James Campbell (industrialist)
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James Campbell (February 4, 1826 – April 21, 1900) is the founder of the Estate of James Campbell, one of the largest and wealthiest landowners in the United States Territory of Hawai'i and present-day Hawaii. It is on land owned by his estate that the Kapolei, Hawaii is being developed, the newest of the suburbs of Honolulu.
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[edit] Early years
James Campbell was born in 1826 to William and Martha Campbell, Derry, Ireland. Campbell was the eighth child of twelve children. At the age of thirteen, Campbell boarded a ship leaving Ireland for New York City. For his first two years in the United States, Campbell followed in his father's footsteps as a carpenter. He then joined a whaling crew bound for the South Pacific where the vessel was shipwrecked. Campbell survived by clinging onto debris and floated to a nearby island. He was captured by natives and held prisoner. He finally escaped by way of a ship bound for Tahiti where he settled and lived.
[edit] Lahaina, Maui
In 1850, the young Irishman boarded another whaling ship which later arrived at the port of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Mau'i. Campbell once again took up carpentry to make a living. It was at Lahaina that he met Hannah Barla. He married her but she unfortunately died in 1858. Though grief-stricken, Campbell tried to make do with what he inherited from his wife.
In 1860, Campbell formed a partnership with entrepreneurs Henry Turton and James Dunbar. They established a sugar processing plant, Pioneer Mill Company. With the thriving sugar industry in the Kingdom of Hawai'i, Campbell became one of the wealthiest people in Lahaina. He used his profits to purchase land on the islands of O'ahu, Mau'i and the Big Island of Hawai'i. In 1877, Campbell cashed in his total worth and sold all his interests in the business.
[edit] Family life
The same year he left Pioneer Mill Company, Campbell married Abigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine. They had four children: Abigail Campbell Kawananakoa, Alice Kamokila Campbell, Beatrice Campbell and Muriel Campbell. The oldest, Abigail, would marry Prince David Kawananakoa of the reigning House of Kalakaua and assume the title of Princess of Hawai'i. She had three children list in birth order; Princess Abigail Kapiolani Kawananakoa, Prince Edward D. Kawananakoa and Princess Lydia Liliuokalani Kawananakoa. Her children would later become heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai'i as the House of Kawananakoa, which survives today as the only genuine royal family of the United States.
[edit] Land holdings
While raising his family, Campbell ventured into real estate with purchases of massive parcels of land. One of his most controversial purchases was of dry, arrid and barren 41,000 acres (166 km²) in the Ewa District of O'ahu. Other businessmen criticized Campbell for making such a wasteful, unproductive investment and called him insane. Campbell hired James Ashley of California to drill water wells to supply his purchase with fresh irrigation. Campbell used the land for sugarcane production and profits poured into his coffers. Campbell continued to purchase underestimated plots of real estate and transformed them into productive agricultural districts. He died with USD $3 Million to his name, left in trust to his children and their heirs.
