Born on O‘ahu; spent seven years at Lahainaluna Seminary as student and teaching assistant, 1833–40, during which time he became well read in the Bible; became teacher on Maui and worked as circuit judge; served several terms in the Hawaiian House of Representatives beginning in 1851; helped organize Royal Hawaiian Historical Society; shared his expertise on ancient Hawai‘i in more than two hundred newspaper articles that were posthumously published in four volumes, The Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii; Ka Po‘e Kahiko: The People of Old; The Works of the People of Old: Na Hana a ka Po‘e Kahiko; and Tales and Traditions of the People of Old: Na Mo‘olelo a ka Po‘e Kahiko. (See Day, History Makers of Hawaii, 65; Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:445, 3:756; Joesting, Kauai, 296; GQC journal, Dec. 12–14, 1851; Mar. 30, 1854.)