massachusetts Bay Colony and New York).
I want to know how many of this grandmother's children actually
were sent to the Hansen's Disease colony at Kalaupapa, thereby,
making them ineligible to hold inherited wealth that eventually
ended up in mainland, "foreign," non-Hawaiian settlers'
portfolios.
A third incident is the day a Part-Hawaiian/Cosmopolitan cousin
handed me the Last Will and Testaments of my great great
grandfather (Frank Metcalf) and great great grand Aunt (Emma
Kailikapuolono Metcalf Beckley Nakuina). Reading their wills
made me feel like I had no right to exist- not me, not my mom,
not my grandmother, not my great grandmother. These two leaders
and dispensers of legacy/wealth for Metcalf Oahu holdings..
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