Theresa Laanui
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may contain Hawaiian words and proper names that omit or make improper use of ʻokina and kahakō in spelling, and may be unreliable for lexical reference as per standard Hawaiian English. |
Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻohelelani Laʻanui (1860–1944) was a Hawaiian princess and prominent figure during the last years of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and into the territorial period. Born in 1860, she was the daughter of Prince Gideon Kailipalaki Laʻanui, a brother of Princess Elizabeth Kekaaniau. Her mother was Kamaikaopa. Princess Theresa was well respected among the community and authority figures of Hawaiʻi and the United States. She a member of the House of Laanui, a collateral branch of the House of Kamehameha.
As a child, she would often go to the palace of King Kamehameha V to make leis for him. She was married four times, although she only had children from her first and second marriages. She was of 1/8 French and 7/8 Hawaiian descent.
Her first husband was Alexander Joy Cartwright III, son of Honolulu businessman Alexander Cartwright II (one of the reported founders of baseball). By this marriage she had two daughters, Princess Daisy Emmalani Cartwright and Princess Eva Kuwailanimamao Cartwright. They divorced, and he eventually moved to San Francisco and married Susan Florence McDonald. [1]
Her second husband was Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox (1855–1903), a prominent Hawaiian soldier and statesman nicknamed the "Iron Duke of Hawaiʻi". By this marriage she had a son, Prince Robert Kalanikupuapaikalaninui Wilcox and two daughters, Princess Virginia Kahoa Kaahumanu Kaihikapumahana and Princess Elizabeth Ka'akualaninui Wilcox, who died young. She and Wilcox owned and operated two Hawaiian newspapers, called the Liberal & the Home Rule Republic, which were written in Hawaiian and English. She was received at the White House during Wilcox's service (1900-1903) as the Territory of Hawaiʻi's first Delegate to Congress. Her descendants living today exceed over 100 at least. The current heir of the Wilcox line is Owana Kaʻohelelani Mahealani-rose Salazar (b. October 30, 1953) who is well-known as a slack-key guitarist and singer. [2]
